GC Gloria World Cup - Tag 8

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Der vorletzte Tag des 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cups war Zeuge der bisher härtesten Rennbedingungen. Viele Fahrer wiesen darauf hin, dass es nicht unbedingt die Stärke des Windes war, die ihnen die meisten Probleme bereitete, sondern die verworrene Wasserlage, die aus einer Kombination aus "Death Chop", Windwelle und Wellen auf der Innenseite bestand und die ultimative Bewährungsprobe darstellte.

Slalom X Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) all but has the event victory sewn up as she finishes the penultimate day of racing with an almost unassailable 14.5 point lead. Offringa claimed the opening bullet of the day after both Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) and Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) crashed at the final buoy when leading, while two solid second places fully cemented her place at the top of the event rankings and she is now on the cusp of completing a famous Wave and Slalom X double - having won the wave event earlier in the event.

Jenna Gibson has led races multiple times this event, but has constantly hit the crossbar, however, in the last elimination of the day the Brit deservedly claimed her first bullet of the event, which saw her regain second place in the current rankings after Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Patrik Sails) had leapfrogged her after the completion of Elimination 9. Gibson is in with a great chance of earning her first podium on the World Tour as she holds a 5.7 point advantage over Lemeteyer in fourth place.

Marion Mortefon started the day in third place and that’s where she finishes the day as well. The former world champion enjoyed a very consistent day with two thirds and a fourth. Justine Lemeteyer gains one spot from the overnight rankings as she advances from fifth place into fourth. The vice-world champion claimed her second bullet of the event in Elimination 9, while claiming a third and fourth from the three races completed today, which keeps her in contention for the podium as she is just 4.4 points off of third.

Having claimed her first ever bullet yesterday, Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) couldn’t quite replicate that performance again today in the hardcore conditions, which means she slips one place to fifth.

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails) has sailed at a phenomenal level so far this event and he deservedly holds a 12.6 point advantage heading into the final day. Given the hardcoreness of the conditions, it’s quite incredible that in the 9 eliminations completed, the 2019 world champion has finished outside the top two on only two occasions, while he has won 4 of those 9 races - including back-to-back bullets today - to cap off a superb display thus far. Mortefon now looks set to claim the first ever victory in Slalom X.

After the completion of Elimination 7 - when the second discard came into play- Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) temporarily closed to within just 1 point of Mortefon. The Pole could’ve even taken the event lead as he was leading the Winners’ Final of Elimination 7 only to plow the nose of his board into a piece of swell at the last buoy, which cost him the bullet. Rutkowski’s position was always going to be precarious due to his discarded results leaving him vulnerable and unfortunately that did come back to bite him after finishing 9th in the next elimination, which all but ends his bid for the event title.

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) produced a very consistent display today, which consisted of two third places and a fourth to climb back into the overall event top three, while he is now just 2.3 points behind Rutkowski heading into the final day.

Elsewhere, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) continued to make his climb back up the rankings after a great performance today. The flying Dutchman recorded his first bullet of the event in Elimination 7 before finishing second in the next, while he discards a 10th from the last elimination, which sees the 31-year-old gain two places into fourth.

Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) remains in fifth place after recording a fifth and two eighth places, but unfortunately Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) saw his hopes of securing a maiden podium fade after his worst day of the event with two tenths and a 13th, which all but rules him out of contention for the top 3. The Dutchman finishes the day ranked in sixth.

Meanwhile, the top 10 is completed by Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails), Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) and Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), while Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) - 11th - signed off the day with his best result to date the event with a solid second place.

The final day of the 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup is now upon us tomorrow and it looks set to be a windy day to end the event. The plan is to run one last Slalom X elimination for the men and the women before potentially switching to waves in the afternoon. The sailors will meet again at 09:30am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting - with the action commencing from 10am onwards for the waves or 11am (GMT+1) onwards for the Slalom X.

Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Slalom X *After 10 Eliminations (Two Discards)

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)
4th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
5th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)
Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Slalom X *After 9 Eliminations (Two Discards)

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails)
2nd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
6th Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)
8th Malte Reuscher (GER | Tabou / GA Sais)
9th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)