Kamil Manowiecki is a World Cup winner. The PPC rider took the overall men's title at the 2026 Ensis ENGADINWING WingFoil Racing World Cup on Lake Silvaplana, Switzerland. He did it the hard way, from third place, on a day that almost never happened.
Silvaplana runs on the Maloja. That is the local thermal wind that fills the Engadin valley most afternoons. You set your watch by it. On finals day, it went missing. A stubborn northerly gradient sat over the lake and killed the thermal before it could build. For most of the day the water looked like a mirror. The fleet waited. Eighteen nations sat on the shore, rigged and ready, watching nothing move.
Then it switched on. The race committee dropped the AP at around 15:45, and within ten minutes everything changed. The Maloja arrived. The medal series was on, and Kamil had a small window to turn a podium place into a win.
He started the day in third. The maths was simple and brutal. Win the semi-final. Then win two races in the Grand Final. No room to coast, no second chances, no time to think about the trophy. Just the next start, the next mark, the next call.
He got through the semi. Then he went to work in the final. Kamil won his duel, took the bullets he needed, and closed it out. From third on the morning to first by the end of the day.
Francesco Cappuzzo of Italy took silver and Alessandro Tomasi, also of Italy, took bronze. The two were split by a tie-break, which tells you how tight the racing was at the front. In a fleet this deep, a single mark rounding decides a medal.
What stands out is not the speed. It is the composure. A glassed-off lake tests your patience more than your hands. Hours of waiting, a forecast that keeps shifting, the slow creep of doubt that maybe there is no racing at all. Then ten minutes to flip the switch and perform. Most riders lose the day in their heads before the wind even arrives. Kamil held his nerve, trusted the plan, and delivered when the window opened.
That is the kind of result that does not come from one good afternoon. It comes from the work behind it. The hours on the water, the gear dialled in, the team that keeps the whole operation moving. Kamil rides with PPC, and seeing him on the top step is what this is all about for us. We build wings for riders who push. He pushed, and he won.
Silvaplana has a habit of producing finishes like this. High mountains, cold alpine water, a wind that makes you earn every race. It rewards riders who stay calm and stay ready. This year it rewarded Kamil.
Huge congratulations to Kamil from everyone at PPC. To Cappuzzo and Tomasi, two riders who made the final a fight to the line, respect. And to the race team and volunteers who held the course open and called it right, this result is yours too. No patience on shore, no medal series.
The World Cup Series rolls on. Kamil heads to the next round with a win in his pocket and the form to back it up. We will be right behind him.
