The GWA Wingfoil Race European Championship 2021 | Results
Women’s
1. Olivia Piana (FRA)
2. Flora Artzner (FRA)
3. Bowien van der Linden (NLD)
U16
1. Riccardo Zorzi (ITA)
2. Noe Cuyala (FRA)
3. Sebastiano Zorzi (CHE)
U19
1. Benjamin May (DEU)
2. Malo Guenole (FRA)
3. Léandre Carlier Arquoit (FRA)
Masters
1. Klaas Voget (DEU)
2. Craig Gertenbach (ZAF)
3. Henning Nockel (DEU)
Men’s Open
1. Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA)
2. Balz Müller (CHE)
3. Maxime Chabloz (CHE)
LIVETICKER DAY 3 (CET / GMT+2)
Current discipline: Race
Judging Criteria: No rules
Format: Upwind/downwind course (reaching start and finish)
15-08-2021 17:54 We finished round 4, where the discard shuffled up the ranking here and there (find the unofficial results down below). We’ll soon have the prizegiving, right now though, the riders are going all out in the freestyle expression session, making the most of the evening wind. This is it for the liveticker, be sure to check out our daily report/round-up later tonight.
15-08-2021 16:31 That’s round 3 in the bag! Some exciting racing in tricky conditions, with some serious patches, especially in the upwind part of the course. Francesco Capuzzo (ITA) managed to extend his lead by winning the final ahead of Balz Müller (CHE), followed by an on-fire Riccardo Zorzi (ITA).
After the Men’s final it was time for the future of our sport, the U16 and U19 categories, to show that Capuzzo and co. cannot rest on their laurels. As the pack came creaming for the first buoy it was Benjamin May (DEU) who took the lead, closely followed by Riccardo Zorzi. It was a close battle between these two rippers, until Riccardo took the lead at the second buoy and managed to build up an impressive lead come the downwind reach. A couple of minutes later he cruised over the line in style, sitting on his board and enjoying the applause from the spectators. Benjamin followed suit with a nice jump over the line, followed by Malo Guenole (FRA) in third. Close on his heals were Noe Cuyala (FRA) and Devin Hauser (CHE), showing us all that the future of this sport is bright!
Next up were the masters, where the tight battle for second place between Henning Nockel (DEU) and Craig Gertenbach (ZAF) continued. Leader of the ranking Klaas Voget (DEU) was rounding the first buoy ahead of the rest, with Henning in second. Meanwhile, Craig had a shocker of a start, but managed to fight back to finish third behind his rival Henning, who crossed the finish line sitting on the board.
We’ve gone straight into the fourth round, with a new course including a short pumping element in the last reach to the finish, making for some exciting battles!
15-08-2021 14:59 We have picked up where we left yesterday, unfortunately, the same goes for the wind, which is up and down still. We started the losers final of the Men, but after a decent first reach, most riders were parked after the jibe. The winners final saw the competitors shooting for the first buoy, but this race also had to be abandoned for a lack of wind. The Race Director has now decided to move the first buoy out from the shore where there’s more wind, fingers crossed for some propper racing!
15-08-2021 14:09 We’re still waiting for the iQFoil Exhibition to finish, the wind is up and down – okay for windsurf foiling but on the limit for the wingfoilers. Next call is at 14:15, first possible start at 14:30.
15-08-2021 13:00 The plan for today is to finish the third round in the same format as yesterday, and then mix things up for the fourth round with a bit of pumping on one of the reaches. After finishing the all-important fourth round – meaning a discard for all riders – the idea is to do a freestyle supersession followed by a test race, adding some other elements like 360s to spice things up. Next call is at 13:30, first possible start at 13:45.
15-08-2021 12:48 The wind has picked up and the iQFoilers have hit the water. Conditions permitting, we’ll be up as soon as they leave the water. Next call 13:00, first possible start at 13:15.
15-08-2021 12:04 We’ve got a little bit of a breeze building, but not enough to get flying. Next call at 12:30, first possible start at 12:45.
