> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Santa Monica teen lands career-best finish on world wingfoil tour - URL: https://www.smdp.com/santa-monica-teen-lands-career-best-finish-on-world-wingfoil-tour/ - Published: 2026-09-28T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-28T15:59:59.000Z - Author: Maaz Alin - Tags: Sports, Santa Monica Luca Vuillermet knew exactly what he needed going into the freestyle final at the Global Wingfoil Association World Cup event in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands. The 17-year-old Santa Monica resident was ranked sixth in the world. To finish fifth in the season standings, he had to finish at least second. The final was close, and it came down to his last trick attempt. "I needed to focus. I took a deep breath and reset my mental state," Vuillermet said. "Nothing else mattered but landing that trick. I took my speed, jumped, and spun. One, two, three, four." He landed a 1440, a trick with four rotations in the air. "The sound of my board landing echoed in the air. Relief and pure stoke," he said. "I had a huge smile on my face before I even got back to the beach." He still didn't know whether he had done enough. He came in pumping his fist at the cameras. "Then I saw my dad beside the cameramen giving a thumbs up, and that's when I knew," Vuillermet said. His teammate Ezio, one of his best friends, "came running down to dap me up." Vuillermet finished second at the event and fifth overall on the 2026 GWA World Tour. "Second at the event and fifth in the world at 17 is the best I've ever done," he said. "It's got me fired up and hungry for more next season." Wingfoiling pairs a hydrofoil board, which uses a long metal fin to raise the board above the water, with a large inflatable wing that powers the board and can lift it into the air. In June 2022, as a 12-year-old Lincoln Middle [School student](https://www.smdp.com/parents-press-santa-monica-malibu-school-board-to-rein-in-classroom-screen-time/), Vuillermet placed first in slalom and second in freestyle in the Under 14 category at the first GWA Youth World Cup in Oliva, Spain. His biggest trick then was the 720, two rotations. He went on to become GWA youth surf-slalom world champion in the U14 division in 2022 and the U16 division in 2024\. Starting in 2023, he was also invited to compete on the GWA Pro Tour, which includes the top 28 adult riders worldwide. He placed fifth in Big Air that year and sixth overall in freestyle in 2025. The biggest change since then, he said, is his mentality. "During my heats, I used to carry everything with me. A crash or a low score would follow me into the next trick attempt and kill my mindset," Vuillermet said. "Now, if I'm trailing and I need to land something, I can put myself back in the moment. ... Whatever happened before doesn't exist." At the professional level, he said, everyone in the final can land the same big tricks. "You only get about seven attempts in a heat, so there's no throwing one away," he said. "The riding isn't the hardest part. The hardest part is holding your head together and staying on strategy." The breakthrough did not come quickly. "For two and a half years I kept making semifinals and stopping there. Every event, the same wall," he said. "What it taught me was patience." "At the first event of the 2026 season I took third in Leucate, France for my first podium," he said, "and I closed the season with a second place in Fuerteventura." He has done it with less time on the water than his rivals. Most of the competitors he faces wingfoil full time. They are either old enough to be out of school or study online. He gets weekends, breaks and whatever fits around his school schedule. "So I have to make my hours on the water count," he said. "Before I go out I set goals and know exactly what I'm training." Santa Monica doesn't often get windy, so he drives to the wind: south to Cabrillo or Long Beach, north to Leo Carrillo. Over Thanksgiving and winter breaks, he trains in La Ventana, Baja California Sur, Mexico. He also works new rotations on a trampoline at Flip First Gymnastics. "Imagining you can land a trick is already half the battle of learning it," he said. He gets ahead in his classes before he travels, and [SAMOHI](https://samohi.smmusd.org/?ref=smdp.com) gives him as much time to catch up as he missed. "One week missed, one week to make it up," he said. "A long flight can easily turn into a few uninterrupted hours of work or studying." Vuillermet rides for F-One and works with its engineering team on product development. His other sponsors are Manera and AMI Group. His 2027 goals include graduating from high school, applying to college, competing on the 2027 GWA Pro Tour and continuing to advocate for youth sports.