The defending champions Mathis Ghio from France and Maddalena Spanu from Italy have impressively demonstrated their supremacy at the Ensis Engadinwing 2025 Wingfoil Racing World Cup in Silvaplana. Despite unexpected challenges and up-and-coming competition, the experienced champions prevailed in the end and once again secured victory in Switzerland.
Ghio and Spanu with crashes on the way to the final
The penultimate day of competition brought surprisingly good conditions with sunshine and winds of up to 15 knots. For Mathis Ghio, however, the day began with an incident when he collided with his brother Romain in the first race. "It was very unfortunate. I didn't hear him. I was on the port tack, he was on the starboard tack," explained Ghio. The defending World Cup champion then withdrew from the race, but regained his form and qualified for the final as the top driver.
In the women's race, the defending champion Maddalena Spanu also had to overcome adversity. Due to lulls and collisions, she missed three races and saw her considerable lead dwindle. However, like Ghio, the Italian showed mental strength, winning the last two races of the day and securing qualification for the final.
One of the most exciting developments of this World Cup round was the emergence of new talent challenging the established order. American rookie JP Lattanzi impressed throughout the week, winning both the repechage and the quarter-finals. Britain's Freddie Strawson also showed his best form to date in Switzerland, celebrating his first World Cup race win. New Zealander Sean Herbert, another newcomer to the series, also qualified for the final.
Exciting finals for men and women
In the men's final, the newcomers faced the defending champion Mathis Ghio and the experienced Pole Kamil Manowiecki. Manowiecki got off to an excellent start and led up to the first mark. But everything changed on the descent. Ghio took the lead, closely followed by Herbert. The New Zealander put the Frenchman under pressure right to the finish, but was unable to overtake him. Ghio defended his title and took another step towards his fourth World Cup Series title.
Up-and-coming talent was also on show in the women's event. The 15-year-old Frenchwoman Vaina Picot had high hopes of reaching the final after coming third in qualifying and making it straight through to the semi-finals. In the end, however, her compatriot Anais Mai Desjardins and 20-year-old Czech Kristyna Chalupnikova prevailed. Chalupnikova had impressed with some of her best performances in Silvaplana, winning both the quarter- and semi-finals. Italy was represented by two riders in the women's final and was therefore guaranteed a medal. But could anyone beat the defending champion Maddalena Spanu, who already had a two-point lead as the top qualifier? Chalupnikova once again showed her class and won the first race of the final in best of three. However, Spanu proved calm, dominated the start of the second race and never relinquished the lead. She secured victory and her third Silvaplana title in a row.
Results IWSA Wingfoil Racing World Cup Silvaplana
Ladies
- Maddalena Spanu
- Kristyna Chalupnikova
- Marta Monge
Gents
- Mathis Ghio
- Kamil Manowiecki
- Sean Herbert
