Wing · Birth
2020
The wing gets its own association
Nine brands found the Global Wingsports Association, the first international body for wing sports, and launch it with races and freestyle at Silvaplana.
9brands
Founders of the Global Wingsports Association, 14 August 2020
A year after the first wings reached the shops, the makers organised the sport. On 14 August 2020 nine brands announced the Global Wingsports Association (GWA): Airush, Cabrinha, Duotone, Fanatic, F-One, Manera, North, Ocean Rodeo and Slingshot. Jörgen Vogt became its secretary-general.
It was described as the world’s first international organisation focused only on wing sports. It planned competitions in freestyle, surfing, open-ocean riding and racing, and the first Wing-Foil World Cup at the start of the 2021 season.
The launch came two days later, at Engadinwind 2020 on Lake Silvaplana in Switzerland, on 16 and 17 August, with a race on the first day and freestyle on the second.
Little more than a year after the first shop sales the sport had an association and a plan for a world cup. The first events of its world tour followed before the end of the year.