Leucate to Host First-Ever Downwind Parawing World Cup in April

Parawing downwind racing reaches World Cup status for the first time when the Surf Foil World Tour's inaugural SFT Downwind Parawing World Cup runs at Leucate-La Franqui, France from April 22 to 26 as part of the 29th edition of the Mondial du Vent.

The format raises the bar on versatility immediately. Riders must manage powered long reaches and beam reaches under the parawing, then stow the wing entirely for specified segments, forcing pure foil efficiency to carry speed. There is no hiding behind a permanently powered wing: the stow-and-glide requirement exposes glide ratio, foil trim, and downwind reading in ways that standard wing racing does not. For equipment, that means a premium on foils that balance high aspect-ratio glide with the manoeuvrability needed to re-engage after the wing comes back out, and quick-stow wing designs that lose minimal speed in the transition.

The named field already signals the event's credibility. FreeFly-Slalom World Champion Bastien Escofet, from Sigean in the Aude, will compete in the men's division alongside compatriot Alan Fedit. Spain's Nia Suardiaz and France's Kylie Belloeuvre will head the women's start list.

Leucate is not an accidental venue choice. The site records more than 300 windy days per year and is powered by the Tramontana, a reliable, strong north-westerly that blows side to side-offshore, exactly the consistent directional pressure parawing downwind racing needs. The Mondial du Vent, established in 1997, has hosted the GWA Wingfoil World Cup for six consecutive years and brings existing broadcast infrastructure and a festival audience well beyond the core foiling community.

The SFT is running the Parawing World Cup as the GWA's sister tour, and the broader Mondial du Vent program illustrates the circuit's cross-discipline ambition. The April window at Leucate also includes the GWA Wingfoil Surf-Freestyle World Cup, France's only GWA stage of the season, and the IFCA Windsurf Slalom Fin and Foil World Championship. On the SFT's own 2026 calendar, the parawing event sits alongside E-Foil and Pump Foil World Cups, a lineup that positions the tour as the home for every discipline that doesn't fit traditional wingfoil or windsurf categories.

For brands, the Cup functions as a live product brief. Quick-stow mechanics, leash systems rated for high-speed downwind use, and foils tuned for the glide-to-power transition will all get public testing at race pace in Tramontana conditions. Escofet and Fedit arriving from the wingfoil circuit also signals the competitive crossover that sponsors have been waiting for: athletes already sitting inside top-12 world rankings in an adjacent discipline choosing to campaign a brand-new format is exactly the kind of legitimacy that accelerates sponsorship conversations in a first-year event.