Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
The penultimate day of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam saw another intense day of freestyle windsurfing as Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Mystic / Chris Benz / Maui Ultra Fins) reinforced her title as the Queen of freestyle with another brilliant victory in the double elimination. Meanwhile, the first half of the men’s double elimination saw some extraordinary battles with monster moves being thrown left, right and centre setting up a mouth watering day tomorrow, when we will see the conclusion.
Rafael de Windt (F2 / Hot Sails Maui) was the standout sailor so far in the men’s double elimination as the nineteen year old enjoyed his best day ever on the PWA World Tour, by securing himself a place in the top ten for the first time – joint 9th – at a minimum. The man from Curacao went on a rampage today as he blew the rest of his competition out of the water and he won four heats in a row. Rafael de Windt firstly defeated Aron Etmon (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) the opening round by accumulating the highest score of the day thus far, before dispatching of Max Matissek (Fanatic / North). Next up was Nicolas Akgazciyan (99 International / Point-7 / Maui Ultra Fins) and de Windt claimed his biggest scalp so far as he took victory by way of a 2:1 decision in his favor, before finally defeating Adam Gavriel (Sailloft Hamburg / Maui Ultra Fins) in one of the heats of the day as both sailors went massive in their bid for the top ten.
Elsewhere, Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) and Max Rowe (Fanatic / North) enjoyed a close battle in heat 41a as the Dutchman clinched victory by way of a 2:1 decision. Both sailors were missing a move and Rowe agonizingly dropped a pasko, which would’ve probably swung the tie in the opposite direction. However, Scheffers then went on to beat Adrian Beholz (Fanatic / Sailloft Hamburg / Maui Ultra Fins) in the final heat of the day, as he secured himself a place in the top ten alongside Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), who was also at his stylish best today.
Dieter van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) started his fight back through the double elimination by dispatching of Yarden Meir (Goya Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins), which setup an amazing battle with Tonky Frans (Tabou / GA Sails). The Belgian maestro found his best form in heat 43a and was able to cause a slight upset against the Bonairean to progress. On his way to victory van der Eyken rotated through a superb pasko and a perfect Spock into culo.
Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde) successfully defeated Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in heat fifty to setup another battle with Sarah-Quita Offringa. Unfortunately for the Russian, Offringa was in her usual imperious form as she landed an amazing shaka to open, before adding a brilliant burner, culo and an explosive regular kono to her scorecard as she claimed another victory. Raskina performed well in the final landing a clean flaka and forward as well as a spock 540 and puneta, but it wasn’t enough to stop Offringa.
Sarah-Quita Offringa defends her crown: “I’m always really happy and today we had some little waves, which made things fun. Overall I’m pleased with my performance on the water and happy to win.”
Elsewhere in the double elimination Yoli de Brendt (Fanatic / North) made a storming comeback as she won three consecutive heats. First by dispatching of Maxime van Gent (Fanatic / North / Maui Ultra Fins), before also defeating Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Heleen Muijsers (F2 / Challenger / AL360) to climb into the top four. However, Norwegian Oda Johanne proved too much in heat forty-nine.
Results Women’s Double Elimination – Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Mystic / Chris Benz / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Yoli de Brendt (Fanatic / North)
5th Heleen Muijsers (F2 / Challenger / AL360)
6th Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
