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GWA Tarifa Wing Pro Event – stay tuned for the 2026 dates

Gawd, were we pumped to find out that this brand new event has actually managed to pull off it’s first edition during covid-times and travel restrictions! And even more amazing was to see how committed these 23 athletes were to make it down to Southern Spain just before the new year – many of them having having competed at the SuperFoil Fortaleza in Brazil just a few weeks before!

They arrived from 9 different countries, including Switzerland (which was half the podium for each of the girls and the boys), France, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic and even Brazil. Amongst them 2 Foil World champions and the Swiss First Couple of Wingfoiling: Balz Mueller & Eva Wyss (watch our exclusive interview with Balz as well). Sunday, the 27th of December was a gorgeous sunny day with bright blue skies, and the city of Tarifa, as well as the event’s organisers, were ready for them to arrive on Balneario Beach, a super spot for this kind of waterspouts tournament. The camaraderie amongst the crowd was ever present, many of them having known each other, and competed against each other, for years. All the athletes, event organisers and press had a PCR test before entering the event bubble, so that everything was above board regarding covid regulations.

Once competition rules were explained to everybody on the first day, it was straight to business in the afternoon. The tournament was to be competed in three categories: Surf Race, Freestyle and the Expression Session. These kind of competitions are always depending on wind directions on the day, so more often than not, it’s wait and see! A strong Poniente wind coming from the Atlantic was most desirable, and as expected on day 1, the Levante wind of the morning changed to Poniente in the afternoon. That meant the heats were on – excellent!

Day 2 was a different ballgame altogether, so for the Freestyle part of the event, it meant to decamp the athletes to Playa Chica on the Mediterranean side of Tarifa, in less than comfortable conditions: a Southern wind of 35 knots bringing hefty waves, rain came too and it was properly cold. Hat off to all the guys who were just fierce out on the water. It was spectacular to see those backflips, jumps, spins and turns by a determined team of athletes, who were just not going to give in.

Day 3 saw the wind change yet again, so all back to Balneario Beach for what was a perfect day of Poniente wind and seriously choppy waters. Order of the day: the surf race and expression sessions were to be fought out. 19 Athletes took part in the surf race in total, amongst them Olivia Piana for the girls. She is literally fearless – competing against the guys, she managed to overcome landing in the water and actually finished 8th! Olivia, we salute you 🙂 The action on the water continues with the expression sessions. Heats out of the way, Titouan Galea and Olivia Piana shone the brightest and walked home with the 1st prize. Unbelievable what was these two pulled off out on the water, landing on the top spot of the podium for their relevant sexes in both the surf race and the expression session categories.

Day 4, and it’s time for the prize giving! The relief on the athletes’ faces was completely visible and so everybody was just totally pumped to pick up their trophy and celebrate into the New Year with friends and family, as well as a great sense of achievement. Congrats and a very well done to all the athletes who took part so impressively! The event organisers and the city of Tarifa produced a brilliant tournament, about which Jaime Herraiz, the man in charge, said, that there will be many to follow. And we cannot wait…see you in Tarifa next time round!

GWA WINGFOIL WORLD TOUR CALENDAR 2025:

  • 17 – 19 January: Düsseldorf/GER – Indoor
  • 14 – 23 February: Sal/CAP VERDE – Wave
  • 31 March – 4 April: Jeddah/SAU – Freefly-Slalom
  • 7 – 13 April: Abu Dhabi/ARE – Freefly-Slalom
  • 16 – 22 April: Leucate/FRA – Surf-Freestyle & Freefly-Slalom
  • 19 – 25 May: Cancun/MEX – Surf-Freestyle & Freefly-Slalom
  • 30 June – 06 July: Costa Brava/ESP – YOUTH Surf-Freestyle & Freefly-Slalom
  • 28 July – 02 Aug: Fuerteventura/ESP – Surf-Freestyle & Freefly-Slalom
  • 5 – 12 Oct: Dakhla/MAR – Wave
  • 15 – 18 Oct: Tarifa/ESP – Surf-Freestyle
  • 25 Oct – 1 Nov: Ibiraquera/BRA – Wave
  • 3 – 6 Dec: Jericoacoara/BRA – Surf-Freestyle

 

Wingfoiling: The Latest in Board Sports

Wingfoiling, also known as windfoiling, is a brand-new sport and has to be one of the coolest surface water sports ever! It consists of a wing, that is not attached to a Hydrofoil board, being carried or held by the rider, whilst having to maintain their balance, steering the board with the wing. It is an exciting and demanding sport, requiring strength and stability. Although it can be practised on either land or water, not much wind is required for this sport, therefore its popularity has grown massively.

