NEWS: TARIFA TRAVEL STORY BY MAX

Training, new moves and solid results, our team rider Max Robinson reflects on an eventful week in Tarifa where our team riders occupied half the spots in the 4-men final.

Training and lead up to the event

“Upon arriving to Tarifa and meeting up with the rest of the GONG Team, myself and the team trained together with videographer Valentin working with the crew behind the scenes. These training days were some we will never forget leading up to what was an amazing competition called the Tarifa Wing Pro at Valdevaqueros Beach.”

Although the competition is always fun for us, I would argue the best part of traveling to events always seems to be the riding and training that leads up to it. Just before the event started Malo and Bastien started training a new move that is now called the Back Mobe. In just a few tries, both the boys quickly grasped the rotation with Bastien landing it during the first day of trying it and Malo getting it on the second day. I can tell it is moments like these that get the team more stoked than ever! Training hard and learning new moves that feel like nothing we’ve ever experienced before is such a rush for all of us and I think it is what makes us the most excited about the sport. Clement and myself also tried the new move and although we haven’t landed it yet, I feel like we are on our way.”

The comp is on

“During the Tarifa Wing Pro, the GONG team was on fire with both the 18 year old Malo Guénolé and 24 year old Bastien Escofet making it into the final 4 with Bastien finishing 2nd and Malo finishing 4th. 15 year old Clement Hamon also had an outstanding performance making it to the Quarterfinals and finishing 9th overall, while in the Women’s fleet, GONG Team rider Sofia Marchetti made it to the quarter finals and finished a respectable 7th which has her currently sitting in 4th place in the overall ranking for the Surf-Freestyle discipline. Undoubtedly, this was the most impressive competition yet with massive moves and innovations being thrown down throughout the entire event. Bastien and Malo stood out with impressive height and control through their maneuvers while stomping the new Backmobe maneuver to give them extremely high scores throughout all of their heats. Now after watching how the level climbed at this event was a site to behold and it has me more stoked than ever to continue to push in my training!”

Photoshoots and local gems

“During the days leading up to the event we decided to do some photoshooting. One very special thing about Tarifa is not just how windy it gets but how massive the windsports community is there. However, this can make it difficult to when making content and to find a place that wasn’t crowded for photoshoots was difficult to say the least but we managed with a great sunrise session at Playa Chica which is just in Downtown Tarifa, as well as a beautiful turquoise water session at Canos de Meca which is just 45 mins north or Tangana Beach (the competition site) for an evening session.

Many times after sessions we would also be ravenous and the affordable and tasty food in the town of Tarifa always seemed to treat us with the exact meal we needed to recover after a long day. Our go-to spot however was right at the beach where the competition was called Tangana Beach Bar. This place has the perfect Tuna Poke Bowl as well as an Açai bowl that some might argue even outdoes the Açai Bowls in Brazil. I guess we will have to see next month once we attend our next stop of the tour in Combuco, Brazil for the final event of the Wingfoil World Tour. One thing is for sure, I know our team will be excited about the next time we are supposed to go back!”

Recap :

• Most visited spot: Tangana Beach (Valdevaqueros)
• Most visited restaurant: Tangana Beach bar
• Favorite moment on the water: GoPro session with the team at Valdevaqueros the day before competition
• Favorite moment with the team: Seeing Bastien and Malo make the finals together and supporting them from the beach.
• Funniest moment with the team: Having to share one small bathroom between 5 guys Clément needing to eat 2 dinners on a regular basis.