Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 4
by Chris Yates 21 Jul 06:07 BST
Offringa moves through the gears © John Carter
Heartbreak for Huvermann as Offringa storms back to deny Dutch dream, while winning her 17th Freestyle world title and 29th overall in extreme conditions.
With a maximum of five heats to be sailed to complete the Women's Freestyle on Day 4 of the 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, the sailors met a little later than normal - 12pm - before getting Finals Day under way. Today's conditions weren't for the faint-hearted with plenty of swell left over from yesterday, while winds gusting well over 35 knots provided a severe test of the women's mettle, which they passed with flying colours. With a world title on the line, tensions and emotions reached boiling point, but in the end there could only be one winner...
Day four started with Maaike Huvermann (Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) bidding to write her name into the windsurfing history books as she attempted to become Freestyle world champion for the first time in her career. On day two, Huvermann took a huge step towards achieving that goal by winning the Single Elimination to enter uncharted territory.
However, today was never going to be easy when you have a 16-time Freestyle world champion hunting you in the shape of Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who was looking to keep her unbeaten run here - which stretches back to 2008 - going, while also aiming to win a 17th Freestyle crown.
Offringa successfully set up a rematch of the Single Elimination Final after defeating Lisa Kloster (Starboard) in Round Five and then produced a polished display under pressure to force the Super Final in a one heat takes all decider, so the tension on the beach was palpable.
[media] Sarah-Quita Offringa moves through the gears
Meanwhile with winds gusting well over 35 knots, it was a real battlefield out on the water. It may sound a little strange to say as as windsurfers most of us love strong winds, but if anything the wind was a little bit too strong today, which meant it was more of a battle of survival at times, rather than being able to truly showcase the absolute best moves.
In the end, it was Offringa who was able to manage the extreme conditions slightly better as the Aruban once again proved why she is an elite athlete - not only in terms of performance, but mentally too - as she landed a variety of power moves to deny Huvermann a maiden world title, while deservedly getting her hands on world title No.29 and counting. This one might feel all the sweeter to Offringa after having to do things the hard way by beating Huvermann twice.
Sarah-Quita Offringa immediately after coming off the water: "Oh my god! That's so crazy, I didn't even think about that [World title No.29]! It was just about getting through the Double Elimination and seeing if I could challenge Maaike... I can't believe that I'm standing here now. I wasn't sure it was going to go my way.
It feels really, really incredible. It's nice when you get challenged so hard. The level of all the girls is going super high up, so I had to give my best to rise up to the challenge."
Lisa Kloster sailed well against Sandra Schill to successfully defend her third place from the Single Elimination, which means the German finishes third overall in the world for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, Schill finishes in fourth on her debut on the World Tour one place ahead of Helena Lale (Severne Windsurfing), who completes the top five.
With the official Freestyle competition now complete, attention will now begin to turn towards the start of the Men's and Women's Slalom X, which begins on Wednesday 22nd July. Tuesday will see the official prize-giving ceremony held at 12pm.
Waterspeed - Global Windsurfer Quest
From June until December, every kilometre you log on the Waterspeed app adds to your position on one global leaderboard — the Global Windsurfer Quest has been developed between Waterspeed and the PWA to bring the entire windsurfing community together. Sign up via the app now here and record one session before the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam for your chance to win a signed lycra from the winners.
You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker here and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Result 2026 PWA World Tour - Women's Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lisa Kloster (GER | Starboard)
4th Sandra Schill (GER)
5th Helena Lale (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
Result 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women's Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lisa Kloster (GER | Starboard)
4th Sandra Schill (GER)
5th Helena Lale (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
Result 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men's Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
4th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)
5th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)
6th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
7th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
9th Bodhi Kempen (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)
9th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)