GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura 2026 - Day 3
Benjamin Castenskiold and Zoe Trudeau win on Fuerteventura; the Dane also claims the world championship title
The third day featured the freestyle finals. Since the event on Fuerteventura is the final stop on the 2026 Surf-Freestyle tour, the world championship titles will also be awarded on this Canary Island.
The women kicked things off. Since Nia Suardiaz was uncatchable in the overall tour standings, the Spaniard had already secured the world championship title at the previous event in Gran Canaria. Here in Fuerteventura, she still wanted to win and make up for her loss to Viola Lippitsch at El Burrero.
Since Marie Schlittenbauer, the 2025 world champion, was also unable to compete due to injury, things weren’t looking too bad for her.
But as early as the semifinals, it had become clear that a new contender had emerged in the form of American Zoe Trudeau - one who was capable of winning an event.
Zoe proved in this final that her high heat score from the previous day was no fluke. The American once again pulled off a solid run, including a Frontside 720 on the water, and even topped her score from the day before. That sealed her victory in Fuerteventura.
And just as she had done in Gran Canaria, Viola Lippitsch managed to score more points than Nia Suardiaz and secured the 2nd place. With the third-best score, Nia still secured a spot on the podium at the Fuerteventura event.
Austrian Viola Lippitsch had double reason to celebrate, as she not only beat the newly crowned world champion for the second time in a row but also moved up to second place in the world championship standings with her result. Thus, the title of world championship runner-up goes to Austria.
Sofia Ginzinger, 12, who has already been crowned U14 World Champion and German Freestyle Champion this year, finished fourth in the final on Fuerteventura, securing her third podium finish on the 2026 GWA Surf Freestyle Tour.
In the men’s division, it was Benjamin Castenskiold who took the lead after the first half of the final and, now free from pressure, was able to land one of the most difficult moves - a clean Palau frontside 1080.
Only Rocco Makana could have posed a serious threat to the Dane, but the Italian botched nearly all of his tricks today and only had two count toward his score. As a result, the world championship was decided even before the heat was over.
But there were still two other contenders for the event victory. France’s Axel Gerard was in second place after his penultimate run, but he crashed on his last attempt and was no longer a threat to Benjamin Castenskiold.
Luca Vuillermet went all in on his final trick and scored an 8.73 for his cleanly landed Frontside 1440 - enough to knock Axel out of second place, but not enough to threaten Benjamin. Trailing by 0.84 points, the American took second place on the podium.
Final Results: Surf-Freestyle, Fuerteventura (Men)
1. Benjamin Castenskiold
2. Luca Vuillermet
3. Axel Gerard
4. Rocco Makana
Final Results of the 2026 Surf-Freestyle Tour (Men)
1. Benjamin Castenskiold (World Champion)
2. Tomas Acherer
3. Chris Macdonald
Final Results: Surf-Freestyle, Fuerteventura (Women)
1. Zoe Trudeau
2. Viola Lippitsch
3. Nia Suardiaz
4. Sofia Ginzinger
Final Results of the 2026 Surf-Freestyle Tour (Women)
1. Nia Suardiaz (World Champion)
2. Viola Lippitsch
3. Sofia Ginzinger
This was followed by the awards ceremony for the Surf-Freestyle event and the world championship titles right on the beach, after which the FreeFly-Slalom racers took over the arena.
Two eliminations were already completed this afternoon, after which Bastien Escofet and Nia Suardiaz are in the lead in the overall standings. The title in this discipline could also be decided as early as tomorrow.
You can find the summary video here: GWA Highlight Video
July 29, 2026 © WING DAILY | text: Jürgen Schall | photos/graphics: fuerteventura-worldcup.org / Tom Brendt | translation: DE
