3rd GWA Tarifa Wing Pro 2022

Xavier Corr at GWA Tarifa in 2022. Photo Samuel Cardenas
Xavier Corr at GWA Tarifa in 2022. Photo Samuel Cardenas

GWA Tarifa Wing Pro 2022

The 3rd GWA Tarifa Wing Pro, event was held between 12th and 15th of October 2022 at Bebo Beach House, Valdevaqueros Beach in Tarifa the wind capital of Andalucia. Previous 2022 World Cup tour events were at Leucate (France), Silvaplana (Switzerland) and Lanzarote. The following World Cup event will be at Taiba (Brazil) in November 2022.

There were be two disciplines at the event. Surf-Freestyle which is the official World Cup dicipline. There was also a Surf-Slalom event in Tarifa. Prize Money was 10.000€. 48 men competed of which ten were from Spain. 14 women competed in 2022 of which five were from Spain.

Of the four women who competed in the 1st GWA Tarifa Wing Pro in December 2020 Olivia Piana returned to Tarifa in 2nd GWA Tarifa Wing Pro in 2021 and 2022. Paula Novotna from the Czech Republic was in Brasil in 2021 and returned to Tarifa in 2022. Eva Wyss and Laura Rudolph did not take part in the 2021 nor 2022 tour.

Four the eight quarter finalists of the 1st GWA Tarifa Wing Pro, Zdenek Maryzko (Czech Republic), Francesco Capuzzo (Italy), Maxime Chabloz (Canada) and Titouan Galea (Numea, New Caledonia) returned to Tarifa in 2021 and 2022. Balz Muller (Switzerland) returned in 2021 but was injured in 2022. 

Day One - Elimination rounds

 

 

Womens Elimination Rounds

Women’s Rounds 1 to 3 were first in sequence, where the wind was blowing around 15 to 18 knots. The women performed consistently well throughout each round, with all of the top seeds surviving unscathed and advancing to the quarter finals. They performed a solid variety of tricks including front and backside 3’s, raleys, toe-side frontside 3’s and air gybes.

The most impressive female performance of the day was from the current leader, Paula Novotna, who has been training in Tarifa for several weeks previously and her hard work seems to have paid off. She achieved an overall heat score of 27.23 points which was substantially higher than the rest of the female fleet.

WOMEN'S QUARTER FINAL LINE-UP:
Christina Koenig vs Flora Artzner
Isabel Triviño vs Nia Suardiaz
Manuela Jungo vs Bowien van der Linden
Maria Barro vs Paula Novotna

Mens Elimination Rounds

One big contender missing from this event is Balz Muller, who is unfortunately not in Tarifa due to an injury he sustained. This opens the door to other athletes to advance further up the ladder and grab his current 2nd position in the general rankings.

The new generation of wingfoilers were hitting hard today, racking up some impressive scores to get the competition started. Malo Guenole was definitely in fine form, and his frontflip scored him 8.40 points. Another young gun, Chris Mac Donald was unstoppable during his heat, with his frontside 7 scoring an impressive 9 points, the highest score of the day.

The winners of each heat advanced directly to Round 3, and the other two competitors will receive a second chance in Round 2. The wind dropped at 6pm, making heat 8 the final one of the day.

Day 2 - Two

 

 

Strong levante wind conditions allowed the completion of rounds 1 and most of 2 for the men, alongside the women’s quarter finals. The strong wind combined with the top athletes created a brilliant display of freestyle wingfoiling throughout the day. We witnessed a true battle of the generations, as the more experienced wingfoilers did their best to stand their ground as a whole new fleet of young riders came in to give them a run for their money.

Womens Elimination Rounds

The strong levante started to kick in at the start of the women’s quarter finals, reaching up to 25 knots. Experience in these tough Tarifa conditions, together with consistency proved to be key elements to advancing through this round. There were no surprises as all of our top seeded riders advanced through this round to the semi-finals. Nia Suardiaz, Paula Novotna, Flora Artzner and Bowien van der Linden all remained in the competition for an opportunity to take the win at this event. Bowien put on the best female performance of the day, with her toeside frontside 3 scoring her 5.30 points.

Mens Elimination Rounds

There were some stand-out performances for round 2, particularly from the younger riders who showed amazing determination and capability in the strong, difficult conditions. Axel Gerard rode a great heat, landing a 6.30 point front flip that allowed him to advance to Round 3. River Moore, 14 year old local rider, lost a very close heat with Xavi Corr in Round 1, so for Round 2 he showed even more determination, closing his heat with an impressive backflip scoring 7 points and giving him the opportunity to remain in the competition for Round 3. The highest scoring heat of Round 2 went to Frenchman Bastien Escofet, who achieved an overall score of 8.30 for his spectacular front flip. Round 2 finished with an outstanding performance from one of the youngest local riders, Nathan Berger, who defeated Riccardo Zorzi with an unstoppable display of riding which included a massive frontside 7 scoring him 8.4 points and allowing him a well-deserved spot in Round 3.

The wind unfortunately dropped during the final heat of round 2, which will be continued tomorrow, as the levante wind is once again in the forecast for the coming days.

