Hey Pierre, a huge congratulations again on winning your first world title after an epic battle with Matteo - how does it feel to finally become world champion and has it settled in yet?

After 2 weeks I am slowly realising it… It was just a crazy moment after all those years and all those different fights to finally get it. I am happy and it shows that work can pay off. I am also deeply moved by the reaction of a lot of people who are really happy for me, from my family to some other riders. Returning to France was crazy and the season is still not over for me ;) but it’s great.  

You had a disastrous start to the event - being disqualified for dangerous sailing - do you think that was a fair decision and what was going through your head once you were disqualified?

I don’t want to speak too much about this. I am not a crazy sailor and when I go for it, it’s because I can pass. From many years, the tour is working with the no rules system and this action was normal for me. I fully agree that it was a strong attack, but it was not dangerous. Why? We were rail to rail, both boards were flat on the water and I even kept going after the gybe. The decision was the decision and I respected it completely. Maybe it made me stronger and helped me to be strong… 

After that start you then bounced back brilliantly - qualifying for 8 winners’ finals in a row - which sent you into the world title race lead for the first time in the event… you then missed out on the top 8 in Elimination 10 - what happened to you in the semifinals?

Nothing really special, I had a ok start in the middle of the line. The chop was pretty hard in Nouméa especially on the first leg. We were powered on 8.4m & big board and I hit 2 pieces of chop in a row which made me lose speed on the first reach. Then I tried to come back but this time it was not enough… This is showing the incredible level on the World Tour… 

That result combined with Matteo finishing second meant that there was just 2.7 points between you two… how were you feeling before the start of the last elimination?

I will not say that I was not nervous, but I tried to stay focused and to take this race as a normal race. Advancing through the heat, the last day was not an easy one as I was always on the lower part of the seeding while Matteo was on top which means he was passing into the winner final before me… 

Both of you then qualified for the winners’ final… were you aware then you ‘just’ needed to be within two places of Matteo or finish ahead of him to win the world title? And what, if any, were you tactics in the final?

I didn’t count the points until the final where I had a small discussion on the beach with a friend where we count those points. This scenario was not the easiest but it was better than a full man to man, I had some room but not so much when you speak about a guys like Matteo. I just try to have a ok start, not too risky and then I was trying to look at him. 

When you were rounding the final gybe ahead of Matteo - what were you thinking as you headed down the final reach?

After gybing the first one with him then the second one in front, I change a bit my sailing. It was not about him it was just about me. Going straight, no catapult and gybing smooth, maybe the last gybe was one of the longest of my life… After hooking in and putting both feet in the straps, I checked one time at the finish line, one time behind me then I started realising that I was going to be World Champion! My eyes were already a bit wet crossing the line… 

For the last 6 seasons you have constantly been battling it out at the very top of the rankings - finishing as vice-world champion twice during that time… how does it feel to finally get your hands on the biggest prize?

It’s like a consecration! I finally show that I can be the best one… I was so close a few times, I am just so happy. The level is just crazy, we still have a part of the old generation and the upcoming one is fully motivated. I think it was one of the craziest seasons on the world tour with so much fight, ups and downs and the event victory decided on the last race… I am really happy and proud to win it! 

How have you been celebrating your first world title?


AAAAh, it’s still not over! Don’t tell that to my neighbour, but this Saturday, it’s the big one! No seriously I came back home on the night of the closing ceremony because I wanted to be with my family to celebrate, especially my wife and son who are my biggest support! Then I had already few beers and champagne with some great friends… 

And finally what are your plans for the winter?

Back on track, I will take December as a break. It’s fully needed! Then Tenerife in January for some testing and training with the boyz , I will fly to Japan in February and then come back to Europe. If it’s not too cold I will try to stay home and start also training in Marignane for the 1st stop. Lots of foiling is the plan but I will keep sailing my slalom board as I love it.

One (world title) is nice, but now I need to keep it!!! 

Thanks Pierre. A huge congratulations once again! Enjoy the celebrations tomorrow!
 

Last year we took a look at how the big top 3 performed in numbers and now that the 2019 PWA World Tour has concluded we thought we would see how Albeau, Iachino & Mortefon stacked up compared to 2018.

The Big Top 3 in Numbers 2018

                     Albeau        Iachino        Mortefon
Japan              1/1              1/1               1/1
South Korea    4/4              4/4               4/4
Costa Brava    0/1              0/1               0/1
Portugal           5/7             7/7               5/7
Fuerteventura  4/4             4/4               4/4
Sylt                   2/2              1/2              2/2
QR WF          84.21%        89.47%       84.21%

The Big Top 3 in Numbers 2019

                     Albeau        Iachino        Mortefon    
France              1/1             0/1              1/1        
South Korea     2/3             3/3              1/3        
Fuerteventura   9/9             8/9              9/9        
Denmark           4/9             8/9              6/9    
New Caledonia 9/11          7/11            9/11    
QR WF             75.75%      78.78%     78.78%        

*Qualifying Rate For Winners’ Finals (QR WF)

So as you can see none of the big top 3 were able to match the extraordinary figures they produced last year:

- Albeau qualified for 8.46% less winners’ finals compared to 2018
- Iachino qualified for 10.69% less winners’ finals compared to 2018
- And eventual world champion - Pierre Mortefon - qualified for 5.43% less winners’ finals compared to 2018.

Meanwhile, in 2018 the big top 3 won 89.47% of all the eliminations completed (17 out of 19), while in 2019 that figure dropped almost 20% to 69.69%.

One of the main reasons for that can be the fact that there were an extra 14 races in 2019 - 33 compared to 19 - and it is obviously harder to be quite so dominant the more races there are. However, the other main reason is that there is a crop of sailors trying to bridge the gap between themselves and the big top 3 and they too are raising their level.

For example in 2018 only two other sailors won eliminations - namely Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) - while this season that number jumped to a total of 7 sailors (Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS), Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone), Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails), Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) - and from that group only Quentel and Williams had previously won eliminations on the world tour - showing that there is a new group of sailors trying to breakthrough into the upper ranks of the racing world. 

Will they be able to get there next season and dislodge one of the big top 3? Perhaps, but it’s still going to be a tall order, as Mortefon, Iachino & Albeau were still head and shoulders above the rest of the fleet. Jordy Vonk, who finished 4th overall finished 900 points behind Albeau in 3rd place, while he was then a staggering 1600 points behind eventual champion - Mortefon.

Traversa sails the notorious Nazaré, which as he says, has become the epicentre of big wave surfing in recent years, while the 2014 World and Red Bull Storm Chase Champion discovers some truly amazing beach breaks, river breaks and outer point breaks in a must watch new project. 

The Windsurf Project: “The new project is now live! Portugal is filled with everything from some of the biggest waves on the planet, world class beach breaks, Pastéis and even some remote magical outer point breaks.

Sometimes all you have to do is jump in the camper and go in search of them!”

You can see The Windsurf Project | Project 2 | Portugal @ https://youtu.be/dGn03t1uliE

Hey Delphine, congrats on winning your 4th slalom world title - how does it feel to win your 4th world title and how does it compare your previous titles?

Thanks! Winning a new title is always a new victory for me and each one is different because the circumstances are different! This year I had to fight until the last day of competition to win this 4th title and when the last race was over it was a huge relief! 

After a great start to the event, winning the first race, you then had a mixed bag of results for the next 3 or 4 races… was that due to your injury or what do you think happened?

Mentally I was not at my best because I was thinking about my foot and I was scared to get more injured and I was not 100% focused on the race. After the 2nd day I just forgot everything I did and began a new competition in my head! I concentrated on my starts and jibes and I finally managed to sail at my best! 

Heading into the final day you were only 1.9 points ahead of Maëlle Guilbaud in 4th place - how much pressure did you feel heading into the final day? And do you think that knowing you couldn’t afford any more mistakes in some way helped you to sail so well on the last day?

I didn’t sail with this type of pressure for a long time and I just try to do my best race after race. I tried to not think too much about the title and I never checked the points during competition. My goal was to win each race until the end! When you know you can’t make any mistakes you have no choice. You have to hold this pressure otherwise it’s over…

What do you think about the level on the tour at the moment?

The level on the tour is really good. Everybody is fighting at the start, jibes… until the end of each race! In France we are lucky to have a great level with Marion and Maëlle, so we are always pushing our limits and training to be at the top at the French competitions! I was little be sad that some girls like Jenna [Gibson], Fulya [Ünlü[, Sarah [Quita Offringa], Oda [Brødholt]…etc couldn’t come for the final in New Caledonia as we had a great battle in Denmark together, but more and more girls are joining the tour and pushing the level up!

As well as winning the 2019 PWA Slalom World Championship - you also won the first event Women’s Foil PWA World Championship - how does it feel to have won that title and to have won two titles in one year?

