Wingfoil World Tour (GWA) Show #3 - Recap Cabo Verde 2024

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. We are excited about today's episode is our third with the GWA so the GWA show.

[00:00:10] We had the opportunity to catch up with Tom and talk to him all about the first contest of the season. It was in Puntopreda and as most of you if you've already seen it but if you haven't seen it make sure to check some of that live feed also some of their new format for video.

[00:00:27] Absolutely insane. The action was intense so I do really hope you enjoy this episode and also some of that recap from the GWA themselves.

[00:00:39] So if you haven't caught last week's episode I would make sure to do so as with Gunner from Indiana Paddle Surf we had an amazing chat getting to know Gunner and also introducing him to all of you.

[00:00:51] So I would urge you guys to go ahead and ladies to go ahead and listen to that and hope you enjoy. Don't forget if you want to support our show there are multiple ways to do so.

[00:01:01] The easiest way is to follow us on Instagram subscribe to our YouTube channel and also make sure to follow us on your favorite podcast provider like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

[00:01:13] If you want we would love some five star reviews those do go a long way to help our show grow. If you want to help out in the day-to-day visit www.winglifepodcast.com and click on support us to donate a few dollars or jump on a monthly subscription.

[00:01:29] We do appreciate your support and I hope you enjoy today's episode.

[00:01:34] Welcome to the Wing Life Podcast where we talk about wing foiling and the lifestyles of those who enjoy this great sport.

[00:01:48] So you got to ride a pontabretta then?

[00:01:51] Yeah, yeah I rode on the day after the comp which was already dropping a bit it was already it was already smaller quite a bit smaller but it was still working.

[00:02:00] And a lot of people are busy obviously.

[00:02:04] It's not your gold an hour of like two people on that wave.

[00:02:10] But still it was fine it was all the kind and we accompanied us out so they were they saw me that I wanted to get a few waves so they were kind of okay let's go go that get it.

[00:02:24] I was good I you know I I robbed up I actually had dropped some guys surfing at the beach because I don't look.

[00:02:30] I can't I wanted to I knew it's going to be crazy busy the day after the comp and I thought okay I'm going to go to Adibaba or go to some other spots in the north which are anyway bigger.

[00:02:41] And then I arrived at pontabretta and I dropped the judges that went for a surf and it was like four kites out and that's it.

[00:02:49] Whoa okay that's the chance I need to get right now you know so I I I quickly went to I didn't bring any gear so I got some gear from Wesley.

[00:03:00] I went to town quickly fetch some gear from Wesley came back took me an hour or something and when I came back it was already 15 guys out in the water guides.

[00:03:11] And I was like I want to just give it a go so I just pump my wing and set up the border at an hour in the obsession in pontabretta which was fun but yeah I was busy.

[00:03:22] And you know I always because I'm an a regular food so I am Mauritius I write back so all the time so for me was super nice to write such a good wave on my front side for the first time.

[00:03:34] That would be actually so yeah exactly so usually I never have the opportunity to write these kind of good waves on my front side because Mauritius is all left and then and then so I had an hour and an half session and we picked up and had some lunch and then I went up to the north with some of our truth.

[00:03:55] And we scored some yeah so good waves in Coral jewel or a second session same day which was a lot bigger than pontabretta it was like three meters and good size you know.

[00:04:06] Oh shot was very very fast way to know I was really I only had one foil of the 850 and it was the wave was pretty fast where each 50 I should have come so things follow.

[00:04:17] But still was funny you know as I said I usually never get to write myself when I look to that so it was pretty cool.

[00:04:24] Definitely because you're normally completely working and so we talked about before this because she was there a week before training and she was a little worried about the forecast but from what we saw it turned out so how did the overall event turn out for you.

[00:04:41] Yeah I turned out great in the end but you have to say nobody was like too sure about it it was the first need to be a bit lucky too and yeah you know KVIRD has not been.

[00:04:53] Having the past season in general this year because usually it's at the place let's say in January February that's very consistent in terms of good swell directions and win.

[00:05:04] It hasn't been really really firing the weeks before the event that those people who went out early to train can tell you about that so we were actually pretty lucky when we saw the forecast it was basically you know like good solid forecast for what had been the one two months before.

[00:05:20] So we were all pretty excited about it but you know how it is you never know you know to get good conditions in such a spot everything needs to line up you need to add the right swell direction the right period the right anger size obviously and it was quite surprising so we ran the kite on the wing and on the day before the first day of the competition which has actually nothing special on the forecast.

[00:05:48] It was basically we started on the 16 and which was the Friday and the 17 18 had 18 19 what a good forecast but already on the first day it turned out to be pretty good conditions.

[00:06:01] And so we started kicked off with the kite event and right on the first day did like yeah nearly all the competition we progressed really far.

[00:06:10] And we're super stoked because we were like oh man forecast of the first day was nothing special it's been an epic day already we had like you know overhead waves and good wind and solid footage so you want to get better you know the next day is just going to be bigger that it's going to be awesome and then the second day came.

[00:06:29] And the second day it was flat you know and the forecast was better than that yeah the second day we were oh yeah it's more we can finish hiding maybe already.

[00:06:39] And then the second day we came in the morning it was flat I mean flat but it was important to have a certain swell size because otherwise the waves cracked straight on the rocks and you can't write it especially on the soil.

[00:06:50] It's really really close like if it's I would say if it's not at least had I okay good actually to small for people on that on the soil.

[00:07:00] And so we were hanging out we started super early we're hanging out the whole day waiting that the swell picks up and it just didn't happen.

[00:07:07] And in the end of the day we ran I think one heat and really their marginal bad conditions and we're like whoa okay that doesn't come out because the forecast was way better than the day before but it didn't turn out might be not a good sign for the next days you know maybe the swell has the wrong directions too much north it just doesn't you know turning because on the

[00:07:27] and in Cape Verde in South especially you have the west coast and ponta predator is basically the most subtle spot on the west coast so the swells wrap around the west side coming from the north and hit the spots that are further up north better usually and bigger and earlier.

