Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 1
by Chris Yates 20 Jul 08:35 BST
A glimpse of the action from Day 1 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam © Carter / PWAWorldTour.com
Fuerte by name, Fuerte by nature as winds exceed 40 knots to test mettle of world's best racers as Femke van der Veen and Pierre Mortefon lead overnight rankings.
Sotavento, Fuerteventura, has built a reputation over the years of being able to test the mettle of the world's finest sailors, and sure enough, it did exactly that on the opening day of the 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam to provide them with a baptism of fire - consisting of winds in excess of 40 knots and some incredibly choppy waters to try and negotiate at mach speed, and it's safe to say the death chop claimed more than its fair share of victims.
Slalom X
Women's
Up until today, Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) had only won one elimination on the World Tour (Gran Canaria 2024), however, by the end of the opening day here the 25-year-old has now tripled that tally to three after enjoying by far her best day on tour to date. Van der Veen started the day off with a solid second place and then reeled off back-to-back bullets in the howling winds to deservedly head up the event rankings at the close of play on a total of just 3.4 points. This is uncharted water for van der Veen, but based on today's performance she's a genuine threat.
Defending event champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), is currently just 1.3 points off the lead after a solid enough first day, which saw her record a bullet in the opener and two solid second places in the second and fourth races and she's now perfectly poised to pounce in the coming days. What was quite surprising to see though was both Offringa and Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing), who are two of the fastest sailors in a straight-line, both jump the gun in the third elimination, which featured a speed leg and will leave both of them probably questioning why they chose to push the start quite so hard, when they had so much course to make up water over.
Current vice-world champion, Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails), enjoyed a solid start to proceedings and is now the only sailor in the fleet to have finished in the top three in every elimination thus far, though she rode her luck at times as she struggled to negotiate the corners, as did many of the world's best racers, in the unbelievably treacherous water conditions. However, you have to capitalise on your luck and that's what the 22-year-old did as she recorded a second place together with three thirds to lay herself a sturdy foundation on which to now build upon.
The top five is currently completed by Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails), who recorded a third and two fourths, while she discards a seventh from the fourth elimination, and Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde), who is yet to finish outside the top five.
Jenna Gibson was probably left questioning why she'd even bothered entering here after a disastrous start to the opening three eliminations (11th, 11th, 10th), but the Brit dug deep to end the day on a high as she sealed her first bullet of the event in Elimination 4. Now, it's obviously a long way back, but if she can start to build a bit of momentum she may still be able to salvage a podium, however, she'll also be more than aware that there's no more margin for error. Gibson sits in eighth after the opening day.
Men's
Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing) may have a lot going on at the moment away from the racecourse, but the reigning world champion managed to put all of that to the back of his mind to produce another world class display in the howling winds to lead the overnight rankings. The Frenchman said that he was fully overpowered on his 6.0m, but managed to blitz his way to the front of the pack in both Winners' Finals. The 35-year-old led until the last buoy in the opener before having to settle for second place, but made no mistakes in the next race as he secured his first bullet of the week to lead on countback.
Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) is the sailor equal on 2.7 points with Mortefon after the opening two races. The Pole produced a great last gybe in Elimination 1 to snatch the victory from beneath Mortefon's nose and strike first blood. Rutkowski also put up a good fight in the second elimination, but couldn't reel Mortefon in for a second time, but he'll be more than happy with his start to the event after producing a polished display of sailing.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) is currently 3.3 points adrift of the top two in third, but remains firmly within striking distance. The Italian was always well placed in the opening final, but will perhaps be more pleased with his result in Elimination 2, as he managed to fight his way back from last place after the first gybe all the way back into third, which may yet still prove pivotal. Iachino remains very much in contention, but even at this early stage he'll be more than aware that he can't afford to let Mortefon and/or Rutkowski earn too many more bullets before claiming one himself, if he is to defend his event title.
Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) is then a further five points back from Iachino on 11 points. The flying Dutchman comfortably qualified for both Winners' Finals, but couldn't really land a telling blow in either as he starts the event with a solid fifth and sixth.
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7) is the fifth and final sailor to have qualified for both Winners' Finals at the close of the first day. The former Freestyle world champion kicked things off with an excellent fourth place in Elimination 1, but Vrieswijk isn't one for holding back, and unfortunately, both he and Bruno Martini (I-99 / S2Maui) pushed a little too hard on the run up in the second Winners' Final and both were disqualified for premature starts - finishing joint 8th respectively.
Meanwhile, Germany's Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) is just a couple of points off in sixth after a fourth and tenth today, while Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails), 7th and 8th respectively, are currently tied on 17 points.
The top ten is completed by fin aficionados Jimmy Thieme (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) and Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7). The latter will be gutted with his mistake at the third buoy in Elimination 2 as he dropped his gybe when in acres of space and ultimately went from leading Heat 1 to suffering a quarterfinal exit, which slightly undoes his sixth place finish in the opener. Thieme, meanwhile, was very consistent, winning the first b-final before securing eleventh in the next.
Things are then extremely close with only 2.5 points separating 10th-14th, while Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails), who you are probably more familiar with as a household name from Freestyle and Wave, is then only three points further back in 15th after he managed to qualify for both semifinals today.
The forecast for tomorrow looks slightly lighter than today, though still extremely windy with 19-23 knots predicted, which doesn't take into account the local effect, so on paper it should be another adrenaline-fuelled day of racing. The sailors will meet again at 10:30am (GMT+1) on Saturday morning with the action commencing from 11am onwards.
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Current Ranking 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women's Slalom X
1st Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
5th Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (NB | Starboard / NeilPryde)
Current Ranking 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men's Slalom X
1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing)
2nd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)
6th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
8th Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Jimmy Thieme (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails)
10th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)