Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam
The 35th anniversary of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam couldn’t have gone much better as Sotavento provided 10 days of action packed competition. The opening five days belonged to the racers, which saw Sarah-Quita Offringa and Nicolas Goyard claim the titles, whilst Offringa would strike again the Freestyle to claim a 14th Freestyle world crown. Meanwhile, Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) finally conquered his way to the top of the podium to claim his dream event title to cap an amazing event as the ‘Home of the Wind’ more than lived up to its reputation.
Women’s
Freestyle
Despite being nervous ahead of her single elimination defence - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - rose to the occasion once again as the Lady of Aruba produced another slick display to capture her 14th Freestyle world title and 21st overall - as she continues to write her own record books!
Maaike Huvermann (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) had looked slightly out of sorts during the single elimination, but heat-by-heat she grew in stature as the 25-year-old forced a rematch against Offringa in double elimination final! As has often been the case, Offringa firmly slammed those doors shut as Huvermann has to settle for vice-world champion status once again, but she still remains the mostly likely figure to disarm Offringa.
Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails) came out on top of the Huvermann in the single, much to the Norwegian’s delight, but couldn’t quite hang on to her place in the top two as her Dutch rival produced an almost buzzer beater to defeat Brødholt by just 0.3 of a point - after Huvermann sailed away from a last ditch culo.
The top 5 is completed by - Lisa Kloster (MB-Boards / Sailloft Hamburg) - 4th who produced a terrific comeback through the double to better her fifth place from 2021, whilst Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) finished fifth in her debut appearance on the Freestyle World Tour.
Slalom
Sarah-Quita Offringa proved what she was capable of on the race course in Pozo Izquierdo earlier this month and having finished second in Gran Canaria, the Lady of Aruba went one place better here as the former 5-time Slalom world champion claimed her first racing victory since Israel in 2021. Offringa twice claimed a hat-trick as she excelled in Fuerte’s typically strong winds!
With Offringa having seemingly built an unassailable lead - Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) forced the event title race into the last day after fighting back with a brilliant hat-trick on Day 4, but the reigning world champion couldn’t quite find the magic she needed to wrestle the event title from Offringa’s grasp in the extreme conditions of Day 5. Mortefon still walks away from Fuerteventura with her best result of the season - second - and remains Blanca Alabau’s closest rival after the opening three events.
Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) did superbly to recover from a somewhat slow start to the event, which saw the Spaniard finish out the top three in four out of the first five eliminations, whilst also being disqualified from Elimination 5 for dangerous sailing, to secure the final place on the podium, whilst more importantly maintaining her 200 point cushion at the top of the overall rankings as we head into the second half of the season.
Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) showed glimpses of the form she demonstrated in Lake Garda earlier this year, which kept her in contention for the podium until the final day of racing. However, a premature start in the penultimate elimination would end her hunt for a second top 3 of the season. Lemeteyer’s fourth place here means she completes the top three in the overall rankings - but loses a little bit of ground in the world title race - now 400 points behind Alabau.
Jenna Gibson’s (Fanatic / Duotone) superior straight-line top speed was once again apparent as the Brit charged to the front in Elimination 14 only for the Fuerte death chop to claim another victim as she rounded the first. Gibson still ends the event on somewhat of a high after a great battle with Offringa in the last, where she eventually finished second. Gibson finishes fifth for the event and occupies fifth in the overall rankings.
Men’s
Freestyle
Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils / AL360) avoided any final day scares to deservedly be crowned the event champion. The Frenchman started the last day of racing with just a 1.9 point advantage over Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7), but soon extended that to 3.9 points after finishing second, whilst his rival could ‘only’ finish fourth. This was likely Goyard’s first and last appearance of the season and he reinstated his dominance as being one of the leading foilers in the world with an astute display.
Unfortunately, the race for the event crown reached a somewhat anticlimactic end after Soe suffered a broken mast foot on the run up to the start line in the quarterfinals, which gifted Goyard the victory. Soe will have obviously been gutted to see his event title hopes ended in the manner that they were, but will still be absolutely delighted with the overall result as the 20-year-old nicknamed ‘The Beast’ earns his maiden podium on the World Tour - second - as he continues to adapt incredibly impressively to life on the World Tour and looks to be a genuine world title contender in the making.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) came into Fuerte boasting the best event record of any active sailor and the Italian’s great relationship with Sotavento continues with Iachino earning his first podium of the season, which sees him rise to third in the overalls. Third place here keeps the 2016 world champion in touch with the current top two - Maciek Rutkowski & Pierre Mortefon.