However, countries with great wind conditions, such as Hawaii, Brasil, Portugal and Spain, have seen the practice of this sport soar to lofty heights. Hence, the GWA (Global Wingsports Association) was born, with the aim to provide a safe and exciting community to globally promote wing sports. TA-DAH.TV sent their team to Southern Spain to cover the GWA’s first ever Tarifa Wing Pro event, staged on the city’s Atlantic side of the Strait of Gibraltar. The prospect of wingfoiling having been included in the Paris Olympics in 2024 promises as super exciting future for this sport on a global level – the only way is up!

Tarifa Wing Pro  Event

Tarifa is known as the wind capital of Europe, a fantastic environment for wing sports. So, it is no surprise that the GWA decided to host their first ever Tarifa Wing Pro event on Balneario Beach on the beautiful Costa de la Luz – the first of many to come, they promise.

That the competition was even possible in the first place was utterly awesome, as it also drew a close to the end of a year troubled by many cancellations of sports events in general – and it was the perfect follow-up from the Superfoil Fortaleza 2020, the first event by the GWA Wingfoil World Tour held in Brazil. Riders were arriving from all over Europe (including Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, Poland), as well as Brasil, and even the Southern Hemisphere was present with a participant from New Caledonia.

Staged from the 27th and 30th of December, the event was non-stop from day one, consisting of various competitions. With the Covid-19 pandemic having delayed their other events in 2020, this competition took place according to covid-19 guidelines, so all participants and press were asked to take tests before entering the secure bubble of event attendees. The competition saw a turnout of 19 men and 4 women from 9 countries battling it out head-to-head in the water, a turnout the organisers hail a great success, considering all the travel restrictions throughout the year.

Across 3 days, both groups of men and women went out onto the water to compete in the two disciplines of Wingfoiling; Surf-Freestyle and Surf-Race, as well as an additional Expression Session. On day 2, weather conditions were not that great on the Atlantic coast, requiring the organisers to change beach to the Levante side of Tarifa.

There, the strong wind conditions certainly made this event an artistic spectacle, with all athletes giving an exhilarating performance full of tricks, jumps, twists and turns, whilst displaying their ability in the water. Towards the end of the action packed few days the last day was designated for the prize giving. The mood amongst riders was one of total relief, an incredible sense of achievement, and well-earned pride!

It was really impressive to see the commitment by all participants to make it down South and be part of this historic event. The city of Tarifa was certainly an excellent host, committed to staging an unforgettable, but most of all, safe event on the Spanish shores.

Competitors included the current Foil Freestyle World Champions Balz Müller (men) and Eva Wyss (women), as well as Titouan Galea, Maxime Chabloz, Fernando Novaes, Halim Basri, Abel Lago and Francesco Cappuzzo, amongst many others.

Congratulations to all of the winners, as well as to the rest of the riders, who made the competition such an exciting one!

The event was a huge success and great fun for all involved! With the support of the Junta de Andalucia, the Diputacion de Cádiz, the Ayuntamiento de Tarifa, Duotone/Fanatic, Red Bull and Balneario beach Club, Tarifa has once again proved itself to be the perfect host city with a perfect location for wind and water sports. Why not plan your next beach holiday there?

Wing Foil World Tour

2021 was the first tour for international wing foil events and is not to be missed by lovers of wing sports! With 5 of the best locations across the world set in their events calendar, there is a lot to look forward to throughout the new year in this sport. From Portugal to Brazil, the GWA have gone all out in setting up this world tour to be a display of skills from the best pros around the world. They have stated the event is open to the public with limited spaces for pros to register. The event, unfortunately, will be subject to change in relation to the pandemic. We are looking forward to this event, and many others as the success and popularity of wingfoiling continues to grow across the world.