To be the 1st Women Foil World Champion is unbelievable! It was a new discipline and it was hard to know the level of all others girls so after the 1st day of racing in Japan I thought I had skills to do something good and after a lot of exciting battles with Alabau sisters and Marion, I finally won the 2 events on the tour! Winning 2 titles is just more than I expected and now the hardest thing will be to do the same in 2020! 

How did you celebrate your latest world titles?

I celebrated with my family around a nice dinner and of course some champagne! I would like to share this moment with people who are the most important to me! 

How will you be spending your winter?

I actually just arrived in St Barth and I will be there for 1month and half! With Antoine [Questel] we planned a boat trip for one week in the British Virgin Islands in January and we should continue our training in Tarifa from mid February until mid March before the 1st event of the year, which should be in France at the beginning of April. 

Thanks, Delphine. Congrats again on your latest world titles. Have a great winter and see you in 2020.

Julien Bru recently released an excellent short documentary, which guides you through Offringa’s title run in and includes exclusive interview footage with the now 17-time world champion. You can see this documentary @ https://youtu.be/q3fdHz2Da_U

Julien Bru: "This video traces the amazing year of Sarah-Quita Offringa from Pozo, Gran Canaria until the ultimate 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic on Maui where she was crowned 2019 Wave World Champion.”

If you missed our recent interview with Sarah--Quita then you can find it here.

Maaike! How are you? 

I’m really good, I’ve been spending a lot of time in uni lately. I’m currently studying two degrees at VU Amsterdam, so its a bit hectic. But it’s fun as well, I like to challenge myself and keep on developing. 

We saw you had your thumb operated on last week? Why and what happened? 

Yeah, so this is actually from back in the Canaries, in Fuerteventura. I went for a session down in Risco in the lead up to the freestyle event and had a bit of an unfortunate landing doing an air flaka. I did the full rotation, landed, and then my hand just slipped off the boom. Probably wasn’t holding on to it properly, still not really sure what actually happened. Anyway, it slipped off and banged it into the mast. Hospital said it was nothing, but it never really faded and  the position of my thumb was not right either. So when I went to get it checked out at home, it turned out that a ligament was torn. Did the remaining comps and got it fixed last Monday. That session in Risco is still my favourite session of the year though, it was so much fun with SQ [Offringa\ and Oda [Brødholt]!

How long is the recovering going to take? 

To be honest, I’m not completely sure yet. I’ll be in a cast for 6 weeks and depending on the situation then, I’ll either be ready to go or something else has to happen. The doctor hasn’t been very clear about that. I think mainly because it just really depends on how well and quick it heals. They took something from another part of my wrist to fix the thumb, so just hoping for my body reacts well to rearrangement of Maaike cells. 

Any plans for the winter? 

Mainly studying, but hopefully I squeeze a little training week in just before the season starts.

Looking forward to the 2020 season? 

Yeah!! Really excited, always! Ready for more adventures, challenges and fun times!

New freestyle moves you have planned to learn? 

I haven’t really thought about it that much. So if anyone knows what could be my winning move for next year let me know.

You did well in Sylt in the waves, will you compete at all the wave events next season? 

Yes! It’s been really nice to switch things up a little bit. New challenge, definitely keeping me motivated. Unfortunately I don’t find much time to really train for the waves as much yet. I only really wave sail during the week leading up to the event and the event itself, but I’m definitely improving and having a lot of fun doing it, so I’ll be back for that!

Thanks, Maaike. Good luck with the recovery and hope to see you back on the water soon! Good luck with your studies too!

Campello, who is a former 3-time Freestyle World Champion, is still aiming to win his first wave world title and has been in title race contention for the last two years. Could this additional support from Naish be the final piece of the puzzle to enable Campello to finally get his hands on the wave world title? That remains to be seen, but you’ll be able to follow his quest right here on the PWA website in the new year.

Ricardo Campello joins Naish: "This is not just a picture with Robby Naish, it's a special moment where he is giving me his welcome to the Naish Team! I'm super excited and motivated to announce that I will be riding Naish Windsurfing sails and boards for the upcoming season. I've been already riding and testing some equipment so stay tuned for the video!"

Jules Denel: “It was really technical because the wind blew really off shore and was very light, but when I was on the wave it felt completely insane. I broke a mast and a sail, like always there, haha. We had one really big day. Join me for few waves in this amazing place. Vision and sensation there are incomparable! Thanks for share it, if you like it!”

You can watch Jules Denel’s latest video here.

After starting the season with two 3rd places in the Canaries it looked as though Offringa may have to place her wave world title aspirations on hold for another year, but with sport being so beautifully unpredictable that’s not how the season unfolded. A victory at the Mercedes-Benz Sylt Windsurf World Cup put the 28-year-old in contention for the title with Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) only finishing 5th in Germany. 

Offringa had won the Aloha Classic the last time the PWA was in town in 2016 and the Aruban struck again - producing a brilliant display to win the single elimination ahead of her main rival Iballa. With only a 5 day holding period there wasn’t enough time for Iballa to try and stage a come back in the double and after several days of anxious waiting it was official that Offringa had become the first woman in over 2 decades, besides the legendary Moreno twins, to win the PWA Wave World title. After reaching another career milestone we recently caught up with the now 17-time world champion (12 Freestyle, 4 Slalom & 1 Wave) for an interview:

Hi SQ, you’ve had a little bit of time, but has it already settled in that you are the 2019 Women’s PWA Wave World Champion and how does it feel?

Hello!! It feels aaaweeesomee!

It’s the one discipline that I was very consciously working towards the past couple of years. 
Waves are so challenging because of the many different conditions you need to be able to perform in. Big waves and light wind, smaller waves and strong wind. Pure riding or going for big jumps. It’s so much fun. So it’s very, very satisfying to have achieved this goal! Also because it was a tight race until the end which made it really exciting!

How was the contest as a whole for you? 

I blinked and it was over!

I’m so excited and grateful that they were able to make the contest happen. I was already happy to finish the year off in Maui as a starboard tack event. Pozo is exciting with the mega wind, but the thought of sailing massive waves at Ho’okipa also gives me goose bumps, but it’s exactly the challenge I’m looking for! 

Thankfully on the day of the single though, apart from a couple of massive sets, we didn’t get the peak of the swell. It was a really FUN day out there and I had a couple of sweet heats. I feel like I was pretty in the zone for all of them and it was just pure pleasure being out there with just the four of us out. I made a pretty late decision 4 minutes before the final to go back in and grab my 5,0 so I got in the line up really late, but I think that decision payed off as I could definitely use the extra power with the dying wind.

Obviously after winning the single elimination on the opening day you then had quite a long wait to officially become the wave world champion. Were you nervous while having to wait?

I would like to say I wasn’t too nervous, but there were definitely one or two days that I felt quite exhausted and just passed out at night even though I hadn’t sailed. So I guess I was definitely tense for most of the week. But more because I need to stay calm and not get too excited hahaha. After winning the single, the title was so close! But I definitely waited till the last seconds until Duncan announced it before I let the excitement boil over!!

In Maui you mentioned that you didn’t expect it to happen this year (winning)… why was that?

I think I put most of my time and energy into training in Gran Canaria. I wasn’t particularly focused on the title, but rather on just improving my sailing and translating that to competition there. I felt really good on the water in the Canaries but finished 3rd at both events, so I was a bit bummed I didn’t make it happen during those events. And somehow the Canaries was my focus and I was actually already resetting for 2020. I think after that the title wasn’t even on my mind. I just wanted to make sure to perform well during my heats which I think I did both in Sylt and Maui.

Winning the wave world title this year completes a grand slam of world titles. How does it feel to have won world titles in Freestyle, Slalom and now Wave? And how does this one rank compared to your other titles?

I think I’m still digesting the idea of having won that wave title. It really feels like a big achievement to me. Because I feel like freestyle and slalom came a bit more naturally to me as that is what I practiced at home anyway. For waves I’ve had to focus specifically to travel and train in wavy places.
It’s a first so it’s special.

Winning the wave world title means that you have won almost everything possible in windsurfing… what else do you want to achieve?

Good question! Still trying to figure that one out. 
At least windsurfing is never ending and I’ll definitely be striving for progress in all disciplines.

After another long year of competing how will you be spending your winter?

What an epic year I can look back on! All the events on tour this year have been a lot of fun and besides the freestyle and waves I think racing in Denmark was particularly exhilarating.
I’m taking a mini vacation in Brazil at the moment and will spend the whole of December at home.
After that I think I will be on the hunt for some bigger waves in OZ.

Congratulations once again, SQ. Have a great winter and see you next year!

