Racing across water: Wingfoil European Championship in Silvaplana

It was a historic occasion – the first ever Formula Wing European Championship, and in Switzerland. It doesn’t come as a total surprise – after all, Engadin has a special meaning for wind and water sports fans. The oldest windsurfing regatta in the world has been held here for 46 years. Thanks to the reliable Maloja wind, Lake Silvaplana has become a mecca for windsurfing, kitesurfing and now wingfoiling too.

«There’s something magical about this place, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been,» says Kamil Manowiecki, a 22-year-old professional wingfoiler from Poland. Even the unusually cold and rainy weather with temperatures between three and nine degrees couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the athletes. Race director Mirco Babini called the participants ice gladiators as they sped across the water on hydrofoils driven by the wind.

Strategic decisions in the new racing class

The foilers were able to qualify for the final in several heats. As the race brought World Cup points, athletes from Hong Kong, New Zealand and the USA were also at the start. After a very exciting neck-and-neck race, 21-year-old Mathis Ghio from Marseille won the men’s event. Maddalena Spanu from Italy became European champion in the women’s Formula Wing class with a clear lead over the rest of the field.

A new feature of this race class is that athletes have to decide before the start which equipment they want to use during the event. The only problem is, if you choose the fastest and most fiery equipment, you’re at a disadvantage in light winds. But if you go for a board, foil and wing suitable for light winds, you won’t get the best performance out of your equipment in stronger winds. In addition to sporting ability, you also need to make strategic decisions.

«Wingfoil racing is developing at a fast pace,» says Mirco Babini, board member of the International Wingfoil Racing Association. The number of good athletes is increasing. Many of them started their sporting career in windsurfing, then switched to wingfoiling.

Rafeek Kikabhoy from Hong Kong is one of them. «There’s so much innovation in wingfoiling and I really enjoy racing,» he explains. Even though the sport isn’t at the Olympics yet, there are serious aspirations for wingfoiling to be part of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane, Australia.

Freestyle at the Ensis Engadin Wing event

The European Championships took place as part of Ensis Engadin Wing 2024. While racing was all about speed, the freestyle contest was all about tricks, style and creative manoeuvres. Not only with the wing, which is held freely in-hand, but also in windsurfing and kitefoiling. Even in these more traditional wind sports, the foil, i.e. the hydrofoil, has now become firmly established.

«This event is all about foiling, hence the name Foilmania,» says Christian Müller, President of the Swiss Foiling Federation. The best of three contest format is unique to the event in Silvaplana. Windsurfers, kiteboarders and wingfoilers competed against each other to show the most brave, creative and breathtaking manoeuvres.

It was a visual highlight for the spectators to see the various boards and sails fly into the air against the backdrop of the three-thousand-metre peaks. The jumps and tricks were so acrobatic you could hear astonished wows from the audience.

After exciting heats, Balz Müller won the freestyle contest. While he’s usually seen wingfoiling, he chose the windsurf foilboard in this competition. It comes as no surprise that he gave a top performance in this discipline too. After all, he’s been passionate about windsurfing for around 23 years, as he explains in an interview.

«I love freestyle foiling because you can creatively tame the forces of nature and let off steam on the fantastic playground the surface of the water offers,» says the successful water sportsman, who’s played a key role in shaping wingfoiling since 2019. «The sensational thing about the best-of-three format is that it brings the different water sports together, which hardly ever happens otherwise,» he adds.

Would you like to see a race up close yourself? You can find out what makes this trending sport so appealing by checking out the tour stops of the Swiss Foiling Tour.