Foiling at the Paris Olympics 2024

Foiling as a branch of windsurfing is growing year on year, and just to prove it, it has been introduced as a new discipline for the Paris 2024 Olympics! Many see this a transition from windsurfing, as foiling beings to explode across Europe. Placing foiling onto a global stage such as the Olympics is a great way for this electrifying sport to be introduced to 100s and 1000s of fascinated young people interested in learning new sports. It will be thrilling for both lovers of wind sports and newbies to see this developing sport take centre stage in Paris.

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Meet Balz Mueller – Wingfoil Freestyle Champion from Switzerland

Gosh, were we pumped in the office, when we found out that the GWA (Global Wingsports Association) and the city of Tarifa were actually going to stage the first ever Tarifa Wing Pro event after all. Wingfoiling is a brand-new sport discipline, and such an exciting surface water sport, that it became a massive hit for Tarifa, and for Spain, to be able to host their first event in this awesome board sport.

Of course, TA-DAH.TV wasn’t going to miss this exciting competition, in which 19 men and 4 women riders took part. Hugely impressive is also the fact, that participants made it all the way down South from all over Europe, including Brazil and New Caledonia (that’s the other side of the hemisphere, dear wingfoil fans)! So, RESPECT to all of them having been so committed to taking part.

Among them, naturally, was the First Couple of wingfoiling, the current Foil Freestyle World Champions: Balz Müller and his girlfriend Eva Wyss. Claudia Peifer grabbed Balz ahead of the competition for a great exclusive interview, in which Balz explains what the sport of wingfoiling means to him in technical terms, how they made it down to Spain and why he swapped windsurfing with wingfoiling – a sport he himself is massively excited about. So, hit that start button hard to listen in on what he had to say…

What is it that makes a committed kitesurfer equally excited to pick up another wind sport – so, we ask why winging? Balz explains quite clearly in his interview what drove him to switch. However, there’s no doubt that wind foiling has taken the wind world by storm. Windsurfers, surfers, kite boarders everywhere have been spotted diving into this new sport, which is simply spectacular to watch. Here we explain the two main disciplines for the wind foiling competitions organised by the Global Wingsports Association:

Surf-Freestyle

The Surf-Freestyle discipline includes the expression format where competitors surf waves or swells and perform air and surface tricks using the given water conditions. It is a mix of both wave riding and air tricks.

Surf-Race

In the Surf-Race discipline, multiple competitors ride around a course with a start and finish line that combines jibes, tacks and parts of pumping or surfing without wing assistance. The Race Director sets the course according to the given conditions in the competition area. It is called Surf-Race because it includes upwind racing with surfing/pumping downwind.

Expression session

In addition to the two official disciplines, an event may host an expression session format. An expression session is a non-official show format that does not count towards the world ranking. During the expression session, the athletes compete in a special format that is chosen depending on the conditions to provide a spectacular show (for example Best Trick, Best Wave, Highest Jump, Team contest, etc.)

HOW TO LEARN HOW TO WINGFOIL

Before anything else, you ought to assess your own abilities first: are you already board savvy in water sports? Got any idea how wind works on the water? If yes, then great, you’ve got a head start. If not, and you’re a total beginner’ then read on to wisen up about what you need to know about wing foiling and what you need to get kit-wise.

If you’re a Watersport virgin, meaning you’ve got no experience at all and starting from scratch, it is highly recommendable you start off with an instructor! Check your local or nearest possibility to train with a centre (try lakes or rivers as well, not just your nearest beach with open ocean), or maybe book a holiday according to where you can learn this fantastic new sports discipline with a local sports school. One thing to bear in mind: it would be good to check out places with either on-shore or side-shore winds so that where ever you’ll be taken out on the water, the wind will push you towards the shore. There should be no obstacles in the water (rocks, etc) in order to allow for a relatively easy launch, as well as an easy landing location. 