15-08-2021 11:33 Welcome to the final day of the GWA Wingfoil Race European Championship, coming at you from sunny Lake St. Moritz in Switzerland. We’ve just finished the skippers meeting; the plan is to resume the third round as soon as the iQFoil Exhibition is finished. Next call is at 12:00 with a first possible start at 12:30. Make sure to check out the highlight video from day 2 and while you’re at it, why not also check out our Instagram Stories to get a taste of the action?!
LIVETICKER DAY 2 (CET / GMT+2)
Current discipline: Race
Judging Criteria: No rules
Format: Upwind/downwind course (reaching start and finish)
14-08-2021 18:45 Tiny little update before we leave you today: the heat that was abandoned was the losers final. This heat had to be restarted because some riders were over early, but since there was a rather big wind gap at the start, the Race Director has decided to rerun the heat tomorrow, with the original starting list, so including the riders who went over early. Skippers meeting is at 11:00 with the first possible start at 11:30. Tschüss!
14-08-2021 18:27 Some more exciting racing this afternoon, with 3 heats completed before the wind got too gusty. All riders have been released, tomorrow will be the final day of this European Championship with a lot to play for still. We will keep you posted as always.
14-08-2021 17:26 The new course is being set. This time we start from the other side of the lake, with a reaching start, downwind reach to buoy 2, an upwind to buoy 3 after which it is back to buoy number 2 and on to the finish in front of the beach. Next call is at 17:30, first possible start 17:45.
14-08-2021 17:00 We just finished the supersession and we’re going straight into the skippers meeting for the third round now.
14-08-2021 15:50 The freestyle supersession will start at 16:00, with riders divided into two groups: women & youth, and pros. Heat duration is 15 minutes and there will be around 15 competitors in each heat. It’s a best trick format, and with two photographers in the water it promises to be quite the show. Judges will be looking for technicality, amplitude, flow and overall quality of the moves. Basically, go big or go home!
Racing is to be resumed around 16:45.
14-08-2021 15:25 That’s it for the second round, with once again plenty of action and tight racing. We’re preparing for the freestyle expression session now, riders briefing is at 15:30. Looks like we’ll have three heats of 10 minutes each, with about 10 riders in each heat. Stay tuned!
14-08-2021 14:07 The first round is done, with back to back races and results in all categories! Some very exciting racing, with lots of overtaking, crashes, strategic upwind reaches and even a few tricks at the finish line. The riders are really pushing it, often out of breath at the finish line. We are going straight into the second round of heats, keep an eye on our Instagram Stories to get a taste of the action here at Lake St. Moritz in the beautiful Engadin Valley.
14-08-2021 13:02 We just witnessed the first race of this European Championship, and the excitement was too much for a couple of our competitors, who went over early. This means it’s a recall for heat number 1. Next start in 1 minute!
14-08-2021 12:49 The Z flag is up, meaning by now it’s something like 5 minutes till the red flag and a little under 10 minutes till the start of the first heat.
14-08-2021 12:25 The AP flag went up around 12 o’clock, so the competitors are on standby, but the wind is up and down. Most riders are on the water testing the conditions, using their big wings and foils. The first heat of the day will be heat number 1 for the Men’s Open, followed by heat 2 of the Men’s, the Women’s, the losers and winners final of the Men’s Open, the U16 and U19 and finally the Masters.
14-08-2021 11:47 The wind is definitely picking up, but still a bit ‘holey’ on the course, with a wind reading of 3 to 8 knots. Riders are getting nervous!
14-08-2021 11:26 We just finished the skippers meeting, where Race Director Juan Antonio Aragon revealed his plans for today. To loosely quote him: “The sun’s up, the sky is blue… if there ever were a day for action it’s today!” The plan is to run two rounds back to back, in the same course as yesterday. At 14:00 we will switch to freestyle for an expression session, after which racing will resume, but with a different course starting from the other side of the lake. For now though, Lake St. Moritz is still relatively calm; the next announcement will be at 12:00 with a first possible start at 12:15.
