Riviera Guadeloupe PWA Windsurf World Cup
The penultimate day of the 2025 Riviera Guadeloupe PWA Windsurf World Cup proved to be another day of waiting as the wind failed to arrive. For brief moments it looked as though the wind would fill in, but stormy skies meant that it never really settled, so things remain as they were at the start of the day with Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) leading the event with a day to go.
With plenty of downtime whilst waiting for the wind, we caught up with the current number two and three in the women’s fleet - Lina Eržen (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foils) and Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails):
Hi Lina, originally we saw you competing on the PWA Freestyle World Tour - how did you transition into racing and what made you make the move into racing over Freestyle?
During the pandemic there was not a lot competition for Freestyle and I love to compete, so it was hard to train, but not being able to show the work in the field. In the mean time the new iQFOiL class was introduced to us. I remember my father telling me that it’s a foiling class which can eventually lead to the Olympics. I knew how to foil already just on some smaller gear, and of course as a dream for any professional athlete, I wanted to represent my country in the Olympicsl. Once I got caught up in the racing I never looked back.
Are you still Freestyling in your free sailing? And do you think we could see you make an appearance on the Freestyle Tour again?
I haven’t Freestyled in quite some time. I put a lot of time towards the Olympic class and all the stuff it requires me to do (fitness, testing, training camps…). I also go to university, so there isn’t a lot of time to rest and I need to spend my time wisely. You never know what the future can hold for you, so I cannot say I will never make an appearance somewhere.
You’ve made a great start to your racing life on the PWA - winning your opening event in Japan in 2023 and then finishing third there last year - what are your expectations for the season ahead and are you planning on competing on the whole circuit?
This year I will be competing on the whole circuit. I always seek perfection in any aspect, and with that said, my goal is set as well.
You came from competing in the iQFOiL - are you still chasing another Olympic campaign?
It’s my dream and goal to compete in another Olympic games in the iQFOiL class.
Thanks, Lina. Good luck for the rest of the contest.
Hi Blanca, over the winter you changed to WeOne boards - how's the change going?
Winter was really nice. I've been training in Tenerife. The change of the boards was actually a really good move, I think, for me because it makes me super motivated. I find more motivation to push the winter training and the board feels super good. It's super steady, it's fast, it's all around really good and it's super nice to be more involved in the development and work with this team - that’s super nice for me.
Last year you came 3rd overall - what are your goals for 2025?
My goal as every year is winning the title and last year I was a bit down, or a bit less motivated, because I had a really tough year, especially compared to the years before, and I wanted to give myself a bit of a different vibe in in training and be more relaxed and push myself, which is what I thought I had to do. However, this winter it was completely different, I was super motivated training in the water every day, at the gym, and I recovered from my injuries, so finally I feel ready to give my all this year.
How's Guadeloupe been for you this far?
Guadeloupe has been really nice. We’ve been staying at Tristan Algret’s house [Event Organiser] and he’s been taking care of us. We had some great days sailing on 5-6m sails before the event, but then I lost my foil, which made me a bit nervous, so I didn’t start the event the way I wanted. I was feeling confident, but then this knocked my confidence a bit, which meant I didn’t feel too confident yesterday, but in the afternoon I sailed better, so my confidence is coming back. I know I have the speed and that my gybes are good, so step-by-step my confidence is improving and I know I can compete.
Thanks, Blanca good luck on the final day of the contest.
The forecast for the final day of the 2025 Riviera Guadeloupe PWA Windsurf World Cup looks better than today with winds between 9-15 knots currently forecast, which should hopefully lead to an exciting finale to the event. The sailors will meet at 8am (GMT-4) for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 9am onwards.
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Current Event Ranking 2025 Riviera Guadeloupe PWA Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom
*After 6 Eliminations (1 Discard)
1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Lina Eržen (SLO | Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foils)
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
4th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)
5th Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (NB | Starboard / NeilPryde)
Current Event Ranking 2025 Riviera Guadeloupe PWA Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom
*After 3 Eliminations
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Point-7 / Z-Foils)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Alexis Mathis (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
9th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
10th Sem Stroosma (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)