Report from day One – Sotavento, Fuerteventura
Surf-Freestyle battle has kicked off in Fuerteventura
- The GWA Wingfoil World Tour made its debut at the historic 35th edition of Fuerteventura World Cup event, held at the legendary spot in Sotavento
- Yesterday, we kicked off Day One with the Surf-Freestyle discipline
- We completed Men’s round one to four and one round of the Women’s division
MEN’S ROUND 1-4:
Twenty-eight men and 12 women from 14 nations battled in the opening rounds Surf-Freestyle discipline in gusty winds that varied from 24 to 35 knots. Most of the athletes were competing on their smaller wings of about 3m2.
Alan Fedit, was his usual irrepressible self on the water, advancing with one of the day’s bigger heat scores of 25.30. It included 8.60 for a Corkscrew Frontside 7 and 8.77 for a Back Flip-Frontside 3 Combo.
But once again it was Chris MacDonald who topped all-comers with the day’s biggest heat and trick scores. He romped away with 26.17 that included 8.87 for a Combo and 9.50 for the Frontside 10 that he is beginning to own.
“The conditions here [in Sotavento] are petty similar to Pozo,” said MacDonald, before the competition. “Let’s see what we can do. I mean this is definitely not an easy spot. The wind’s pretty shifty, but I think it’s going to be a good competition and the forecast looks good.”
WOMEN’S ROUND 3
On the women’s side Nia Suardiaz made short work of rivals, while Orane Ceris (FRA) advanced easily, scoring an 8.0 for a Back Flip and 7.53 for a Combo. The Dutch rider Bowien van der Linden could not put such big numbers on the board, but still won her heat and progressed.
“We’ve had a couple of training days here and it went pretty well,” said Van der Linden, before the contest. “I landed my first Back Flip, so it couldn’t have gone better. In Pozo it was survival sometimes. But here you have little waves, so it’s a little like a skate ramp park.”
To keep up with the latest updates and results, visit the LIVE EVENT PAGE where you can access the live ticker, live scoring, and live elimination ladder.
Words: Ian MacKinnon
Photo: Lukas K Stiller
