Hvide Sande PWA World Cup

Event Summary: Hvide Sande Provides The Ultimate Test For The Elite Of The Racing World

The 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup couldn’t have been much better with the world’s best racers undergoing arguably their toughest test of the season as Denmark threw every conceivable condition at them - from light winds and flat water to winds over 40 knots and extremely choppy - which truly tested the mettle of the sailors. After a calm opening day, Hvide Sande then provided five consecutive days of amazing racing conditions on its return to the world tour having been absent from the calendar in 2018.

Slalom

Women’s

Having not competed at a PWA Slalom World Cup for over 12 months there were some question marks about how Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) would fare in Denmark. However, after a slight mistake in the opening elimination Offringa then looked at her elusive best as she reminded everyone why she has won 4 Slalom world titles. The 28-year-old completed two hat-tricks in Denmark and finished the event as the worthy champion having won 7 out of the 11 eliminations completed!

Reigning world champion and current world tour leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - sailed another extremely consistent event with the 28-year-old only finishing outside the top 3 once in 11 races, however, she couldn’t quite find a way to reel in Offringa, which brings Cousin Questel’s winning streak to an end. Second place in Hvide Sande means that Cousin Questel will head into the final event of the year in New Caledonia in a commanding pole position - 300 points ahead of Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone).

Marion Mortefon remains second in the overall rankings after battling well in Denmark over the last 6 days. Mortefon bounced back from a minor blip in Eliminations 7 and 8 to recover and clinch the final place on the podium ahead of Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) with Mortefon winning her first race of the week in the final race of the event.

Gibson may be slightly disappointed to miss out on a maiden podium having held third place for the majority of the event, but the Brit should still be very pleased with her best result yet - 4th.

Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) was in the wars in the opening 5 eliminations with the Turk continuing being caught up in carnage at the first mark, which put Erdil on the back foot. However, the 30-year-old dug deep and recovered extremely well to climb back into 5th place, which may not be the result she wanted, but given the fact that she is still on her way back from injury, it still represents a solid result. Erdil showed in several races why she is usually a podium and title contender as she finished second on four occasions and if she was back to full fitness may have even converted those into bullets.

Fifth place in Denmark means Erdil will head into New Caledonia fourth in the overall rankings, but very much still in the hunt for a place on the prestigious podium as she is now just 200 points behind current world No.3 Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / LoftSails), who finished 6th in Denmark after an indifferent week.

Men’s

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) walks away from Denmark not only as the event champion, but also the new world tour leader with one event to go after winning a thrilling battle against Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins), which saw the two heavyweights fighting it out until the final day. Iachino ended the week with an 88.9% qualifying record for winners’ final having reached the top 8 in all but one of the 9 Eliminations completed. Iachino now leads the world title race on countback with both he and Mortefon on 30,400 points with an event to go.

After enjoying a perfect day on Day 4 it looked as though it may be Mortefon who would go on to win the event and take the world tour lead, but having won both eliminations on Day 4, Mortefon then only managed to qualify for one winners’ finals out of the last 3 eliminations, which ultimately swung the event in Iachino’s favour. A solid second place in Denmark means that the 30-year-old will head to New Caledonia with every chance of winning his first world title.

The 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup is an event that will live long in the memory of Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) after the Pole earned his first podium on the world tour and Rutkowski did it in the best style possible by winning the last elimination of the week, which was also his first bullet on the world tour. In the last couple of events, Rutkowski really looks to have taken his sailing to the next level both mentally and physically as even when things haven’t gone his way he has remained calm and bounced back brilliantly. Rutkowski’s third place here sees him climb into the overall top 10 for the first time this season.

Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) may have got off to a less than ideal start to the event after a 16th and a quarterfinal exit, but the 33-year-old then recovered excellently to earn his second consecutive 4th place on the world tour, which sees Quentel climb 4 places in the overall rankings - 8th to 4th.

After contracting a mystery virus in 2018, which eventually led to an early retirement for the season last year, it has been a long and hard road back for Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins). However, after the last 6 days, it seems like that come back may be complete with the Austrian finishing in a superb 5th place, which is his best result since winning in Sylt 2017 and finishing 4th in New Caledonia. Lang qualified for the top 16 in 7 out of the 9 eliminations completed, while also qualifying for the winners’ final on 3 occasions as he started to demonstrate the kind of form which he showed at the end of the 2017 season. Lang is now ranked 11th and has every chance of breaking into the overall top 10 in the season finale.

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) was in with a chance of the podium for much of the event, but eventually finished in 6th place after being disqualified in the semi-finals of the last elimination. The Brit raced superbly at the start of the event, but then just tailed off slightly towards the end. Williams still climbs one place in the overalls to 6th place after recording his best result of the season thus far.

Elsewhere, Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) gains three places in the overall rankings rising to 7th after a solid second place in Hvide Sande, while Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) walks away with his second top 10 result of the year - 8th - which keeps him in the hunt to break into the overall top 10 for the first time in his career - also currently 8th. 

Damien Arnoux was just one of the fledgling young talents to catch the eye over the last 6 days. The young Frenchman had a week of firsts with the 21-year-old reaching the top 16 in an elimination for the first time on the opening day. Arnoux then won his first losers’ finals before going one better and reaching his first winners’ final - eventually finishing 5th in Elimination 7 - while finishing 9th overall - his first top 10 finish on the world tour. 20-year-old Martin Møller Hovda (Starboard / Severne) also qualified for his first winners’ final.

Gunnar Asmussen (Starboard / Severne) completes the top 10 after going on a fantastic run, which saw the German qualify for 4 consecutive winners’ finals between Eliminations 5-8, and was ranked as a high as 6th at one stage. However, a quarterfinal exit in the last elimination saw him lose a few places. 

Elsewhere, Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) had a real mixed bag of results, but the Croat was understandably emotional after winning his first elimination on the world tour in Elimination 8, while a 6th place in the next ace saw Marotti recover to 13th in the overall rankings.

After a flying start, Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / GUNSAILS) just misses out on a place in the top 10 - 11th - but looked to be in much better form and deservedly walks away with his best result of the season.

Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) and Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) came into Denmark as the world No.1 and No.2, but both had weeks to forget after finishing 12th and 22nd respectively. That means Albeau drops to 3rd in the overall rankings, while losing valuable ground in the title race, while Vonk slips to 5th,

The top 16 is completed by Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7), Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) and Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) - 14th-16th.

The last 6 days have certainly been memorable and we hope that you’ve enjoyed watching the world’s best racers going head-to-head as much as we have. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to Katrine and her team for all of their hard work and also to the locals for their fantastic hospitality - we hope to return in 2019!

For a full recap of everything that happened in Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just under two weeks from now the men’s and women’s wave fleets, plus the men’s Freestyle and Foil fleets will meet for the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA World Cup, which takes place between the 27th September to the 6th October. 

Result 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
8th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne)
9th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui)
10th Marianne Rautelin (FIN | Patrik / Loftsails)

Result 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne) 
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) 
4th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
5th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
6th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)
8th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
9th Damien Arnoux (FRA | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
10th Gunnar Asmussen (GER | Starboard / Severne)

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