Aruba Hi Winds Youth Slalom World Cup
The second day of the 2024 Aruba Hi Winds Youth Slalom World Cup started with lighter winds than yesterday, so the decision was made to send the next generation of racers out on their foils, which allowed a further 4 eliminations to be completed before the wind picked up and saw a further two eliminations on the fin.
Girl’s Foil
Louise van der Meulen took the top spot in Elimination 1, but it appeared this only made Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde / F4 Foils) hungry for more as she went on to dominate the rest of the races, while often also challenging the boys.
Boy’s Foil
Brendan Lorho (FMX Racing / Point-7) won the opening foil elimination of the event, but then it was Benedikt Emser (PATRIK) who dominated the rest of the day despite smashing his foil on the reef moments before the first race. After earning his maiden bullet in the second elimination, the young German then cemented his place firmly at the top of the rankings after completing a quite brilliant hat-trick. Emser’s superior straight line speed was apparent as he blew the rest of the fleet away with his speed rather than his gybes.
After four foil eliminations the decision was made to make a quick turnaround and switch to the fin, which fortunately coincided perfectly with an increase in the wind. However, with the wind still being patchy at times this meant the youths had to be nimble with their footwork and perform skilled gybes to remain on the plane.
Girl’s Fin
Bobbi-Lynn (Starboard / NeilPryde) continued to lay down the gauntlet in the girls fleet and is currently ranked 6th in the overall event rankings, while she holds a substantial 12 point lead in the girls fleet. Bobbi-Lynn’s sister, Kit De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) is current the closest challenger with the 12-year-old enjoying a great day - which included an impressive 6th place in Elimination 4. Meanwhile Louise van der Meulen and Lone De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) are currently tied in third place.
Boy’s Fin
Brendan Lorho fell victim to the patchy winds in the opening fin elimination of the day with the youngster stalling at mark 3, which allowed Nicolai to Storm (Duotone / F4 Foils) through together with Tycho Smits (Future Fly / NeilPryde) after both boys producing excellent planing gybes. This was a huge moment for Storm as at the 15-year-old claimed a bullet against the U21s fleet. Meanwhile, Smits would finish second ahead of Lorho, who currently discards his third place from Elimination 4.
In Elimination 5, Terence Seraus (Future Fly / Point-7) pinged the start and was first to opening buoy hotly followed by Tame Mondria (Tabou / GA Sails) and Lorho. An unbelievable drag race followed (check our Instagram) with Lorho edging ahead into the second gybe before making the perfect gybe to cut off both Mondria and Seraus on the inside, which resulted in the latter falling, which allowed Storm to pass through. Lorho would make no mistakes over the remainder of the course as he secured his third victory in five eliminations to finish the second day with a 2.6 point lead a the top of the overall event rankings.
Overall it was another great day in Aruba with plenty of action and lots of happy kids.
If you missed any of the racing you can see a replay of all the action HERE.