NEWS: THE TITLE RACE KICKED OFF IN NEW ZEALAND!

The first leg of the 2023 Wing Foiling Tour continued where it left off a few months ago in the Surf-Freestyle category: with action and buzzer beaters!

The best wing foilers on the planet met in New Zealand on the spot of Tauranga for a new season. Among them, we naturally could count on our reigning world champion in Surf-Freestyle, Malo Guénolé, accompanied by Lilian Juppet, who joined the GONG team only a few weeks ago. A competition that got off to a perfect start for our team riders with clear victories in the first round at Tauranga where they were scored on their best jump and best wave. A solid front flip ensured the victory of the heat for Lilian while Malo posted the best score of this short first day with a backflip and a nicely surfed wave.

Wing foiler: Lilian, GONG team rider, in Lethal FSP Pro, Neutra, HM 85 Mast, Ypra S Front Wing and Fluid H Pro stab. Photo: Wing Foil Tour.

The lack of conditions for the remainder of the waiting period then forced the organizers to move the contest to Pilot Bay. A flat spot which redistributes the cards in favor of the pure freestylers of the event. On this new day of competition, the judges scored the 3 best tricks. Thus begins the second round with a solid match-up for Lilian, opposed to Camille Bouyer, world number 3. The latter achieves a performance worthy of his rank with a heat totaling 20.90 points, eliminating Lilian though he had the best single score to his name for a superb front loop. An encouraging performance for the rest of the season.

In this new format, two favorites stood out round after round with Frontside720s, Frontflips and Backflips. It was Chris McDonald and Malo Guénolé who shared all the best scores and once again, were matched-up against each other, this time in the final. If we’ve learned one thing from their last encounters, it’s that you always have to expect a tight duel and it didn’t disappoint! They went all in. Great pals on land but fierce competitors on the water. In this final they respond blow for blow. It was Chris who opened with a Backflip scored at 7.43 points. Malo immediately responded with a Frontside720 which earned him 8.63 points. He was shortly after imitated by Chris who also landed a Frontside 720, followed by a Front Flip. At the end of their heat, only 0,8 points separates these two champions. This time in favor of Chris who wins this first event.

We once again witnessed suspenseful heats, a habit on these Surf-Freestyle events where it can all turn around in the last seconds. A season that promises to be very exciting with the two young guns at the top of the hierarchy, and a lot of hungry talent behind them.

The small downside of the event was Malo’s fairly serious injury two days before the competition. He cut his thigh on a bad fall in a wave, granting him a trip to the hospital and ten stitches. That’s not the preparation our World Champion had in mind but these things happen. He then stayed off until the last second before each heat to preserve himself and heal: it didn’t show on the water but it was physically and mentally demanding.On the first day of the competition, it was Lilian who cut his chin open by bumping into the board, earning him four stitches! But our riders are warriors, so they quickly got back into battle mode to take a maximum of points on this first leg despite these mishaps.

Congratulations to all the participants for their performances and to the organizers of the event on this new spot. A magical setting and conditions that are worth the detour and which you can get a glimpse of on the instagram accounts of Malo @malo_guénolé and Lilian @Lilian_juppet.

Looking forward to the next leg! 😉