Day One in Tauranga, Highlights & FreeFly-Slalom
Due to the wind direction, the competition was temporarily moved to Pilot Bay today, where we managed to complete the 8 heats of the men’s seeding round.
The first rider’s meeting of the 2023 season was held this morning at Mount Maunganui Beach. At the meeting, the athletes were briefed about the competition conditions and any slight changes to the rule book for the 2023 season.
Due to the wind direction, the decision was made to move the competition site for the day over to Pilot Bay to start the Surf-Freestyle division.
“We’ve come over here as the wind has switched directions and it’s coming from the southwest. I’m so excited to have this event here in New Zealand at my home spot. It’s so cool to have everyone here, and we’re having a great time,” explained local rider Jeremiah McDonald.
The GWA Wingfoil World Tour has launched a new FreeFly-Slalom discipline to be staged at the opening event of the 2023 season in Tauranga, New Zealand. The Tip Top GWA Wingfoil World Cup, presented by Armstrong Foils, is the first tour event to be held in the Pacific.
The refreshed GWA Wingfoil World Tour rulebook means that the new discipline will replace the Surf-Slalom category at all eight scheduled events for the coming year.
It was felt that the Surf-Slalom tag no longer adequately described the racing class and failed to keep up with the fast-changing nature of such a dynamic sport.
The FreeFly-Slalom discipline has a bias towards “expression”, to distinguish it from more traditional, highly-specialised slalom race classes. FIND OUT MORE