[00:07:44] And those were firing the day but ponta predator didn't get waves so we were like hopefully you know the wave direction is not too much north and we're not going to have anything important.

[00:07:54] Okay next day came Sunday and we arrived at the beach and yeah it picked up a lot it was solid you know I was Sunday and you can see decent set coming in you know like way over double head.

[00:08:08] But it was not that clean yet and the wind was really thick in the morning like it was not really strong enough that we were planning with Sunday we were planning to run the kites on that day because yeah we wanted to finish first all tired and.

[00:08:23] Also you know Sunday is the most busy day and in the kite discipline we had a lot of keep variance that were competing there's a lot of good guys and you know how it is I mean they are all their friends on the beach.

[00:08:36] It's show time and it was awesome we wish we realized that we couldn't stop early the morning so realize we cannot finish the whole kite discipline we can only finish either the pants or the woman's.

[00:08:49] So we make the decision to run the whole man's division because we knew we have a journey to mature like all the kids were in boys you know and and and the beach got to be packed so we have to run the boys you know and and make sure we get that man's final on Sunday afternoon this turned out to be epic you know it was big it got bigger and bigger throughout the day it was pretty it was actually the biggest day of the event.

[00:09:13] But it was not the cleanest day of the event so it was big waves but not a lot of ways to work connecting all the way in the base so a lot of ways for shorter but it was big peaks and was was good size.

[00:09:24] And yeah and it turned out that the kind of men had out on the two at the final and Sunday afternoon like 40 after noon five and the afternoon I don't know how many people were there but I think it was like a people of the rocks and probably maybe a couple hundred at least.

[00:09:41] It was like in a soccer stadium you know the final two keep going and they'll do multiple World Champs in the final and when I had to go on the final like I would say 100 people like the water picked the water of the shoulder and it was not it was awesome it were like I really I got goosebumps seek that there's not many events.

[00:10:02] In the world where you know that the crowd and spectators are so hot and so passionate and you know like so connected with with the athletes.

[00:10:16] And Pota Preta is in my opinion the best place in the world to run a wave competition and whatever it is hiding, winging or windsurfing because the wave breaks just a couple of meters away from the rocks.

[00:10:29] The riders are riding on the waves and here the crowds screaming while they are in the wave because it's so close you know it's there's no better place to lie stream and shoot because everything is basically 30 meters in front of you if somebody crashes he basically ends up in the crowd of the rocks get listed out and runs back for the beach.

[00:10:48] It's an amazing place to have a wave competition. So that was someday we got the men's finals down the epic and a big celebration at the winning event and then it got into Monday and Monday the waves turned to be even cleaner.

[00:11:06] It was maybe slightly smaller I wouldn't say a lot but slightly smaller but now the wave direction started to be on like fully on right direction super long steep walls all the way down into the bay.

[00:11:21] So we were first finishing the girls guide in the morning which is took us two hours and then immediately switched to winging and said the wing the wing guys and girls out of the first day we actually only run the guys because we were not sure if a lot of girls going to feel comfortable going out in these conditions.

[00:11:41] It was you know the sets where I would say for me this huge faces you know it was it was good size and it's a powerful fast waves yeah and and the good sets we had the men's outs we ran I think the first three rounds of the man on the first day of the event in epic conditions

[00:12:05] and it was already you know at that point you could tell as I said there was before the kite competition before the kite there was not much to train so it was the first time really the guys were in the water and we could see what the level is about because the year before it's been it been more about okay this is the first ever wave discipline event

[00:12:25] and we're going to put the predator which is a very famous place and we are not sure if it's actually winging bro and we saw that last year the show was amazing and it is absolutely winging bro and nobody needs to be afraid of that but that was more I would say the contents and the outcome last year where this year it was more about where can you push the boundaries and how extreme can you go.

[00:12:49] And it was clear from from the first heat on you know the level was super high first up to say I think we had such a high.

[00:12:58] Lumbar people wanted to enter the events in our way to the end we only allow a maximum of 25 24 riders bridge in men and 24 women but when we had any way less but on the man side we had more than 60 people wanted to enter from all over the world so from last year's first event in in Cape Verde

[00:13:18] and we had around 30 so pretty much number the pink people in Rio de Janeiro last year we had already 45 or 45 so like this in in in Dafa in Morocco the final out to everybody 55 and now we were standing at 62 or 63 men that wanted to enter the event.

[00:13:36] So it was a pretty tough selection you know you get the top guys for the world ranking and then we got a lot of video wild cards and selections from GW and there was a lot of new guys which was exciting.

[00:13:47] It was a pretty tough selection to actually find out the right people and I think we had a good picks you know there was a couple of new faces that really showed that they were picked for a reason and they could perform really well although we haven't seen them on a competition before.

[00:14:03] And yeah and it was a lot about innovation actually where you can push it you know this generation now of winged riders that going into the waves and now training hard let's say in heavier waves I know last year even beginning in every single day foils are mostly marshy around the waves.

[00:14:23] This is not for heavy barely waves and for sure you need to write here and I mean most of the guys were on foils between 500 and 700 to be able to do the speed and keep the control you know not getting lifted too heavily out of these big waves especially the guys like cash model you know the top guys that ended up at the top positions.

[00:14:44] It was so impressive to me to see you know risking these kind of maneuvers like like for it's light on the say so even for a slight on floating on top of the wave you need to be so confident on what you're doing to pull this move off because you know if anything goes wrong only by millimeter you're going to end up with the rocks heavily.

[00:15:05] And you know you just need to be I was really impressed by how confident this boys are and girls have to say I don't want to put the boys on the front of course the performance of cash of my lower some of those guys are outstanding but the girls were ripping too.

[00:15:20] The girl Elena won the event absolutely deserved it you know that anybody in the contest boy or girl was saying heads off to this girl.

[00:15:31] She's got all that shit you know she was going on the biggest ones she had a few that nasty as white balls of the whole competition I think she had two or three of them and every time she came out with the rocks smiling said well that's cool again she was never scared

[00:15:48] and now I think everybody you know including Mona was was saying well she deserves to win you know she is the one who's pushing the woman side here more extreme than others and you know everybody's happy for her twin I mean she's not a full pro rider you know she lives in the Kenerg islands she's a fire fighter that's her job.

