PWA Fuerteventura Day 4
Sarah-Quita Offringa kurz vor ihrem 9. Freestyle Weltmeistertiel. Harter Kampf gegen Maaike Huvermann.
Der vorletzte Wettkampftag für die Freestyler verlief etwas ruhiger als die Tage zuvor. Leider war der Wind zu böig um einen fairen Wettkampf durchführen zu können. Lediglich für eine kurze Zeit während des Nachmittags stabilisierte sich der Wind, so dass eine zweite Single Elimination bei den Damen abgeschlossen werden konnte. Keine große Überraschung - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) machte einen weiteren Schritt in Richtung WM-Titel. The penultimate day of the freestyle in Fuerteventura saw a much quieter day of action with the wind proving to be too gusty to make for a fair competition. However, for a brief period during the afternoon the wind stabilised allowing the second women’s single elimination to be completed as Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) took another step towards the world title. Women’s Single Elimination II Winners’ Final Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne) lined up against Sarah-Quita Offringa in a repeat of yesterday’s final and the two women, who occupy the top two places in the current event rankings, produced another entertaining battle. Huvermann has grown in confidence throughout the event and she led the opening half of the final with a combination of flakas on both tacks, a big forward and an excellent regular kono to put Offringa under some pressure. With 8 freestyle world titles to her name, Offringa, responded like the champion she is landing a powerful ponch and stylish shaka before clinching her third victory of the week with a perfectly executed culo, which puts her on the verge of a 9th world title. Losers’ Final The battle for third and fourth saw Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) take on Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) and it was the Norwegian who came out on top to reaffirm her 3rd place in the event rankings. The heat proved to be quite an even affair with both of them matching each other move for move, until Johanne found a moment of inspiration as she landed a superb shaka to secure the victory. During the afternoon many of the sailors decided to go for a freesail, but with the conditions failing to improve to a suitable level they were released shortly before 6pm. The forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today and the Calima is expected to worsen overnight, which could make completing any further freestyle tricky. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 10am skippers’ meeting — with the action commencing from 10:30am (GMT+1) if conditions allow. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the amazing action as it happens via the PWA live stream. To see all the latest from the event — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Women’s Freestyle Current Ranking - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam: 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) 2nd Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 3rd Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 4th Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) 5th Maxime van Gent (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) Men’s Freestyle Current Ranking - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam: 1st Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) 2nd Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) 3rd Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails / MFC) 4th Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) 5th Phil Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks) 6th Nico Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) 7th Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) 7th Kiri Thode (Starboard / GA Sails) 9th Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD / AL360) 9th Tonky Frans (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg / AL360) 9th Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses) 9th Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne)