Race Recap – GWA Wingfoil World Tour, La Palma (ES)

Hello, I’m Viola Lippitsch, FLYSURFER Team Rider and from Austria. The holidays have just started and we are already in the middle of the competition season. I’m currently on the Canary Islands, where three GWA Wingfoil World Tour stops are taking place in the coming weeks. Wingfoiling is a very young sport and there are many young, up-and-coming talents. That’s why there is a Youth Wingfoil World Cup, which was held last week in Santa Cruz de La Palma. The difference to the adult competitions is that the participants are divided into three age groups – U19 / U16 / U14. There is a freefly slalom and surf freestyle discipline for each of these age groups.

The event was a complete success and a lot of fun. Not only because I was able to secure good places this time, but also because I got to meet lots of new, young people who I’m really looking forward to meeting next year. It would be great if there were even more girls among the many new talents.

The event didn’t start so well for me. It all started when I arrived at Santa Cruz de La Palma airport, but unfortunately my competition equipment didn’t make it here. I spent the training day I had planned in advance trying to organise equipment including a wetsuit, helmet and impact waistcoat as quickly as possible, as this is mandatory for the competition. Fortunately, many of my colleagues helped me out with equipment.

Many thanks to FLYSURFER, who helped me to prepare myself with borrowed equipment. I was therefore able to find some time to get used to the new spot and the conditions. Despite hoping and constant phone calls, my luggage was nowhere to be found and we could already guess that it wouldn’t arrive in time.

The first day of the competition began with the freefly slalom discipline, for which my fast race foil would have been crucial. Although the freestyle foil provided to me was slower, I was still able to achieve second place after four races thanks to the good wind conditions and a lot of effort.

The second day started with light winds and no action at first. Which was good for me as I was informed that I would soon receive some of my luggage. As the wind slowly picked up, my mum was on her way to collect the luggage. With the help of other parents, we had assembled my freestyle equipment twenty minutes before my heat and I was able to start the freestyle discipline. I actually made it to the final – without having to set up my equipment at the spot – and came fourth.

Towards the evening, a new race course was laid out and we did another three races, meaning we had two discards. This means that the two worst races are cancelled. After this day I was in third place, but as the wind conditions were very weak, the last four races were postponed to the last day. As the boys’ U16 and U19 freestyle categories were still to be held, these four races were postponed until Sunday afternoon.

In the last four races, my aim was to defend 2nd place behind Nia Suardiaz, which was no easy feat without a race watch. I have to say I’m very proud of my result despite the complications I had this week.

With my FLYSURFER TAO 5.2, I was able to successfully prevail in many races against larger wings from the competition. The TAO is an excellent freestyle wing and also a competitive race wing. I think the new version of the wing with the rigid handles is a very successful addition to the already successful soft handle version. Simply a great wing!

Not all my luggage has arrived yet, but now I’m off to Fuerteventura. A week of training before I get ready for the next competition, the BigAir event on Gran Canaria. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting my team-mate Nathan van Vuuren from South Africa for the BigAir event. Together we will try to be successful. Until then, I will make good use of my time here to continue improving so that I can achieve good placings in the next competitions.

Best regards
Your Viola

written by Viola Lippitsch
photos by GWA Wingfoil World Tour

 

The entire FLYSURFER team is also proud of Viola and we are keeping our fingers crossed for the next competitions