[00:16:12] And it's a pretty is a pretty good server but last year we saw her for the first time in Cape Verde and she was already catching up you know the attention of people.

[00:16:24] But from last year to this year she explained me that she has trained a lot on the wing before she was surfing was your main sport and she started winging what you could see the surfing experience in terms of how she thinks waves or she's not afraid of going big big weights.

[00:16:39] But between last year this like here British is spend a lot of time on the wing and she improved her technique on wing foiling a lot she does a lot of surf for the two.

[00:16:47] And you could really see that yeah no was was was awesome to watch I think both boys and the girls were incredible the performance and then on the boys side obviously it was cash wasn't the event last day he missed out and also Marlow the top two guys this year event they were not competing compared to Lafayette so it was the first time they were riding this wave in the calm.

[00:17:08] Both of them last year were starting to tour in real not in not in I gave it. And it was interesting to see because they were obviously seated number one and two.

[00:17:18] I will see that opposite of each other so they would meet each other most likely before the end of the competition.

[00:17:26] So they were both making their way to the ladder and I think cash was I think Marlow and cash they have a different style I think Marlow has an incredible top to bottom style with they were to keep turns in really critical sections then cash has more of trying to implement a bit of innovation.

[00:17:47] Maybe sometimes not as clean on the turns but he's trying things that other people don't do you know and that gives him that extra thing so it was it was good to see those boys moving up besides that I don't want to say these are the only ones but I think those those two deserve to be the final we had one of those our wild characteristics that we actually gave him a wild come to compete for the first time ended up in the third place which was made from Lauren's one star Africa.

[00:18:16] He was he was one of our wild yeah he was one of our wild car picks and he was doing very well too. And they were they were motivated to this African crew and I don't think they write these kind of ways rage awesome back home I mean they have good conditions of Africa but on the plate that's a big special way.

[00:18:34] And a couple others like Fin's pencil ended up for if he was doing great as well you know he was not a stress event but you could see that he had a good time out there too.

[00:18:44] The level was super dense you know and it was a lot of close heats as well I think you know guys like Axel Gerrard who is now two or since the beginning since 14 now he's 16 maybe 17 but still one of the younger ones less performing very well we had Leo Chil

[00:19:02] a young 14 year old that came on the sea last year we gave him the spot also for the first time this guy has potential as well and still obviously a bit young and he was still a game more competition but he definitely had skills as well as Noah and the way we are now I mean I think he's one of the best overall talent anyway made freestyle be the race be it beat the waves he was performing incredibly good but also you know the other regulars for sure

[00:19:31] you know our cup and K asley our winoff from last year I saw that yeah he lost against Axel but I know there's a lot of scores we were really tight it so I wouldn't say you know that it was clear who's gonna win but for sure I think cash and madody served to go all the way to the final.

[00:19:50] And then yeah I think it was interesting to see because they both scored incredibly high wave signal waves scores but cash had a little bit the up by hand in the heat before which out directly competing with with model yeah he was showing a bit more innovation and he scored some very high scores even tens I think when it came to the final if he in all these heats before

[00:20:19] it kind of you know did a couple of good waves made sure he had some eight nines on the on the scoreboard already you have two ways counting and then you can start to play a little bit but in that final heat maybe played it a bit too much

[00:20:36] And and he yeah you got a solid score and then went like mid heat for really a really manoeuvre and tried like a lips and lips like on the foil on the floor got back into the wave you know like everybody was like well that would have been an incredible score landed it but the waves shut down behind him so he couldn't like he landed the trick off the lip common into the back into the way but it could make it out of the way

[00:21:04] he had no chance them others think point with the white one on the rocks so it put him on the rocks which lost him a lot of time but everybody was there to help him get him out bring him back down to the beach get him launched get back out of the water

[00:21:17] Malo in the meantime did his job you know got some solid scores in that was leading not a huge amount but was leading by a point in the office and be like this

[00:21:27] But yeah cash it's still the opportunity five minutes to score another set and and then he went out and was like okay five minutes he's going to get one set get a high score and he can still make it

[00:21:39] So he goes out and when the first set comes in comes along he gets on to set takes a biggest way to set and what does he do instead of riding it like it did the other times

[00:21:51] It just let the week go and tries to get better and actually he got out but he had some owing so it's the continued the concede away so he pumped out basically pumped back on the next

[00:22:05] way where Malo was on jumped on that one I mean you know he's going to blow it in a way because he that's in the

[00:22:12] fear interview you cannot come out and then pop on the next way where the other competitors are anyway yet no we need more but for the showmanship it was incredible

[00:22:20] So he was riding the wave on this point without a week next to Malo this was riding with the ring pumped out into the next one pick a third one

[00:22:29] and that the pitch was the pitch was screaming it was the show in the final was unbelievable I've never seen this was the most entertaining heat at the both exciting heat I've seen in a long time

[00:22:41] It's a matter to do so and then yeah I know if you didn't get like a high nine or anything for that but for the show I think everybody like you know it's giving him standing oficions

[00:22:52] yeah he got obviously with that last wave no more wing wide water on the rocks then the red flag went up to the final heat and also Malo in the last wave actually excelled because he tried to risk him off

[00:23:04] so then both of them came up after came out after the final climbing out by the rocks the final eat of the men and yeah judges had to make we didn't know the result right away

[00:23:16] you know I was on the beach and I was like he got me the result of the result of the keep the sport even though what's gonna come out here to know who's gonna take the analysis of the winner

[00:23:25] so like they were both on the beach and you know the hugging each other for the good show without knowing yet one

[00:23:31] and then yeah then announcement came and Malo took the win which it was fair because he had to bet his scores in the final

[00:23:39] and went to the podium but the show yeah I was incredible the whole event not only this heat but I would say that man's file was the icing on the cake

[00:23:48] well cash his little video when like viral all over Instagram all you saw is everybody reposting him let him go this thing and like what does this kid do it

