35th Gran Canaria Windsurf World Cup Pozo Izquierdo - Day 4

Blanca Alabau (ESP) is the fastest woman - 35th Gran Canaria Windsurf World Cup Pozo Izquierdo © David Delfour

During a second day of high-speed Slalom races, with approximately 25 knots of wind and one-meter waves, Pozo Izquierdo once again witnessed the impressive performance of the Spanish windsurfer Blanca Alabau, who maintains the lead in the overall standings with 10.5 points. She was the fastest in three out of the five races, in addition to securing a second-place finish and a fourth-place finish.

"Blanca is doing very well; it's very difficult to compete in foil, and she is always in the top 3, winning many races. She's really fast," commented Luis Escribano, head judge. In his opinion, when conditions are strong, almost everyone uses a fin, but she uses a foil. "She clearly has great control." According to the chief judge of the competition, if she continues like this, she could take the lead in the world rankings since she is currently in second place.

Chasing the Spanish rider, both Aruban Sarah-Quita Offringa (17.4 points) and Frenchwoman Marion Mortefon (24.4 points) each secured a victory and consistently maintained their positions in the top 5 in most races. The windsurfer who did not have as much luck this time was the current leader of the world rankings and winner of the first Slalom race of the PWA World Tour, Frenchwoman Justine Lemeteyer, who lost the provisional third place on the podium to Mortefon and now faces the threat of losing her lead to Blanca Alabau.

However, the surprise came from Aruban windsurfer Sarah-Quita Offringa, who stated that she was not "very focused on slalom" but wanted to be part of this discipline since she had not seen women competing in Slalom in Gran Canaria before. "I came to enjoy and learn because I don't often sail in these extreme conditions, so being in second place is incredible. There's only one more day left, and I'm going to do everything I can to be on the podium," said the current second-place finisher in the Gran Canaria World Cup 2023 Waves category.

In the men's category, the Slalom podium is still led by Croatian Enrico Marotti with 8.4 points, although he faced difficulties and partially lost control in some of the races held during the four-race day. He did not manage to finish first but remained in the top 5.

Specifically, it was the current world leader, Polish windsurfer Maciek Rutkowski, who took the victory in the first race, although he did not perform well in the rest. "The conditions are tough in Pozo Izquierdo; I think using a fin was better than using a foil. But there's still tomorrow, and I'm going to fight for the first place," expressed the winner of the first Slalom race of the PWA tour held in Italy and the second-place finisher in the provisional standings in Pozo Izquierdo.

Alongside Marotti and Rutkowski, Italian windsurfer Matteo Iachino claimed the third spot on the podium, displacing German Nicolas Prien, who now occupies the fifth position in the overall standings behind Frenchman Pierre Mortefon, the current second-place finisher in the world rankings.

Another rider who benefited from the gusty winds was Dutch windsurfer Jordy Vonk, who won the last race of the day using a fin instead of a foil. "Foils dominate the event in all the finals when the wind is light, but since the wind was stronger in the afternoon, fins have won against foils for the first time," explained Willy Rocha, wave judge. The world champions in the women's and men's Slalom discipline will be determined on Wednesday.

The PWA Windsurfing World Championship is sponsored by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, through the departments of Sports and Tourism; the Tourism Department of the Government of the Canary Islands; the Santa Lucía de Tirajana City Council; as well as private companies such as Red Bull, Windsurf Journal, DailyDose.de, Jaklar, Poema del Mar, Loro Parque Foundation, Seven Island Film, Surf Magazine, Volkswagen, WS, WIND, SURF, Waterspeed, AS Acción, among others.