Lenny recently injured his hand at Pe’ahi, but has just dropped a sick new edit of him slicing up Ho’okipa during the fall. Everyone from the PWA wishes Kai a quick recovery.

You can see Kai Lenny at Ho’okipa @ https://youtu.be/u3jGnInykQ4

Antoine Albert: “Last September we decided last minute to drive to Galicia (North West part of Spain) together with Marc Paré and Marino Gil, because of an awesome forecast. Mathieu Pelikan (Siam Images) was also part of our trip and made us this video clip, with wave and freestyle action along this Spaniash coast.

Hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did to make it!”

Siam Images: “A bunch of friends, a good forecast with wind and waves and here we are, in Galicia, the land of trees, empty line-ups and cows. One more amazing trip in which I was asked to film those young rippers. Respect to Marino who hardly sail on starboard tack and is now under-17 world champion. Thanks to Ricardo Campello for sharing his drone shots. Hope you enjoy! Aloha!”

You can see Antoine Albert’s, Marc Paré’s & Marino Gil’s road trip through stunning Galicia @ https://vimeo.com/374160615

Women’s

Coming into the final event of the year Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) was the only woman who could deny Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) a 4th world title and the 27-year-old couldn’t have done any more in her quest to do just that. To stand any chance of winning the title Mortefon knew that nothing other than a victory would suffice.

An incredible run on day 3 and 4 would setup Mortefon’s first event victory on the world tour after rattling off 4 bullets in a row to move well clear of the rest of the field and such was her dominance in the early to mid part of the event that Mortefon had secured the event victory with a day to spare. 

At that point, all Mortefon could do was cross her fingers and see where Cousin Questel would finish the event - as Mortefon’s title hopes would rest on Cousin Questel finishing outside the top 3. The 28-year-old started the day just 1.9 points ahead of 4th placed - Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) - and knew that any more mistakes would surely cost her the world title. However, after struggling for form for much of the event, Cousin Questel produced her best performance of the week, right when it mattered most, on the final day, which saw her win two out of the three eliminations completed, whilst finishing second in the other to be crowned the 2019 Women’s PWA Slalom World Champion. Despite not being at her absolute best over the last 6 days, Cousin Questel still finished the event with an impressive 5 victories out of the 11 races completed. Cousin Questel’s final day heroics mean that Mortefon finishes the season as the vice-world champion - which is a personal best.

Elsewhere, Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), finished 2019 on a high after earning her first podium finish since returning from a foot injury, which continues to cause her problems. The Turk won the last elimination of the event to finish just 0.2 of a point behind Cousin Questel, who finished second, and those fine margins are what decided the final place on the prestigious overall podium. In the end, Maëlle Guilbaud just holds on to finish in the overall top 3 for the first time in her career after finish 4th here. Guilbaud and Erdil finish the season tied on 29,900, but Guilbaud finishes ahead on countback.

Erdil just misses out and finishes the 2019 season ranked fourth overall, but there are plenty of signs to suggest that she can come back and challenge for the title next year.

Local girl - Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) - finishes 5th both for the event and in the overalls, which sees the 19-year-old crowned the Youth World Champion.

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon’s (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) bid to win his first world title couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start in New Caledonia with the Frenchman being disqualified from the entire opening round for dangerous sailing after t-boning Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) at the final mark in the semifinal. Mortefon then bounced back immediately with a bullet in the second elimination to haul himself back into contention.

The race for the men’s world title would take several dramatic twists and turns over the remainder of the event, but at the end of day 4 it looked as though the title may be heading to Italy after Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) completed a superb hat-trick to open up a 3.6 point advantage with two days to go.

However, after barely putting a foot wrong on day 4, things quickly started to unravel for Iachino with the Italian failing to qualify for the next two winners’ finals, which opened to door for Mortefon to seize control of the title race. However, Mortefon was unable to fully capitalise with three solid, but unspectacular 5th places leaving him trailing by 2.7 points heading into the final day.

What happened in the opening race on finals day simply could not be scripted with Iachino being eliminated in the semifinals after hitting a sea snake on the first race to rule him out. This time Mortefon made no mistake in punishing Iachino as he notched up his second bullet of the week to take the title race lead for the first time in the event.

Just when it seemed that the momentum had twisted in Mortefon’s favour, it almost immediately switched back with the 30-year-old being eliminated in the semifinal of Elimination 10 and with Iachino finishing second the title race would go down to the wire with the final race - Elimination 11 - deciding the 2019 world champion. Iachino would need to finish at least 3 places ahead of Mortefon to snatch his second world title, but in the end, it was Mortefon who held his nerve to finally get his hands on the sports biggest prize after so many years of consistently challenging for the title. Mortefon was understandably overcome with emotion upon returning to the beach after finally accomplishing one of his lifetime goals.

Iachino finishes the season as the vice-world champion - meaning that he has not finished outside the top 2 since 2016, and the top 3 since 2015, and you can expect to see another strong challenge from the Italian in 2020.

Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) completes the event and overall podium to cap another excellent year on tour. The 25-time world champion had qualified for every winners’ final up until the final day, which left him contention for the event title, but things weren’t meant to be this time around with Albeau missing out on the top 8 in the final two races.

Elsewhere, with Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) out performing Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) - 6th compared to 9th - that means the flying Dutchman leapfrogs Quentel to finish 4th overall for the second consecutive year, while Quentel slips to 5th.

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) enjoyed a fantastic final day, which including winning his first race of the season in Elimination 10, to regain his place in the event top 10 - 8th - which sees the Brit ranked 6th overall for 2019.

After a mediocre start to the season - Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) - finished the year with a flourish at the final 3 events to earn his place in the overall top 10 for the first time in his career - 6th. The Pole steadily improved throughout the year and looks as though he’s becoming the real deal and could be one to watch in 2020.

Just behind Rutkowski, is Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne), who finishes 8th overall, while Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) jumps into 9th place after a brilliant end to the year. The Croat won his first elimination on the world tour in Denmark and won another two races here to earn his best event finish today on the world tour - 4th. Since winning that race in Denmark Marotti looks a different prospect and if he can use the end of this season as a springboard moving into 2020 he too could be a major threat!

Having been plagued with a mystery virus which forced him to retire early last season, Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) is officially back after qualifying for the winners’ final on numerous occasions over the last 6 days, which sees him ranked 10th overall. 

Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) all just miss out on the overall top 10. However, this event will stay in the memory of Westera for the rest of his life after the Aruban won his first race on the world tour, which is an even bigger achievement after the 22-year-old suffered a potentially career-threatening injury just over two years ago. For a long time, people have spoken about Westera’s potential and after overcoming that hurdle it now looks as though he may start to fulfill that potential.

The overall top 16 is completed by Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7), Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) and Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins). While after finishing 10 at his home event - Jacquin - finishes the season as the Youth World Champion for the second consecutive year.

That concludes the 2019 PWA World Tour after another year packed with some unbelievable action. Congratulations to all the winners. The PWA would also like to extend their thanks to Stef and her team for all of their hard work. We’ll be back in 2020 - bring you more world class windsurfing from across the globe.

For a full recap of all the developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Result 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
6th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
8th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
9th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Ethan Westera (ARU | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS) 
10th Basile Jacquin (FRA | I-99 / Point-7)

Youp Schmit: “NEW video with pure freestyle action at my home spot Jibe City
ENJOY! Filmed by Markus Seidel”

Having defied the odds to compete in the final Freestyle event of the season in Sylt we also asked Youp how his knee is to which he added: “My knee is doing pretty good, no windsurfing yet! but non-stop working hard with my physio to come back in the best shape possible.”

You can see Youp Schmit’s explosive performance here.

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) saved her best performance of the week until last to deservedly clinch her 4th world title ahead of Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone). The 28-year-old started the day in third place, but after winning both of the opening eliminations Cousin Questel already had the world title wrapped up with a race to spare after Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) finished 8th in Elimination 10. Cousin Questel had a bit of a turbulent week by her usual standards, but still won 5 out of the 11 eliminations completed over the last 6 days to be crowned the 2019 Women’s PWA Slalom World Champion.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) did everything she possibly could to deny Cousin Questel the title by winning the final event of the year, but even that wasn’t enough in the end. However, the 27-year-old can still be delighted with her performance this week which earns her her first victory on the world tour, while she also finishes the season as the vice-world champion, which is her best result to date!

Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) completes the event podium, but finishes just 0.2 of a point behind Cousin Questel despite winning the final elimination of the week. With Erdil slipping to third in the event rankings that means that she just misses out of the overall podium as Maëlle Guilbaud finishes in the overall top 3 for the first time in her career - after finishing 4th for the event,

Meanwhile, Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) finishes 5th for both the event and in the overalls, which means the 19-year-old finishes the season as the 2019 Youth’s PWA Slalom World Champion.