[00:23:57] though is sick yeah I just said you did it twice actually he did it in one of the heats before as well yeah he did it

[00:24:06] but it was already in the heats before he already had some scores on the table like he was already safe he probably was sitting on 18 and a half points out of 20 so you know he had already basically won

[00:24:15] and then he tried it and I saw that and everything what is he doing seriously getting letting the win go and trying to get barrel

[00:24:21] but on the first attempt he got I still did with my phone and I could I was like no man what did he just do so he just got in the barrel

[00:24:29] got even worked that's it but on the final it did it like yeah it was in it worked but it was kind of man it

[00:24:39] sure wanted to win the call maybe it was not the right move but like you said I think that being a clip when viral and from it

[00:24:46] it's worth more than anything like everybody knows who can well they knew of them before but yeah definitely doing that there

[00:24:52] yeah pretty epic so that's cool nice I mean anybody I think it looks super rare for anybody who sees it but I can tell you if you know that place

[00:25:02] and you feed there especially if you're writing his way yourself you know if you understand how much risk it is to do this

[00:25:10] or how much risk it is to do with all these points to how they write there now I write a lot of wing in waves and in good waves

[00:25:17] and it blew my mind what I saw that you know I you know I wasn't competing there but I know what is

[00:25:25] winning in heavier waves walk us through what does not mean to somebody who lives on Mauritius because you got some epic waves over there

[00:25:34] yeah we got epic waves but it's just now exactly the way it's here nothing short to the ones in kid that's what I mean I write these kind of waves

[00:25:42] not in this way what these boys are doing you know like like that like taking so much risk on the critical parts of the wave

[00:25:52] and experimenting with innovative maneuvers you can do that on the shoulder and I see people trying to but doing that in the

[00:26:00] the critical part of the waves doing aerial maneuvers landing back into the wave just with the power of the swine using the wing

[00:26:07] so obviously we we we saw also the three sessions doing a couple of wind side style aerials like cash was shooting himself six meters

[00:26:15] about to live but at the moment in the rule book it is not allowed to use the wing for airs and the rule at the

[00:26:23] moment is that you can use the wing for doing top turns bottom turns so if you want to use it on the wave to carve

[00:26:31] and section you can do it but you cannot use it for air maneuvers the reason for the rule is that we don't want to push it too hard into

[00:26:40] the freestyle direction but you know this is the rule at the moment I mean obviously we have a seat back rounds after every event

[00:26:49] and talking to the riders and you know what however the sport will progress maybe in the future will be allowed

[00:26:55] still we want to keep you know we don't want it we don't want to put another freestyle discipline up this is still about

[00:27:01] riding waves I like the current format where you have to just fly go and do stuff and it opens the door to surfers definitely

[00:27:08] exactly exactly and and and you can and you see what kind of pairs they actually do without

[00:27:14] so it is getting closer now to windsurfing and I surfing surfing while you really try to hit the lip

[00:27:21] now this is you know this is the big difference but also the gear you know I was seeing and the guys girls being

[00:27:28] definitely on different equipment last year no smaller for its faster forals it was a bit tricky because on the final

[00:27:35] stage it was a really on the on the final day it was a really weird weather situation we had a calima weather

[00:27:43] for those who don't know calima or are not never traveled to the region so this is a situation when sand comes flying

[00:27:52] over from the Sahara from Africa towards the the Canary Islands and the Cape Verden Islands

[00:27:58] this can happen also in the Canary Islands if you have a calima weather and some usually it's with the everyday

[00:28:02] and some it's calima the whole sky turns to be yellowish brownish because of the sand

[00:28:08] and it can shut down the wind completely although you have a 30 knots forecast

[00:28:13] and we had a similar situation the final stage I don't know why it suddenly happened that

[00:28:18] and we woke up in the morning at the whole like the visibility was super bad

[00:28:23] and we had a lot of sand in the air and the wind direction was even more offshore than it usually is

[00:28:29] it is very offshore in part of the parade anyway but it was really coming from the other side already

[00:28:33] like you could actually have written on the left side already but we didn't have a judge telling it

[00:28:39] so they had to sit right and you could see if you could see the livestream the guys

[00:28:46] going up behind the wave they were going even harder than it would have been parallel to the wave

[00:28:53] so it's been extremely offshore I think for kinds it would have been impossible to ride

[00:28:58] but on the foil because you flag out the wind completely and you only ride the wave

[00:29:03] once you were on you flagged out the wing even with a complete offshore wind

[00:29:07] you were able to ride it super well and that was showing that big advantage

[00:29:13] that foils or windfoils especially have or were kind of the wind surf

[00:29:17] because you can be how the wind done the base you don't use the wing at all anymore

[00:29:23] and in the kai do windsurf riding the same spot you would always use the wind at least a little bit

[00:29:28] and when the wind is too offshore it doesn't work anymore

[00:29:31] yeah it was again showing us the potential that these wing foils have in such conditions

[00:29:36] you know I need offshore spots where you usually only surf

[00:29:39] and then the critical moves and the critical sections which we hadn't seen either

[00:29:43] which was like insane so yeah

[00:29:47] and gear progressed that much do you find them riding more like a little bit

[00:29:52] like what did you see them riding there that made them be able to maneuver so quickly

[00:29:57] smaller foils but obviously more MA kind of mid aspect range or?

[00:30:01] yes definitely more in mid aspect because you don't want too much lift

[00:30:05] now it's not the way where glide is that important the way it is so powerful

[00:30:11] we're going to push you anyways

[00:30:13] it's not a small mash away where you need to connect every little bit of energy

[00:30:18] has plenty of energy and you can ride a mid aspect foil

[00:30:23] that gives you a better tonability you know

[00:30:26] but it's a lot about the control

[00:30:28] it's a lot about having good balance for it in terms of few slug links

[00:30:32] and the right setting I mean I noticed from myself I've been riding there

[00:30:37] and with the setups you're riding on such a high speed

[00:30:41] that you definitely don't want to touch down during you know during turns

[00:30:46] bottom turning or top turning because this really slows your speed

[00:30:50] so you're trying to have your foil in the air or your board in the air all the time

[00:30:54] and to be able to do that you need to be really really like balanced and locked on the foil

[00:31:01] but yeah I saw a lot of different foils

[00:31:04] that have been tested on prototypes of production ones but most of them were between 5 and 700

[00:31:09] there may be 800 maximum

[00:31:11] but I think a lot of the riders were like a bigger ones in the beginning

[00:31:14] and then where it was never used to small foils in other spots

[00:31:18] and then once they went down to 5,600s

[00:31:21] they were like how we should have used that earlier

[00:31:24] now how big are boards or are they riding in that?

