Fuerteventura PWA World Cup
From the 25th July until the 3rd August, Sotavento in Fuerteventura will be thrust into the windsurfing limelight once again. The opening five days of the 2024 Fuertevenura PWA World Cup will belong to the freestylers, while the best racers in the world will enter the fray in the second half of the event.
Sotavento, which is located on the southeast coast of Fuerteventura, has developed a world-class reputation due to its year-round sunshine, stunning golden beaches, and most importantly, as its name suggests, strong winds. Fuerte’s famously strong winds create some of the most exhilarating conditions on the PWA World Tour. For freestylers, Fuerte can be one of the most challenging, yet one of the most rewarding locations when there is a swell running, as it produces the perfect stunt ramps for the contortionists of the windsurfing world to launch into the latest aerial power moves. Meanwhile, the Slalom and Slalom X fleets, who will debut in the second half of the event, will once again face Fuerte’s ferocious winds and challenging chop, which will be to provide them with the ultimate test.
Freestyle
Women’s
Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) starts the week looking to secure an unprecedented 15th PWA Freestyle World Championship and 23rd overall. The Aruban’s record obviously speaks for itself, but that phenomenal record can be a heavy weight to carry as it does mean that many think her winning here again is almost a forgone conclusion, however, Offringa is too professional to take that stance herself and will not be taking the task at hand lightly.
Maaike Huvermann (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) is likely to be Offringa’s main threat again with the two women developing a fierce rivalry in recent years. The current vice-world champion remains the only sailor to have won a Freestyle heat against Offringa since 2008 - winning a final in Bonaire in 2019 to force a Super Final, but will be desperate to go one better this time around as she tries to finally prise that Freestyle world crown from Offringa’s claws.
However, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails) will have other plans in mind as the Norwegian looks to break into the overall top two again for the first time since 2015. The 35-year-old defeated Huvermann in the single elimination here last year and lost an extremely close heat in the double, so she’ll be determined to exact revenge this time out. Brødholt has been preparing in Dakhla, Morocco, ahead of the start of the event, so should be raring to go, while Lisa Kloster (MB Boards / Sailloft Hamburg), who finished fourth last year, will be looking to force her way into podium contention.
Men’s
Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) will look to make a strong start to his world title defence by defending his event title here from last year, which was the Belgian’s first event victory on the World Tour. The now two-time Freestyle world champion posted the highest scoring heat of the contest in 2023 - 51.1 points - and will need to be at his very best again to see off a highly competitive fleet.
Current vice-world champion, Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), will be just one of Caers’ potential threats with the young Greek dynamo winning the last Freestyle event, which was his first event victory on the World Tour, in Sylt, Germany last year. Neubauer has been on the radar for a while and now looks set to be a solid world title contender.
Former World Champions Waiting in the Wings
Meanwhile, 2023 Freestyle World champion, Adrien Bosson (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) will be another major threat. The Frenchman won the single elimination here last season and has had an excellent record in the past.
There are also numerous other former world champions waiting to take their shot. Firstly, the King of Freestyle - Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (WeOne / GUNSAILS) - returns to the fleet for the first time since 2019 and with 9 Freestyle world titles to his name he can never be ruled out. The same can also be said of Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS), Kiri Thode (Future Fly / GUNSAILS) and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails).
The contenders won’t end there though with the likes of Jacopo Testa (WeOne / Point-7 / AL360), Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails), Youp Schmit (Tabou / GA Sails), Nicolas Akgzaciyan (JP / NeilPryde), Nicolas Nebelung (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) and Balz Múller (Severne / Severne Sails) all ready to make their charge.
Slalom X
Women’s
Sarah-Quita Offringa will once again be bidding for an event double with the added incentive that if she manages to win the second and final Slalom X event of the year, then she’ll be able to add another world title to her name. Offringa was incredibly consistent in Gran Canaria - winning seven out of the eleven eliminations completed, while she finished outside the top two on just one occasion, so if she’s in similar form she’ll prove difficult to stop once again.
Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) was Offringa’s closest challenger in Gran Canaria and she could well prove to be the biggest threat again. The Briton will come into Fuerte on a high having earned her first podium in Pozo and she’ll pose a major threat with her impressive straight line speed, which saw her leading numerous races in Gran Canaria. If the 26-year-old is able to cut out a few errors then she can definitely put her name into the event and world title race conversation.
Just as in Gran Canaria, Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS / PATRIK FOILS) and Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) are likely to be the other major threats after finishing third and fourth respectively in Pozo. Meanwhile, Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) will be looking to add to her elimination victories after securing her first bullet on the World Tour in Pozo.
