SFT Downwind Parawing World Cup Leucate 2026

Parawing competition debut at the Mondial du Vent

The first Downwind Parawing World Cup took place at the Mondial du Vent in Leucate from April 22 to 26. Tom Pansard and Manon Dupe took home the victory, but the more important question is what the future holds for this type of foiling – not in terms of freeriding, but from a competitive standpoint.

That's exactly why the first contest of its kind was designed to be very open-ended, allowing for a lot of experimentation. Different courses featuring “stash” sections where riders hold their parawings and ride out the waves. Including a beach finish.

One thing should be pretty clear: Parawinging is not a competitive racing discipline where the fastest parawing and foil setup is supposed to win (see Formula Kite Racing); rather, everything should remain as close as possible to how parawinging is practiced in a recreational setting.

It’s all about riding waves as long as possible; the parawing itself is just a means to an end – a way to reach the starting point for a downwind ride. So should we focus more on wave riding? Or a mix of upwind racing and wave scoring? Only time will tell.

Parawinging, riding the waves, and sprinting to the finish line on the beach

That’s why an open feedback session was held in Leucate for participants and organizers to help shape the future of the discipline. No rigid structure. No set rules.

It should be a collaborative process to ensure that parawinging as a competitive sport takes a meaningful direction and does not produce racing experts and racing equipment that are not particularly useful for recreational purposes.

The first downwind parawing world cup in Leucate

According to SFT, the very first Downwind Parawing World Cup did not provide definitive answers on this matter, but it did lay the groundwork for the chapters yet to be written. You can find the video of the event here.