Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam

July 4, 2023 Created by Chris Yates

Day 4: Blanca Alabau & Enrico Marotti lead the slalom heading into final day, whilst Jordy Vonk & Sarah-Quita Offringa fly the flag for the fins

The second day of the racing at the 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam began with winds in the 18-25 knot range, which saw the majority of the men’s and women’s fleets select the foil as their weapon of choice. However, as the afternoon progressed the wind started to gradually pick up -gusting in excess of 30 knots - and there was a definite shift in performance as the fins started to come into their own, whilst the foils started to possibly reach their upper limit, which answers the question of whether fins still have a place in today’s racing.

The answer is yes, but only once the wind reaches over 30 knots, how long that will last? Who knows as the foils continue to develop at an extraordinary pace and no doubt in a years time their high wind performance will have further expanded, but it was still interesting to see that the fin can still outperform the foil in certain conditions - particularly after yesterday’s whitewash.

Slalom

Women’s

Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) started the day with a 2.3 point advantage at the top of the rankings, but after another excellent day in which the 26-year-old won 3 out of the 5 races she has extended her lead to 6.9 points. Alabau has raced incredibly consistently so far - only finishing outside the top 3 on two occasions in 10 eliminations - which has given her a stranglehold at the top of the rankings - currently discarding a 4th and 7th place - as she aims to secure her first win on the World Tour.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) remains Alabau’s closest rival after another solid day, which saw the Aruban secure a Birthday bullet in Elimination 10, whilst she recorded a second and two thirds in the other races - discarding a 6th from the first race when the wind was lighter. Things could’ve been even better for Offringa, but she was inadvertently taken down at the last mark of Elimination 8 when leading and had to settle for second place. If Offringa wants to deny Alabau she will need to go on a hot run of bullets to stand a chance of reeling in the Spaniard.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) started the day in fourth and after a decent day, which saw her win Elimination 7 the reigning world champion gains one place - moving into the top 3 with a day to go, but an event win would seem out of her reach now as she trails Alabau by 13.9 points.

Elsewhere, Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) had a good day overall as the Brit only finished outside the top 4 once today. However, she will be left ruing a couple of missed opportunities. Gibson was beaten in a photo finish by her teammate - Mortefon - in Elimination 7, whilst in Elimination 8 she was rounding the last mark in second place before falling and eventually finishing 9th. Meanwhile, in the last elimination of the day - Elimination 10 - Gibson sailed superbly - showing tremendous straight-line speed to build a healthy lead by the last, only to drop her final gybe and finish 3rd. So far Gibson has let multiple bullet opportunities slip by, so she will want to sign off on a high tomorrow and right those wrongs.

Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui / LOKEFOIL) slips two places to fifth as she struggles to show the form she demonstrated in Italy!

Men’s

Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) still leads the Slalom at the end of day two’s racing, but the Croat has seen his 7.6 point overnight lead reduced to just 3.3 points - not really through any fault of his own as Marotti enjoyed another fine day in which he didn’t finish outside the top 5, but more through his rivals sailing unbelievably well, which means tomorrow is now poised for a thrilling finale! Marotti did leave a few spare points on the race course with a couple of late errors, but remains in pole position as he looks to add to his event victory from Japan.

Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) remains Marotti’s closest rival after the reigning world champion claimed his first bullet of the event in Elimination 8 to really close the gap, whilst he counts a second a fifth from the other races today - discarding an 8th from Elimination 5 for a premature start. The Pole is prominently placed to attack the top tomorrow!

Elsewhere, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) breaks into the overall top 3 after an extremely consistent day where the Italian didn’t finish outside the top 4 - recording a second, two thirds and a fourth. Iachino is currently 6.6 points off the top of the rankings and 3.3 points behind Rutkowski.

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils) climbs one place to 4th at the close of play and is currently 4.7 points outside the top 3. The Frenchman earned his first bullet of the event in Elimination 5, whilst he finished 3rd and fourth in Eliminations 4 and 6, but missed out on his first Winners’ Final of the event in the 7th race after he lost control of the foil just metres from the finish line with the wind gusting over 30 knots.

Aside from the current top 3 - Nicolas Prien (JP / NeilPryde) - is the only other sailor in the fleet to boast a 100% qualifying record for the Winners’ Finals. However, despite that stellar performance the German slips two places as he drops from third to 5th.

With the wind earlier in the day being light by Pozo standards - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - begrudgingly switched to the foil - recording a 5th, 13th & 16th, but with the wind increasing Vonk was on the limit of control, which led to a couple of wipeouts when leading a couple of heats. With the wind continuing to increase the 30-year-old had no hesitation switching back to the fin and that paid off beautifully in Elimination 10 as the Flying Dutchman became the first man since 2019 to win a Winners’ Final on a fin - much to his delight as he flew the fin flag in Pozo to register its first success here after 9 straight foil victories. Vonk occupies 6th heading into the final day of racing.

Mover of the Day

Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) is the day's biggest mover as the Bonairean climbs from outside the top 16 all the way into seventh place. Vrieswijk was able to discard both of his quarterfinal exits from yesterday, whilst his worst result today was a 9th place. The 27-year-old claimed his second bullet of the week in Elimination 6, but may feel he wasted a couple of other opportunities today after being disqualified from the Winners’ Finals of Elimination 4 and 5 for premature starts. Vrieswijk was also extremely unlucky in the last elimination of the day as when he was leading his semifinal his harness broke to leave him with no chance of qualifying.

Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) gains three places from the overnight rankings as the Italian climbs from 11th to 8th, whilst the top 10 is completed by Michele Becker (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils) and Jimmy Thieme (Fanatic / Duotone).

The top 16 is currently completed by Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils), Taty Frans (Future Fly / Severne Sails), Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Severne Sails), Lohan Jules (Future Fly / S2Maui / Phantom Foils) and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails).

Elsewhere, Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) qualified for his first ever Winners’ Final in the last race of the day, but finished 8th being disqualified for the premature start.

Tomorrow will see the conclusion of the Slalom at the 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam and it promises to provide a grandstand finale with all still to play for depending on how the racing unfolds. The forecast on paper looks lighter than today, but with clearer skies predicted anything could happen. The Slalom fleet will meet again at 10am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11am onwards.

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Current Ranking 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 10 Eliminations

1st Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui / LOKEFOIL)

Current Ranking 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 7 Eliminations

1st Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils)
5th Nicolas Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
8th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Michele Becker (GER | Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils)
10th Jimmy Thieme (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Women’s Wave Single Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP | Bruch Boards / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Justyna Sniady (POL | NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Isabel Trivino Delgado (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maria Navarro Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Men’s Wave Single Elimination

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