GWA Wingfoil Racing World Cup 2024 in Jericoacoara, Brazil – Sail World

WingFoil Racing World Cup Brazil begins in just under a week’s time, with five days of high speed foiling competition from 3 to 7 December. This is the third year that the World Cup season will conclude in Jericoacoara, a strong-wind Mecca for all kinds of wind-powered watersports.

5 days of long-distance and short-course racing out of Vila Kalango in the idyllic beach town of Jericoacoara in the north of Brazil
Who will bring the latest developments in wing gear on to the windy race course?
Defending men’s and women’s World Champions, Mathis Ghio and Maddalena Spanu, among the competitors
The final event of 2024, this year’s world titles will be awarded in Brazil

WingFoil Racing returns to Jeri for the season’s finale – photo © IWSA Media

Close to the Equator, Jericoacoara delivers warm weather all year round and is renowned for good breeze at this time of year.
Defending men’s World Champion Mathis Ghio (FRA) is well placed to claim a third consecutive world title, although the fast-improving Polish rider Kamil Manowiecki (POL) will be working hard to push his Ozone training partner all the way. A former Olympic campaigner in windsurfing, Manowiecki’s methodical approach to his campaign has already yielded victory at the previous event of the season in Sardinia just over a month ago.

Manowiecki won the last event in Cagliari – photo © IWSA media / Robert Hajduk

Aside from the Pole there is a whole host of threats to Ghio from the strong French and Italian squads, with Italy’s Francesco Cappuzzo among the hot contenders for a place on the podium.

Julien Rattotti was the early user of double skin wings – photo © IWSA media / Robert Hajduk

This time last year Italian teenager Maddalena Spanu took her first world title in the women’s fleet. Spanu remains in the hunt for another title although she’ll have to get past Spanish teenager Nia Suardiaz who has enjoyed a stellar season on the 2024 circuit. If Suardiaz wins in Jericoacoara she will become the third different female in three seasons to take the overall season title.
As with Manowiecki in the men, Karolina Kluszczynska is proving that Poland is a rising force in world-class wingfoiling as she improves her skill and speed in the stronger conditions.

Spanu and Ghio will be looking to defend their world titles – photo © IWSA Media

New designs
With competitors permitted to use a wide range of equipment, and new developments and innovations coming along every month, who will bring out the silver bullet that could make the difference on the race course? A year ago French rider Julien Rattotti was one of the first to use a double-profile Gong wing on the circuit, displaying devastating pointing ability and boat speed, particularly on the long upwind legs of the long distance races.
Since then, however, much of the fleet has started to use alternative versions of this double-skin technology and they’ve learned to sail hotter angles on the downwind legs for higher apparent wind and ultimately better VMG. Still, new foils, boards and wings are being produced all the time by multiple manufacturers, and there are huge technical and technique gains being made.

Life is good at Vila Kalango – photo © IWSA Media

A format wide open to opportunity
The WingFoil Racing World Cup tests the riders in a range of short-course and long-distance formats, and it was a year ago in Jericoacoara that the ‘Golden Ticket’ race was trialled for the first time.
On that occasion, Venezuela’s Gollito Estredo won the long-distance race of the final day’s competition to earn a last-gasp place in the 10-rider medal series. From there Gollito blasted his way through the knockout rounds to claim a bronze medal by the end of the day.
The format is designed to keep the outcome wide open until the very end of the regatta.

Racing condition are reliably epic at Jeri - photo © IWSA Media

A legendary name
One name to watch on the entry list is Erik Scheidt, son of Olympic medal-winning legend Robert Scheidt who lives much further south in Brazil. While Erik is unlikely to threaten for the top spots, no doubt the young rider will learn a huge amount from lining up against the best in the world.
Jericoacoara promises a great showdown to another thrilling season where riders are regularly achieving in excess of 30 knots’ boatspeed on the race course.
Series Standings Men