Wingfoil World Cup: Changing of the guard? Castenskiold and Mar de Arce win in Tarifa

After the wind had only allowed for a little bit of action on the first few days, a strong Levante ensured great conditions on Valdevaqueros beach in Tarifa just in time for the end of the event. A new generation of young athletes showed impressive performances and prevailed against established names. The men's quarter-finals in particular saw a tough battle for a place in the next round.

The first quarter-final could have been a final in terms of standard: Bastien Escofet, Axel Gerard, Malo Guénolé and Benjamin Castenskiold delivered a thrilling exchange of blows with spectacular tricks. The scores were extremely close. Due to technical problems, part of the heat even had to be repeated. In the end, Gerard and 14-year-old Dane Benjamin Castenskiold came out on top and progressed to the semi-finals. In the second quarter-final, Austrian hotshot Tomas Acherer shone with a breathtaking frontside 1080, which was rewarded with 9.2 points by the judges. This top score secured him a place in the semi-finals alongside reigning world champion Christopher MacDonald.

Surprises in the semi-finals

The semi-finals took place in strong Levante winds of over 30 knots. Charlie Loch, Luca Vuillermet, Benjamin Castenskiold and Tomas Acherer met in the first heat. Acherer came out on top with an impressive combination that earned him 9.47 points. Together with Castenskiold, he qualified for the final. The second semi-final offered a surprise: world champion Christopher MacDonald landed the first 1440 in a competition, but was unable to qualify for the final because his execution was not clean enough for the judges to award him a high score. Instead, Aleksander Acherer with three solid scores and the overjoyed Italian Rocco Makana secured the last two places in the final.

The final turned into an exchange of blows between the teenagers, with the scores close for a long time. In the end, Castenskiold made the decisive difference with a perfectly executed Palau frontflip, for which he received the highest score of 10.0 points. Aleksander Acherer countered with the same manoeuvre, but narrowly missed out on the top score. Tomas Acherer got off to a strong start, but was unable to land his final attempts. Makana also had difficulties with his final tricks. With an impressive total score of 28.43 points, Castenskiold finally secured his first World Cup victory - an outstanding performance for a 14-year-old.

Sled builder tricks his way onto the podium

A newcomer also caused a stir in the women's event. German debutant Marie Schlittenbauer surprisingly knocked out reigning world champion Nia Suardiaz in the first round. However, Suardiaz fought her way back into the tournament in the second round. In the quarter-finals, both Suardiaz and Mar de Arce put in strong performances at their home venue in Tarifa. Schlittenbauer continued her successful run and achieved the highest score of the round with 20.03 points.

In the final, local hero Mar de Arce and Nia Suardiaz gave each other nothing and took turns at the top. It was only in the final moments of the heat that de Arce came out on top and celebrated her first victory in the surf freestyle discipline in front of her home crowd. Suardiaz took second place, followed by the surprisingly strong Marie Schlittenbauer in third and Manon Dupé in fourth.

GWA Wingfoil World Cup Tarifa - the results:

Gentlemen:

1. Benjamin Castenskiold (DEN)
2. Aleksander Acherer (AUT)
3. Tomas Acherer (AUT)
4. Rocco Makana (ITA)

Ladies:

1. Mar de Arce (ESP)
2. Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
3. Marie Schlittenbauer (GER)
4. Manon Dupé (FRA)