Men’s

You couldn’t have written the script for how the Men’s world title race would unfold between Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) as the battle took several dramatic twists and turns. 

Iachino started the day with a 2.7 point advantage, but he soon saw that lead evaporate into a 5.7 point deficit after the completion of Elimination 9. The Italian looked to have made an excellent start to the first semifinal, but he soon lost speed on the opening reach and rapidly dropped back through the pack after unbelievably hitting a sea snake. Iachino tried to stage a come back but just missed out in 5th place. 

On several occasions yesterday, Mortefon had failed to make Iachino pay for his mistakes, and while this was misfortune rather than a mistake on Iachino’s part, Mortefon rubbed salt into the world by clinching his second bullet of the week to take the world title lead!

With a little bit of breathing room at the top of the event rankings, it looked as though Mortefon may have the title race under control, but that soon all changed as the 30-year-old was eliminated from Elimination 10 in the semifinals, which gave Iachino a glimmer of hope to get his own title bid back on track having already qualified for the Winners’ Final. Iachino would go on to finish second behind - Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) - who won his first race of the season - while Iachino closed to within just 2.7 points of Mortefon - to ensure that the race to be crowned the 2019 World Champion would go down to the wire.

With both men successfully negotiating their way into the final of Elimination 11 the stakes couldn’t have been higher. For Iachino to snatch the title he would need to finish at least 3 places ahead of Mortefon, while Mortefon knew finishing within two places or better would guarantee him a first world title. Heading down the opening reach it looked as though Iachino was better positioned, but Mortefon would come round the first buoy and cover Iachino. The Frenchman accelerated away much quicker, while Iachino went backwards, which was another defining moment in the title race. Mortefon kept his calm over the remainder of the course and crossed the finish line ahead of Iachino to leave the result in no doubt and after so many years of being second or third in the world, the 30-year-old finally has his hands on the most coveted prize!

This loss will hurt Iachino having come so close to his second world title, but you can guarantee he'll be back even stronger next season and with a bit of time he can still be hugely proud of his efforts this year as he finishes the season as the vice-world champion.

Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) finished 3rd in the opening race of the day, but then lost his 100% Winners Final record as he missed out on the top 8 in the last two races. Albeau still completes the event and overall podium to cap another excellent year on the world tour.

Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) enjoyed a simply amazing final day with the Croat qualifying for all 3 Winners’ Finals today where he recorded a 5th, a 3rd and a 2nd to cap a fantastic week. The 28-year-old gains one place from the overnight rankings to finish in a 4th place - which is a personal best!

Marotti relegated Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) to 5th place for the event, but the Pole signed off the week in the best possible fashion by winning his second race on the world tour, which sees him ranked 7th in the overalls.

The event top 10 is completed by Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - 6th - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - 7th - Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) - 8th - Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) - 9th - and local boy Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7), who also wins the Youth’s PWA Slalom World title for the second consecutive year.

We’ll take a full look at the overall rankings for the year in the event summary next week.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Result 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
6th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
8th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
9th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Ethan Westera (ARU | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS) 
10th Basile Jacquin (FRA | I-99 / Point-7)

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) started the day with a much needed return to form, which saw the 28-year-old quickly rack up back-to-back bullets to steady the ship after a poor day, by her standards, yesterday. 

After winning both of the opening races, Cousin Questel put herself firmly in control of the title race as those victories saw her rise to second place in the event rankings - when she only requires a top 3 finish to guarantee herself world title No.4. However, a premature start in the last race of the day means that she drops back to 3rd place and now only has a 1.9 point cushion over Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) in 4th, who luckily for Cousin Questel, was also disqualified from the 8th Winners’ Final.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) started the day as the event leader, and at the close of play today the 27-year-old has now built an almost unassailable 14.5 point lead heading into the final day after signing off with her 5th bullet of the week in Elimination 8.

In terms of the title race, fate still remains in Cousin Questel’s hands, but the final day promises to be filled with tension for both Mortefon and Cousin Questel. Mortefon has done everything she can up to this point and will face an agonising wait to see whether Cousin Questel can successfully defend her place on the podium or whether Guilbaud can overtake her and hand a maiden world title to Mortefon.

Despite missing out on one Winners’ Final today, Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), has still improved her position from overnight. The Turk started the day with a 3 point advantage over Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails), but ends it with a 4 point cushion after finishing second and third in the other two eliminations. Erdil remains second in the event rankings, while Guilbaud drops one place to 4th, so Erdil remains on course to claim the final place on the overall podium.

Men’s

What a Difference A Day Can Make

Yesterday Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) couldn’t put a foot wrong with the Italian winning all three eliminations, but today was a different story with the world title contender missing out on both of the opening winners’ finals, which opened the door for Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) to potentially steal control of the title race…

However, luckily for Iachino, Mortefon was unable to land a hammer blow in either of those finals with the Frenchman finishing 5th in both Elimination 6 and 7. That may yet come back to haunt Mortefon as when he had an opportunity to go for the kill and seize initiative of the title race he effectively let Iachino off the hook rather than punishing him for his mistakes.

After the completion of Elimination 7, and the second discard coming into play, there was just 0.4 of a point separating the two title contenders, which created a tense end to the day with Elimination 8 deciding who would lead the title race heading into the all important final day.

In the end, it is Iachino who will start Day 6 with a 2.7 point advantage after finishing second behind Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), while Mortefon again only finished 5th. Mortefon held 4th for much of the race but was just pipped by Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) in the closing staged, which could yet prove pivotal in deciding the title.

So, after a disastrous start to the day, Iachino walks away at the top of the event rankings, while Mortefon falls one place to third - tied on 18.7 points with Albeau. With so little between Iachino and Mortefon, the title could still go either way and it is likely that whoever holds their nerve better will be crowned the 2019 Men’s PWA Slalom World Champion.

Albeau maintains his remarkable record of qualifying for every Winners’ Final this week, but after firing so many blanks in the final, AA finally notched up the bullet he has been searching for in Elimination 8. Albeau may be out of the running for the world title, but that victory puts him firmly in contention for the event title heading into the final day. 

Elsewhere, Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails), who earned his best ever finish in an elimination - second - earlier in the week, went one better today as the Aruban led from start to finish to earn his first bullet on the world tour in Elimination 7, which sees the 22-year-old climb one spot to 6th.

Having won his first elimination on the world tour earlier this year in Denmark, something seems to have clicked for Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) with the Croat claiming his second bullet of the week (and 3rd overall) in Elimination 6. Marotti pulled off some unbelievable comebacks - showing an unbelievable turn of pace to reel in his rivals when it looked like he had virtually no chance to do so. Marotti climbs 4 places from the overnight rankings - 9th to 5th - and is on course to record his best result on the world tour.

Like Iachino, Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) endured a torrid start to the day, which threatened to undo all of his hard work from earlier in the event. However, the Pole was able to steady the ship with an excellent 3rd in Elimination 8 to finish the day in 4th place. The podium now looks out of his reach as he trails Albeau and Mortefon by 9.3 points, but there is all still to play for, for Rutkowski with a place in the overall top 10 at stake. 

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) falls two places to 7th, while Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) remains in 8th. Quentel was unlucky in Elimination 7 as he broke his fin as he crossed the start line when in the Winners' Final.

Bruno Martin enjoyed a superb day with the Italian recording two 4th places and a 10th from the 3 eliminations completed today, which sees him break into the top 10 for the first time this week - 9th. 

The top 10 is currently completed by Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone), who slips 4 places from the overnight rankings, but there are a bunch of sailors behind him who can still challenge for the event top 10 tomorrow.

The trade winds are expected to be slightly lighter tomorrow, but it should still be plenty windy enough for a full day of racing and the world title contenders will need to gear up for another gruelling day with the plan being to try and complete 3 more eliminations, which means there’s still plenty of time for the world title battles to change. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am (GMT+11) on Saturday morning with the racing commencing from 10am onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 8 Eliminations

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
3rd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 8 Eliminations

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
4th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
5th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Ethan Westera (ARU | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
8th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
9th Bruno Martini (ITA | I-99 / Challenger Sails)
10th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone)
 

Women’s

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) enjoyed her best day to date on the world tour as the 27-year-old produced a devastating performance on day 4 to win all 3 eliminations completed today, which means she has now won the last 4 races and currently holds a perfect record after discarding a second place from the opening race. Mortefon now has a stranglehold over the event with a 7.7 point lead over her next closest challenger Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), while more importantly, if things were to remain as they are at the moment she would also pip - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - to the 2019 Women’s PWA World Championship.