If you’re already a board enthusiast, and might even be a wind surfer or kite surfer, things will indeed be a lot easier for you. You might give it a try, having read up about it prior to you starting it, or even a friend might help to ease you into it. Or a few private lessons might just get you going, rather than starting anew in a beginner’s course. However, getting it right from the start is paramount, as with every sports discipline really, so starting off with a qualified instructor is highly recommendable, whatever your level might be.

Finding the right wing-foiling school or sports centre is easier than you think, as the Global Wingfoil Association (GWA) can help you with up-to-date lists of qualified and recognised schools, as well as instructors, as safety standards are paramount when learning this exciting and somewhat crazy, new sport! It also helps to look up reviews and track records/certifications of any centre to make sure you’re in good hands when taken out on the water.

WHAT KIT DO YOU NEED TO WINGFOIL

If you decide to join a school or sports centre, they often can supply you with gear to start learning. However, if you’re serious about mastering this sport and want to get your own gear, here are some guidelines of how to get yourself sorted with the right kit when you’re more accustomed to the physical requirements when battling nature’s elements like wind, water and weather patterns.

Starting out as a beginner, you’ll probably need to learn to balance on a bigger board first, whilst getting to know what it feels like to control the wing with your body. Another reason why it’s smart to join a school to start off with, as you then don’t have to go through that extra expense of a bigger board that you might not need later on when you’re accustomed to riding a foil.

Choose your board:
For beginners, as a general guideline regards the board, add 30-40 litres of volume to your body weight, so if you weigh 70kg/155lbs, choose a board of 110/120 litres.

As already mentioned, as a beginner you might feel more comfortable on a larger board. The more board-savvy and experienced you get, you might find going for a smaller board allows you to advance quicker. Lots of high-level wingfoil riders use a foil with a volume of less than 50L!

Choose your wing:
A good guideline for a wing to start off with is around the 4m mark for anybody with a bodyweight of 70kg! Wing sizes range from about 2 – 7metres, so if your weight is 70kg+, you can try a 5m wing. Starting out, you might find a bigger wing more useful, to give you more power, but once you get the hang of it, you might find a slightly smaller wing may give you more agility.

How to use your body to steer the wing:
This is where this sport offers a new experience, as your body will be the one connection between foil and wing. You might find training on dry land useful before you head out on the water. Balance is key, so train on dry as much as you can, even if you’ve gained some experience already. Try and focus on learning how to power up and power down the wing, which your instructor will help you master when out on the water. Once you’re more accustomed to how the wing works, you can then focus on mastering the foil.

Choose your foil:
When looking for the right foil for you, consider that you’ll want a good glide, lots of stability and plenty of lift. Comprising of a mast, fuselage and wings, many schools use a taller mast of around 70cm+ is great for learning in order to give good height and helps prevent breaching in swell or indeed ocean chop. To begin with, choose a foil that gets you up without needing too much speed. Slow speed-foiling is safer and more effective when starting out. So, choosing a foil that allows for speeds of between 10-12km is advisable. Being able to ride in a wide range of wind conditions will also be important, so do bear that in mind too when looking for your perfect foil.

Once you’re acing it out there on the water and you’re more confident, you can then look for foils that allow you to accelerate faster, gaining more speed quicker and, very importantly, allow you to turn with increased capability. That’s when the fun really starts…

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2025/2026 FIS Ski World Cup from 25 Oct – 25 March

The winter season starts and we’re pumped already about snow sports, and it doesn’t get better than the FIS Ski World Cup! The biggest highlight after the Winter Olympics, the Ski World Cup is an annual event, so really keeps the athletes on their tows. Once travel gets easier, you simply have to plan in some time to visit any of the fabulous winter destinations, where the tournament is staged.

Feel the vibe, the competitive smell in the air, maybe you’ve got a favourite athlete you want to follow and put your marker down on the map to follows the competition. The Ski Jumping event over New Year are a huge tradition for snow rich countries like Southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which allows you to hop across the borders to support the event of your choice quite easily. Let’s be serious for a moment: the hype is real! Anyone, who has ever watched a downhill race can only be in awe of these incredible sportsmen and women, who train throughout the year with passion, wanting to win and make their country proud.

