LiftX proves race pedigree as Manel Arpa wins Lake Garda PRO

Manel Arpa’s PRO win at Lake Garda gave Lift Foils its clearest proof yet that the LIFTX belongs in race conversation, not just in crossover talk. Arpa took the overall PRO title on a Florence 4'7 and moved one step closer to the 2026 World Championship, with Alex Tête pressing him to second and giving Lift a one-two finish in the marquee class.

That result mattered because the Lake Garda stop was no casual showcase. The Surf Foil World Tour ran there from July 2 to 5 during Foiling Week at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, returning to Lake Garda for a second straight year and using the venue’s reliable thermal winds, glassy morning water and mountain backdrop to stage racing across e-Foil, pump foil, downwind foil and parawing. The tour also crowned the first-ever parawing world champions on the lake, underscoring how central Lake Garda has become to the sport’s next competitive phase.

Lift’s case for the LIFTX got stronger when the results widened beyond Arpa. Sofia Wittmann finished second in the Women’s division on her LIFTX 4'8, Vlad Mironovs took third in Challenger, Piet Varkevisser and Kai Katchadourian both reached the Masters podium, and Edan Finder was second in Pump Foil. That spread across classes is the real evidence test: the board was not only fast in one narrow lane, it showed up across rider types and race formats.

The technical context sharpened that argument. The Surf Foil World Tour’s e-Foil program used a tight H-style six-buoy course around the marina docks and a round-robin head-to-head format, with Clemens Kresser winning the men’s division with five wins, Agnes Wicander taking the women’s title and Philippe Axmann winning Foil Drive. In a venue that rewarded cornering, control and repeatable speed, Lift’s riders were on the right side of the results sheet.

What Lake Garda proves is that the LIFTX can credibly carry elite riders into podium fights, from PRO to Women’s and into crossover disciplines like Pump Foil and e-Foil. What it does not settle is whether that range translates everywhere on the calendar, against every course profile and every field depth. For serious surf-foil racers, the signal is strong. For crossover riders, it shows a premium all-round platform can now enter race discussions without apology. For buyers, it is the first hard evidence that the LIFTX is being raced like a genuine weapon, not merely marketed as one.