Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 3
by Chris Yates 20 Jul 14:01 PDT
Justine Lemeteyer on Day 3 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam © Carter / PWAWorldTour.com
The third day of the 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam provided some of the most exciting racing thus far with more twists and turns than you could've possibly scripted as the form book for some sailors was thrown out the window, while others continued to thrive.
Sailors across the two fleets were on anything from 5.6-6.8m and with a swell running, and the sausage being re-implemented, carnage ensued as Slalom X showed itself as the hugely entertaining discipline that it is.
Slalom X
Women's
Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) is now on the cusp of defending her Slalom X world title, which would extend her tally to 26. The Aruban has gotten better and better over the last three days and after winning all three eliminations today the 33-year-old has now won the last five eliminations, which has put her in complete control of the race for the event and world title. Offringa hasn't been the fastest over the last three days, but she has managed to avoid a lot of trouble, while being able to stay on her feet at crucial moments to open an almost unassailable 15.8 point advantage at the top of the event rankings.
Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) leapfrogs Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) into second place, after claiming two second places today, but just 0.6 of a point separate them heading into the last two days. Van der Veen had her worst day on the course so far with a tenth, an eighth and a fourth, but still remains in the hunt for the podium.
Meanwhile, Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) will be ruing both her luck and individual errors. The Brit powered to the front in Elimination 9, but then went down hard as she prepared to gybe the opening buoy, which resulted in her finishing seventh. Gibson was then prominently placed in Elimination 10, but was then taken out by Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails) at the first gybe. The fastest woman in the world then used her pace to battle back into third place only for Mae Davico (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) to fall in front of her at the last mark, which would eventually lead to a fifth place finish. While in the last elimination of the day, Gibson, once again powered to the front of the pack and opened up a significant lead by the third, only to be scuppered by a piece of swell as she catapulted on the exit, but still managed to finish third. So far, this has been a case of missed opportunities for Gibson, but she now has a shot of the podium with the third discard to come after Elimination 12.
Elsewhere, Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) earned her best finish to date on the World Tour - second in Elimination 10 as she managed to avoid the carnage and now just two points separate her and Alabau in fifth and sixth, while 17-year-old Charlotte Philip (Challenger Sails), who is making her debut, claimed her first top four finish in Elimination 9.
Men's
Things really couldn't be any closer at the top of the Men's fleet with just 1.3 points separating first to third, while just 3.3 points separate first to fourth after the latest two races.
Overnight leader Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) still leads the event, but he had his worst day on the water thus far as he recorded an eighth and a ninth, which he currently discards. The Pole entered the first gybe of the Winners' Final of Elimination 6 in second place, and with Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing) failing to qualify for the top eight for the first time this week, it looked as though Rutkowski may cement his place at the top of the rankings, but he went down on the entry. Rutkowski then majorly rode his luck in the quarterfinals of Elimination 7 as he went down hard at the sausage, but fortunately he was in a heat with only six sailors, so he somehow escaped unscathed. Rutkowski did eventually still miss out on a place in the Winners' Final after a coming together with Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Fins) in the semifinals and he'll now need to reset heading into the last two days.
While Rutkowski endured his worst day so far, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) enjoyed his best as the flying Dutchman won Elimination 6 to secure back-to-back bullets for the first time in his career, while he claimed second place in the next to deservedly jump from fourth to second and is now just a point behind Rutkowski as he hunts for a first event win on the World Tour. Vonk flirted with danger each time his navigated his way over the sausage, but he looked phenomenally quick all day.
Like Rutkowski, Mortefon also didn't enjoy his best day on the water as he finished outside the top three for the first time this week in both eliminations. The reigning world champion was leading the first semifinal of Elimination 6, but then came a cropper at the sausage as he missed out on the Winners' Final, while he snatched a place in the top eight of the next race after an untimely poor last gybe by Vrieswijk allowed Mortefon to claim the last qualifying position - eventually finishing fifth. Mortefon also discards both results today and slips one place to third, but remains very much in contention for the title.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Fins) has been Mr. Consistent all week with just one finish outside the top three in the first seven eliminations (6th), so while he may currently be fourth, the Italian does have a trump card up his sleeve as his current second discard is a third, which puts him in a powerful position compared to the top three, who all know any mistake will now cost them to pick up more points. Iachino knows he needs to try and find a little extra on his top speed, but he's perfectly placed to make an aggressive attack at the top now heading into the last two days after another two third places today.
Taty Frans (Point-7 / Z Fins) remains in fifth place, but the Bonairean has consolidated that position after earning his best result of the event to date in Elimination 6 - second - before backing it up with a fourth in Elimination 7 to cap a fine day. Frans looked like he was revelling in the conditions as he confidently launched into huge jumps as he accelerated towards the sausage, where many other sailors backed off.
Elsewhere, Vrieswijk and Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) also remain in sixth and seventh respectively from the overnight rankings, while the latter was fortunate to escape unscathed after a nasty coming together with Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) as the two crossed the start line in the Winners' Final of Elimination 7 - thankfully both of them were okay.
Bruno Martini (I-99 / S2Maui / Z Fins) continues to climb his way up the leaderboard as everything finally clicked into place for the Italian in Elimination 7 to claim his first bullet of the week, which sees Martini jump from just outside the top 10 (11th) into eighth as he showed tremendous pace throughout the day.
The top 10 is completed by Ingmar Daldorf - 9th - and Jimmy Thieme (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) - 10th - while 19-year-old Sacha Fortune (Duotone Windsurfing) qualified for his second Winners' Final of the week in Elimination 7 before eventually finishing sixth, which sees the young Frenchman break into the top 16 - currently 14th.
Things couldn't be hotting up much better than as we head into the final two days of the Slalom X and with the wind expected to continue it promises to provide a pulsating finale to the racing. The sailors will meet again at 11:30am (GMT+1) on Monday morning with the action commencing from 12pm onwards.
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 via www.pwaworldtour.com
Current Ranking 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women's Slalom X
After 11 Eliminations (2 Discards)
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails)
3rd Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
Current Ranking 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men's Slalom X
After 7 Eliminations (2 Discards)
1st Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Fins)
5th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Fins)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Fins)
7th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Bruno Martini (ITA | I-99 / S2Maui / Z Fins)
9th Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Jimmy Thieme (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails)