Day 8 of the GWA Wingfoil World Cup New Zealand

It was a stormy and windy morning for the penultimate day of competition in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Despite the tricky conditions, we have now completed 4 eliminations for the men and 11 for the women, with Bastien Escofet and Nia Suardiaz holding the lead.

MEN’S SURF-FREESTYLE DIVISION

Men’s Elimination 2

The wind was light at approximately 12 knots for the start of Elimination 2 but picked up to 20 knots toward the final races. Unfortunately, Francesco Cappuzzo missed out on a spot in the final after crashing just before the finish line in the semi-finals. This opened the door for other athletes to gain a better result for this elimination. Bastien Escofet made a critical mistake and went over early.  Titouan Galea seized the opportunity and advanced into the lead to take the win for this second elimination. Zane Schweitzer came in second, followed by Camille Bouyer in third.

Men’s Elimination 3

Titouan Galea struggled to advance through the semi-finals for Elimination 3 due to a drop in wind. Bastien Escofet wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice, and he battled through the final with Francesco Cappuzzo and Camille Bouyer hot on his heels. He pushed through the FreeFly section of the course and blasted his way through the finish, claiming his second elimination win here in New Zealand. Francesco Cappuzzo cruised through in second, followed by Camille Bouyer in third.

Men’s Elimination 4

A new course was set for Elimination 4, featuring two FreeFly sections, making it a trickier and more technical course.

The wind was blowing a clean 15 knots for the final. Bastien Escofet had a clean start and held the lead throughout the race. He blasted through the finish line, claiming his third elimination win of the event so far. Titouan managed to keep up the pace, claiming 2nd position. Alan Fedit claimed 3rd position after overtaking several riders, with the FreeFly section being the most controversial part of the course.

Men’s Elimination 5 was started but cancelled in semi-final 2 due to a sudden change in wind conditions.

The current standings for the men’s FreeFly-Slalom after 4 eliminations and 1 discard are:

1st – Bastien Escofet

2nd – Francesco Cappuzzo

3rd – Camille Bouyer

4th – Titouan Galea

5th – Alan Fedit

Women’s Eliminations

For the women, we completed 7 more eliminations. New Zealand local athlete Aimee Bright performed incredibly well today, showing she is very comfortable competing in this division despite this being her first GWA competition. She won 2 eliminations, while Nia Suardiaz took an impressive 5 elimination wins for the day. Bowien van der Linden kept up with the pace and placed herself 3rd overall for the day. By 2 pm, the women were released for the day after completing 11 eliminations with 3 discards.

The current standings for the women’s FreeFly-Slalom after 11 eliminations and 3 discards are:

1st – Nia Suardiaz

2nd – Aimee Bright

3rd – Bowien van der Linden

4th – Orane Ceris

5th – Tatiana Grant

Tomorrow is the final day of competition here in New Zealand. We plan to continue with the FreeFly-Slalom action, which will then be followed by the prize-giving ceremony.

Follow all of the live scoring and live ladders from the GWA Wingfoil World Cup New Zealand here. 

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