River Moore is a local 14 year old competitor who is competing at a World Cup event for the first time here at his home spot. “To compete here at my home spot is just incredible”, said River. “The wind today has been tricky, and it definitely picked up throughout the day. I just missed out on my first heat, but in my second heat I was fully powered on my 3 meter wing, and managed to land my tricks. The thing with wingfoiling is that we have race and freestyle, and it’s always fast no matter what. You can go high, the landings are awesome, and it’s just a great sport. It’s bringing a community together, joining people from kitesurfing and windsurfing together.”

Day Three - finals

Men’s round 3 commenced at 11am, in tough conditions, with winds gusting up top 30 knots, it was a true challenge, yet the riders were finding their pace and not holding back. It was an intense day of non-stop action right up until the finals, where we witnessed some of the very best wingfoiling action ever seen.

Mens Rounds 3 and 4

The battle between generations continued today, and the young guns were pushing harder than ever. Malo Guenole was on fire from the start, and during his first heat of the day in round 3 he landed an unreal frontside 7, scoring 9.5 points, the highest of the day. Chris Mac Donald was not far behind him, and his frontside 7 also gained a solid 9 points, leaving the crowds on the beach speechless with the height and execution.

As the day advanced, the wind speed increased to over 35 knots, making it even more of a challenge to perform well executed, technical tricks. Axel Gerard has been riding consistently well throughout this event, and in round 4 he knocked out veteran competitor Stefan Spiessberger. Malo Guenole defeated a disappointed Maxime Chabloz, who had been looking in fine form during this event so far, but could not keep up with Malo’s pace.

Quarter and Semi-Finals

As we proceeded to the quarter finals the riders continued to perform well despite the raging wind. Camille Bouyer came in with bang, and defeated Alex Gerard by a fraction of a point. Malo Guenole came face to face with Chris Mac Donald Jr in Round 5, two of our top riders battling it out for the chance to advance further in a heat that resembled a final from the very start. Front flips, back flips and frontside 7’s all performed with insane height and clean execution, but Malo managed to push ever so slightly further, and won the heat with his back flip in the final moments, making it the tightest heat of the day.

Xavi Corr and Titouan Galea were the last two to advance into the semi-finals, with Titouan taking out our last event winner and tour leader, Gollito Estredo.

Semi-final 1 saw Camille Bouyer face Malo Guenole for the much-desired spot in the finals. With the heats now reduced to 6 minutes, the pressure to perform was higher than ever. Once again, it all came down to the final trick of the heat, as they had both been neck and neck throughout. Malo once again produced an accomplished display of riding, with his front flips, back flips and impeccable frontside 7. It was close but Camille could not quite top his competitors performance, and the spot in the finals went to Malo.

Xavi Corr is a young local rider, and this was his first ever semi-final at a GWA event. To make the situation even better, he had to face one of the top riders in the world, Titouan Galea for the second semi-final of the day. Xavi opened up landing three solid tricks, whilst Titouan struggled to land his first attempts. However, as we approached the halfway mark, they were almost identical in points. Xavi went all in, feeling comfortable in his home conditions, and on his final trick attempt he threw out an insane frontside 7 scoring 8.73 points, whilst Titouan crashed his last attempt losing valuable points. Xavi deservedly locked down his spot in the finals, where he would face Malo Guenole.

Mens Final

The younger generation have absolutely dominated this event from the start, and our two finalists, Xavi Corr aged 15, and Malo Guenole aged 17, are the perfect example of the new fleet of athletes who are blowing away the competition. Both riders were clearly hungry for the win here in Tarifa. Malo opened with his classic massive backflip scoring 7.2 points. Xavi responded with a backflip of his own, scoring very slightly lower. They continued pushing trick for trick, each one alternatively taking the lead. As it came down to the final moments, Xavi took a slight lead, whilst Malo crashed three valuable trick attempts. He went for a frontside 3 to secure 5.23 points, but it just was not enough as Xavi went all in with a massive frontside 7 to seal the deal scoring 8.37 points and making him the official winner for the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Tarifa Surf-Freestyle discipline at just 15 years of age.

“I’m so stoked to win the GWA here at my home spot of Tarifa,” said Xavi. “Malo put up a really great fight, it was so close. Right at the end I got my 720 which I’m so stoked about. Honestly I’m so happy to win this competition here.”

The final standings for the 3rd GWA Wingfoil World Cup Tarifa 2022 are as follows:

Men:
1st Xavi Corr (ESP)
2nd Malo Guenole (FRA)
3rd Camille Bouyer (FRA)
4th Titouan Galea (NCL)

Women:
1st Paula Novotna (CZE)
2nd Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
3rd Bowien van der Linden (NED)
4th Flora Artzner (FRA)

Day 4 - Official Podium and Closing Ceremony

With the wind conditions permitting the tournament to be completed in three days. In the morning may of the riders will return to the water to practice. At 14.00 is the scheduled podium awards and closing ceremony.

Media handles and hashtags are @globalwingsports @tarifawingpro #GWAwingfoilworldtour #GWAwingfoil #Tarifawingpro #wingfoil

Tarifa Championship Competition Reports from Andalucia.com

Admission

As a beach event it is open and free to all.

Location

The event took place at Playa Valdevaqueros opposite Bebo Beach House, Tarifa.

Destinations