Title Race

While Mortefon is doing everything in her power to deny Cousin Questel, the fact remains that fate remains out of her hands, and in Cousin Questel’s. At the moment, the reigning world champion finds herself in 4th place, which is just one place short of the top 3 finish she requires to guarantee herself a 4th world title. The 28-year-old trails third place - Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) - by just 2.7 points, but there is plenty of cause for concern in the Cousin Questel camp as she just simply doesn’t look her normal clinical self. The 3-time world champion has won the previous 3 editions of this event but looks to be struggling with a 2nd, a 5th and an 8th today. The title is still well within her grasp, but she now can’t afford any more mistakes. 

Battle For The Overall Podium

Lena Erdil enjoyed another solid day of racing as the Turk recorded two second places and a third, which means she has not finished outside the top 3 yet in the opening 5 eliminations. Crucially for Erdil, her performance today sees her leapfrog - Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) - into second place. The two women are involved in a separate battle of their own for the last place on the prestigious overall podium and as things stand Erdil would finish 3rd overall. Erdil currently holds a 3 point advantage over Guilbaud heading into the final two days of the event. 

Men’s

Yesterday, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) made a solid, if unspectacular start to the event, but after laying the framework on Day 3, the Italian clicked into top gear today to blow away the rest of the competition with 3 decisive bullets, which sees him establish himself not only as the event leader, but also as the favourite for the 2019 world title. Iachino’s hat-trick here should not be underestimated as the last time he achieved such a feat was in Sylt in 2016, while the man to do it most recently was Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) in Fuerteventura last year.

Iachino still only holds a 3.6 point advantage over his main title contender - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) - but he showed his ruthless killer instinct today, while also displaying a humble confidence, which makes him such a formidable competitor and hard man to bet against.

However, the title race is still far from over with Mortefon hauling himself back into contention after that disastrous start yesterday. The Frenchman is the biggest mover of the day, after recording 1 second and two 3rds, which seems him gain 23 spots from 25th to second and with two full days of racing to go there is still all to play for with the title race now firmly lit!

Two Horse Race?

With the two favourites for the world title - Iachino and Mortefon - set to go head-to-head over the coming days, it looks as though Antoine Albeau’s hopes of claiming a 26th world title are almost over. The reigning world champion now trails Iachino by 14.9 points, which realistically, would require a monumental meltdown by both Iachino and Mortefon to allow Albeau back into the picture as both men would need to finish outside the top 5 to give Albeau any hope. Albeau, still remains 4th in the event rankings and is the only sailor who can still boast a 100% winners’ final record this week, but he has uncharacteristically faltered in the finals. A position he is usually so clinical in - last year once qualifying for the final Albeau had a win rate of 68.75% - so for him not to have one of the 5 finals here is quite something.

Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) started the day as the event leader and despite another solid day, the Pole slips two places to third. The 27-year-old missed out on the winners’ final of Elimination 3 after being disqualified from the semifinals for a premature start. However, he bounced back strongly by qualifying for the next two winners’ finals - recording a second and a 5th - which leaves him in a solid third place as he aims to earn consecutive podiums on the world tour. 

Elsewhere, Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) falls two places to 5th, while his teammate Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) gains 8 places, which sees the Austrian rise into 6th place. Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) slips one place to 6th.

Local boy - Damien Cervera (Starboard / Severne) - enjoyed an incredible day with the 21-year-old producing an inspired display at his home event. Cervera breaks into the top 10 - 8th - after qualifying for all 3 winners’ finals today - finishing 4th, 6th and 8th.

The top 10 is currently completed by Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) and Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) - 9th and 10th respectively. The two sailors were involved in an altercation after Elimination 5 - which could yet see Quentel disciplined.

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) and Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) all drop out of the current top 10.

With another excellent forecast to come for Friday - with 18-22 knot south-easterly winds predicted and clearer skies - there should be another exciting day of racing ahead. The sailors will meet again at 9am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 10am (GMT+11) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 5 Eliminations

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
5th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 5 Eliminations

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
4th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Ethan Westera (ARU | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Damien Cervera (FRA | Starboard / Severne)
9th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)

Women’s

After claiming a convincing victory in the opening race of the week it looked as though reigning world champion and current world tour leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - may threaten to put the title race to bed on the first day of racing, whilst also quashing any injury concerns. However, that all changed in the second elimination as the 3-time world champion crashed out in the semifinal - where the top 4 sailors from 6 advance. That surprise early exit sees Cousin Questel drop to 5th in the event rankings, while also raising question marks about her foot injury - especially given the water is likely to be even choppier over the coming days which will make gybing even trickier.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone), who is the only woman who can stop Cousin Questel, enjoyed a near perfect day. The 27-year-old chased home Cousin Questel in the opener before securing a bullet in the next to take full advantage of Cousin Questel’s mistakes. Mortefon holds a 3.3 point lead at the close of play and is currently doing everything in her power to deny Cousin Questel.

Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) are currently Mortefon’s closest challengers with both women on 6 points. Crucially though, for Guilbaud at least, she is ahead on countback after securing second place in Elimination II, which keeps her ahead in the race for the final place on the podium. 

Meanwhile, local girl - Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) - completes the current top 5 in 4th place after recording a 6th and a 4th place in today’s races. 

Men’s

Title Race

Pierre Mortefon’s title bid couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start as he was disqualified from the opening elimination for a dangerous sailing incident with Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails), which saw Mortefon t-bone Williams at the final mark of the first semifinal - with Mortefon desperately trying to avoid being eliminated in 5th place. However, that moment of desperation led to his disqualification - with Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) and Williams - having words with the Frenchman, who quickly apologised to the Brit. 

After a disastrous start, Mortefon dug deep in the second elimination to claim a crucial bullet, which could yet prove decisive in deciding this year’s title race. That victory leaves Mortefon ranked 25th at the end of the opening day of racing, and while there aren’t any more room errors - he has at least taken a big step towards putting himself back in the picture. Mortefon punched the air several times after crossing-the-line, clearly knowing the potential importance of that bullet.

Luckily, for Mortefon, his main rival - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) - couldn’t inflict maximum damage upon him with the Italian also missing out on the opening winners’ final as both title contenders faltered early on. However, Iachino steadied the ship in Elimination II with a solid third place, which leaves him 4th in the overalls - just 4 points off the top - and more importantly in control of the title race at this stage.

The only other man who can win the world title - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - ends the day ranked second after qualifying for both Winners’ Finals -  finishing 5th in each. The reigning world champion will have taken great interest in the early couple of wobbles by his rivals and will be waiting in the wings to strike if the opportunity arises. 

Away from the title race, Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who earned his first podium on the world tour in Denmark in September, leads the event at the close of play. The Pole has gone from strength-to-strength so far this season and an excellent second and a 6th today gives him a great platform to build upon for the remainder of the event.

Before Fuerteventura - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - was struck down by a bug / food poisoning and that had serious knock-on effects. In Fuerteventura he still managed to finish 7th, but in Denmark he produced nothing like the sort of performance we have come to expect from him in the last season or two - finishing in a lowly 22nd - so the flying Dutchman will be delighted to have bounced back here with a 3rd and an 8th place today - 3rd for the event. Vonk is just 3 points off the top after the opening two races and looks to be back to full fitness.

Ross Williams would’ve qualified for both Winners’ Finals but for that incident with Mortefon, but the Brit still finds himself ranked 5th after finishing second in the Losers’ Final of Elimination 1 and 4th in Elimination 2.

Just behind Williams is his teammate - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - who after finishing 13th in the opener went on to record his best result in an elimination - 6th. The Aruban is still in with a chance of breaking into the overall top 10 and if he can sustain the level of performance he showed today, he may well do just that.

The top 10 at this stage is completed by Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS), Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), who earned his second bullet on the tour in the opener, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the next to drop from first to 9th and Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui).

The forecast for tomorrow looks even better than today, so there should be plenty more racing to come on Thursday. The skippers' meeting has been called for 9am (GMT+11) with the racing commencing from 10am onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
3rd Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
4th Lilou Granier (NC | Starboard / Phantom Sails)
5th Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)

Current Ranking 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
5th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Ethan Westera (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
8th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
9th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)

During the afternoon there were a few gusts of around 9 knots, but the wind never really threatened to kick in with the wind being too southerly for the local effect.

The forecast for Wednesday is better than today with the wind expected to swing from the southeast to the east-southeast during the afternoon and into the early evening, which should hopefully allow the racing to get underway. Meanwhile, the forecast for the remainder of the event looks solid with the trade winds expected to properly fill in.

During the afternoon an autograph session was held before the competitors were soon released at 4pm. The sailors will meet again at 10am on Wednesday morning with the racing commencing from 11am (GMT+11) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Before the opening ceremony at 5:30pm we quickly caught up with Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), who will be battling it out for the final place on the women’s podium with Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails). You can read our previous updates with world title contenders - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) here and here.

