AK Durable Supply Co. team rider and all-round ultimate waterman Zane Schweitzer headed to Lake Garda for the Freewing WingFoil Worlds. Challenging conditions and fierce competition made for an exciting event!

After a long break from international travel and competition, I am super stoked to be back on tour meeting with fellow competitors and friends again while being motivated by the level along with the style of riding from other nations. My trip to Italy was a bit last minute as Starboard x Airush Freewing’s involvement in this event was last minute as well. When I got the invite to attend the Freewing Wingfoil Worlds two weeks prior to the event I was excited, not only to get back into competition, but as well to see the level of riding from the Europeans, especially knowing that their style of riding was more focused on speed and racing unlike our community in Hawaii and myself that focuses on Wingfoiling in the waves, downwind, and jumping/freestyle/freeride. 

My journey to Europe started off rough to say the least, but the journey is often more mentally and physically draining than the destination itself. I got sick (not with Covid) on my first flight out and had a spell of nausea and vomiting all the way to Italy.. I was that guy on the flight that you’re either grateful to not be near or completely freaking out to be a neighbor with, as I lived with my head in a plastic trash bag vomiting over two dozen times and for the majority of my 24+ hour journey with constant visits to the restroom. Dry heaving and shivering cold sweats is not the way I recommend traveling nor do I wish it on anyone.. But I endured with the best attitude possible and was so excited to cold shock my body back to health into the frigid water of Lake Garda. Fellow team rider Sam, from France, picked me up from the airport and after our almost 3-hour drive, jumping in the water for a swim is exactly what I did upon arrival and this immediately got me feeling better and was my official start to the trip. It’s hard to think about nausea and pain when you are swimming in trucks in freezing water.

On our first day in Lake Garda there was no wind, and with 3 days until the start of competition our priority was to set up the Starboard x Airush Freewing booth and get all the gear set up, our only issue was that most of our gear had not yet arrived.. The majority of the team's boards, wings, and foils were stuck in customs! This was a shock for the team because we had expected to be training for the competition and getting familiar with the fickle and ever-changing conditions and winds of the lake that is most thermal and pressure-dependent unlike the consistent trade wind patterns back home in Hawaii. The bright side (no pun intended) was that the weather was warm and sunny (at least for this area) and the wind had not quite arrived yet, so this was an opportunity for us to set up the booth and for me to get my hydration, rest and health back in check. 

While waiting for gear and the wind was disappointing it was great to have a chance to explore the beautiful European town with the team including Trevor Tunnington, Sam, Orane, Gianpiero, and more. During this time of the year the fall season was upon us and we got to be in one of the most beautiful areas of the French Riviera during one of the most beautiful seasons in my opinion- the forests, vineyards, olive and lemon orchards were in full color swing with bright green, red, orange and yellow, not to mention the old growths of bright purple boganvelia vines that crawl up the rustic architecture of this rick in history and culture town. My highlight of the trip prior to action on the water and competition was being able to experience the natural beauty of this area without stress and connect once more with Lake Garda after almost 13 years since my last visit in 2008 for the IFCA Junior Windsurfing Worlds. Lake Garda was formed by a huge glacier that ground through the landscape, this is how the huge sheer cliffs were shaped along each edge of the lake and also why the lake is so deep; up to 1,000 feet deep! This time to connect with the area was important to me, its not always all about competition, and I believe it's a shame when an athlete travels so far to a location only to focus on the competition and not leave the event site. I won't forget the views atop of these sheer cliffs after following footpaths that lead me to rivers, beautiful waterfalls, and a source of the water that helps to fill the river. 

The day before the competition our equipment had finally arrived, and so had the wind! It was time for action and all the competitors along with our team were eager to hit the water. We did some team training together and got to compare our speeds for the first time with some of the other competitors and gear which was crazy exciting.. We turned up to this event with Foil surf and freeride specific equipment as this is our focus with inspired design in our equipment, and man was there a difference compared to the other rider’s gear that was speed inspired. It was humbling yet expected, and my approach to this event was clear- learn as much as possible and utilize my experience of skill and strategy to my advantage. For the downwind marks, I could pump direct lines that allowed for shorter distance traveled to each mark, and by edging upwind I could also create a more direct line to upwind marks as opposed to a broad reach with more jibs and tacks. All this while minimizing mistakes was the plan and with the hopes that this would pay off despite top speeds being much lower. Comfort and control in the lighter wind was clearly our advantage as our foils were much bigger and had more of a competitive edge for downwind/upwind riding and tight and technical course racing. There is a strategy of equipment choice, and most of the top competitors seemed to be using kites race foils with a surface area of 550-900cm, on the contrary, our smallest foils were 1000cm and built for wingfoiling and foil surfing. 

