France Sweeps Formula Wing European Titles as Naples Winds Fade

Naples delivered a championship decided as much by weather as by speed, and when the final breeze failed to materialize, France walked away with both Formula Wing European titles. A stubborn north-easterly never turned into the thermal wind officials needed, forcing race control to scrub the remaining schedule and leave the standings frozen after the earlier rounds.

That made the final day feel like a slow-burn collapse. The race office first pulled the Golden Ticket opportunity, then abandoned the quarter-finals as the calm stretched on. With no full slate of medal races, there was no last-gasp shootout to reshuffle the podiums. Instead, the results stood on the strength of the racing already completed, which turned the earlier consistency of the front-runners into the decisive factor.

The standout story belonged to Vaina Picot. At 16, she became the youngest Formula Wing European champion, and she earned it in the hardest kind of racing, the light-air, technical conditions that expose hesitation and reward clean board handling and fast decisions. Picot won nine of the 12 completed races, a run that left little doubt about her control of the event and her comfort when the fleet was forced to work for every gust.

Julien Rattotti added the men’s title to his Wave world crown, reinforcing his reputation as one of the class’s sharpest all-around racers. His result mattered beyond the medal table. In a championship where the wind repeatedly refused to cooperate, Rattotti showed the value of staying composed across multiple formats and pressure points, not just in the headline moments. France’s four-medal haul underlined how deep the program has become.

Italy still found reason to hold its head high. Ernesto de Amicis took silver, a result that felt especially meaningful in front of a home crowd and under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. Naples and the nearby island of Ischia gave the event a striking backdrop, but the course itself was unforgiving once the breeze went soft. Italy’s two silvers showed promise; France’s double title showed the current pecking order. In a season where consistency and race management can matter as much as outright pace, Naples made the gap between contenders and champions look brutally clear.