The first day at the GVA Wind Festival 2021 EFPT event was marked by registration, tow-in and waiting for wind. As the wind never got suitable enough to run the first ever European Foilstyle Championships, time was filled with two tow-in training sessions which were open to all riders. As the beach in front of the Tropical Corner centre in Geneva was filling up, the spectators got to enjoy some of the world’s best tow-in conditions due to a special wakeboard boat making the waves. The riders showed a lot of potential for the competition which is officially starting tomorrow. Read on to get a few of the highlights.
A few of the riders at the registration for the 2021 EFPT GVA Wind Festival. Picture by John Carter.
After a warm welcome from event organisers Fabien Cachin and Quentin Mayerat at the skippers meeting, the riders went on standby for the Foilstyle discipline. The forecast looked promising and the riders and judges went out on the water for some trial runs. We saw a few desperate attempts at Culo’s, Shaka’s and carving moves but unfortunately the conditions did not improve sufficiently and the competition was called off for the day.
Conditions were not suitable enough for Foilstyle competition but Val Erzen and some other riders still went out for a test run. Picture by John Carter.
The decision was then made to do a tow-in practice session in front of the windsurf centre. The tow-in conditions at this venue are actually extraordinary. Apart from the trusted winch which was brought over from last month’s Silvaplana tow-in event, the water’s surface was adjusted before each run by a proper wakeboard boat from Wake Up Geneva. After his first run Lennart Neubauer was ecstatic and shared his thoughts out loud: “this wave is so good!!!”. Apart from the pro’s who were attempting triple air rotations, we also saw a lot of tow-in rookies on the water. Everything is looking promising for an exciting competition which will start tomorrow with the first two qualifying rounds. Once again the new Airstyle format will be utilised, which requires the riders to do their jumps in specific categories like Air, Regular or Spin.
Sam Esteve getting a lot of height on the wakeboat wave. Picture by John Carter.
Apart from the tow-in qualifications, tomorrow will see another day of potential foilstyle action. Although the forecast does not look as promising, the riders will be on standby after the skippers meeting which is happening at 13.00. Tune into @efptour or efpt.net/live for updates. See you there!