[00:31:27] very different I would say

[00:31:29] I mean there was not too many people that were riding very small boards

[00:31:34] because the problem is the spot is as it's very offset, very gusty

[00:31:40] and if you fall on the inside it is not easy to get back on the board

[00:31:45] you know it's not easy to start so you don't have a lot of wind

[00:31:48] and if you are on a really small board on the 30s or the later prom board

[00:31:52] it might happen that you crash and you swim on the channel

[00:31:57] that it can take you 5 minutes to get back on the foil

[00:32:00] because you don't have enough lift

[00:32:02] so I would say most people prefer to have a bit of volume

[00:32:08] just to be safe if they are in the liles to be getting back on the foil more easily

[00:32:14] but for sure, in terms of foil control

[00:32:18] the smaller the board, the better it is

[00:32:21] so I saw anything

[00:32:24] I saw guys riding 30 liters to 70 liters

[00:32:27] I would say anything in between the

[00:32:30] I mean even a Mallow for example he rides the same size all the time

[00:32:35] doesn't matter what he's comfortable with one side

[00:32:38] I think he rides around 60 liters no matter what

[00:32:41] if it is on a 2.5 wing in Grand Canaria

[00:32:45] or if it is on a big wing in light wings or if it is waves

[00:32:48] I think he feels really dialed in with his board

[00:32:51] and he uses pretty much the same size all the time

[00:32:54] Okay now what do you think?

[00:32:56] So top move on the men's side

[00:32:58] and then top move on the lady's side

[00:33:00] what would be, what would you think would be the top highlight of this event?

[00:33:03] Yeah for sure one of the top moves was cash getting bailed

[00:33:07] and ditching the wing

[00:33:09] I have to say that

[00:33:11] one of the most impressive moves that I saw of cash was those foil slides on the lid

[00:33:18] and all that being able to basically breach your foil

[00:33:22] just having one tip of the foil

[00:33:25] still touching the lip of the waves

[00:33:27] sliding it for 10 meters

[00:33:29] and then fully controlled, pulling a second and continuing to ride

[00:33:32] this needs so much control and confidence to be able to do

[00:33:38] this is incredible I think maybe not everybody understands that

[00:33:41] but when I saw that I was like

[00:33:43] how can you do that and not crash

[00:33:46] for me was maybe one of the most technical parts for sure

[00:33:50] when it comes to innovation trying to get bailed without the wing

[00:33:53] it's an amazing number one move for the men

[00:33:56] so this was just an incredible show

[00:33:59] and it just shows us where it can go

[00:34:01] maybe we're going to see the sure we're going to support that in the future

