2025 Aruba Hi-Winds PWA Youth Slalom

Fin Slalom

This morning the call was made to send the fin fleet out first and whilst gusty at times, it was consistently 15-22 knots, making for some great racing in all the fleets. The standout rider of the day was Arxon Gomperts (Future Fly / Point 7) from Bonaire. The U15 and U17 Boys are racing together this week, and whilst only an U15, Gomperts absolutely nailed it today as he claimed five wins from five races. The opening race of the day was surely the closest with a photo finish between Gomperts and Tycho Smits (Future Fly / Point-7) - both coming out of the Frans Paradise in Bonaire and teammates on Point-7 and Future Fly - these two are pushing each other to the maximum and providing some epic racing.

In the U21 Girls, Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) still leads, but couldn’t continue her perfect run today after dropping a gybe in the third race of the day. Four wins out of five still equals a great performance from the 15-year-old Bonairean and she now has a strong hold on the top of the rankings. Behind her, it was a fierce battle between her younger sisters Kit and Lone De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Louise van der Meulen (Starboard / Severne Sails), who exchanged places back and forth throughout the day. After eight eliminations, it’s Kit currently occupying second, van der Meulen in third and Lone in fourth, but the points are extremely tight and it’s all still to play for. 

In the U21 Boys, the opening race of the day was one for the books… A drag race down the final reach between Brendan Lorho (FMX Racing / S2 Maui) and Storm Nicolai (Starboard) was too close to call by the naked eye, but a video review gave Storm the victory - his first in the U21 division. Lorho regained control in the second, third and fourth eliminations with a hat-trick of bullets, but Storm got the better of him in Elimination 8 of the event to take his second win of the week. Tame Mondria (FMX Racing / Point-7) is Mr. Consistent in third position and has extended his advantage over Mario Boekstegers in fourth. 

Foil Slalom 

During the afternoon we switched to foil racing and much like yesterday the tropical weather played havoc with the racing. A rain shower passed over, killing the wind completely, but in true Caribbean style it wasn’t long before the sun was out and the wind was blowing once again. Three eliminations were completed and it was certainly exciting racing as unforced errors from all the top riders meant the lead continued to change. Three new winners emerged today in the U21 Boys with Kasper Nielsen (Duotone / F4 Foils) securing a bullet in Elimination 5, Benedikt Emser (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) won Elimination 6 and the youngster from Bonaire, Tycho Smits (Future Fly / Point-7), capitalised on everyone’s mistakes in Elimination 7 to take the victory. That win bumps him ahead of Emser and onto the podium - overnight at least. Meanwhile, Lorho continues to lead ahead of Nielsen in second with the young Frenchman holding a commanding 5.9 point advantage.  

Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) put in another flawless performance as the 15-year-old reeled off an impressive hat-trick, but her younger sister, Kit, is on the hunt and with three secnd place finishes today and Bobbi-Lynn will have to watch out for her in the future. Kit’s twin sister, Lone De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde), had a better day today, taking home two third places, which sees her reduce the deficit between herself and Louise van der Meulen (Starboard / Severne Sails), who currently completes the top three, but now only two points separate van der Meulen and Lone. 

With Aruba’s trade winds in full flow, Saturday promises to produce another day of action packed sailing, so make sure you stay tuned to the PWA live stream to watch the next generation of racers continue to battle it out. 

You can see the current event rankings HERE.

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