Hi Lena, it’snvery close between yourself and Maëlle for the final place on the podium - how you feeling at the start of the event?

“Yeah, I’m feeling really good. It's been a strange season for me, like not really being able to compete at the top of my game and always struggling with the foot, but I had some really good moments in between - winning a couple of eliminations. And, yeah, I feel quite good and I hope I can beat her. Of course, the goal is obviously is to win. As always, as that goal doesn’t change.”

You mentioned above that your foot is still giving you some problems… how is your foot and is it any different to Denmark a couple of months ago?

“Yeah, it's not actually changed so much, so I still have the same difficulties just gybing. I still feel pain when pushing in the gybes, but only on one side. So the good thing here is that if the wind is the direction like it's supposed to be on the forecast then we are probably going to start with my good foot forward. So then, the first gybe should be good and that's often the most important one, and often if you get the first gybe done the rest can follow. So I'm really positive about that.”

When did you arrive in New Caledonia?

“I actually came like 10 days ago just to give myself some time to acclimatise and I wanted to train a bit because I didn't sail so much recently.” 

But it hasn’t been that windy before the event, right?

“Yeah, it wasn’t windy when I arrived. Before the event, I was also in Turkey to sail and get ready but it wasn’t windy there either.”

Sounds like the perfect preparation…

“Well, I am well rested. (laughing). So, yeah we will just see how it goes.”

Thanks very much, Lena. Good luck for the contest. 

The forecast for tomorrow has improved compared to this time yesterday with moderate south-southeast winds now predicted, which should hopefully allow the racing to begin. The sailors will meet at 10am (GMT+11) tomorrow morning with the racing commencing from 11am onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from New Caledonia — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Noumea, New Caledonia, is part of the French melanesia, located deep in the southwest Pacific Ocean - 750 miles east of Australia. New Caledonia boasts the largest lagoon in the world and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008, making New Caledonia a magnet for recreational boaters and ocean lovers alike, and provides perfect, yet at times challenging slalom conditions thanks to its trade winds, which usually blow anywhere between 10 and 30 knots. The lagoon spans an impressive 44,000km — with crystal clear waters dotted with islets, which has seen Noumea becoming renowned for its outstanding marine biodiversity. This year there has been a slight location change with the event moving from Anse Vata beach to Côte Blanche, which is about 2.5km southeast of Anse Vata. 

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) is in a commanding position heading into the season finale as a top 3 finish would guarantee her a 4th Slalom World Championship. On paper that would look like somewhat of a formality as the last time, Cousin Questel finished outside the top 3 was in May 2017.

However, the reigning world champion is currently recovering from a foot injury that she suffered whilst wave sailing and that does plant a seed of possible doubt. In a recent interview, Cousin Questel sounded as though she is well on the road to recovery, but the first day of racing will be the first real test, whilst giving a true indication on her current level of fitness. 

In With A Chance

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) enters New Caledonia as the only woman who can possibly stop Cousin Questel from claiming a 4th world title, but she only has a faint hope of achieving that. Although a faint hope is better than no hope and with Cousin Questel’s injury possibly niggling in the back of her mind you can never say never. In order for Mortefon to have a chance of winning the title Cousin Questel would have to finish 4th or worse and Mortefon would have to win the event. Finishing second would see the two women tied on 30,500 points, but Cousin Questel would win the world title on countback.

With fate out of Mortefon’s own hands she will have to rely on the help of some of her competitors - namely Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) who will be battling it for the final place on the prestigious overall podium and a result both women will be pushing for a top result here, which could potentially put a kink in the hopes of Cousin Questel.

The Race For Third

- In the event that there are over 4 eliminations:

- If Erdil was to win the event she would be guaranteed the final place on the podium even if Guilbaud was to finish second. In that scenario, both women would finish on 30,100 points - but Erdil would win on countback.
- If Erdil was to finish second - and Guilbaud was to finish 3rd or worse - Erdil would take 3rd overall etc.
- If Erdil was to finish 3rd - and Guilbaud would finish 4th or worse - Erdil would finish 3rd overall etc.

In the event that under 4 eliminations were to be completed 

- A top 3 finish for Erdil and Guilbaud finishing 4th or worse would see Erdil complete the overall podium.
- Put simply Erdil must finish at least one place ahead of Guilbaud, in both of the above scenarios, in order to snatch the final place on the podium away from Guilbaud.

Meanwhile, the homegrown talents of Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) and Océane Lescadieu (S2Maui) will hope to have an impact at their home event.

Elsewhere, Finland’s Marianne Rautelin (Patrik / Loftsails) and Turkey’s Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails) could also feature as could the Japanese contingent of Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui), Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails) and Miki Yamabe. 

Men’s

In the men’s, it looks like it will be a straight fight for the title between current world tour leader - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins), who are tied on 30,400 points after the opening 4 events. 

Iachino is aiming to add to his sole world title from 2016, while Mortefon is bidding to win his first world crown. Assuming that both men finish in the top 5 then whoever beats who will be crowned the 2019 Men’s PWA Slalom World Champion. 

Outside Chance

However, if both Iachino and Mortefon were to finish 6th or worse, then that would open the door for reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - to swoop in and complete a hat-trick of world titles and a 26th overall, but only if he were to win the event… all three sailors would then finish tied on 40,300 points, but Albeau would win on countback as he would’ve beaten Iachino/Mortefon in 3 out of the 5 events.

Other scenarios where Albeau could win would be:

- If Iachino/Mortefon were to finish 7th then a second place would be good enough for Albeau to win.
- If Iachino/Mortefon were to finish 8th then a third place would be good enough for Albeau to win etc.

The last time the event took place here in 2017 the big top 3 completed the podium and you wouldn’t bet against that happening again by the end of the week - particularly the more races that are completed. Between them, they have won every event this season, so it would look like a tall order to stop one of them from claiming the top place on the podium again. In the previous 3 editions, Albeau and Mortefon have recorded one victory each, while Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / GUNSAILS), who is not here this time around, was the other sailor to register victory here in 2014.

Away from the title race, you can expect to see plenty of exciting racing as those sailors currently in the overall top 10 look to defend their positions. Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) enters the event in 4th place, but only 200 points ahead of Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone), while behind them there is a further break of 700 points to Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) in 6th, followed by Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who is looking to finish in the overall top 10 for the first time in his career.

While there will also be a plethora of local New Caledonian’s hoping to make their make at their home event - particularly the newly crowned Foil World Champion - Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) and Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7).

Other sailors to keep an eye out for include Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) who comes into the final event of the season off the back of a 5th place in Denmark and firmly in the hunt for the top 10 - Croatia’s Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Aruba’s Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) as well as Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails), Sebastian Kordel (Starboard / GA Sails) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails).

The opening day of the 2019 Bureau Vallée Dream Cup looks as though it may start with light winds with southerly winds currently being forecast. However, the forecast looks very promising for a little bit later in the week and there should be plenty of racing ahead. You’ll be able to follow all of the racing as it happens via the PWA live stream by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com between the 18th-23rd November. 

Schedule For Day 1 (All Times GMT+11)

- Registration: 10-11am
- Skippers’ Meeting: 13:00
- First Possible Start: 13:30

Heading into the final event of the season - the Bureau Vallée Dream Cup - Mortefon is perfectly placed to reach his goal of becoming world champion as he will enter New Caledonia tied on point with current world tour leader - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) - and it is likely whoever beats who in that pairing will claim the 2019 Men’s PWA Slalom World Championship. 

Mortefon arrived nice and early in New Caledonia to prepare and shake off any jet lag and had this to say ahead of the event: “I am happy to be here in Nouméa for the 4th time, I have some great memories here. I am arriving here in a good position to fight for my goal. I think it’s a good place for this kind of exciting final because we should have some great conditions throughout the week, and it’s easy - the best will win ;)

I took some days off after Sylt as I was a bit sick and tired after a long month in Northern Europe. Then I start again my workout program and sail as much as I can. Autumn is always pretty good in South of France with a lot of wind, different conditions and even some waves. I also enjoy to be home with my family, it gives lot of energy before  flying to this kind of event!

I decided to arrive almost one week before the event and I think it was a good choice. The trip is pretty long and the jetlag solid . I already had a good session yesterday and there is more to come. I tried to make my best to be ready, now I just need to sail well, go fast and then we will see next week ;).”

You’ll be able to see how Pierre Mortefon’s title challenge goes by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com between 18th-23rd November.

