2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara

2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - Overall

by Andy Rice 18 Dec 2022 23:18 PST 15-18 December 2023

Paula Novotná (CZE) and Mathis Ghio (FRA) have been crowned first ever Wingfoil Racing World Champions at the Wingfoil Racing World Cup in Jericoacoara, Brazil.

With the Czech and French riders winning the Wingfoil Racing World Cup event over the past four days in northern Brazil, their performances this week were good enough for both athletes to secure the overall world titles for 2022 in this new discipline of wingfoil racing.

Sunshine and strong north-easterly winds of 15 to 22 knots
Mathis Ghio (FRA) wins the men's event and first ever world title
Paula Novotná (CZE) wins the women's event and first ever world title

Tight racing in Gold Fleet - 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

Ghio Wins the 3-Way Shoot-Out

Going into the final day of Gold Fleet racing, it was time to see which of the front three would prevail in a head-to-head shoot-out between Ghio and his two closest rivals, Bastian Escoffet (FRA) and Alessandro Tomasi (ITA), both less than two points away from the lead.

In the morning session of four races, held in the typically consistent 20 knot north-easterly breeze which has prevailed over the past week, Ghio put the hammer down.

He was winning straight out of the start line, his time-on-distance judgement extremely accurate. Four wins from four races put the young French rider at a good points advantage going into the lunch break.

Ghio (yellow in centre) fighting for victory - 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

World Cup Drama X 2

Watching the drama of the Football World Cup Final play out in front of a big TV screen at Vila Kalango, Ghio didn't want to break away from the action in Qatar for the final session on the water. Escoffet meanwhile didn't watch the football. "I stayed away, I was focused on my goals," he said.

Italy's Nicolo Spanu took advantage of the football distractions to winning the first race of the final session, with Escoffet second and Ghio an uncharacteristic fifth. Escoffet saw out the event with two bullets, closing in on the lead.

Always wet, always windy, perfect for wing racing - 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

Emotional Engineer

But even if Ghio wasn't quite at his dominant best, the engineering student at university in Lyons managed to see out the regatta and win by 6.6 points from Escoffet, with Italy's Alessandro Tomasi (ITA) in third overall.

"I can't say how much winning this world title means to me," said Ghio. "It's a really special moment and I have worked super hard to reach this point. Competing at this event in Jeri was a lot of fun but very challenging with the weed. I really improved my jumping skills and it was a bit like border crossing skiing at times. Consistency was hard to achieve, but that was the key to winning."

Ghio was nervous until the very end of the event - 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

She's Every Woman

Paula Novotná (CZE) looked set to win this event from day one. The Czech rider is the stand-out talent in women's wingfoil competition across all disciplines. The freestyle world champion is now the Wingfoil Racing World Champion, the supreme athlete.

"Winning here and winning the world championship, it's an awesome feeling," said Novotná. "I didn't really like racing at the beginning, but I got addicted to that feeling of going fast, and now I love it! Next year I hope we will see more girls in wingfoil racing, pushing up the level and making us go even faster."

Novotná jumps for joy 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

Let's Get This Party Started

She paid tribute to Orane Ceris (FRA) who closed the gap on the Czech rider in the second half of the competition. "It's always good fun to race with Orane. She's very fast and we love spending time together. We've done the hard work, and now its time to party!"

Top 3 women of the 2022 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Jericoacoara - photo © IWSA / Jeri Wingfoil Cup

Thanks, Jeri

This evening the riders received their prizes and trophies on Jericoacoara Beach in front of Vila Kalango, where the caipirinha continued to flow until well past sunset. The first of many times that the World Cup Wingfoil Racing circuit will return to this beautiful part of Brazil.