A Long Distance race opened the competition with multiple lead changes at the Ad Ports Group Wingfoil Racing World Cup Abu Dhabi.
- Luca Franchi ITA overtakes the world champion for the winner’s gun
- Women’s world champion Paula Novotna CZE comes through for a late win
It was a tricky, challenging long distance race that opened the competition at the Ad Ports Group Wingfoil Racing World Cup Abu Dhabi.
The whole fleet, men and women, lined up on one start line for an upwind start.
A year ago, upwind racing was still too difficult in this fledgling, rapidly developing board sport, but the quality of the equipment and the riders’ techniques have come on leaps and bounds since then.
The wings are becoming more aerodynamic and the riders are getting fitter.
The men’s long distance race win went to Luca Franchi with Mateo Dussarps in second and Mathis Ghio third.
While the winner’s time in the long distance race was just 30 minutes, others in the fleet took a lot longer. And if you don’t think 30 minutes sounds very long, try holding your arms above your head for that length of time!
Reigning Men’s World Champion Mathis Ghio (FRA) found himself struggling to maintain pace on the upwind leg with some of his rivals.
“I’m not used to using the harness yet,” he said, “so my arms were taking the strain all the way around the course. It’s not so efficient, not compared with guys like Luca [Franchi, ITA] or Mateo [Dussarps, FRA]. So I was losing a lot of distance on them during the upwind.”
Kylie Belloeuvre took a big lead ahead of the other women on the first upwind leg but the French rider struggled to keep her board flying through the lighter patches of breeze, finishing fifth.
“My gear is too small for lighter winds, my board is small so it sinks easily if I stop foiling. So when I came off the foil it took me more than a minute to get up again.”
Winner was Paula Novotna CZE with second Karolina Kluszczynska POL and third Orane Ceris FRA.
Wingfoil Racing World Cup 2023 Abu Dhabi
Men – LD and 3 races
1st ITA 22 Luca Franchi 0.5 0.5 -1 1 1 – – 3 pts
2nd FRA 12 Mathis Ghio -1.5 1.5 1 1 1 – – 4.5 pts
3rd FRA 17 Mateo Dussarps 1 1 -2 2 2 – – 6 pts
4th ITA 11 Ernesto De Amicis -4 4 2 2 3 – – 11 pts
5th ITA 36 Nicolo Spanu 2 2 6 (DNC) 2 – – 12 pts
6th ITA 40 Riccardo Zorzi -4.5 4.5 3 3 4 – – 14.5 pts
7th FRA 21 Oscar Leclair 3 3 6 (DNC) 3 – – 15 pts
8th FRA 26 Bastien Escofet 3.5 3.5 4 4 -5 – – 15 pts
9th ITA 32 Alessandro Jose’ Tomasi 5 5 3 -6 4 – – 17 pts
10th ITA 16 Sebastiano Zorzi 5.5 5.5 5 3 -6 – – 19 pts
11th GER 10 Alan Fedit -6.5 6.5 4 4 5 – – 19.5 pts
12th GBR 28 Rafferty Read 2.5 2.5 (DNC) (DNC) 7 – – 21 pts
13th FRA 20 Rattotti Julien -6 6 5 5 6 – – 22 pts
14th NZL 15 Jeremiah Mcdonald -7 7 7 5 7 – – 26 pts
15th USA 30 Benjamin Billarant 7.5 7.5 -8 7 8 – – 30 pts
16th UAE 14 Pierre-Louis Courson 8.5 8.5 7 (DNC) 9 – – 33 pts
Women LD
1st CZE 27 Paula Novotna 0.5 0.5 – – 1 pts
2nd POL 25 Karolina Kluszczynska 1 1 – – 2 pts
3rd FRA 13 Orane Ceris 1.5 1.5 – – 3 pts
4th ITA 18 Maddalena Maria Spanu 2 2 – – 4 pts
5th FRA 19 Kylie Belloeuvre 2.5 2.5 – – 5 pts
6th ITA 35 Margherita Barro 3 3 – – 6 pts
7th ESP 24 Montse Sole Roses 3.5 3.5 – – 7 pts
