Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup

November 10, 2024 Created by Chris Yates

Day 3: World title races hang in the balance, Johan Søe storms to top of Men’s event rankings and Marion Mortefon leapfrogs Justine Lemeteyer to lead Women’s event

Day three of the 2024 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup didn’t produce quite as much racing as the forecast would’ve originally suggested, but even so, two more results for the Men’s fleet and one result for the Women’s fleet were gained in the lightest winds of the event thus far. At the end of the third day, Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) and Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils) head up the event rankings, while the Men’s and Women’s world title races remain balanced on a knife’s edge.

Foil Slalom

Women’s

Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) and Marion Mortefon started the day tied on 6.7 points, but after winning Elimination 4, Mortefon now leads the event by 3.3 points, so she is doing absolutely everything in her power to keep her name in the world title race conversation, which it very much is at the end of the third day…

As a quick reminder, Mortefon must win the event, and Lemeteyer must finish outside the top three to win the world title, which looked unlikely at the start of proceedings given that 6.3 points separated Lemeteyer in first place and Blanca Alabau in fourth. Furthermore, after winning the last elimination yesterday you felt that that would settle any nerves and Lemeteyer would then kick on and keep herself out of trouble, but she has now left herself in a vulnerable situation - although fate still remains in her own hands.

The current World Tour leader was prominently placed in the Elimination 4 Winners’ Final, but made an uncharacteristic error as she dropped off the foil to go from about third, towards the back of the pack. Lemeteyer then started to try and carve her way back through the field, only to then make another untimely error as she crashed her third gybe and chose to not even complete the course, meaning she currently discards a twelfth place. That in itself is not a problem, but it does now mean she cannot afford another mistake as she is now only 2.3 points ahead of Tamar Steinberg (Future Fly) in fourth, so the world title race really does hang in the balance.

Elsewhere, Lina Eržen (Starboard / Severne Sails) gains two places from the overnight rankings, which sees her move from fifth into third after discarding a tenth place finish in Elimination 3 with a solid third today. Steinberg slips one place to fifth, while Sara Wennekes (Starboard / Severne Sails) climbs into the top five at the expense of Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails).

Men’s

Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils) storms to the top of the event rankings after completing a clinical hat-trick after winning both Winners’ Finals today, which sees him now boast a perfect score of 2.1 points after discarding a ninth place finish from Elimination 1. With an aptly named nickname of ‘The Beast’, the 21-year-old looks as though he has the ability to not just qualify for every Winners’ Final, but quite possibly win every single elimination, such is his form at the moment. At the close of play, Søe holds a 4.6 point lead at the top of the event rankings.

World Title Race

Pierre Mortefon (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) started the day with a 3.3 point advantage over world title rival Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), but now just 2.3 points separate the two heavyweights after the completion of Eliminations 3 and 4. Both sailors have been phenomenally consistent thus far with neither of them finishing outside the top five, and it looks like the world title race could well go down to the wire.

At one stage in the Winners’ Final of Elimination 4, Mortefon was in about seventh place as he looked severely underpowered, but he managed to recover into fifth, which could yet prove pivotal in deciding the outcome of the title. Meanwhile, Benedetti recorded his best result of the event thus far with an excellent second place, which is not only great for Benedetti fans, but also neutrals who are intrigued to watch how the battle unfolds. It seems whoever blinks first may well end up being the one who misses out, so the pressure truly couldn’t be any higher.

Elsewhere, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails), who led the event at the start of the day, slips to third - just 0.3 of a point behind Mortefon - but continues to sail extremely consistently. So far, the Italian has recorded two second places and two thirds, which keeps him in contention to challenge for the prestigious overall podium - depending how the rest of the event plays out with Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), who is currently ranked sixth:

- If Iachino were to finish second and Marotti were to finish seventh, the current world champion would pip the Croatian to the final place on the podium.  - If Iachino were to finish third third and Marotti were to finish eighth, the current world champion would pip the Croatian to the final place on the podium.  
Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) continues to enjoy his best event since Croatia in 2021. Pre-COVID, Vonk was one of the best fin racers in the world and it now seems he is starting to unlock that same level of performance on the foil. The flying Dutchman has qualified for three out of four Winners’ Finals thus far and recorded a fourth and a fifth today, which sees him currently ranked fifth.

Things didn’t quite go Enrico Marotti’s way today with an eighth and a ninth, but he still has a four point cushion to Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) in seventh.

Meanwhile, Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) gains a couple of places from the overnight rankings - tenth to eighth - the German equalled his best result of the event so far in Elimination 4 - sixth. The top ten is completed by Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) - ninth - and Michele Becker (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils), who qualified for his first Winners’ Final of the event in Elimination 4. The German, who enjoyed such a great debut season last year, has found things tougher going this season, but will be happy to have made the top eight today. For a while, it looked as though he was going to finish at least second in Elimination 4, but got backwinded at the second gybe mark.

The forecast for tomorrow looks promising on paper with 14-18 knots currently predicted, which should hopefully provide more racing as the forecast for the final day doesn’t look too promising, so tomorrow could well be the last opportunity. The skippers’ meeting will be held at 08:30am (GMT+9) with the action commencing from 09:30am onwards.

Current Ranking 2024 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom 
*After 4 Eliminations (1 Discard)

Current Ranking 2024 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom 
*After 4 Eliminations (1 Discard)  

1st Johan Søe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
5th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
6th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)
8th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
10th Michele Becker (GER | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)

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