Antoine Albert: “Sum up of a 2 month van trip to the Canary Islands during summer 2019, packed with training and competitions in both disciplines wave and freestyle.
Locations: Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura
Cameramen: Adam Sims, Tim Cowen, Alfie Hart, Dudu Levi, Antoine Albert, Eliran Levi, Balz Müller”

You can see Antoine Albert’s summer in the Canaries @ vimeo.com/370805508

Cousin Questel is in a commanding position with a top 3 finish guaranteeing her the 2019 world title and this is what she had to say ahead of the event, which starts on the 18th November: “I am really excited to go to NC for the 4th times! Each time the conditions were insane and I really like this place! This year will probably be different as we change the spot, but I am sure it will be nice. My foot is better each day and I think I could be competitive for the last event of the year where I will fight for the title with my friend Marion Mortefon even if I didn’t sail since few weeks now!”

You’ll be able to watch how the the title races unfold by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com between the 18th-23rd November.

Jacopo Testa: “We had fun on the freestyle kit in Porto Pollo in the north of Sardinia and in Sa Barra, San Antioco in the southwest. The wave conditions were on at Cala Piscina at Sardinia’s north western corner. We as well got brilliant wave conditions in S’Ena e Sa Chitta. This spot is located around 60 kilometers from Olbia in the east.”

You can see Jacopo Testa’s latest video @ vimeo.com/371110091

Erdil has just released her latest vlog and has this to say about it: “Who’s excited for some more of this very soon?ME ME ME! If you're not yet, here's some sick slalom racing action from the PWA World Cup Race in Denmark, Hvide Sande this year to get you psyched up.

Happy to share my latest Vlog with you with a little update at the end and mainly some absolutely sick drone footage!!! So stoked that I managed to get this off Adam Sims from @aalvaamedia aalvaa.com after our last PWA World Cup Event. With his own share of windsurfing injuries, it has been amazing to witness how while in recovery Adam's video production skills have just progressively kept getting better and better. Make sure you check out some of his most recent stuff on his youtube channel: www.youtube.com/adamsims 

I especially like the drone videos he’s been shooting at the PWA slalom events this year sometimes while racing I really had the drone in the corner of my eye, he was pushing pretty hard to fly the drone lower and lower each time. 

How are you liking this perspective? Leave me some comments below ;)”

You can see Lena Erdil’s latest vlog @ youtu.be/PxUkryE7zpg

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) is in a dominant position heading into the season finale as a top 3 finish would guarantee her a 4th Slalom World Championship. On paper that would look like somewhat of a formality as the last time Cousin Questel finished outside the top 3 was in 2017.

However, with the revelation that the reigning world champion is currently battling to get back to full fitness after injuring her foot whilst wave sailing means that a top 3 finish in New Caledonia is certainly not a foregone conclusion, so that could still open the door for Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone), who is Cousin Questel’s only threat. In order for Mortefon to have a chance of winning the title Cousin Questel would have to finish 4th or worse and Mortefon would have to win the event. Finishing second would see the two women tied on 30,500 points, but Cousin Questel would win the world title on countback.

Men’s

In the men’s, it looks like it will be a straight fight for the title between current world tour leader - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins), who is aiming to win his first world title. The two title contenders will enter New Caledonia tied on 30,400 points - with Iachino only ahead of countback, therefore whoever beats who will win the world title if they finish 5th or better.

However, if both Iachino and Mortefon were to finish 6th or worse, then that would open the door for reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - to swoop in and snatch a 26th world title, but only if he were to win the event… all three sailors would then finish tied on 40,300 points, but Albeau would win on countback as he would’ve beaten Iachino/Mortefon in 3 out of the 5 events.

Other scenarios where Albeau could win would be:

- If Iachino/Mortefon were to finish 7th then a second place would be good enough for Albeau to win.
- If Iachino/Mortefon were to finish 8th then a third place would be good enough for Albeau to win etc.

You’ll be able to watch how the world title races unfold by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com from the 18th-23rd November with Ben Proffitt to guide you through the action.

The iconic Ho'okipa Beach Park provided scintilating action with powerful waves and wind from the first day of the waiting period, which reiterated the importance of returning to Hawaii for the first time in 3 years. 

With no discard to come for the men there was all to play for in the men's title race with 6 sailors all realistcailly in with a chance of winning the title. As it turned out though, the world tour leader at the time - Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - would secure his 5th world title as the German finished joint 9th at this year's Aloha Classic. Meanwhile, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) went on to become the first woman in over two decades to steal the Women's PWA Wave World title away from the Moreno twins...

Schedule

The action which followed was gripping with Aloha Classic, World & IWT titles on the line pushing the sailors to take maximum risk. This time around it wasn’t always classic Ho’okipa with big chop on the faces of well over mast high waves making it a tricky competition ground, but the world’s best wave sailors still produced many standout moments along the way, while Ho’okipa’s infamous rocks also claimed their fair share of victims. 

Women’s

On the opening day of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - was able to win the Women’s Single Elimination ahead of her main title rival, and at the time reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), which put her in a commanding position with only 4 days of the competition window remaining.

Over the next 4 days, Offringa would have to endure a long and nail-biting wait to see whether she would have to try and defend her Single Elimination crown, or simply try and wait it out. As things played out, unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to run the Women’s Double Elimination, which meant that Offringa would collect her second Aloha Classic title - adding to her previous success from 2016, but far more importantly she would also complete a career grand slam with the 28-year-old getting her hands on the PWA Wave World Championship for the first time in her career. 

Offringa’s feat here is quite incredible, as not only does she bring an end to Iballa Moreno’s 5 year reign as the undisputed Wave World Champion, but she also becomes the first woman in over two decades to wrestle the PWA Wave World title away from the hands of the Moreno twins - Daida (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Iballa - as the Aruban continues to write her name into the windsurfing record books with world title No.17 (12 Freestyle, 4 Slalom & now 1 Wave).

Iballa ends 2019 as the vice-world champion and on a different day, she could’ve easily defended her world title. The 10-time world champion came extremely close to landing an under-the-lip aerial in the final after a stylish first turn and if she had have been able to sail away from that air the title may have swung in her direction. Iballa should still be very proud of her second place at the Aloha and in the overalls - particularly after starting the season with a knee injury.

Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) completes the prestigious overall podium, which is the first time the Pole has finished in the overall top 3. Sniady started the season by rattling off 3 consecutive podiums - having never finished on the podium before - and this will go down as a breakthrough season after so many years of trying to crack the top 3 - proving that dedication, time and training do eventually pay off.

Motoko Sato (Starboard / Severne) completes the Aloha Classic podium with a fine display of sailing, while Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails), who was competing at her first Aloha Classic, takes home 4th both in Maui and in the overalls.

With the IWT favourites - Mariah Andrés (Fanatic / Duotone), Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) and Sarah Hauser (Tabou / S2Maui) - falling much earlier than anticipated that meant that the Women’s IWT ranking would remain as it was before the start of the event. With Andrés and Aukes both discarding their results here that means that Andrés becomes the IWT Champion for the first time, while Aukes and Hauser complete the podium.

Men’s

If Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) was feeling any pressure heading into the final event of the year, then he certainly didn’t show it during the Aloha Classic. The 25-year-old came into Maui while enjoying his best season to date on the world tour, whilst also leading the IWT and he grasped the event with both hands as he stormed to victory in the Single Elimination after continually taking maximum risk and hitting the biggest lips he could find. Victory at this year’s Aloha Classic is the first time that Martin has won an event on the world tour, while it also ensures that he finishes the year as the IWT Champion for the second consecutive year. Martin’s first win also sees him gain 3 places in the overalls - rising to 4th for 2019 which is also a personal best!

Caribbean Power

The Caribbean has long been producing world class windsurfing athletes, but this year’s Aloha Classic truly highlights those credentials once again. Aruba’s Sarah-Quita Offringa took down the Women’s and Guadeloupe’s Martin the Men’s, while Martin’s good friend - Camille Juban (Quatro / S2Maui) - who won the IWT Aloha Classic in 2018 and who is also from Guadeloupe - would go on to secure second place this time around meaning the Caribbean sailors truly dominated the top positions as this year’s contest.

Bernd Roediger (Naish / Naish Sails) was the only other sailor, besides Martin, to earn a 10 point wave score after linking a powerful turn into an aerial and an insane inverted goiter, but the multiple-time Aloha Classic Champion had to settle for third place this time, while Kai Lenny (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) completes the top 4. The final may not have gone the way Lenny would have envisaged, but the global waterman still caught the eye with his performances earlier in the draw.

Elsewhere, Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) signs off the season with an excellent joint 5th place, which sees the German ranked 8th for 2019, while Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) is the other sailor to share joint 5th alongside Jamaer. 

Browne, for many people, came into the season finale as one of the favourites for both the Aloha Classic and the world title, but the Brazilian couldn’t quite find a way into the 4-man final with Ho’okipa’s bumpy conditions proving tough to negotiate. 

