The “Cantabria Wingfoil Festival 2024” event was successfully held in Santander.
Emilio Durán, Wingfoil Champion of Cantabria
This Sunday, March 18, 2024. The waters of the Bay of Santander were the setting for the "Cantabria Wingfoil Festival 2024" sporting event, organized by the Northwind Club and the Royal Cantabrian Sailing Federation (RFCV) and presented by DUOTONE.
Over the weekend, the event took place at the Santander World Championships, with a total of 24 participants participating in the OPEN NORTHWIND and Cantabria Regional Championships. This is the first time a championship in this new sport has been held in the region.
Saturday was marked by a lack of northeasterly wind, which led the Competition Committee to postpone the race after seeing the wind suddenly drop just seconds before the start of the first leg. On Sunday, with winds from the NE between 9 and 14 knots, the race proceeded with six legs. The race course was located off the La Fenomeno Ramp and Isla de la Torre in the Bay of Santander.
First regional champion Emilio Duran , from RCMS, was proclaimed the first Champion of Cantabria 2024, followed by Guillermo González, also a member of RCMS, in third place, Miguel Espejo. As for the Open Championship, the podium was repeated with first and second place for Emilio and Guillermo from Santander, with third place for Roberto Alen from Navarra. The organizers of the Open Championship wanted to award other age categories to encourage competitiveness. Thus, Antonio Ribalaygua obtained first place in the +60 category, Alberto Fiallegas first in the +50 category, and Daniel Pire Torre in the under-18 category. Teamwork was also recognized, with Club Northwind being the team with the highest score.
The "Cantabria Wingfoil Festival 2024" event was presided over by a great atmosphere, and in the words of Héctor Pérez, president of the Northwind Club, "it was about introducing wingfoiling, a new sport with great potential for development in the Bay of Santander." For the head of Northwind, "this sport has every chance of having a large fleet in a few years. Its ease of use, its accessibility, the wind conditions we have in the Bay, and the fun of practicing it mean that wingfoiling is here to stay," says Héctor.
Wingfoiling is a very recent new sport. It involves riding a wing (a wing) without being attached to the board and without requiring lines. It is simply controlled with the hands and can be attached to a harness or leash. The traction it generates is used to glide through a foil, a special fin that makes the board rise above the sea when we gain speed. Since 2019, wingfoiling has become one of the hottest new sports disciplines. Wingfoiling, or wingsurfing, or winging, is a wind-propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing, and surfing. Since 2020, the NORTHWIND school, located in Somo, has been teaching this new sport in Cantabria.
Thanks to all participating riders, all collaborators, and all sponsors of the event.