[00:34:04] not only competition

[00:34:06] but in the right waves

[00:34:08] I think on the woman side

[00:34:09] Elena for me and it was not specifically a move

[00:34:13] but she was just dropping into the sun

[00:34:15] really really big monsters

[00:34:17] and she was positioning her so deep

[00:34:21] and a couple of times she couldn't hold the foil down

[00:34:24] because it has too much lift on the wave

[00:34:26] and she just cut the bullet in front of the white water

[00:34:28] and got completely eaten

[00:34:30] she only destroyed one window

[00:34:32] although she went over the rocks like four times

[00:34:34] she only broke one window

[00:34:36] in general I have to say I was surprised

[00:34:38] there was not compared to last year

[00:34:40] there was a lot less people that went over the rocks

[00:34:43] now everybody got used to the spot

[00:34:46] we had a couple of people getting out over the rocks

[00:34:48] but not too many we had

[00:34:50] not too many wings broken

[00:34:52] a lot less than last year

[00:34:54] you know so people got more

[00:34:57] yeah it's good

[00:34:58] that's good

[00:34:59] that's good

[00:35:00] and yeah it was interesting to see

[00:35:07] but with a woman I would say

[00:35:09] I mean Leah did also land in some very 60s on the wave

[00:35:14] Leah was performing really well too

[00:35:16] I have to say

[00:35:18] she was maybe not going as critically as Elena

[00:35:20] and as we said it's a surfing discipline

[00:35:22] and it's surfing elements

[00:35:24] so that's what counts

[00:35:25] so being critically going deep

[00:35:27] and being able to see

[00:35:29] the most extreme line

[00:35:31] she finished third

[00:35:33] and she pulled off some 360s on the face

[00:35:37] without the wings

[00:35:39] I think the top four girls were performing really well

[00:35:43] Bobin, Leah, Boone obviously

[00:35:49] I mean more than I think

[00:35:51] she has an advantage that she

[00:35:53] you know she cites and surfs

[00:35:55] big waves like that a lot

[00:35:57] she's an amazing rider

[00:35:59] and so versatile

[00:36:01] she won the kite

[00:36:03] with two 10 points

[00:36:05] waves in the final

[00:36:07] never seen the difference before

[00:36:09] she was just killing it

[00:36:11] on the kite

[00:36:13] and she was doing really well on the wing too

[00:36:15] but she was not maybe taking as much risk as Elena

[00:36:19] and then I got rewarded for that

[00:36:21] I think she was really happy

[00:36:23] to see Elena and she said

[00:36:25] she could surf the ground here

[00:36:27] it's good to have somebody new chart in here

[00:36:29] she was happy with her second place as well

[00:36:31] but I think everybody you know

[00:36:33] was just stoked

[00:36:35] and it was cool to see the

[00:36:37] competition with the 10 days

[00:36:39] for kite and we

[00:36:41] finished everything in five days

[00:36:43] so after day five

[00:36:45] we had a lot of fun

[00:36:47] and we finished everything in five days

[00:36:49] so after day five

[00:36:51] it was tough

[00:36:53] and luckily

[00:36:55] because actually the day after

[00:36:57] the finals of wing four

[00:36:59] the ways

[00:37:01] dropped

[00:37:03] it was still working

[00:37:05] you know as I told you

[00:37:07] I've been training a bit

[00:37:09] and they asked about it

[00:37:11] it's been a lot smaller already

[00:37:13] so we were super happy to finish

[00:37:15] in five days

[00:37:17] we had a week or five days

[00:37:19] you just trained

[00:37:21] and we had some

[00:37:23] social activities

[00:37:25] we went to a school

[00:37:27] in Santa Maria

[00:37:29] I know Kate Verde is a small place

[00:37:31] I mean, Salda

[00:37:33] Elena has two villages

[00:37:35] and we went to the school

[00:37:37] we had some questions about that

[00:37:39] actually how that social engagement

[00:37:41] went like how was that

[00:37:43] and we had a lot of fun

[00:37:45] and passionate

[00:37:47] they were not shy

[00:37:49] so we did that in the past

[00:37:51] already on the kite events

[00:37:53] in the last years that we

[00:37:55] went to a school

[00:37:57] and we brought the athletes

[00:37:59] to meet the kids

[00:38:01] between 10 and 18

[00:38:03] and they had so many questions

[00:38:05] you know nothing related

[00:38:07] to the sport mainly

[00:38:09] it was more

[00:38:11] which were a lot of young kids

[00:38:13] they were all between

[00:38:15] six and 12 maybe

[00:38:17] so

[00:38:19] presented that

[00:38:21] our athletes there

[00:38:23] especially the ones that also speak

[00:38:25] Portuguese, the Brazilian

[00:38:27] they can't really answer the Portuguese writers

[00:38:29] and they had prepared a couple of questions

[00:38:31] and then we did a photo

[00:38:33] and a dance

[00:38:35] yeah it's been

[00:38:37] it's been a really nice experience

[00:38:39] I think it's something that we want to

[00:38:41] you know when the Gapalca

[00:38:43] Berda gave back and

[00:38:45] as I explained it's a small island

[00:38:47] and they don't only have like

[00:38:49] basically two villages of the island

[00:38:51] so there's not so many things to do

[00:38:53] it's getting more and more realistic

[00:38:55] and there are people tell us now

[00:38:57] so there are one way

[00:38:59] activities that people can do

[00:39:01] but

[00:39:03] we want to contribute on

[00:39:05] giving them let's say a perspective

[00:39:07] and that's why also I think

[00:39:09] there are already hiding you can see that

[00:39:11] there are so many

[00:39:13] good athletes

[00:39:15] high level athletes coming out of

[00:39:17] Kibberberda because of the conditions

[00:39:19] and the community they have

[00:39:21] and I want to see that in wing

[00:39:23] into it such a new sport but there's more

[00:39:25] and more young kids

[00:39:27] we hopefully have now wings foods

[00:39:29] are starting so they can get access

[00:39:31] to equipment

[00:39:33] Wesley in Boavista

[00:39:35] a lot for wing foilage

[00:39:37] because the spot in Boavista where Wesley is training

[00:39:39] is let's say I mean pontopreta

[00:39:41] is nice but it's not everyone

[00:39:43] I mean this is

[00:39:45] I would say

[00:39:47] for that

[00:39:49] totally up to that

[00:39:51] wing foilage

[00:39:53] that spot you wide

[00:39:55] this is not a place you go out and learn

[00:39:57] out the right way

[00:39:59] no

[00:40:01] and in Boavista

[00:40:03] there's actually

[00:40:05] a spot that is

[00:40:07] a lot more suitable

[00:40:09] easy access not such a powerful wave

[00:40:11] and it turns out that Boavista gets

[00:40:13] more and more popular for wing foiling

[00:40:15] and wing foil tourism

[00:40:17] so there's also more

[00:40:19] and more kids that I heard of

[00:40:21] there was another

[00:40:23] sanigee

[00:40:25] friend of Wesley that he brought the thing

[00:40:27] because of World Cup to compete in the event too

[00:40:29] and he was riding very well too

