Fuerteventura PWA World Cup

Day 6: Marion Mortefon & Daniele Benedetti lead the event rankings after a set of topsy turvy results for the majority of the fleet

Day six of the 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup proved to be another slow burner with the wind fizzling out just before the original planned start at midday, which led to a couple of hours of delay, at which point the breeze returned at around 8-15 knots. After the completion of the first men’s race and the first two women’s races, the wind then dropped again, and it looked as though that might be it for the day, but the breeze soon returned to provide the best racing conditions of the day with around 20 knots of breeze. At the close of the opening day, Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) and Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) head up the event rankings. 

Foil Slalom

Women’s

Marion Mortefon enjoyed a near perfect opening day as the former two-time world champion made a flying to proceedings by rattling off a superb hat-trick before finishing second in the fourth elimination - which she currently discards. Mortefon looks in ominous form as it looked as though she has a bit of extra speed up her sleeve when required. The 32-year-old ends the day with a clear lead as she currently counts a perfect score of 2.1 points. 

Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) is currently Mortefon’s closest rival on 7.7 points and you could see how much it meant to her that she claimed the final bullet of the day to keep herself in contention. The current vice-world champion started off strongly with a solid second place, but then recorded a fifth and eleventh to find herself in a spot of bother. That bullet could yet prove pivotal later on in the week.

Reigning world champion - Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) - was extremely consistent in the opening four eliminations with a second and a three third places, which sees her just 0.3 points behind Lemeteyer. Alabau was involved in a fierce battle for second place with Mortefon in Elimination 4, which saw the Spaniard produce a miraculous gybe at the third buoy through an almost non-existent gap, but Mortefon still prevailed as she stepped on the gas to close the door on Alabau.

Maya Morris (Future Fly) hasn’t experienced the easiest preparation leading into her debut on the World Tour after her equipment failed to arrive, but even so, she has made a bright start which sees her ranked fourth after the opening day.

Meanwhile, Bobbi-Lynn de Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) completes the current top five, which is quite remarkable given the fact that she is just 14-years-old. The Bonairean’s best results today included a fifth in the opener before signing off with a fourth place. 

Men’s

Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) finished last season by earning his maiden podium on the World Tour in Japan, and he hit the water flying today, so much so, that the Italian tops the rankings at the close of play. Benedetti looked in the zone throughout after opening his account with an excellent third place before going on to claim his second bullet on the World Tour in the second elimination, which means he holds a 5.3 point advantage at the top of the rankings. 

Noah Vinther (PATRIK / PATRIK  Sails / PATRIK Foils) may have only made his debut on the World Tour last year, but the 20-year-old has quickly adapted to life on tour after claiming an impressive third and a sixth place today, which means he is currently ranked second in the overnight rankings. 

Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails / Z-Foils) completes the current top three after the opening couple of races. In the opening winners’ final, Vrieswijk was involved in an intense battle against Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails), which saw the lead change hands on multiple occasions. Eventually, Vrieswijk settled for second place in the opener, before the vice-world champion, who has won the last two events on the World Tour, got caught up in a racing altercation at the first mark in Elimination 2, which ultimately resulted in him being eliminated. Vrieswijk was still able to win the b-final for maximum damage control.Reigning world champion, Matteo Iachino, made the perfect start to his defence campaign as he gained the upper hand against Vrieswijk in Elimination 1 to secure the opening bullet of the season. At that point, it looked like the Iachino had a speed advantage as he seemingly waited to pick his moment to pass Vrieswijk. However, after a perfect first elimination, Iachino then missed out on the winners’ final of the next race after getting re-hooked in during the opening gybe, which left him with a deficit he couldn’t quite recover from as he missed out on a place in the top eight, after finishing in fifth. Iachino ends the day ranked in fourth, just 0.7 of a point behind Vrieswijk and two points behind Vinther. 

Elsewhere, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) also qualified for one winners’ final and missed out on the other, which sees the 31-year-old ranked fifth at the end of day one, tied on 16 points with Michele Becker (PATRIK / PATRIK  Sails / PATRIK Foils), who asides from Benedetti and Vinther, is the only other sailor who boats a 100% qualifying record for the top eight - even after just the first two eliminations on what was quite a topsy turvy day for quite a few sailors. 

The top ten is currently completed by Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails) - 7th-  who recorded a 13th and a seventh - Cedric Bordes (Severne Windsurfing) - 8th - who recovered from a quarterfinal exit in the first by finishing fourth in the next, William Huppert and Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails / F4 Foils), who finish ninth and tenth respectively after both recording two top sixteen results. 

To further illustrate the topsy turvy nature of the day, Pierre Mortefon (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) started the day with a solid fifth before suffering a quarterfinal exit, while Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) went from being dumped out in the quarterfinals of the opener before bouncing back with a second place in Elimination 2 to steady the ship, while Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails) and Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) also qualified for the second winners’ final, where they finished fifth and sixth, to both bounce back from quarterfinal exits in Elimination 1. At the close of play, the quartet find themselves ranked 11th, 12th, 14th, and 16th respectively.

Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) didn’t enjoy much luck on the opening day as he was knocked out in the semifinal of Elimination 1, followed by the quarterfinals of the next, when prominently placed in both due to other sailors hampering him through gybes, which cost him dearly on both occasions. The Pole was still able win the b-final of Elimination 1, but finds himself ranked fifteenth at the end of day one and is under immediate pressure if still wants to try and earn a top result. 

The forecast for tomorrow looks much more promising than today with the prospect of stronger winds on the horizon. The racers will meet again tomorrow morning at 10am (GMT+1) with a first possible start at 11am.

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Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom
*After 4 Eliminations (1 Discard)

1st Marion Mortefon (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK  Sails / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Maya Morris (ISR | Future Fly)
5th Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (NB | Starboard / NeilPryde)

Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom
*After 2  Eliminations 

1st Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
2nd Noah Vinther (DEN | PATRIK / PATRIK  Sails / PATRIK Foils)
3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
5th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
6th Michele Becker (GER | PATRIK / PATRIK  Sails / PATRIK Foils)
7th Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails)
8th Cedric Bordes (FRA | Severne Sails)
9th William Huppert (FRA)
10th Scotty Stallman (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails / F4 Foils)

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)

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