NEWS: WORLD FIRSTS AT POZO

For its first event on the legendary spot of Pozo Izquierdo, on the island of Gran Canaria, the wingfoil world tour was the scene of clutch performances, buzzer beater heats and several world firsts, including the first Big Air world title won by Julien Rattotti!

The stage was set for a historic event with a wind nuking all week long in the 30 to 45 knots range, a new competition format with the introduction of the Big Air category and a very talented field of competitors. All pumped up for one goal: to go big!

Rattotti becomes Biiiiiiiig Air world champ!

We expected a lot from this new category and the least we can say is that it did not disappoint! An event to remember thanks to the solid conditions that only Pozo can offer and the impressive level of commitment of the riders. So let’s first thank them all for this thrilling show!

Among the top performers we had the usual suspects with Malo Guénolé and Chris McDonald but also some underdogs on a mission! The heats were tight with some huge upsets. In the quarters, Malo managed to get past his buddy and rival Chris in the dying minutes of the heat thanks to a massive front flip. On his road to the final he had to give way to Julien Rattotti, new member of the GONG team, who scored a solid 9.23 points for a huge jump in their semi-final clash. A jump measured at 10.2m thanks to the on-board GPS devices of each competitor.

In the final, Julien was opposed to Benjamin May and Titouan Galea in wind conditions easily exceeding 40 knots. The three contenders for this first world title had one thing on their mind, setting a new height record. Julien first took the lead with a jump of 8.8 meters that Benjamin surpassed with a jump of 7.6 meters, lower but more technical, which counted for about 20% of the scores. The lead was short lived for Benjamin as Titouan took it over with a jump at 8.9m, only to lose it moments later to Julien who flew sky high with a 11.1 meters jump! He then sealed the deal with an even higher jump at 11.2 meters. A huge performance that allows him to clinch a historic world title!

“It’s crazy,” said a delighted Rattotti on the beach. “The conditions were very strong, but I’m super-happy to have made it. It was nice. Super-happy. To manage to get to this final, it’s just a dream to win this event. So, it’s just so nice to be in Pozo. We can prove to the guys what’s possible with a wing in all these conditions. It’s just so nice.”

Big Air podium: Benjamin May, second, Julien Rattotti as the winner and Titouan Galea on the third step.

First rounds of the Surf-Freestyle comp

On the first day of competition, it was up to the best freestylers in the world to show who had been the most diligent in training over the last few weeks! The first three rounds of the Surf-Freestyle comp were a showcase of the best tricks of the moment with an elite that perfectly held its rank. The reigning world champion, Malo Guénolé, stood out with two tricks landed for the first time ever in competition. He landed a Backflip 360 and a Tack Frontside 7 which allowed him to post the highest score of the round. Another stand out was Bastien Escofet, who thanks to solid 1080’s in those early rounds, was among the few with Chris McDonald to post scores close to perfection for their tricks.

The first rounds also saw a solid comeback from the new U-16 Surf-Freestyle world champion, Clément Hamon, who after a complicated first heat, managed to step things up to eliminate Julien Bouyer in the next round. This performance allowed him to join his new teammates from the GONG team, Max Robinson, Bastien Escofet and Malo Guénolé who had also qualified for round 3. The second day gave way to speed and pumping with the start of the FreeFly-Slalom comp.

Innovations in Surf-Freestyle

It was with the last rounds of the Surf-Freestyle comp that an action-packed week ended for the competitors, often engaged on the three fronts, Freefly-Slalom, Big Air and Surf-Freestyle. On this last day, the rules of the game were the same as for the day that launched the competition, namely a nuking side-on wind and riders sending the most spectacular tricks of the sport! In particular innovative tricks like the world firsts performed by Malo during the first rounds. A performance that the reigning champion unfortunately did not manage to repeat during his quarter-final where the German Benjamin May sneaked past thanks to a last trick which earned him an excellent score of almost 9 points.

In the last heats of the day we saw some intense duels, exceptional combos, committed tricks and a final victory for Chris McDonald. Definitely the man to beat in the coming event. In the final he landed an impressive triple combo made of a Back Flip followed by two FS3s. Another world first in competition which makes the next event in Fuerteventura in just a few days all the more exciting!