Spain’s Nia Suardiaz gets title bid back on track while Italy’s Francesco Cappuzzo continues to struggle in the light conditions
GWA Wingfoil World Cup Abu Dhabi
28 October-02 November, 2025 | Fahid Island
Spain’s Nia Suardiaz got her campaign for a third consecutive FreeFly-Slalom world title on the second day of racing with a perfect record in difficult conditions in Abu Dhabi.
Suardiaz, 18, snatched five wins from five at the third and final stop of the Free-Fly Slalom season at the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Abu Dhabi, which is being hosted by the Fahid Island Watersports Festival, presented by Aldar.
By contrast, the men’s tour leader, Francesco Cappuzzo, had another difficult outing. The Italian continued his miserable run of the first day, finishing down the order in the day’s first two elimination races.
But Cappuzzo, who is also chasing a third back-to-back world title, recovered with a bullet in the last final to put a better gloss on his day and helped him move up to seventh in the rankings in Abu Dhabi.
On day six of Fahid Island Watersports Festival at Barbossa Beach—which is also hosting GKA and SFT world cups—the athletes again had to wait until late in the afternoon for the thermal breezes to build.
Playing catch-up
In the women’s division, Kylie Belloeuvre, was the overnight leader after she posted a strong opening day with two wins from two. All season the Frenchwoman has been Suardiaz’s biggest threat and hoped this might be her time.
“I’m currently ranked second overall,” said Belloeuvre ahead of day two’s racing. “I think I could make it through to get the world title. But it’s really difficult as it’s not depending on me. It’s depending Nia [Suardiaz] and I’m not going to hope she fails here in competition.”
For Belloeuvre things did not go as she hoped. She found herself playing catch-up in the slightly stronger breezes. Belloeuvre started from the back in the first race, but she clawed back the deficit to finish second in the race.
World champion, Suardiaz, took her chance and stretched her lead to cross the line with a solid margin. It was a recurring theme for the day. Suardiaz made flying starts for the following three races. She never looked back, taking the win in each.
Rescued situation
The series of wins catapulted Suardiaz to the top of the leadboard. It rescued a situation that had looked perilous after her poor opening day. A third world title was now within her grasp again.
Belloeuvre trailed in second in race-after-race. But it went from bad to worse when she fell off the foil in the day’s last race. She dropped to last place, but her pace lifted her to finish third.
The Frenchwoman is second overall on the leaderboard, adrift by a small fraction of a point. Spain’s Mar de Arce and Viola Lippitsch, of Austria, sit in third and fourth respectively.
For the men’s world champion, Francesco Cappuzzo, the day two did not herald quite the same recovery as Suardiaz. The Italian’s miserable start of the first day was mirrored in the first two elimination round finals. Cappuzzo trailed in well down the order, putting his bid for a third world title in jeopardy.
Discard on offer
But Cappuzzo steadied the ship when he pulled out the win in the day’s last elimination round final. It keeps him in the hunt for the title, but he has a lot of work to do.
The biggest winner of the day two was fellow Italian, Alessandro Tomasi. Two third-place finishes sent him to the top of the rankings.
France’s Romain Ghio leapt up the order to fifth after he took a first and second in the day’s two elimination finals. A discard on offer when racing resumes could give him a big bump.
The French trio of Bastien Escofet—the overnight leader—Julien Rattotti and Oscar Leclair are well placed to move up, with everything is still to play for in Abu Dhabi.
words: Ian MacKinnon
images: Svetlana Romantsova
Spot Info: Fahid Island, Abu Dhabi
Wind
Fahid Island is being developed as a purpose-built watersports’ facility and sits next to Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island Marina, home of the Formula 1 circuit. The breezes in late October tend to be light-to-moderate, building to between 12 and 18 knots as the day goes on. The wind blows mainly cross-onshore from the north, with the seas remaining mostly flat in the bay sheltered by islands.
Weather
Sea temperatures in October and November are still warm, ranging from 28°C to 31°C, so board shorts and a rashie are all that is necessary on the water. The air temperature ranges from a low of 28°C overnight, to a high of 35°C in the day. Sunrise is at about 06.00 with sunset at about 18.40.
