2025 Formula Wing World Championships, Sardinia, Italy - Day 1
by WingFoil Racing World Cup 25 Sep 2025 06:57 AEST
23-28 September 2025
Mistral conditions - 2025 Formula Wing World Championships, Sardinia, Italy - Day 1 © IWSA media / Robert Hajduk
Four long-distance races on day one set the tone for a competitive Formula Wing World Championships. 93 competitors from 22 countries are racing each other for the first ever Formula Wing world title.
The riders would have liked to have fitted in more practice before the competition, but the spectacular arrival of a waterspout on the practice day meant the sensible option was to stay ashore to admire nature's firework show from a safe distance.
The Formula Wing rules permit riders to select a maximum of just two wings and two foil sets for the event. After getting used to being able to select from an unlimited array of equipment, the riders are adapting quickly to the limited options of Formula Wing, and they appreciate the simplicity of the format.
A warm north-westerly Mistral was gusting offshore from Cagliari as the men and women launched out of their high-speed rabbit starts. Last year's Wingfoil Racing World Cup champion Mathis Ghio started his campaign poorly, coming across the first finish line in just 18th place. But the flying Frenchman pulled himself together for the next three heats.
Ghio admitted he had got a bit lost in the tactical minefield of a race course that always threw a random gust, shift or wind hole at them. "I was feeling extremely fast but it's useless to be fast if you find yourself going in the wrong direction," he said. "I felt I needed to focus a lot more and play better with the wind, and not take so much risk. That's what I did for the three races after that first race and I tried to keep it simple."
Ghio comes out on top of the men's standings after today's racing with winner of the first race, Italy's Alessandro Tomasi pushing himself into the red zone in the variable wind conditions. "I was pumping the foil hard at some points," he said. "I didn't have a heart monitor on but I think my heart rate was up at 195, maybe even 200 sometimes," said Tomasi.
Grae Morris, an Olympic silver medallist from the windsurfing event at Paris 2024, says he's come to compete in the Formula Wing Worlds as a bit of a holiday from his iqfoil racing. The holiday's going pretty nicely so far for the young Australian, whose race win in the fourth and final heat of the afternoon launches Morris into third place overall.
There were four different winners across four men's races, with Italy's Francesco Cappuzzo and France's Oscar Leclair enjoying their moments in the Sardinian sun this afternoon. Leclair found his 7.3sqm wing challenging in the gustier moments. "Normally I could go on the 6.5 wing because I felt pretty overpowered at times on the 7.3, but it was good for the downwind and I like that we are limited on how many wings we can use."
In the women's competition Maddalena Spanu won three out of the four heats. Even after a poor start in race two, the 18-year-old from Italy managed to salvage a fifth place by the finish. "I had a wrong start but I'm proud of myself how I managed to come back from that and get a good result."
The only other women's race winner was France's Vaina Picot who won race two despite a crash at the start. "Four long races in a day, it's a lot and I'm quite tired now, but I'm super happy how things have gone," she said.
After a wobbly first race, Germany's Jette Koep bounced back with scores of 3,5,4. Considering this is the first time she has appeared on the wingfoil racing circuit this year, the young German certainly looks like one to watch for the coming days.
The points remain tight as the riders get ready for Day 2 in Cagliari, and the start of the short-course phase of the competition.
Racing takes place out of Poetto Beach in Cagliari from 24 to 28 September. Results are updated as they happen, racing is being tracked, and the final days will be live streamed on FaceBook and YouTube. For all the updates, and exclusive content, follow @wingfoilracing on social media.
More information and full results