Having almost not putting a foot wrong in the opening two events of the season - Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) - made a few untimely errors in Fuerte, but ultimately retains the world title race lead after finishing sixth here. The Pole came into Fuerte with a 100% qualifying record for winners’ finals (14 out of 14), but only made the top 8 on 5 out of the 11 eliminations completed, which is perhaps testament just how tough conditions are here.
Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils) closes to within 100 points of Rutkowski at the top of the overall rankings, after once again producing his best performance on the last day of the event, which saw him claim a bullet and a second place. Mortefon is almost slipping under the radar, but he remains a prominent and very real threat as we head into the business end of the season.
Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) endured a punishing event, but the Croat, who won last time out in Gran Canaria, continued to battle away much to his credit and still earns a top 10 result here - 9t - which sees him ranked 4th in the overalls!
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) will no doubt be frustrated to have seen a potential podium slip through his hands, after falling when in second place in the last elimination, but on the plus side the Bonairean qualified for 10 out of the 11 Winners’ Finals and fourth place still represents an excellent result. The 28-year-old climbs into 5th in the overall rankings and it surely won’t be too long before you see him challenging for event victories again.
The current overall top 10 is completed by; Nicolas Prien (JP / NeilPryde), Michele Becker (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils), Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils) and Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone).
Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) was only competing in his second event on the World Tour, but has taken to World Cup events like a duck to water with the Italian claiming a place in the overall top 10 - 9th. Benedetti suffered a quarterfinal exit in the opening race, but then didn’t finish outside of the top 16.
Elsewhere, Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails) records his first top 16 result on the World Tour after qualifying for his first winners’ final, whilst he only missed out on the top 16 three times in 11 races. Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) showed he remains one of the best hardcore slalom sailors after qualifying for both winners’ finals on the last day - finishing 3rd and 6th - to eventually finish 17th.
Freestyle
Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) has dreamed about winning in Fuerteventura for a very long time, but after missing out on a place in the winners’ final in the single elimination it looked as though that wait may go on. The Belgian posted the highest score of the single to finish third and then powered back through the double to deservedly earn his first victory on the World Tour after defeating current world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - twice in the double to lead the world title race lead heading into Sylt.
Bosson may be slightly disappointed to relinquish the top spot on the podium here, but it still represents an excellent start to the season and keeps him firmly in the world title race heading into Germany. By his own admission Freestyle hasn’t been able to be his sole focus recently, which makes second place here all the more impressive.
Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) has been competing in Fuerteventura for 20 years and the Frenchman continues to be one of the most dangerous and stylish men on tour. Ruenes made his way into the single elimination final - eventually losing out to good friend Bosson. Caers, who was on a tear, proved too much in the double, but the 34-year-old will still be delighted to walk away with his first podium since 2014.
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) may have switched his main focus to racing, but the 2021 Freestyle World Champion showed that he is still one of the best Freestylers on the planet as he claimed fourth place here - to match his fourth in the racing. The 27-year-old remains unbelievably talented and is arguably the best all round sailor in the world.
Jacopo Testa (AV Boards / Point-7 / AL360) had a disastrous start to the event after being eliminated in the opening round by an on fire Balz Muller (Severne / Severne Sails), but the reigning vice-world champion slowly gathered form in the double to fight back into 5th place.
Like Testa, Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) also suffered a first round exit in the single, which the young Greek sighted that he had simply forgot to have fun whilst competing. The 19-year-old clearly rediscovered the fun element in the double as he produced a series of stunning displays - only being stopped by Testa in the battle for fifth and sixth.
The top ten is completed by Youp Schmit (Tabou / GA Sails) and Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILs), who share joint seventh, and Niclas Nebelung (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) and Balz Muller, who was one of the standouts in terms of innovation and entertainment.
That concludes the Canaries leg of the tour for 2023 and Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura further reinstate their reputations as some of the best windsurfing destinations in the world with a 100% wind record during this year’s events. A huge thanks goes out to the event organisers and volunteers, without whom this event wouldn’t be possible, and of course a huge congratulations once again to the winners. We’ll see you again towards the end of September in Sylt, Germany.
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Result 2023 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women’s Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Lisa Kloster (GER | MB-Boards / Sailloft Hamburg)
5th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
Result 2023 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women’s Slalom
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
5th Jenna Gibson (UK | Fanatic / Duotone)
Result 2023 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Freestyle
1st Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
4th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | AV Boards / Point-7 / AL360)
6th Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Youp Schmit (NB | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS)
9th Niclas Nebelung (GER | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Albert (NC | Goya Windsurfing)
9th Balz Muller (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)
Result 2023 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom
1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils / AL360)
2nd Johan Soe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly | Severne Sails)
5th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
7th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
9th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Nicolas Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)