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2024 Wingfoil Racing World Cup Italy Day 2: Max heart rate and abandoned races

A super short track racecourse and the latest 6.5-meter double-profile wings couldn’t save nearly half the women’s and men’s fleets on day two as some riders sank up to their knees waiting for a puff to get foiling in the six- to eight-knot winds.

After Wednesday’s two steady distance races split the men’s fleet into three groups, Thursday was shaping up for some tight, small fleet action. The race committee recorded the minimum winds for competition and made their best calculations to run fair starts, completing two races for the men and two for the women.

Light wind masterclass

A select few women and men kept up on their foils and gave a masterclass in light wind foiling. But the luck of the winds on a bumpy sea took out some competitors with many riders not even getting off the starting line.

“I’ve trained a lot in light conditions because I’m from Nice. I think it helped me a lot for this type of conditions,” said Julien Rattotti of France who won both races in his group using a comparatively small Gong 5.5-meter wing that has a trending double-profile, an extra membrane on the underside of the wing making a more pure, low-drag shape.

“It’s really physical,” said Rattotti. “In a race like this we have more than 180 BPM (beats per minute heart rate). You cannot think as you want in deciding to tack or strategy. It’s super difficult.”

Rattotti ended the day in first overall, winning a tiebreaker with countryman Mathis Ghio who is in second. Poland’s Kamil Manowiecki was also hot on day two winning both his races and is in third.

Learning and loving the foil

Despite not starting any races Thursday, Lin Xinlan of China is here to learn. “I want to get a higher ranking [in the World Cup],” said Xinlan who only started wing foiling six months ago. “I’m learning a lot from all the people here in Italy.”

Xinlan’s teammate Yin ‘Ananas’ Sheng said wingfoil racing is growing quickly in China. “There’s more than 200 wingfoilers in China and more than 30 at my club,” said Sheng who added that there were only a few in 2023 at their club “From Wing to Win.” Last year Sheng travelled to New Zealand to surf and race with his sponsor and one of foiling’s pied pipers Army Armstrong of Armstrong foils.

Despite the disappointing conditions and the lost women’s races, organizers have three more days to build a regatta ending in a medal series.

In a sport that is rapidly developing with prototype wing and foil designs on display each day, there’s sure to be some new equipment that will be able to fly in even the unstable and gentle breezes we are having here in Cagliari.

The weekend’s racing will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.

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