COPA KITLEY GWA WINGFOIL WORLD CUP BRAZIL 2023
CAUIPE, 21—24 NOVEMBER
The seventh and final Surf-Freestyle call of the GWA season played out on the sea side of Cauipe's lagoon. The athletes were judged on their best four counting scores – two from waves and two from freestyle. Italy's Sofia Marchetti scooped her first podium with a third place overall after France's Orane Ceris suffered a knee injury in her semi-final and could not compete. The final was a rematch of old rivals, Bowien van der Linden (NED) and Nia Suardiaz (ESP). The young Spaniard easily outpointed her rival with her freestyle tricks, including a huge Backflip for 7.53 points, out of 10. But Suardiaz never found her flow in the waves and the Dutchwoman's strong surfing was enough to give her the win in Brazil, the second of the season.
In the men's Surf-Freestyle contest, the final was a battle between old foes, Christopher MacDonald (USA) and Malo Guénolé (FRA). Seventeen-year-old MacDonald, the new Surf-Freestyle world champion, was eager to cap his winning season with a victory. The teenager came out charging and threw down two huge freestyle tricks, including a 9.20 for a 1080. Guénolé, the outgoing Surf-Freestyle world champion, could not keep up with the young American. But MacDonald's surfing was no match for Guénolé's and the French 18-year-old put several big wave scores on the board. They were good enough to get his nose in front and gave him the consolation of the event win, even though he had failed to defend his title.
Everything came down to the sixth and final stop in the race for the FreeFly-Slalom world title. Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA) and Titouan Galea (FRA) were equal on points at the top of the standings. Bastien Escofet (FRA) sat in a distant third place, but was still in with an outside chance of taking the title. It did not work out that way. All three title contenders made poor starts and failed to make the first elimination round final, immediately putting them down the order in Cauipe. In the following rounds in furious racing on the lagoon's flat waters, Galea and Escofet never found their groove and suffered mixed fortunes. Cappuzzo got himself in the running with several second place finishes. That helped him finish Brazil in second place and gave him the coveted title that he had dreamed of for so long. France's Oscar Leclair was another big winner in Cauipe, taking his first career victory in a GWA world cup.
Spain's Nia Suardiaz has swept all before her this year in the FreeFly-Slalom discipline. In the technical racing in Cauipe lagoon she again barely put a foot wrong. Suardiaz won all five elimination rounds. But as the racing progressed on the fourth and closing day of the world cup in Cauipe, the other riders began to get the conditions dialled. Kylie Belloeuvre (FRA) got a second in the fourth elimination race, with Maddelena Spanu (ITA) in third. But Bowien van der Linden had got enough points on the board to take third overall in Brazil, with Belloeuvre earning second spot.