2024 Fuerte PWA WC Tag 8

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Die Entscheidung, den Slalom X am achten Tag des 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cups zu fahren, wurde mehr als gerechtfertigt, denn Sotavento bot die bisher härtesten Bedingungen des Events. Die ersten beiden Renntage waren relativ flach für Fuerteventura, aber heute begann eine neue, kurzzeitige Dünung durch den Kurs zu laufen. Diese Dünung in Kombination mit dem Kabbelwasser bedeutete, dass das Surfen in einer geraden Linie tückisch war, während das Halsen und der Versuch, über ein Hindernis zu springen, bei Windböen von über 40 Knoten am Abend gelinde gesagt schwierig war. Slalom X Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) was simply in a league of her own on the first day of Slalom X and the Aruban gem, who added world title No.23 to her name earlier in the week after winning the Freestyle, surely has one hand on world title No.24 after winning all five eliminations today, which means she boasts a perfect record of 2.8 points, while she currently discards a bullet. Even after starting Elimination 5 way off the pace, Offringa was still able to reel in Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) by the exit of the third gybe to complete a perfect day.

Lemeteyer was the only sailor to put Offringa under any serious pressure, but even after pinging a perfectly timed start in Elimination 5, she couldn’t quite hold off Offringa as the Aruban gradually wore her down. Lemeteyer enjoyed a solid day though after recovering from an over early in the opening race by then recording three second places and a third, which sees her sat in second place in the overnight rankings, while also bringing her into the vice-world champion conversation as she is currently tied on 19,900 points with Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) and Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) in the overall ranking.

Mortefon trails Lemeteyer by just two points after recording a second and three third places, while she currently discards a seventh from Elimination 4. Gibson is then a further five points behind Lemeteyer. The Brit started well with a solid second place, but could then only muster seventh and eighth place finishes in the next two races, before finishing the day strongly again with a third and a fourth, which means if she can keep that run going, then she’ll have the potential to discard that seventh place once Elimination 7 is completed.

The top five is currently completed by Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails), but Marine Hunter (Tribal Windsurfing) is only one point behind her in sixth, while Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails) is just a point further back as well.

Elsewhere, 14-year-old Bobbi-Lynn de Jong (Starboard) deserves a shout out after managing to record a fifth and a sixth from the five races completed in such treacherous conditions and she looks to be a star for the future in the making.

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails) heads up the event rankings at the end of the first day of Slalom X after earning a bullet in the last race of the day, having started with a second and a fourth. When the conditions became really hardcore in Elimination 3, the Frenchman truly shone, just as he did in Pozo and he remains on course to secure the first ever Slalom X world title.

However, Mortefon isn’t simply going to have things his own way as Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), who enjoyed a great day with a second and two third places from the opening three races, only trails Mortefon by 1.3 points. The Bonairean has long been wanting fin only slalom events and today he showed why by proving that he remains one of the best fin racers in the world.

Meanwhile, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) recovered brilliantly from a semifinal exit in the first elimination to finish the day ranked third. The Italian was prominently placed entering the first gybe of the opening semifinal, but then nose dived to all but end his chances of qualifying. Iachino then secured a clinical bullet in the next race, before staging a great comeback in Elimination 3. The 34-year-old made a poor start, but still managed to blitz his way back into second place, which could yet have major implications, not only for the event title race, but for the world title race too, as he is Mortefon’s main danger. Iachino stands to gain the most from the completion of Elimination 4 as he could potentially discard the ninth place from the opener, which would put him in a powerful position to possibly challenge for pole position. Iachino openly admitted that the hardcore conditions, particularly in Elimination 3, are the essence of slalom for him and that was very evident today as he shone and he’ll be praying for similar conditions tomorrow.

Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) produced a very consistent day of sailing as the 31-year-old qualified for all three winners’ finals without really landing a killer blow. From the three races completed the flying Dutchman recorded a third and sixth and a seventh, which sees him ranked fourth.

Besides, Mortefon, Frans and Vonk, Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) is the only sailor to have qualified for every winners’ final, meaning he currently completes the top five. However, just 6 points separate him, Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), Lohan Jules (Future Fly / S2Maui) and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) - who currently occupy sixth, seventh and eighth.

Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) consistently looked like one of the quickest sailors on the course throughout the day, so may be disappointed to have only booked his place in the top eight once. The Italian was leading the last semifinal, but went down hard on the speed run when clocking about 36 knots. Martini signed off the day by winning the b-final to secure ninth place, while he could gain some significant ground after the completion of Elimination 4 as he currently counts a sixteenth.

Another sailor who could benefit greatly from the discard is Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde). The Pole had looked well in tune with the conditions in the opening two races - which saw him earn a fourth and a sixth - but then suffered a surprise quarterfinal exit in Elimination 3, which sees him drop to tenth in the overnight rankings.

Cedric Bordes (Severne Sails) endured two massive crashes yesterday when foiling, but despite being in quite some pain, the Frenchman managed to put that to the back of his mind as he claimed a superb bullet in the opening race of the day. Bordes was under serious pressure from Mortefon the entire way round the course, but valiantly held him off to claim his first race victory in Slalom X. Unfortunately, things then went downhill after that with two quarterfinal exits, so he ends the opening day ranked 14th.

The forecast for Friday still looks solidly windy, but it is likely that is will be quite a bit less windy than today, which most sailors will probably breathe a sigh of relief about. WindGuru is currently predicting winds of 18-24 knots, so it is likely that we will see another day of Slalom X as Saturday looks lighter. The sailors will meet at 10am (GMT+1) for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11am onwards.

Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom X *After 5 Eliminations (1 Discard) 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) 2nd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui) 3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) 4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing) 5th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails) Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom X
*After 3 Eliminations (1 Discard)

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails)
2nd Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Lohan Jules (FRA | Future Fly / S2Maui)
8th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
9th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)
Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom
*After 9 Eliminations (2 Discards)

1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Alisa Engelmann (GER | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
5th Maya Morris (ISR | Future Fly)
Current Ranking Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom
*After 5 Eliminations (1 Discard)

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