Pick up a typical cow bell on the way, not just as a visiting moment, but that’s what locals use to express their excitement and their pride for success at breakneck speed. The biathlons are fascinating to watch as well, as you’re not only supposed to be acing it in the cross-country skiing discipline, but you need to be a good shot as well. Amazing to watch this competition…we could go on and on – best is for you to go online and sort your tickets for the next event and then prepare to experience crazy (fis-ski.com)

The Audi FIS Ski World Cup

Bringing you the latest news in the skiing world! The current season of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup is drawing to a close, with overall winners to be awarded at the finale in Lenzerheide in Switzerland at the end of this month! With this in mind, let us take a closer look at how this huge annual event came to be, and the many events it consists of.

History of FIS Ski World Cup

Starting with its first ski world cup event in 1967, the FIS has decades worth of captivating history to look back on. The first was held in Berchtesgaden, West Germany, on January 5th. Seeing Jean-Claude Killy and Nancy Greene walking away with Crystal Globes. Leading the way for many more alpine ski champions to follow in their footsteps as overall winners. Birthed from the minds of a group of ski racing friends and some experts in the industry, with the backing of the International Ski Federation, it was decided in early 1967 this would be an official FIS event.

The FIS have since held this event annually, seeing up to a total of 80 races. The event is enthralling and ever so popular viewing for the avid skiers and ski enthusiasts amongst us. Sponsored by Audi, the world cup gathers global attention, but particularly gains great interest from host countries such as Germany, Italy, France, Canada, and Austria. Think epic ski races, your favourite ski resorts, and lots of excitement. These events are not to be missed.

Disciplines Included in the World Cup

The competition consists of five disciplines: Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G, Downhill, and Combined (a combination of the downhill and slalom).

Slalom

Slalom skiing is a race style between flags and poles, slalom requires the competitor to make rapid and sharp twists and turns. Making this a super thrilling event to spectate!

Giant Slalom

The giant slalom and the slalom are very similar in the style and course. What keeps them apart is how spaced out the poles and flags are from each other. When competing in the giant slalom competitors will race through poles set out at a great distance and typically use skis that are longer than slalom skis.

Super G

Super G certainly lives up to its epic name. Considered a speed event in its nature, this is a fast-paced race to achieve the quickest time through widely set gates, with participants only getting one chance to achieve their best time. Making for intense competition.

Downhill

Unlike the previously mentioned disciplines, downhill is focused on gaining high speeds. Competitors will reach speeds of up to 81mph, according to the FIS) – so this is certainly not for the faint hearted. The speeds and the courses allow for extraordinary races, combining excitement, thrills, risks, and plenty of courage!

Combined

Combined skiing is where competitors take part in both slalom and downhill races to amass a total aggregate score. Races take part over several days and allow for participants to demonstrate their skills on the slopes in both disciplines.

Hosts as Top Holiday Destinations

Cortina d’Ampezzo –

Making up part of the Dolomites, this beautiful ski resort is popular amongst Italians and visiting European skiers alike. Having been a top host of the FIS ski world cup numerous times, it is no surprise the ski resort and town itself see an influx of globetrotters, holiday makers and ski enthusiasts each year. Two hours north of Venice, the town of Cortina is surrounded by the breath-taking scenery the Dolomites have to offer.

It’s an excellent spot for first timers looking to don a pair of skis and hit the slopes! Cortina can also keep those of you entertained with other means, such as tempting designer stores (our fave) and unique Italian cafes, bars, and bistros. Perfect for your morning espresso or afternoon slice of pizza.

And what’s good for James Bond, surely is good enough for us! Not for nothing did they film the James Bond movie ‘For Your Eyes Only’ there – the scenery and lifestyle in Cortina is top class.

Val-d’Isère –

We cannot chat about skiing and miss out on mentioning Val- d’Isère, one of the world’s most famous skiing holiday destinations. The original winner of the world cup title, Jean-Claude Killy, grew up here, so we know this is one of the best ski resorts in the world. Not just for skiing but for everything else you would expect. Offering you Après ski, nightclubs, bars, and restaurants, you can certainly indulge yourself at Val-d’Isère – absolutely fabulous!