[00:40:31] and there's a couple more in Boavista that's coming up

[00:40:33] and

[00:40:35] yeah we want to contribute a little bit

[00:40:37] give back to the community

[00:40:39] experience from the world tour

[00:40:43] and hopefully

[00:40:45] in a couple of years

[00:40:47] we're going to have

[00:40:49] 10 geterians that I have 11 to compete

[00:40:51] in the World Cup when you get there

[00:40:53] that would be nice to see

[00:40:55] it also the girls side

[00:40:57] hopefully more and more

[00:40:59] yeah we had also

[00:41:01] then the last day

[00:41:03] super session on

[00:41:05] Kite Beach which is the option B spot

[00:41:07] so when we go to Cape Verde

[00:41:09] and we don't have

[00:41:11] the right northwestern

[00:41:13] as well to hit Pontopre than all

[00:41:15] the west coast

[00:41:17] there's this spot Kite Beach which is the most

[00:41:19] popular spot let's say on the south

[00:41:21] where the winds well

[00:41:23] anyway works

[00:41:25] it's like a side on a short spot

[00:41:27] for wing falling too

[00:41:29] but it doesn't have the same

[00:41:31] how often waves like Pontopre

[00:41:33] so we went there to have a

[00:41:35] super session like for freestyle

[00:41:37] it was a good show

[00:41:39] it was on Saturday that beach was packed

[00:41:41] and at a pastry event there just for fun

[00:41:43] and yeah

[00:41:45] and then we

[00:41:47] yeah we had a couple of visits around the island

[00:41:49] we shot some

[00:41:51] lifestyle content for the destination

[00:41:53] we definitely want to come back there

[00:41:55] and

[00:41:57] I think Cape Verde is when it comes to

[00:41:59] wind and wave

[00:42:01] competition or general doing any of these sports

[00:42:05] it's one of the best places in the world

[00:42:07] and you want to have this on the world tour

[00:42:09] and you want to maintain it on the world tour

[00:42:11] obviously pretty fantastic

[00:42:13] so overall feedback from athletes

[00:42:15] organizers, sponsors

[00:42:17] it was pretty successful then

[00:42:19] absolutely whether I think the best

[00:42:21] the best start we could have wished

[00:42:23] for the season you know it was everything

[00:42:25] was working really smooth

[00:42:27] and that's been the

[00:42:29] obviously the conditions where top notch

[00:42:31] will be hard to get better conditions

[00:42:33] I think this year very extreme

[00:42:35] so the action was insane

[00:42:37] but besides that it was also our team

[00:42:39] I think our GWT was working really

[00:42:41] smooth we had really good

[00:42:43] we tried it you might have seen

[00:42:45] if you knew media formats

[00:42:47] you know

[00:42:49] we switched we are switching up this season

[00:42:51] to give a bit more access to behind the scenes content

[00:42:55] you know not only pure action

[00:42:57] and you know we brighter vlogs

[00:42:59] we are focusing on the

[00:43:01] carpools for athletes in portraits

[00:43:05] and having long

[00:43:09] like TV format productions

[00:43:11] that we can get on mainstream media

[00:43:13] I liked your 10 minute recaps

[00:43:15] as well like your 10 minute recapt

[00:43:17] was awesome

[00:43:19] almost like out here

[00:43:21] we will watch hockey in 30 minutes

[00:43:23] or hockey in 45 minutes kind of thing

[00:43:25] and then instead of watching a 3 hour game

[00:43:27] you can skip through and it shows you highlights

[00:43:29] and that's similar to what this format was

[00:43:31] which was great

[00:43:33] so if you don't have the time to watch the live stream

[00:43:35] then at least you can still get caught up

[00:43:37] and watch that so that was pretty cool

[00:43:39] yeah exactly

[00:43:41] and it's a bit more

[00:43:43] as I said means to more rotate it

[00:43:45] it is a format that you can even show on TV

[00:43:47] because the formats we produced before

[00:43:49] which are where the daily highlights

[00:43:51] was really something for

[00:43:53] especially interest channels

[00:43:55] for all the way for channels

[00:43:57] for our channels

[00:43:59] but it's not something that the TV

[00:44:01] would actually broadcast

[00:44:03] well these 10 minute recaps

[00:44:05] I would say also entertaining

[00:44:09] for somebody who is maybe not

[00:44:11] completely inside of the sport

[00:44:13] you can follow and understand

[00:44:15] the competition and the event

[00:44:17] and then we also could use

[00:44:19] but this is something maybe not

[00:44:21] everybody see

[00:44:23] a 26 minute TV highlight show

[00:44:25] which is going to air worldwide on television

[00:44:31] and

[00:44:33] which is going to be broadcast

[00:44:35] throughout the next couple of months

[00:44:37] and plus the live stream

[00:44:39] got the live stream obviously

[00:44:41] so I think our team was doing a really good job

[00:44:43] and on the sport and on the media side

[00:44:45] everything was working like a clock

[00:44:47] and also I have to say

[00:44:49] it was really smooth operation

[00:44:51] with the organizer

[00:44:53] all the local team on which we depend

[00:44:55] the local organization on NSM

[00:44:57] event us

[00:44:59] with Jada

[00:45:01] and Joe and all that team

[00:45:03] they

[00:45:05] pulled off this event

[00:45:07] and built the infrastructure

[00:45:09] and also get the final scene

[00:45:11] and also get support from

[00:45:13] do it on an F1

[00:45:15] because we were lacking a bit of budget

[00:45:17] to support the event

[00:45:19] and it was great to see them

[00:45:21] believing in this event

[00:45:23] and making it happen

[00:45:25] because also without their support

[00:45:27] we would have missed probably

[00:45:29] the budget to really run the event

[00:45:31] in the way we did it

[00:45:33] so all in all

[00:45:35] I think it was

[00:45:37] yeah, I want to mention that as well

[00:45:39] we have this in the past

[00:45:41] I'm sharing a sponsor ring

[00:45:43] and Morocco last year

[00:45:45] because I think a lot of people

[00:45:47] don't see that how much cost

[00:45:49] is involved

[00:45:51] this is not something cheap

[00:45:53] and it's not always

[00:45:55] that the local organizer

[00:45:57] the tourism has actually

[00:45:59] enough budget to do it

[00:46:01] so in this case

[00:46:03] do a ton of F1

[00:46:05] both

[00:46:07] support the event

[00:46:09] and

[00:46:11] they were happy with the outcome

[00:46:13] as well

[00:46:15] so in the end

[00:46:17] yeah, I'm amazing

[00:46:19] I think we couldn't have wished

[00:46:21] for a better start

[00:46:23] now we have a few weeks

[00:46:25] so we go to the next highlight of the year

[00:46:27] in Leicardt

[00:46:29] which is not going to be a wave event

[00:46:31] it's going to be racing

[00:46:33] and freestyle

[00:46:35] but it's also one of the biggest events

[00:46:37] he

[00:46:39] and what moves

[00:46:41] the boys and girls

[00:46:43] what moves they have in the back

[00:46:45] so is it interesting to see the first event of the year?