14-08-2021 10:37 It’s another beautiful morning here at Lake St. Moritz, with wall to wall sunshine promising an action-packed day! Riders have started pumping up their wings and sanding down their foils; skippers meeting is at 11:00 with a first possible start at 11:30.
LIVETICKER DAY 1 (CEST / GMT+2)
Current discipline: Race
Judging Criteria: No rules
Format: Upwind/downwind course (reaching start and finish)
13-08-2021 18:00 Lake St. Moritz has returned to the same mirror-like state we found it in this morning. This means all riders are now released for today. The forecast for tomorrow looks promising, skippers meeting is at 11:00 with a first possible start at 11:30. Gueten Oobe & uf Widerluege!
13-08-2021 17:35 The U16, U19 and Masters are released, Open Men and Women are still on standby. If conditions haven’t improved by 18:00 all riders will be released. Fun fact: as there’s only 2 riders who don’t compete in the Men’s Open, this basically means only 10-year-old ripper Daniel Wenger (CHE) and 13-year-old racer Sebastiano Zorzi (ITA) are officially off for today!
13-08-2021 16:38 The men are still on standby for heat number 1; conditions are not suitable yet and the wind has shifted slightly, so the race director is setting out a new course. We’ve got 20 riders on the water who are making the most of the conditions. Oh, and the sun’s back! Woop woop!
13-08-2021 16:06 The rain is gone but the wind has stayed! We have about six riders on the water at the moment, the men are on standby for their first heat.
13-08-2021 15:26 The prediction from Balz was pretty spot-on: the approaching thunderstorm gave us about 10 minutes of good wind, but now it’s raining hard and as the storm seems to get closer all riders have been called back to the beach.
13-08-2021 15:10 Besides Balz there are now about 10 riders on the water. The wind is definitely up, AP flag is down for heat number 1 of the Men’s Open!
13-08-2021 14:57 Hot news from weatherman Balz: a thunderstorm is approaching. The Swiss madman is suiting up as we speak, as right before the thunderstorm there will likely be a (short) wind window.
13-08-2021 14:33 Dutch superstar Maaike Huvermann just tested the conditions, but to no avail. She went out on her 77-litre board with her 5.2 wing but the wind has backed off a little. Like Balz said before: fingers crossed the wind will kick in here!
13-08-2021 14:04 We have an update from amateur weatherman and pro wingfoiler Balz Müller, who knows the Maloja wind like the back of his hand: “In Silvaplana it’s windy already, it usually takes about one hour until it kicks in here in St. Moritz. It’s supposed to kick in now, but with all the clouds up in the mountains behind in the valley, it’s possible that the thermal effect is less strong. Fingers crossed the wind will kick in here… enough time to sharpen the foils!”
13-08-2021 13:36 Lake St. Moritz is starting to show some wrinkles; the wind is slowly picking up and riders are on standby!
13-08-2021 13:16 We’ve just completed the first skippers meeting of the GWA Wingfoil Race European Championship. 43 competitors from 8 countries are more than excited to hit the water, however, for the moment the beautiful lake of St. Moritz is still glassy, so we’re waiting for the thermal Maloja wind to turn it into the perfect playground for this Continental Championship.
The race format will be an upwind/downwind course with a reaching start and finish – right in front of the spectators, so action guaranteed! We’ll start with two heats in the Open category, followed by a Women’s heat, the losers and winners final of the Men’s Open, the U16 and U19 and finally the Masters. For now though, we’re still waiting for the wind to kick in, next call at 13:30, first possible start 13:45.
13-08-2021 08:00 Good morning everyone and welcome to the first-ever GWA Wingfoil Continental Championship, hosted on the beautiful lake of St. Moritz in Switzerland! Registration is scheduled for 08.00-10.00 with skippers meeting 11:00 and first possible start 12:00.
We’ll be coming with more updates very soon.