Wild and windy elimination series put tour leaders and challengers in jeopardy right to the end with nail-biting finishes and explosive crashes
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura
19—24 July, 2024 | Playa de Sotavento
There were moments when they seemed beatable – a fraction behind on the starting line, a bit wide at a turning mark as competitors’ hydrofoils hummed on their heels – but there was no real passing lane for anyone trying to overtake tour leaders Nia Suardiaz (ESP) and Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA) in Sunday’s FreeFly-Slalom final in Fuerteventura.
Suardiaz and Cappuzzo were unstoppable. Securing the top rank after the four elimination rounds, the two went straight to their respective final heats, each receiving a bonus “bullet,” one free win in the first-to-two wins finals.
Second ranked riders Kylie Belloeuvre (FRA) in the women’s division and Oscar Leclair (FRA) in the men’s division also got a ticket to the finals while the next best six men and four women had to duke it out in the final elimination heats.
League of her own
Suardiaz won the first heat of the finals, adding to the bullet she earned after the elimination rounds, and secured the event win, her second FreeFly-Slalom win of the season. She ran away with the lead after a congested first reach, and launched into the air in relief and excitement after her win.
“For my strategy I was trying to get the time well from the boat,” said Suardiaz who lead at almost every mark in the final series with her spot-on starting timing. The only one consistently close to her in the rankings was Kylie Bellouevre (FRA) who wound up second to Suardiaz in three of the four elimination rounds. “Kylie was pushing real hard and the level I think especially in these windy conditions is real high. I’m really looking forward to see how it goes in the Brazil event.”
Winning reset
Cappuzzo did not have it as easy on his march to the event win.
Julien Rattotti (FRA) and Bastien Escofet (FRA) both lost ground to Cappuzzo in Sunday’s final elimination rounds with multiple crashes. The countrymen had to win multiple quarter final and semi final rounds to reach the four-rider final and they were hungry for a win.
Cappuzzo’s nerves bubbled up in the first finals heat where a win would have clinched the event title. Instead, he missed a mark trying to make a pass and he was on the back foot, tied with Rattotti.
“I felt uncomfortable right from the beginning. I was not on the timing I wanted to be,” said Cappuzzo of his first finals heat. “I was squeezed and had to change my path and I was in third so I tried to make something happen. To tack way earlier was the only way get on the top again and it didn’t work.”
In heat two, it was all Italian, all the time. Clean start and pedal down, he extended each leg until the finish.
“I didn’t finish that first race. I never did that in my life. So I needed to reset,” said Cappuzzo who is the clear leader in the hunt for the world title in Freefly-Slalom. “I said, ‘Francesco, you are here for one thing, you want to win, so forget about everything.’ Reset, and go full-on, and everything run perfect on the last one. I lead from the start to the finish.”
Fast forward
Though Suardiaz and Cappuzzo have won both FreeFly-Slalom events in 2024, there are potentially two more events in the discipline before the world champions can be crowned.
Wrapping up the FreeFly-Slalom leaves the schedule wide open to run the Surf-Freestyle discipline here at the Fuerteventura World Cup. Many of Sunday’s competitors are switching gears and will be dreaming of Back-flips, Back-mobes, spins and combination tricks ahead of tomorrow’s first freestyle heats.
With the same sand-shifting gusts and furrowed, turquoise waters, expect to see the trick progression right in front of your eyes in Playa de Sotavento.
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura 2024: FreeFly-Slalom
Women
1 Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2 Kylie Belloeuvre (FRA)
3 Bowien van der Linden (NED)
4 Orane Ceris (FRA)
Men
1 Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
2 Julien Rattotti (FRA)
3 Bastien Escofet (FRA)
4 Oscar Leclair (FRA)
words: GWA Media
images: Svetlana Romantsova
Spot Info: Playa de Sotavento, Fuerteventura
Weather
The weather in Fuerteventura, Spain, during July, ranges around 25-30C with sunrise around 07:15 and sunset at 21:00.
Wind and water
July is a great month for wind in Fuerteventura. The wind regularly blows 20-25+ knots, coming from the north/north-east, which blows side offshore at Sotavento. The water is choppy with occasional kickers rolling in with the swell. Water temperature is 23-24C, so bring a shorty or summer wetsuit.
