Wingfoil World Cup: Mathis Ghio takes the lead - Team America One as a talent factory

The second day of competition at the Wingfoil Racing World Cup on Lake Silvaplana in Switzerland brought exciting races and surprising developments despite a short delay to the start due to a lack of wind. The focus was particularly on the newcomers of the America One talent programme, who made their debut on the World Cup stage. The programme, which aims to develop future champions in foiling sports, has already started to bear fruit.

The group of America One participants in Silvaplana covers a wide age range from 18 to 26 years. They include 18-year-old Callum McDonald from Hawaii and 26-year-old Maximo Nores, who has many years of windsurfing experience. 20-year-old Kai Mirel from San Francisco is also part of the team. JP Lattanzi, also from Hawaii, has stood out in particular, maintaining a place in the top ten with consistent performances.

Sean Herbert hits the ground running as a top talent

The biggest surprise, however, came from New Zealander Sean Herbert. The 23-year-old was the only non-American in the America One group to win the first two races on the first day and thus secured the overnight lead. Herbert explained that he was approached by America One after a good performance at the New Zealand Championships. "I've been at the last two camps with the guys and it's been very beneficial for everyone involved. The group has developed a lot and we want to build on that," said Herbert.

Foiling is no longer the future, foiling is here now."

Leandro Spina, the head of the America One talent programme, explained the objectives behind the involvement of international talent. The Argentinian-born coach, who has many years of experience in developing talent at the highest level, explained: "There are two programmes. One focuses on the Olympic classes. The other focusses on long-term talent development, and this is where wingfoiling comes in, because foiling is no longer the future, foiling is here now."

Mathis Ghio and Maddalena Spanu in the lead

The second day of competition brought some changes at the top of the leaderboard. The 44-strong men's field was split into two groups, each of which completed two races. Frenchman Mathis Ghio won both races in his group and thus took the overall lead. Sean Herbert continued to show solid performances with a third and fourth place, but slipped down to third place overall. Frenchman Bastien Escofet slipped between him and Ghio. Escofet's strategic decision to use his biggest foil paid off and earned him a win and a second place. Italy's Maddalena Spanu continued to dominate the women's event. She won three of the day's four races and extended her lead in the overall standings. With this convincing performance, she goes into the third day of competition as the clear favourite.