Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Slalom Day 2

by Chris Yates 24 Jul 10:06 BST

Matteo Iachino continues to lead after another bullet and a second place on Day 2 © John Carter

Jenna Gibson and Matteo Iachino continue to lead, but Justine Lemeteyer and Pierre Mortefon remain within striking distance after another exciting day of racing.

Day 2 of the Slalom X at the 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam saw the swell drop slightly, but with wind gusting in excess of 40 knots during the afternoon, that didn't necessarily make the racing any easier as the mettle of the world's best racers was once again tested by savage gusts and death cop. Today also saw the introduction of the jump for the first time this week and it claimed more of its fair share of victims as Sotavento continued to live up to its legendary reputation, while providing one of the toughest challenges in the sport.

Slalom X

Women's

Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) started the day with a 6.6 point advantage over Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails), but after the completion of another four eliminations today, that advantage has been cut to just 4.3 points after the reigning Foil Slalom world champion claimed crucial back-to-back bullets in Elimination 7 and 8 to surge back into contention.

Lemeteyer's start of the day couldn't have gone much worse as the 23-year-old suffered a broken mast which meant she missed Elimination 5 entirely, but she has recovered brilliantly. Lemeteyer has now won three eliminations this week and is within striking distance of Gibson heading into the last three days.

Jenna Gibson in pole position as she chases a first Slalom X world title - photo © John Carter

Gibson was able to claim a bullet in Elimination 6, while she adds a second and a fourth from Eliminations 7 and 5 to continue to lead the event overnight, but there have just been one or two errors starting to creep in after not putting a foot wrong in the opening three races yesterday and with Lemeteyer seemingly in the ascendency, it feels like there is a colossal battle developing between the two frontrunners.

Behind Gibson and Lemeteyer, there is then a three-way tie between 16-year-old Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde), who continues to thrive in Fuerte's howling winds as she recorded another two second place finishes today, France's Mae Davico (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails), who continues to ping the starts and will surely record a first bullet on the World Tour at some point this week, and last year's world No.3 - Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) - who has only finished out the top four twice in eight races. All three women are currently on 19 points.

In the last elimination of the day, it looked for all the world that Davico was going to claim her first bullet after Lemeteyer fell at the third buoy to leave Davico in acres of space. However, with the jump still to go, the 23-year-old approached it with trepidation rather than attacking it and ultimately paid the price as she became the latest victim of the jump, while Lemeteyer swooped through to pick up the pieces.

Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails) continues to show flashes of brilliance, which culminated in a maiden bullet on the fin in Elimination 5 and just 0.3 of a point separate the Spaniard and France's Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails).

Men's

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde / Z Fins) continued where he left off yesterday as the Italian completed a quite brilliant hat-trick to take a stranglehold over the event with his main rival - Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / North Sails) - suffering a shock quarterfinal exit in Elimination 3. After the third round Iachino held a 9.9 point advantage and was looking fairly untouchable.

Mortefon recorded two second places yesterday, but compared to Iachino, it has felt like he's really had to battle for those results and after Elimination 3 the reigning world champion found himself in sixth place on 21 points. However, Mortefon dug deep in Elimination 4, seemingly knowing he needed to produce something special or he would be in danger of letting Iachino out of his grasp - even at this relatively early stage. With the bit between his teeth, Mortefon produced a superb second gybe in the last Winners' Final of the day to dive down the inside of Iachino and then controlled the lead beautifully to claim a crucial bullet. Mortefon's first vital bullet of the week sees the Frenchman cut Iachino's lead to just 2.6 points heading into Day 3 and there is all still to play for.

For how brilliantly Iachino has raced, the 36-year-old may feel he perhaps warrants a bit more breathing room than he currently has, but you have to give credit to Mortefon, who managed to raise his level at the perfect time and you could sense how important that victory was as he celebrated on the beach.

It already feels like this is realistically developing into a two-horse race and it's going to be intriguing to see how this one plays out over the next few days. For now it is still advantage Iachino as he currently boasts a perfect record, while discarding a second place, while Mortefon will have that quarterfinal exit result hanging over his head.

Behind the front two, Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) leapfrogs Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) into third place after recording a second and a sixth place today. Meanwhile, after qualifying for both Winners' Finals yesterday, Frans missed out on the top eight on both occasions today, although he did well to then record a ninth and an eleventh place for maximum damage control.

Just four points separate fourth to eighth at this stage such is the closeness of the racing and as things stand it's Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) in fifth, Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) remains in sixth place, Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Fins) gains three places overnight - tenth to seventh - while Jimmy Thieme (FMX Racing / Point-7) is the mover of the day. The Frenchman started the day in 22nd place, but after qualifying for both Winners' Finals today, where he finished fourth and sixth respectively, Thieme gains 14 places as he climbs into eighth.

The top ten is currently completed by Bruno Martini (WeOne / S2Maui / Z Fins) and Lohan Jules (AV Boards / S2Maui), who both share joint ninth on 24 points. For Jules, today represents the 24-year-old's best day to date on the World Tour after recording a best finish thus far in Elimination 3 with an excellent third place, before backing that up with a solid seventh.

Elsewhere, Cedric Bordes (Severne Sails) loses four places from the overnight rankings as the Frenchman just drops outside of the top 10 - 11th - but remains very much in contention, while Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) recovered from a nightmare quarterfinal exit in Elimination 3 by signing off the day with a solid third place - which was his first Winners' Final of the event. So far things haven't gone the way Rutkowski would've envisaged, but he may be able to use that third as a springboard for better things.

Brendan Lorho (FMX Racing / S2Maui) deserves a special shout out after earning his best result to date in an elimination on the World Tour after sailing brilliantly to win the B-Final of Elimination 4. The 21-year-old produced a gybing masterclass to manoeuvre himself into the lead and then did tremendously to hold off both Bordes and Vonk despite being significantly lighter. Lorho currently leads the Under 80kg division and is ranked 14th overall after the first four races.

Fuerteventura's nuclear winds look as though they will continue on Friday with 25-30 knot north-northeast winds currently predicted on the forecast, which should almost guarantee another action packed day of racing. The sailors will once again meet at 10:30am (GMT+1) for the skippers' meeting with the action commencing from 11:30am onwards.

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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.

Current Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Women's Slalom X
*After Eight Eliminations (2 Discards)

Current Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Men's Slalom X
*After Four Eliminations (1 Discard)

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde / Z Fins)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)
3rd Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)
5th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
6th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Fins)
8th Jimmy Thieme (FRA | FMX Racing / Point-7)
9th Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Fins)
9th Lohan Jules (GPE | AV Boards / S2Maui)