Fuerteventura PWA World Cup
With the Freestyle contest concluding yesterday evening, the hope for the final day of Freestyle was that a Super Session could be held during the afternoon. Unfortunately, however, the day started with a thick layer of cloud cover, which prevented the Sotavento wind machine from ever truly kicking in, which led to a leisurely day, until 3pm local time.
At this point, the beach broke into life with a selection of local drums and dancers taking centre stage ahead of the official prize giving ceremony, which saw Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) crowned event champions, while Offringa also received her 15th Freestyle world championship trophy, which is her 23rd world title overall.
With the Freestyle double eliminations drawing to a close yesterday evening, the decision was made to shift the Slalom X and Slalom Foil registration forward to this evening, so that there is more time for racing from tomorrow morning onwards.
The Slalom fleets will meet for the first time this event at 10am (GMT+1) on Tuesday morning for the skippers’ meeting, which gives a first possible start at 11am. With the forecast looking on the lighter side for the opening day of racing it looks as though Foil Slalom will be first up on the agenda, before the wind gradually improves throughout the week.
Below you can find the full Event Previews for both slalom fleets:
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 again, she’ll prove difficult to stop once more.
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 under the weather 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 46 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 having started on the 28th July, last year’s men’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), Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7) 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) in the women’s fleet.
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Result Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne Sails)
3rd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Lisa Kloster (GER | MB Boards / Sailloft Hamburg)
5th Elena Dominick (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
6th Lina Schmied (AUT | GUNSAILS)
Result Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Adrien Bosson (FRA | Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Youp Schmit (NB | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / Point-7 / AL360)
7th Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS)
9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Albert (NC | Goya Windsurfing)