Strong and stormy conditions provided excellent action on days two and three of the GWA Wingfoil European Championships in Brest, France, were Bastien Escofet and Orane Ceris became our new GWA Wingfoil Surf-Freestyle European Champions.
Words: Gemma Hamaini
Images: Christian Guzman
Women’s Surf-Freestyle Discipline
In the women’s surf-freestyle division, the females were divided into three rounds with four female athletes in each round. The final result was determined by an overall score from the three separate heats. The closest battle was between Flora Artzner and Orane Ceris. Flora performed confidently, landing a great array of tricks including a frontside 3 and toe side frontside 3, but Orane pushed hard landing a super frontside 360 spin. They both pushed hard throughout the three heats, but Orane ended the day with her final trick, a very well executed Backflip, which is the first time a female has landed this trick at a GWA competition. With that, she solidified her lead and took the win as GWA Wingfoil European Champion.
The final Surf-Freestyle results for the women are:
1st – Orane Ceris (FRA)
2nd – Flora Artzner (FRA)
3rd – Sonia Le Bouteiller (FRA)
4th – Charlotte Baruzzi (ITA)
Men’s Surf-Freestyle Discipline
The quarter finals saw Bastien Escofet landing trick after trick, earning an overall score of 30.60 points. Alan Fedit also had an impressive showing, scoring the highest of the day at 32.54 points. Both athletes pushed the combination scores.
The intensity continued in the semi-finals with four-man heats, 8 trick attempts, and the top 4 scores counting. Camille Bouyer and Alan Fedit secured their spots in the finals with consistently high-scoring tricks. Bastien Escofet and Francesco Cappuzzo also made it to the finals, determined to advance to the very end.
The final was action-packed from the start, with all scores remaining close until the end. Bastien Escofet and Alan Fedit were in a tight battle, both determined to win. They went trick for trick, both pushing hard in the combo trick category, but Bastien managed to top the scores with his amplitude and clean execution. He gradually worked his way up to the top of the scoreboard until he had a solid lead that no one could reach. Alan felt the pressure going massive towards the end of the heat, knowing that he would need a big score if he wanted to take the win. Camille Bouyer and Francesco Cappuzzo were also fighting for points, and all three riders were incredibly close for the final podium spots. However, it was Escofet who proved unstoppable and with his final 8.93 point frontside 7, he sailed to glory and claimed his title as the new GWA Wingfoil Surf-freestyle European champion.
Men’s surf-freestyle final results:
1st Bastien Escofet (FRA)
2nd Alan Fedit (GER)
3rd Camille Bouyer (FRA)
4th Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
We still have three days of competition remaining and very good forecast. There will be plenty more FreeFly-Slalom eliminations to come.
Follow the live stream, live scoring and live ladders from the GWA Wingfoil European Championship Brest here.
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Costa del Sol resort stages maiden Challenger QS and first wingfoil Masters World Cup in FreeFly-Slalom discipline
Brest has proved to be spectacular location providing optimal conditions for the seven day event. We crowned our new GWA Wingfoil European Champions for both disciplines.
Brest, France hosts the GWA Wingfoil European Championships this week, where we have 33 men and 4 women registered to compete in both the FreeFly-Slalom and Surf-Freestyle disciplines.
One-stop GWA Youth Wingfoil World Championships to crown winners in FreeFly-Slalom and Surf-Freestyle disciplines
