Mathis Ghio and Maddalena Spanu have been crowned the winners of the first ever Formula Wing World Championship in Cagliari, Sardinia. Their paths to men’s and women’s victory were far from straightforward however. The final day proved to be very dramatic, although it didn’t start out that way.
The breeze took some time to materialise and with time running out, the long distance Golden Ticket race had to be cancelled and the focus went instead to the knock-out rounds. In very light winds it was hard for the riders to keep their boards foiling and once they splashed back down, it was hard to get going again.
© IWSA media/Robert Hajduk: Sean Herbert came close to winning the world title for New Zealand
However in the women’s medal series Emilia Kosti from Greece found a way to stay flying and soared to any easy win in the semi-final and through to the final, followed by Karolina Kluszczynska from Poland. A similar story for Sean Herbert who progressed from the quarter final into the semi-final, the young New Zealander reading the wind better than his European rivals. The other semi-final qualifier into the men’s final was Italy’s Alessandro Tomasi.
MISTRAL SAVES THE DAY
Time was running very short to complete the final before the 5pm cutoff, but after the wind disappeared, it roared back in again from a completely different direction, a strong, gusty Mistral blowing out of the city of Cagliari. After Emilia Kosti won the first race in the lighter winds from earlier, it was a very even start for all four riders out of the start of Women’s Final Race 2.
© IWSA media/Robert Hajduk: Spanu lets out a roar as she foils across the finish to victory
Maddalena Spanu struggled to accelerate out of the line and the Italian soon tacked away from her three rivals who carried on out to the left-hand corner. At the bottom of the course, this time Picot led a group of three out to the right. Spanu swapped places, taking her chances all by herself out on the left.
When they converged at the top of the course, Spanu had the slimmest of leads but she held on for the final downwind leg and burst across the finish line, the 18 year old taking victory and becoming the first ever women’s Formula Wing World Champion. Silver went to Picot and bronze to Kosti.
© IWSA media/Robert Hajduk: The men's final was one of the tightest imaginable
THREE-WAY SHOWDOWN
Sean Herbert took a vital race win in the lighter winds of the first final race. Then, after the wind switched around 180 degrees and filled in more strongly from the north, Francesco Cappuzzo took a race win. This moved the Italian to equal points with Mathis Ghio, but winning on tiebreak. With the 5pm deadline rapidly approaching, Ghio was desperately hoping for one more race. So too was Herbert, who could also win. Apart from Alessandro Tomasi, any of Cappuzzo, Ghio or Herbert could win the world title in this single, seven minute race.
It was a close battle all the way round. All four riders had moments in the lead of the race, and down the final run it was very close between Ghio and Tomasi. Tomasi just got ahead of Ghio before the finish, crossing the line in first place. However Tomasi would soon find out he had been given a points penalty for hitting a mark earlier in the race, making Ghio the race winner. Finally it was over. The Frenchman had scrapped and fought his way to the world title. Cappuzzo took silver, Herbert the bronze.
© IWSA media/Robert Hajduk: Mathis Ghio let out all his emotions after surviving immense pressure
Spanu and Ghio had started the day in the yellow bibs, but their paths to the world title had been far from easy. They sailed hard, they kept their nerve under enormous pressure, and as first ever winners of a Formula Wing World Championships, Maddalena Spanu and Mathis Ghio have secured their place in the annals of wingfoil racing.
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