[00:46:47] Definitely

[00:46:49] so that's coming up

[00:46:51] April 6th to the 14th

[00:46:53] you got to surf freestyle

[00:46:55] then you got a free-fly-slalom

[00:46:57] we were asked if balls would join that event

[00:46:59] yeah, we got balls coming

[00:47:01] we got golepto is going to come

[00:47:03] and also

[00:47:05] freestyle guys

[00:47:07] and free-fly-slalom

[00:47:09] we can have really exciting races there as well

[00:47:11] it can be really strong

[00:47:13] if the tournament is on top of the list

[00:47:15] it can be 30-40 out of the easily

[00:47:17] so you got a maximum of

[00:47:19] surf freestyle

[00:47:21] you got a maximum of 28

[00:47:23] and then 28 females for this event

[00:47:25] did you find the same push

[00:47:27] for additional people to get into

[00:47:29] this one as you did

[00:47:31] pretty much

[00:47:33] so we have free-style

[00:47:35] and like up

[00:47:37] numbers are growing

[00:47:39] it's an event that's in the center of Europe

[00:47:41] so it's easy to get there

[00:47:43] the event is doing the holidays

[00:47:45] a lot of the young boys

[00:47:47] they're coming up and girls

[00:47:49] now we have a lot of girls

[00:47:51] we have 17 girls

[00:47:53] they've got a completed freestyle

[00:47:55] that's the highest number we had so far

[00:47:57] nice

[00:47:59] and also the next one

[00:48:01] are you still usually have a lot of people

[00:48:03] that want

[00:48:05] any kind of rule changes

[00:48:07] or any adjustments

[00:48:09] for this next

[00:48:11] next one from last year

[00:48:13] that people should know about

[00:48:15] or can look forward to

[00:48:17] yeah we're going to have a little adjustment

[00:48:19] on the

[00:48:21] I think I talked about that in one of the last episodes

[00:48:23] of the Slalom side

[00:48:25] but I don't want to talk about it too much

[00:48:27] I think it's like a

[00:48:29] I mean it's still going to

[00:48:31] have a start in the finish line

[00:48:33] and go around boys

[00:48:35] and have a three-five section all this

[00:48:37] but it's more going to be

[00:48:39] how the elimination system is going to run

[00:48:41] good to know

[00:48:43] and then we're stoked to see what kind of moves

[00:48:45] these kids and everybody come up with

[00:48:47] and see what they've been practicing

[00:48:49] yeah because that's going to be phenomenal

[00:48:51] kind of curious

[00:48:53] no, no, us too

[00:48:55] that's going to be a start committee

[00:48:57] the right committee of the three stars

[00:48:59] to go through the root book on new moves

[00:49:01] because we want to get

[00:49:03] breeze already in advance

[00:49:05] what we can expect to see

[00:49:07] you know, then it's easier to judge for us

[00:49:09] because I was

[00:49:11] able to see a new move

[00:49:13] and a competition

[00:49:15] and you've never seen that before

[00:49:17] it's really hard to put a number

[00:49:19] scored to it

[00:49:21] like almost getting like a table

[00:49:23] those sort of things just get a

[00:49:25] range okay good to

[00:49:27] so usually after the three

[00:49:29] star events after each event

[00:49:31] we have a debris with our riders

[00:49:33] we'll be working on the trick list

[00:49:35] again to implement new tricks

[00:49:37] because we have senior tricks on an event

[00:49:39] really and see how they should

[00:49:41] be obviously

[00:49:43] if it's an innovation move

[00:49:45] and it's new in the first event

[00:49:47] the first time you see it is always

[00:49:49] ranked higher

[00:49:51] you want to push innovation

[00:49:53] and we don't want to have people

[00:49:55] just perfecting what they can already do

[00:49:57] we want to see new stuff all the time

[00:49:59] so it's going to it is

[00:50:01] rewarded but then after it has been seen

[00:50:03] you need to categorize it

[00:50:05] and you need to put it in the

[00:50:07] in the in the

[00:50:09] in the move list

[00:50:11] and be able to know where it should stand technically

[00:50:13] oh wow okay that's

[00:50:15] that'd be fascinating process actually

[00:50:17] we are working very close together

[00:50:19] a lot of our riders have pretty

[00:50:21] of our judges they all have

[00:50:23] a very decent level and wing foiling as well

[00:50:25] so that doesn't mean that they can

[00:50:27] all do each of the top moves

[00:50:29] that only one person will do

[00:50:31] but they can understand how difficult tricks are

[00:50:33] it's it's it's really exciting

[00:50:35] I think that these days

[00:50:37] still to be a judge because you

[00:50:39] yeah you see you you move

[00:50:41] all the time like it's been back in the days

[00:50:43] when Kylie started or in surfers

[00:50:45] they'll stop yeah you're always trying to gauge

[00:50:47] and you never know what's going to show up

[00:50:49] um that's pretty fun okay so I'm glad

[00:50:51] the first one went really well

[00:50:53] and we're excited for the second one

[00:50:55] are there any other points that you want to tell folks

[00:50:57] at home about that or is are we pretty good

[00:50:59] for today now I think uh

[00:51:01] we're good I think uh yeah

[00:51:03] first event of the season

[00:51:05] has been an absolute highlight

[00:51:07] and I hope you all been watching it

[00:51:09] if not that make sure you see

[00:51:11] some of the recap videos because

[00:51:13] for me it was really

[00:51:15] the time I realized that wave wing

[00:51:17] foiling has just been elevated

[00:51:19] up next level and uh

[00:51:21] for me I was really like okay

[00:51:23] this is now

[00:51:25] a new era you know

[00:51:27] and this is not just testing

[00:51:29] testing

[00:51:31] can you actually spot it on the way

[00:51:33] using the really going

[00:51:35] hardcore

[00:51:37] yeah

[00:51:39] and I'm really curious to see where

[00:51:41] it's still going you know

[00:51:43] what we're going to see in the next event

[00:51:45] now the next wave event

[00:51:47] we have some time is going to be

[00:51:49] morocco in September so

[00:51:51] and we still have plenty of time

[00:51:53] for the next one to

[00:51:55] come up and I'm sure

[00:51:57] we're going to see some

[00:51:59] of course morocco is not the same kind of wave

[00:52:01] like pontopreta it's much more

[00:52:03] melo wave but it's a really good foiling wave

[00:52:05] it's longer than pontopreta

[00:52:07] so it gives much more squaring potential

[00:52:09] it's maybe not getting as hardcore

[00:52:11] but it allows

[00:52:13] very technical writing and I think

[00:52:15] we're going to see a lot of innovation there

[00:52:17] oh beautiful well on that note

[00:52:19] thanks everybody for joining us

[00:52:21] on this special episode

[00:52:23] and we'll see you all next time

[00:52:25] thanks Tom