2025 Aruba Hi-Winds PWA Youth Slalom
With Aruba’s trade winds continuing to blow, the third day of the 2025 Aruba Hi-Winds PWA Youth Slalom proved to be another action-packed day with plenty of racing on offer. Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) continues to dominate in both the Fin and Foil, and barring a total disaster, the 15-year-old surely has the event victory wrapped up with a day to spare. However, in the U21 Boys Foil Slalom, there has been a change at the top of the rankings after Kasper Nielsen (Duotone Windsurfing / F4 Foils) hit top form to leapfrog Brendan Lorho (FMX Racing / S2Maui), so Sunday, which is the final day of the event, promises to be a nail-biter.
Foil Slalom
The rider of the day on the Foil was undoubtedly Kasper Nielsen (Duotone Windsurfing / F4 Foils) from Denmark. The Duotone and F4 Foils rider had a difficult start to the event, breaking his foil by hitting a turtle, but today was undoubtedly his day, as he claimed five victories out of a possible six to jump to the top of the leaderboard in the U21 Boys Foil. Behind Nielsen, Benedikt Emser (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) also found form today scoring a string of second places and capitalising on a mistake from Brendan Lorho and Nielsen in the third elimination of the day to earn a crucial bullet, which puts him firmly back on the podium with one day of racing to go.
In the girls, Bobbi-Lynn De Jong is yet to make a single mistake with thirteen wins from thirteen races - it has been a spectacle to witness her flawless performance. Kit De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde), two years her junior, is going to be causing her issues in the not too distant future however. Whilst her speed is not quite on Bobbi’s level yet, her racing tenacity and mindset are firmly locked in, and as she grows, she will be a real threat to Bobbi-Lynn in the years to come.
Fin Slalom
Four more fin races were completed today and while conditions initially looked on the lighter side, with some clouds affecting the wind, but once racing was underway, it filled in perfectly to provide more great racing.
Despite his mixed performance on the foil, Brendan Lorho was 100% in control on the fin as he claimed a further three bullets from a possible four, so at this stage it’s going to be extremely difficult for anyone to catch him. Storm Nicolai (Starboard) has been his closest rival all week, scoring two bullets yesterday, but he couldn’t close the gap today and remains in second place. Tame Mondria (FMX Racing / Point-7) had moments of brilliance today, looking fast in the lighter conditions, but couldn’t quite match the consistency of Lorho or Nicolai across the entire course as he failed to convert his strong starts into top finishes.
In the U21 Girls, Bobbi-Lynn De Jong admitted today that she was focusing more on the foil ahead of this event, yet that doesn’t show in her results. With another perfect string of results, the 15-year-old has left the battles to the other girls and they have been feisty - with only 2.3 points separating second to fourth position as Louise van der Meulen (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Lone De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) closed the gap on Kit De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) today. So, it’s safe to say it’s all to play for on the final day tomorrow.
In the U17, U15 and U13 Boys the results remain the same with Tycho Smits (Future Fly / Point-7), Arxon Gomperts (Future Fly / Point-7) and Julien Blom leading their respective age groups.
You can see the current event rankings HERE.
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