Wengen –

With picturesque log cabins and sweeping mountain views, Wengen is the quintessential Swiss winter holiday destination. This resort is particularly popular with families, offering child friendly outdoor activities. These include easy mountain hikes with some amazing views of glaciers, mountain peaks, and vast alpine greenery. Taking the Wengeralp railway up the mountain you can reach this peaceful village and stroll along the sleepy streets at your leisure. Pure bliss for you and your family.

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The Solheim Cup 2023 remains in Europe – Finca Cortesin hosts women’s biggest golf tournament

It’s a great feat and has taken years nd the hard work of many dedicated people, passionate about making the dream a reality: the prestigious Solheim Cup, which is the biggest event in women’s sport, when it’s Europe vs USA on the golf course, will finally come to Spain! It’s a massive achievement for the country, for Andalusia and the Costa del Sol, but also for professional women golfers on the tour. To be staged at the luxury hotel Finca Cortesín, with a fabulous golf course to match, this time it’ll be the Ladies Tour making its way to the Southern Spain.
In 1997, it was the Ryder Cup, held at Real Club Valderrama in Sotogrande, when the golfing world descended on to the Costa for an epic tournament that is still remembered for it’s awesome win over the United States, but, of course, also for the legendary captaincy of Severiano Ballesteros. Now is the chance for the ladies to get even, taking the female version of this prestigious tournament to Finca Cortesín, located in Casares, half an hour south of Marbella.
The press conference, staged by the Marbellan town hall, to present the great news to local and national media properly, took place on the helipad in Puerto Banus, where luxury yachts line up one after another and designer shops nestle neck at neck along the frontline of the port. With safety distance in mind, the cup and tournament was presented by local officials of the town hall and the water board, to name but a few, but also those of the Spanish Golf Federation, who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes. All of them passionate about golf (which isn’t difficult with over 70 courses on the Costa del Sol), but also keen to push women’s sport into the limelight, with many Spanish professional golfers on the tour, eager to see this greatest of tournaments played ‘at home’.

Costa de Sol Announced as the Host for the Solheim Cup 2023!

The LET (Ladies European Tour) has recently announced that Spain will host the prestigious Solheim Cup in 2023, with the world-famous course of Finca Cortesín on the Costa del Sol playing host to the event. Although Spain has been home to plenty of high-profile events in the world of sports before, with a rich history of supporting both men’s and women’s tournaments at elite levels of the game, this will be the first time that is plays host to the Solheim Cup.

Spain will follow in the footsteps of countries such as Scotland and America, with the former hosting the ladies’ tournament in 2019 and the latter set to be the location for the 2021 event. As the newly announced hosts of the 2023 Solheim Cup, Spain will become the sixth European nation to stage this world-famous sporting event.

Popularity of Women’s Sport

The continued growth of the Ladies European Tour should come as no surprises as women’s sport in general has been steadily growing in popularity in recent years, gaining widespread recognition across all of the most popular areas. Take women’s football for example, the 2018 Women’s World Cup broke records in 2019 when its viewership surpassed 1.12bn. Tennis too has received plenty of recognition in no small part thanks to the work on the Williams sisters with the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open drawing 2.07m viewers. Beach ball, freestyle skiing (fronted by the awesome racer Fanny Smith) and kite surfing/kite-foiling (with Gisela Pulido as a great ambassador) have also seen a surge in popularity when it comes to women’s sport as has, of course, golf.

Golf on the Costa del Sol

Located on the southern coastline of Spain, the scenic Costa del Sol covers nearly 160 kilometres of breath-taking landscape and aside from being a popular holiday destination, it is considered of the top golfing destinations in Europe with over 70 courses on the Costa for both casual players and golfing pros to enjoy. Amongst these courses, the Costa can lay claim to a World Matchplay course, a Ryder Cup course, and several courses which host the Spanish Open.

The best of these world-class courses, alongside the 2023 Solheim Cup location Finca Cortesin, includes Real Club Valderrama, La Reserva, Real Sotogrande, El Chaparral, and the Aloha Golf Club, amongst many others. All of these golf hotspots stand against the backdrop of some of Spain’s most popular lifestyle destination like Marbella, Malaga which attract glamourous sun seekers and gold enthusiasts each year.