Men’s
Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails) produced a racing masterclass in Gran Canaria to deservedly lead the Slalom X rankings coming into Fuerteventura. The 2019 Slalom world champion basically didn’t put a foot wrong as he tamed Pozo’s hardcore racing conditions. Mortefon’s performance was on a different level compared to everyone else and if he’s anywhere near close to that level again he could prove almost unstoppable. In Gran Canaria, the Frenchman was the only sailor to qualify for every winners’ final, while he never finished outside the top three in the 10 eliminations completed and was able to claim an impressive four bullets.
Having suffered from some starting watch woes in Gran Canaria, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) still managed to recover to claim second place after leapfrogging Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) in the last elimination of the event. Both men will know that if they want to challenge for the event and world title then they will need to reduce their errors in order to be able to compete with Mortefon.
Another sailor who staged a late come back in Pozo is Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing). The flying Dutchman was ill at the start of the event, but once he’d recovered he was able to rattle off a series of impressive results consisting of two bullets, a second and a third from the last five eliminations, so if the 31-year-old can pick up where he left off in Gran Canaria then he can be a genuine threat for the event title here.
Other sailors who are likely to go well here include; Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails), both of whom recorded their best results to date on the World Tour in Pozo - finishing fifth and sixth respectively, German’s Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) and Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) and fellow Bonairean’s Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails). In Gran Canaria, Prien, Frans and Reuscher all finished tied on points, such was the closeness of the racing, so it will be interesting to see who gains the upper hand this time round.
Elsewhere, Cedric Bordes (Severne Sails) and Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) will be looking to establish themselves inside the top 10 having narrowly missed out in Gran Canaria, while Croatia’s Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) returns to the lineup. Other sailors who will be pushing for the top 16 and beyond include the French contingent of; Pierre Macquaert (JP / NeilPryde), Lohan Jules (Future Fly / S2Maui), Jimmy Thieme (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS) and Alexandre Cousin (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS), Britain’s Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails) and U21 Slalom World Champion - John Soukos (RRD / RRD Sails), while Slalom X has tempted Andrea Cucchi (FMX Racing / Point-7) out of the wood work.
Foil Slalom
Women’s
Reigning Slalom world champion - Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) - will no doubt be looking forward to jumping back on her foil over the coming five days after a slightly disappointing eight place finish in Pozo Izquierdo earlier in the month in the debut Slalom X event. Alabau usually looks at her most dangerous on the foil and she’ll be looking to make a strong start to her world title defence here. The Spaniard recorded one victory last season, while she only finished outside the top two once in four events, so she’ll be a strong bet here.
Alabau’s most obvious threats will be current vice-world champion - Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) - and former multiple-time world champion - Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS / PATRIK FOILS), both of whom possess the skillset to challenge for the top of the podium in Fuerte. Lemeteyer will be looking to add to her sole event victory from Italy last year, while Mortefon will be looking to return to winning ways for the first time since November 2022 when she won in Japan.
Elsewhere, having earned her maiden podium earlier in the month in Pozo for Slalom X, Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing / F4 Foils) will be looking to do the same in the Foil Slalom division over the next five days. As per in Slalom X, Gibson possesses superb straight-line speed, which should see her in contention for the podium come the end of the event.
Men’s
The Men’s Foil Slalom looks as though it will see roughly 47 sailors signing up for the first foil event of the season, and as the reigning world champion, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) will start as the favourite for the event, but he will be faced with a stern test if he is to make a a perfect start to the year.
If we are going off of the form book at the end of last season, then Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) would look to be the main sailor to watch. The Bonairean loves foiling in high winds, so he will be back in his element here and the current vice-world champion signed off last year with back-to-back event victories in Germany and Japan, which makes him the obvious danger man.
Other ominous threats include 2022 world champion - Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) - and Pierre Mortefon (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) - who has switched brands to Phantom, who specialise in foiling. They finished 2023 ranked third and fourth respectively and will likely be in hot contention for the event title here.
Elsewhere, Michele Becker (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS / PATRIK FOILS), who made his full debut on the World Tour last year, will be aiming to kick on from an extremely impressive rookie season. The German finished fifth overall in 2023 and will be aiming to force his way into the prestigious podium positions.
Another sailor who should perform well is Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who earned his first podium at the end of last year, while Thomas Goyard (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS / PATRIK FOILS) returns to the fray.
Other key names to look out for are; Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), Alexandre Cousin (PATRIK / PATRIK SAILS / PATRIK FOILS), Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails), Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) and William Huppert.
With the Olympics starting on the 28th July, last year’s event champion, Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sail / Phantom Foil) will be absent from proceedings, while other big names such as Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / Severne Sails), Mateus Isaac (Severne Windsurfing) and Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) will all be embarking on their Olympic campaigns as will Lina Eržen (Flikka) and Sara Wennekes (Starboard / Severne Sails)
The forecast for the opening day looks as though it will be windy, so we will hopefully see an explosive start to the event during the afternoon and early evening.
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Schedule For Day 1: (All Times GMT+1)
- Registration 10-11am
- Skippers’ Meeting - 12:30pm
- First Possible Start - 1pm