Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura World Cup Tag 4

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Am vorletzten Tag des Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup 2025 griffen die Surfer zu ihrem größten Equipment, da die zweite und der Großteil der dritten Ausscheidungsrunde bei Windgeschwindigkeiten zwischen 6 und 10 Knoten absolviert wurden. Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) und Johan Søe (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) haben beide die Veranstaltung fest im Griff und weisen eine perfekte Bilanz auf (1,4 Punkte nach zwei Rennen), während Lemeteyer und Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) nun kurz davor stehen, ihre jeweiligen Weltmeistertitel zu holen.

Foil Slalom Women’s

With Lina Eržen (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) suffering a shock semifinal exit in Elimination 3, Justine Lemeteyer now has one hand firmly on a second world title as she currently boasts a perfect record after winning the second elimination, while she has also safely navigated her way into the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3 - where only five women remain after three over earlies.

While Eržen managed to limit the damage by winning the B-final, the 20-year-old will still pick up a costly nine points, which swings the title race even more heavily in Lemeteyer’s favour. If Lemeteyer were to win the next elimination she would then hold a commanding 11.9 point lead and with only one day to go that would surely be a deficit too great to overcome. If there’s more racing tomorrow, then Eržen could still get the opportunity to discard her Elimination 3 result, but it would need a miracle from here to deny her French rival.

Lemeteyer continues to sail smartly and superbly, not pushing her starts too hard and relying on her speed and gybes to carve her way through the fleet. Indeed in Elimination 2, the 23-year-old may not have led into the opening gybe, but by the second buoy she had already manoeuvred herself into the lead, and just like yesterday, she then powered away from the rest of the fleet. A second world title now beckons.

With Eržen now likely to drop out of the top three after the completion of Elimination 3, this also opens up the race to become vice-world champion after Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails), who looked quick all day, finished second in Elimination 2. However, the Spaniard was presented with a huge opportunity in Elimination 3 to cement that second place, but the 2023 world champion jumped the gun in the Winners’ Final meaning she will pick up a sixth place - after two earlier premature starts. For Alabau it’s a slight missed opportunity as she only gains three points on Eržen in the end. Alabau wasn’t happy that the start wasn’t abandoned, but the result stands.

Elsewhere, Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) gains one place from the overnight rankings (fourth), while Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) climbs into fifth.

Men’s

Like Lemeteyer, Johan Søe (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) also boasts a perfect record on 1.4 points after once again leading from start to finish. Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / NeilPryde) tried to deny the Dane, but Søe eventually powered away as he moves a step closer to defending his event title. The 22-year-old is also safely into the Elimination 3 Winners’ Final and currently looks like he doesn’t have a chink in his armour.

Mortefon managed to edge out Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) in the Elimination 3 Winners’ Final as the Frenchman claimed second place and the two sailors are currently tied on five points after recording identical results at this stage. Both men have already qualified for the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3, but you would have to think that if Iachino were to record another top three result that he’d be on the verge of securing a third world title - as if Mortefon was to finish second, Iachino would need to finish outside the top five in order to be denied.

Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) backed up a fourth place in the opening race yesterday with another fourth place in Elimination 3, which means the Pole currently finds himself sat fourth overall - three places, and 8 points, ahead of Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Foils), who is currently seventh after qualifying for the Winners’ Final of Elimination 2. However, the Bonairean then failed to qualify for the top eight in the next round, so Rutkowski firmly holds the upper hand in the battle for the overall podium.

Elsewhere, Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails) remains in fifth place, while William Huppert (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) climbs one place into sixth. Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails) stays in eighth, while Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) rises into the top ten, but it was a poor day for John (WeOne / Challenger Sails / PATRIK Foils) - who drops from sixth to tenth - where two dropped gybes cost him dearly - firstly in the B-final of Elimination 2, while he then suffered a disappointing quarterfinal exit in the next and could plummet down the rankings when that race is completed.

Bob van de Burgt (PATRIK / Point-7, Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails) and Elia Colombo (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) are all guaranteed their best results of the event thus far with all three men booking their place in the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3. Van de Burgt made a perfect start in his semifinal and made that advantage count, while Stallman was able to win his semifinal ahead of the likes of Iachino and Mortefon.

Looking Ahead

The forecast for the final day looks promising with winds of up to 17-24 knots by the early afternoon, but the key difference is that it will be from the southwest rather than the northeast, so we’ll have to see how that plays out. The last skippers’ meeting of this year’s event has been called for 8:30am (GMT+9) with the action commencing from 09:00am onwards - depending on the conditions.

Current Ranking 2025 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom *After 2 Eliminations

1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
3rd Lina Eržen (SLO | Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
4th Marion Mortefon (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
5th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)

Current Ranking 2025 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom *After 2 Eliminations

1st Johan Søe (DEN | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / NeilPryde)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails)
6th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Foils)
8th Alexis Mathis (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
10th John Soukos (GRE | WeOne / Challenger Sails / PATRIK Foils)