Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup

July 3, 2024 Created by Chris Yates

Day 5: Sarah-Quita Offringa and Pierre Mortefon dominate the opening day of racing as Slalom X makes its exciting debut on the World Tour

The decision was made early on on Day 5 of the 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup that Slalom X would have the priority today after three solid days of wave competition. Slalom X was making its debut on the World Tour and for the majority it proved to be hugely popular as the world’s best racers got to battle it out on purely fins for the first time in several years, but with the subtle twist that they would be required to jump a hurdle at some stage of the race today. From a viewing perspective the racing looked spectacular with many of the sailors being on their smallest gear to combat the strong winds and water conditions, which saw a mixture or chop, swell and waves to provide a genuine all-round test for the men’s and women’s fleets. At the close of play, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins) both hold healthy leads at the top of the current event rankings.

Slalom X

Women’s

Supposedly ahead of the start of the Slalom X Sarah-Quita Offringa was considering withdrawing from the racing after being exhausted from three days of competing in the waves. Fortunately, Offringa didn’t follow through with that plan as she produced a flawless display to win all four races today as she made the perfect start to the event. Offringa made relatively easy work of the first two races, but was made to work hard for the next two bullets. In Elimination 3, she hunted down Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) as the Aruban opted to jump the obstacle, which was introduced from the second race onwards, which saw her greatly reduce the French girls lead before picking up the reigns to complete a quite brilliant hat-trick. Offringa could’ve been forgiven for settling for second place in the fourth and final race of the day as Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) held a substantial lead after the opening buoy. However, the Briton opted to head upwind to avoid the jumping obstacle, while Offringa hit the jump head on at full speed to take out a decent chunk of Gibson’s lead. Offringa was then within striking distance of Gibson as they exited the penultimate gybe and the 22-time world champion opted to go low to the last mark, which paid dividends as she gybed first at the last to complete a superb four-timer, which means with the discard coming into play, Offringa finishes the day with a perfect score of 2.1 points and she will be guaranteed to be leading the event rankings after Elimination 5 even if she doesn’t sail.

Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Patrik Sails) is Offringa’s closest rival at the close of play - trailing by 4.9 points after a very consistent day. The 3-time world champion only finished outside the top 3 once - recording two second places and a third to leave herself prominently places.

Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) recovered from jumping the gun in the first elimination of the event to finish the opening day ranked in third place after improving in each race from there on in - fifth, third and second, which sees her three points off of Mortefon and 7.9 off the top of the rankings.

Justine Lemeteyer experienced a slightly topsy turvy day as she recorded results of a second and a fourth together with an eighth and a tenth. Lemeteyer, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Marine Hunter (Quatro / KA Sail) are currently tied on 14-points after the opening four races. Like Lemeteyer, Brødholt had a mixed bag of results - starting with an excellent third and fourth before finishing with a seventh and a tenth, while Hunter was very consistent with a third, a fifth and two sixth places.

Elsewhere, Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) recovered from a slow start - eleventh and seventh - with two fourth places in Eliminations 3 and 4 and keep herself in contention for a place on the podium.

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon holds a healthy lead at the top of the event rankings at the end of the opening day of racing after producing a brilliant performance. The 2019 world champion secured the opening bullet of the day before backing it up with two second places as he barely put a foot wrong. The Frenchman consistently looked as though he had another gear up his sleeve if and when required, while he made the hardcore racing conditions look relatively effortless. Mortefon leads the overnight rankings by 8.3 points.

Forget loyal to the foil for a moment and think more about loyal to the fin, which describes Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) perfectly and that paid off handsomely today with the advent of Slalom X. The Dutchman looked extremely quick throughout the day and the 33-year-old enjoyed his best day to date on the PWA World Tour. Daldorf recorded results of a third, a fourth and a sixth to be ranked second in the event rankings at the close of play.

Another sailor to enjoy their best day to date on the World Tour is Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) as the 22-year-old excelled in the new Slalom X format. The Frenchman, who is currently the youngest sailor ranked in the top 10 is ranked third after qualifying for two winners’ final - where he finished third and fifth - while he finished 10th in the other elimination to cap a solid day.

Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) is currently tied with Merceur on 14-points, but is ranked fourth on countback, after qualifying for all three winners’ finals today - Mortefon and Daldorf are the only other sailors to be able to boast that record and the 34-year-old will now look to build upon that solid platform for the rest of the event.

Having being disqualified from the opening two races for premature starts - one in the opening winners’ final and the next in the b-final, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) did well to fight back to claim third place in Elimination 3, which saw the Italian, who entered the event as one of the favourites for the event, gain five places from 10th to fifth to finish the day.

Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) was aggrieved to have missed out on the opening winners’ final of the event after a review of the finish in the opening semifinal saw him demoted to the b-final. However, the Pole bounced back superbly in Elimination 2 to claim his first bullet of the event, which saw him climb into fifth place in the overalls at that stage. However, Rutkowski then missed out on the next winners’ final after getting side-swiped by a wave on the final reach in the semifinals of Elimination 3 when he was in the qualifying positions. Rutkowski would go on to finish 11th in the third elimination to finish the first day of racing ranked in sixth place.

Having been the only racer to have won a race here on the fin last year versus the foils, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) entered the event as one of the favourites. However, the flying Dutchman, and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails), both suffered a serious bout of flu just before the event, so both of them are still trying to recover to full fitness. Having said that, both Vonk and Vrieswijk are still ranked inside the event top 10 - seventh and ninth respectively. Vonk began the event with a bang as he secured second place and looked on course to book his place in the winners’ final of Elimination 3, only to seemingly capitulate about 20 metres before the finish line in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Vrieswijk, who is probably also not at full strength, did well to recover from several dropped gybes to still qualify from several heats where he had seemingly no right to.

Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) looked phenomenally quick the entire day, but only truly managed to use that pace effectively in the last elimination to sign off with a bullet, which sees him ranked eighth at the end of first day of racing. The Italian was one of the many sailors to come a cropper to the jump obstacle in the second race, which led to his elimination when leading the semifinal. However, the obstacle also provided Martini with the opportunity to overtake Mortefon in the last elimination as Mortefon slowed down before the jump, while the Italian powered into it at full speed to gain valuable ground and storm clear to claim a convincing bullet.

The top 10 is currently completed by Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), who is level on 33 points with Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7, while 22-year-old Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails) trails them by just 2.5 points. The young Brit qualified for the second winners’ final where he finished fourth.

Elsewhere, Lucas Pierboni (FMX Racing / S2Maui) qualified for his first winners’ final in the second elimination on his debut on the World Tour.

The forecast for Thursday has improved slightly with the promise of stronger winds than originally predicted. It now looks as though we will be treated to another day of strong winds, although probably not as strong as today, but still plenty to provide more high octane racing. WindGuru is currently calling for winds of between 16-23 knots. The Slalom fleets will meet again at 10am for their skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11:30am (GMT+1) onwards - depending on conditions.

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Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Slalom X
*After 4 Eliminations

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)
3rd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing)
4th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
5th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne Sails)

Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Slalom X
*After 3 Eliminations

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Wave  

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
3rd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Duotone Windsurfing)
4th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Pauline Katz (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
4th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
5th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN)
8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER | Flikka / GUNSAILS)
9th Arthur Arutkin (FRA | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Boy’s U21 Wave

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
2nd Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Gregory Stathopoulos (GRE | Goya Windsurfing)
4th Samuele Ferraro (ITA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)

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