2024 Fuerte PWA WC Tag 10

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Für kurze Zeit sah es so aus, als ob der letzte Tag des 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cups auf enttäuschende Art und Weise enden könnte, nachdem der anfänglich starke Wind böig und unbeständig wurde, was zu einer Verschiebung der Rennen führte. Glücklicherweise kehrte der Wind jedoch kurz nach 13 Uhr Ortszeit zurück, so dass zwei weitere Ausscheidungen für die Männer und drei Ausscheidungen für die Frauen bei Winden zwischen 18-28 Knoten durchgeführt werden konnten.

Foil Slalom Women’s

Just 0.3 of a point separated Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) and Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) at the start of the final day, but Lemeteyer won all three races today to power to an impressive victory, which is her first since May 2023 in Lake Garda, Italy. The current vice-world champion deservedly leads the world rankings after winning eight out of the last nine eliminations here, such was her level of display. Lemeteyer was understandably delighted as she crossed the line and now leads the Foil Slalom World Tour.

Mortefon made a flying start to the event, which saw her win the opening three eliminations, but couldn’t quite match Lemeteyer’s performance as her fellow countryman upped her game significantly after the first day. The former three-time world champion still makes a solid start to the season with a clear second place here and there is all still to play for over the remainder of the year.

Third place may not be quite the start that reigning world champion Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) envisaged, but it still represents a decent foundation on which to build upon for the rest of the season. The Spaniard was very consistent - only finishing outside the top three once in the opening nine eliminations, but couldn’t land that killer blow to force her way into the race for the event title.

Elsewhere, Alisa Engelmann (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) enjoyed a solid debut on the World Tour after securing fourth place. The German, who only started windsurfing two or three years ago, challenged Lemeteyer all the way in Elimination 4 as she aimed to secure her first bullet, but ultimately had to settle for second with the French girl proving too strong.

Maya Morris (Future Fly) also made her debut appearance over the last five days, but unfortunately, she only received her own equipment on the last day, so it is perhaps no surprise that she recorded her best results today with two third places and a fourth to finish the event ranked fifth.

Men’s

Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / S2Maui) survived a major final day scare after wiping out on the opening reach of his quarterfinal in Elimination 6. The Italian was able to immediately discard it, but it put a lot more pressure on him in Elimination 7 because he couldn’t afford any more mistakes with Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails), Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) all still in contention for the event title. In fact, Benedetti and Mortefon started Elimination 7 tied on 14.4 points with the Frenchman ahead of countback, such was the closeness at the top of the rankings.

However, the Italian took matters into his own hands and claimed his maiden event victory on the World Tour in perfect fashion as he claimed a superb bullet in the last elimination to leave the result in no doubt. The 28-year-old signed off last season with a first podium in Japan, but goes a couple of places better in the season opener here to emerge as a definite and real world title contender.

Having being crowned the event and Slalom X world champion yesterday, Mortefon couldn’t quite pull off the perfect double as he fell just short in the last race of the event. However, he leaves Fuerteventura with a second world title in the bag, while firmly in contention for another, so all in all it’s been five days of great work.

Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) pulled of a miraculous comeback to pip Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) to the final place on the prestigious podium. The Croatian suffered a quarterfinal exit in the opening elimination to leave himself with an uphill battle, but bounced back brilliantly by qualifying for all six of the next winners’ finals, which included a bullet in Elimination 6 to give himself a shot at the event title heading into the last. Unfortunately, the 33-year-old fell in the winners’ final to all but end those hopes, but will still be delighted to have pulled off such a comeback - particularly as he’s still recovering from an injury he suffered in Gran Canaria, which is why he didn’t compete in Slalom X.

Matteo Iachino started the day just 1.3 points off the lead, but the last day didn’t quite pan out as he’d have wanted, as rather than gunning for the event title, he missed out on the podium all together after almost everything that could go wrong did. Firstly the Italian suffered a broken foil box in Elimination 6, before the cleat failed in the semifinal of Elimination 7, which cost him a place in the top eight on both occasions. Iachino was still in contention for the event title at that stage and made a great start in the semifinal of Elimination 7 before the cleat slipped, which saw him drop to the back of the fleet. Iachino tried his best to mount an unlikely comeback, but ultimately just missed out in fifth, despite his best efforts. Fourth doesn’t represent the worst start to the season for the reigning world champion, but it’s also less than ideal for his world title defence.

Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails) only made his debut on the World Tour last season, but the 22-year-old walks away from Fuerteventura with his best result to date after recording an excellent fifth place here. The Frenchman suffered a quarterfinal exit in the opener, but then firmly hit form as he finished tenth or better in all of the next six eliminations - including two second place finishes.

Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) finishes the event ranked sixth, but may be slightly disappointed to have only qualified for three out of seven winners’ final. On the four occasions he ended up in the b-final, the Bonairean won all four heats to finish ninth in each elimination, so he will probably be frustrated, as it suggests he clearly had the performance necessary to be challenging for the event title - especially given the fact that he signed off last season with back-to-back event victories.

Last year’s world No.5 - Michele Becker (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) - makes a decent start to his second full season on tour after finishing seventh here. The German only missed out on one winners’ final, while he never finished outside the top ten, such was his level of consistency.

The top ten is completed by Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) - 8th - who did well to recover from a slow start, ending the event with a third, a fifth and a sixth, and Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) - 9th - and Thomas Goyard (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) - 10th - both of whom were two of the most consistent sailors over the last five days. Vonk never finished outside the top twelve, while Goyard finished outside the top eleven once in the seven eliminations completed.

That concludes what has been another brilliant edition of the Fuerteventura PWA World Cup with Sotavento more than living up to its reputation with ten windy days out of ten, which has provided a plethora of world class Freestyle and racing over the last ten days. You also won’t have to wait long for your next fix of world class windsurfing with the Tenerife PWA World Cup taking place between 5th-11th August.

Result 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom

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)
Result 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom

1st Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails | Phantom Foils)
3rd Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
5th Alexis Mathis (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
7th Michele Becker (GER | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
8th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)
9th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
10th Thomas Goyard (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
Result 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom X

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)
Result 2024 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom X

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