GWA Wingfoil World Cup New Zealand Recap: Bowien van der Linden 3rd

“I was very excited about the first GWA event ever in the pacific. It was the season's first competition, so there were some exciting new factors. It was time to look out for new riders, specifically from the Pacific, check out everybody's new 2023 gear and sponsor changes, examine the rider level after the winter break, and find out where everyone went to train. We were all keen to see how the new seeding round format and free-fly slalom discipline would work, and I was especially excited to discover this new place and see everyone after a winter break of 4 months.   

The Mount is a very cool spot to compete for Wing foiling. This is due to the close proximity of the two totally different spots. The main beach is between the Mount and Leisure Island, with nice foiling waves rolling in. Working with all the side and onshore wind directions and on the other side of the Mount is the harbour with flat conditions which works with all the offshore wind directions. Which gives the possibility to compete with all the different wind directions. The competition ran between the two spots continuously as the wind direction changed."

“It was my first competition on the new NOVA 23 wings, which I used in all my freestyle heats. Due to the lighter wind, I used my 4'6|48L SEEK with my HA850 and HA750 and my 4.2 NOVA ‘23 was my go-to wing. Giving me the needed power but still a very manageable size for all the manoeuvres.   

The riders I knew well from the previous seasons of the tour had had their fair share of training this winter season, and more riders from the Hawaiian Islands had joined. You could see their experience on the wing and especially on the foil with the tow-in competition. Half the fleet was new to the tour, and we could see many new talents. Especially newcomer Cash from Hawai’i, who excited everyone with the second-highest score in the seeding round.  

You could see that the overall level had improved. Unfortunately, we didn't get optimal wind conditions during the competition, so only some riders could show off their biggest moves. For this reason, a unique competition format has been designed that we have seen in some competitions where we had gusty or unreliable winds before, like in Tarifa. This format was used on days with lighter winds. The riders are assigned a flag colour, which is raised when it is their turn – as the riders get to go turn by turn. There is no time limit as the rider gets to wait until they have enough wind to execute their manoeuvre. This way, no heat must be cancelled if the wind drops for a bit.

The racing had a new name – and format. It's now called free-fly slalom and will consist of shorter races with more pumping tracks. We had had the pumping tracks before in other competitions but never this long. This made the gear choice a bit different than before. Riders switched from their usual small high-aspect foils to bigger or less high-aspect ones, as getting through the pumping track without falling is critical to doing well in the races.   

Due to the light winds, I used my HA850 with my MODE wings. I chose the MODE instead of the new NOVA due to their great wing-pumping, stiffness and upwind capabilities. The lightness of the wings is great for the pumping track as they float easily beside you in the light winds.   

Tow-in foiling was an all-new format for the GWA on the no-wind mornings and the days when we had some good swell. The waves were fat and perfect for tow-in, and at the end – close to the shore – it was perfect for some airs. Made for the perfect action close to the beach for cheering from everyone watching.   

We had 4 wave attempts, and our best 2 waves counted.  I was riding with my HA650 and HA750 – I changed to the HA750 in the latter heats because the wave lost some of its power, and you needed more lift to connect the sections. "”