Day 4 of the GWA Wingfoil World Cup France in Leucate started bright and early with riders on the water at 6:30 am. We were finally provided with the conditions we had been waiting for all week. Strong Tramontana winds, perfect flat water and an unforgettable sunrise to top things of
We started off the day with the womens’ Elimination Round One, with each female rider having two discards. Fiona Wylde (USA) dominated the first heat. Wylde had a flying start, placing herself at the front of the pack from the very beginning. The firing Frenchie Flora Artzner was close behind but could not match the blistering pace of the American hotshot.
“I couldn’t have started the morning in a better way. I felt quite nervous this morning as we have been waiting around for the last three days not knowing when we are going to race.”
To jump in the first heat without much of a warm up is always difficult, but I just followed the tactics I thought would work and I am super happy to end up in first place in the first race of the day.”
In the Second Elimination Round Fiona had a turbulent start which left her unable to gain her momentum. Czech charger, Paula Novotna took full advantage of this slip up and powered through the fleet to take first place in the 2nd Elimination Round.
Nevertheless, it was the formidable Frenchie, Flora Artzner who came out victorious. Flora managed to take the win in both the 3rd and 4th Elimination Round which was enough for her to take the overall win in the Surf-Slalom discipline.
“It was such a fun event for me, I had to fight with all the girls, Fiona was really pushing me in all the races, but I am thrilled to come out on top.”
Mens’ Surf- Slalom
In the men’s Surf-Slalom, we had 18 riders in each heat. Each male rider had one discard in total for all the Elimination Rounds. There were some very tight heats with riders pushing each other down to the line.
Current reigning champion Titouan Galea proved unstoppable during the first few Elimination Rounds, but Camille Bouyer and Mathis Ghio were hot on Titouan’s toes. In the Elimination Round Three finals, we had the firing Frenchie Mathis Ghio leading throughout the whole race, but the pressure became to.
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