The evening before the first day of the competition we had our opening ceremony and skippers meeting where we got to meet the race committee and go through the proposed courses (4) and all the different start sequences and flags. After so many years of not sail/windsurf racing, I had almost forgotten how complex these sequences and flag language can be, and how important it is to know what each flag means and what the rules are- which by the way fills a pretty large rule book of sailing terms, flags, sequences and more transferred into our sport from sailing. On day 1 of competition, the wind started from the north but was too light to start the first half of the day, by the early afternoon the wind had switched south and we were on with a Starboard tack start line on the “U” course, which was the most technical of the courses demanding skill in tacking, jibbing, and control upwind along with downwind. This was my chance to start off the event with a bang and that’s exactly what I did. My starts were solid and right on time, to the first buoy I was not nearly at the top of the pack, but as soon as I turned the first mark on my port I let go of my wing as the Nitro Freewing is designed to ride, and I pumped a direct straight shot to the next buoy traveling a much shorter distance than the other riders and advancing my overall position considerably. The second mark on my starboard turn was a broad reach to the third mark on the starboard again then immediately edging upwind and tacking to the last mark which was on our port then once again a reach through the finish. My equipment choice was the Freewing 6m Nitro, AK Durable Supply Co. 1000 with the 5’4” AK Phazer at 65 liters- this seemed to be appropriate for the first 3 races on day one with a slight advantage pumping straight downwind without the wing in hands and as well with the extra ability to edge a few more degrees into the wind on the upwind section. My top speed was not matching the other competitors but my direct lines with less distance traveled and the strategy paid off. I finished the first day with my best results being one Second place finish and two third-place finishes, and by the end of the day and 6 races, I was sitting in the top 9 overall.

Day two had a little more wind and with that, there was more action on the water and some faster top speeds from all riders. By the end of day two, I was able to stick in the top 13 which allowed me to qualify for the Gold Fleet. Entering this competition I had a goal of finishing in the top 3, but when I arrived here I was humbled with how important it is to have equipment specific to racing and speed. I felt my skill was there, but considering I was riding gear specific to Surf foiling and not achieving top speeds near to what the other riders were getting, I was super grateful to qualify into the Gold Fleet. This meant that for the rest of the event the worst I could do would be 13th, and with that said there was only looking up and room for improvement. It also meant that I’d be racing against the best of the best for the rest of the duration of the Freewing Worlds, so this was a great opportunity for me to learn and improve. 

We raced about 4-6 races each day over the 4 days of competition, and with each race, I felt I was building my confidence and as well experience for my first time WingFoiling for speed and not jumping height, freestyle, and waveriding, let alone my first WingFoil race competition. My involvement with Starboard, AK Durable Supply Co., and Freewing has been focused on developing some of the best and most comfortable foils and wings for the waves, jumping, downwind, and free riding which I believe we have achieved with the new Nitro and Air V2 Freewing along with boards that can withstand high impact manoeuvres from big jumps and freestyle while also being high-performance foilsurf boards. Although, it was a little bittersweet coming to the first-ever Freewing Worlds for Wingfoil Racing with Surf and freeride gear, know our team and I could do better with equipment geared towards speed, but this is why Starboard and AK Durable Supply Co.’s Freewing division wanted the team here, so we could prepare ourselves for the future of this sport while learning how we could improve our wings and foils for speed, slalom, and course racing. We took in as much knowledge as we could from the competitors who are focused on speed and racing and the custom gear they were riding, and for me, I was so excited to develop and do R&D during my next trip to South Africa implementing these speed characteristics to some prototype gear and working towards some speed and race-specific equipment for next years Starboard, AK and Freewing Production.

An inspiring and motivating trip to say the least and so grateful for the opportunity to be back competing and being reunited with our friends from around the world and fellow competitors. Big mahalo to the Freewing Worlds Race Committee, Univela for hosting the competitors and competition, along with all the sponsors and supporters to make this event happen and kickstart a new generation of foil racing! We truly are still at the early stages of this sport as pioneers and innovators, and it's going to be exciting where the level, performance, and speed is at for next year’s Freewing World Championships!

See you on the water! Stay tuned for the adventure story from my South Africa R&D trip coming soon! 

Gear: Freewing Nitro Wing, AK Durable Supply co., Phazer + Plasma 1000, Starboard Xtra (prototype testing and production coming soon) + IQ Windsurf foil and Simba Helmet.

By Zane Schweitzer

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