At the time, Browne may not have been aware of the importance of his semifinal heat, but put simply a place in the 4-man final would have propelled the Brazilian into the world title race lead. However, with Browne crucially finishing 3rd that left Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) with a slender 258 point lead at the end of the Single Elimination and with no time to finish the Double, Köster would claim his 5th world title at the age of just 25.

Köster, meanwhile, came into Maui having never won a heat at the Aloha Classic, and many had already written off his world title chances - despite the fact that he came into Hawaii leading the tour. However, those that doubted him were soon made to eat their words as the 25-year-old navigated his way into the quarterfinals, before just missing out on a place in the semis. Crucially though, Köster secured 3rd place in his semifinal final heat - less than a point behind Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), who finished joint 7th - which was enough to keep him ahead of everyone else with his fellow title contenders faltering.

For those who had prematurely written Köster off, by doubting his starboard tack credentials, it is perhaps a timely reminder of the huge talent that Köster possesses, and that time, as precious as it is, is the only limiting factor, up to now, that has stopped him from being more effective at Ho’okipa.

The event may not have panned out as Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) would’ve liked as the Brazilian/Venezuelan’s wait for a first wave world title continues, but the 33-year-old remains one of the powerhouses of the windsurfing world. Campello ends 2019 ranked 3rd, which is his second consecutive year on the overall podium after finishing second in 2018.

The top 10 is completed by 3-time world champion Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone) - 5th - 2014 World Champion - Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) - 6th - while Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) still finishes 7th despite missing the last event of the season through injury,

As previously mentioned - Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) - finishes 8th - while the hugely talented - Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) cracks the overall top 10 for the first time in his career - 9th - having just missed out last season when finishing 11th. Fellow Spaniard - Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) completes the top 10.

Youth’s

The next generation also showed what excellent hands the future of wave sailing is in as they produced a hugely impressive display in intimidating and tricky conditions at Ho’okipa Beach Park when they were given their chance. 

Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) stole the show to win the Youth Aloha Classic ahead of local boy Jake Schettewi (JP / Hot Sails Maui), fellow Japanese Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails) and Zee Schettewi.

Victory at the Aloha Classic sees Sugi finish 2019 as the vice-world champion, just behind Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), who wins the U20s at the age of just 17. The young Spaniard inflicted most of his damage in the Canary Islands earlier in the year where he won both events in Gran Canaria & Tenerife. Meanwhile, Ishii completes the overall podium.

For a full recap of the developments from Maui — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just under two weeks the final event of the 2019 PWA World Tour will take place in New Caledonia between the 18th-23rd November and the Bureau Vallee Dream Cup will decide this years’ Slalom World title race. As things stand it looks more than likely that it will be a straight fight between - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) - but you never know reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - could still spoil the fun… who’s your money on?

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Women's

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Motoko Sato (JPN | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Angela Cochran (USA)
5th Tatiana Howard (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Men's 

1st Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Camille Juban (GPE | Quatro / S2Maui)
3rd Bernd Roediger (USA - Naish | Naish)
4th Kai Lenny (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Robby Swift (GBR | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
7th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
9th Graham Ezzy (USA | Tabou / Ezzy Sails)
9th Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Youth’s

1st Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)
3rd Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
4th Zee Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Wave

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Wave

1st Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
4th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
8th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
10th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Your - U20s Youth

1st Marino Gil (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
4th Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)
5th Miguel Chapuis (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)

Gil, who is still only 17, won both the events in the Canaries earlier in the season in Gran Canaria and Tenerife to put himself in a strong position heading into the Aloha Classic and his joint 5th place here was enough to seal him the U20 world crown ahead of Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) and Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails).

As well as winning the U20 world title, Gil also finishes the season ranked just outside the overall top 16 - 17th - and the future continues to look bright for the highly talented youngster.

The official prize giving will be held tomorrow evening at 6pm (GMT-10). Have a great weekend!

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Maui — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Women's

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Motoko Sato (JPN | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Angela Cochran (USA)
5th Tatiana Howard (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Men's 

1st Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Camille Juban (GPE | Quatro / S2Maui)
3rd Bernd Roediger (USA - Naish | Naish)
4th Kai Lenny (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Robby Swift (GBR | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
7th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
9th Graham Ezzy (USA | Tabou / Ezzy Sails)
9th Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Youth’s

1st Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)
3rd Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
4th Zee Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Wave

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Wave

1st Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
4th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
8th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
10th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Your - U20s Youth

1st Marino Gil (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
4th Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)
5th Miguel Chapuis (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)

After the beach clean, the fifth day was relatively calm with the swell dropping in size - just overhead high in the sets - and light onshore winds meaning that the contest remained on hold for the morning and early afternoon with no real threat of ever becoming competable.

With the sailors officially released at 1pm that meant:

That by winning the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - becomes the first woman in over two decades to claim the Women’s PWA World Championship - aside from the legendary Moreno twins who have dominated women’s wave sailing for over 20-years. Offringa started the year with two third places, but then markedly stepped her game in both Sylt and Maui to reel off back-to-back wave event wins for the first time in her career and deservedly claims her first wave world title. 

Sarah-Quita Offringa on winning her first PWA Wave World title: “Honestly, this one feels totally different from any other title I’ve previously won. Wave sailing was a challenge, still is a challenge and this year we’ve had so many different conditions with completely different conditions. The race for the title has been really tight, so that makes it so much sweeter to win this title. Actually, I didn’t really expect it to happen this year so I’m super happy!”

That is not only an incredible achievement for Offringa, who completes a career grand slam - having already won 12 Freestyle and 4 Slalom world titles, but it is also testament to the incredible level that both Iballa (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) & Daida (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) have set over the last two decades and their reign at the top is by no means over. 

Daida dominated in Pozo earlier in the year, while Iballa finishes the year as the vice-world champion having won the world title for the last 5 years and was extremely close to winning this year’s title. If Iballa had have been able to hold on to her radical aerial in the final then the rankings may well have been reversed, but those are the fine margins that make the difference at the very top of the sport. 

Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) discards her result from Maui, but deservedly claims her place on the overall podium for the first time in her career - having finished on the podium in each of the opening three events.

Mariah Andrés (Fanatic / Duotone) and Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) both discard their results from the Aloha Classic, which means Andrés wins the 2019 IWT Championship.

Men’s

With no further contest being complete that means that Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) wins his 5th PWA World Championship at just 25-years-old. Incredibly this is just the second year in which Köster did not win an event during the season since winning his first world title in 2011. The only other time that that has happened was in 2016 when he missed the final two events of the year. This time around it was his consistency that proved key with 3 podiums in Europe setting a solid base heading into Maui. Before this year’s Aloha Classic the German had never won a heat in Maui, but he righted that record this year and his 3rd place in quarterfinals here proved decisive as if he had finished 4th - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) would’ve collected his second wave world title and third overall.

Philip Köster speaks after officially becoming the 2019 Men’s PWA Wave World Champion: “Honestly this one feels different. This title has been a lot of work honestly. I didn’t win any events this year, which is what makes it different from the other times. Otherwise, I’m super, super happy that I made it. It’s also kind of nice to have done okay at the Aloha Classic. Before now I hadn’t actually won a heat here, so I’m stoked to have passed through a heat at the Aloha Classic. It’s really nice to finish the year here and I’m also pleased to have made it a bit further in the contest this time around. So yeah, just really happy about it!”

Browne eventually ends the 2019 season as the vice-world champion - just 258 points shy of Köster and if he had found a way to advance into the top 4 here he would have been world champion. However, 2019 still represents a fantastic year for the Brazilian, who has now finished in the overall top 10 every year since his title winning year in 2013.

Meanwhile, Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) finishes on the overall podium for the second consecutive year - 3rd.

Coming into the Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Antoine Martin - was enjoying his best competition year to date on both the PWA and IWT, and the 26-year-old signs off 2019 in the best fashion possible by winning the prestigious Aloha Classic, which is also his first victory on the world tour. That victory here means Martin wins the IWT title for the second time in his career, whilst also recording his best result on the world tour to date - 4th overall.

We’ll take a full look at the results in the event summary.  

If you are thinking about visiting Maui then make sure you check out North Shore Maui rental cars - windsurf cars, by windsurfers - Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) & Marcilio Browne.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Maui — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Women's

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Motoko Sato (JPN | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Angela Cochran (USA)
5th Tatiana Howard (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Men's 

1st Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Camille Juban (GPE | Quatro / S2Maui)
3rd Bernd Roediger (USA - Naish | Naish)
4th Kai Lenny (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Robby Swift (GBR | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
7th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
9th Graham Ezzy (USA | Tabou / Ezzy Sails)
9th Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Youth’s

1st Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Jake Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)
3rd Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
4th Zee Schettewi (USA | JP / Hot Sails Maui)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Wave

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Wave

1st Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
4th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
8th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
10th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)