Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 5

by Chris Yates 22 Jul 12:32 PDT

Pierre Mortefon wins Slalom X on Day 5 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam © Carter / PWAWorldTour.com

Pierre Mortefon storms to victory in Slalom X, while Matteo Iachino and Maciek Rutkowski complete the podium. Freestyle kicks off on Wednesday.

The wind machine continued on the final day of Slalom X at the 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, which meant most sailors were reaching for their smallest equipment again for the last eliminations of what has been an absolutely fantastic racing event. Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing) put himself in control of the event yesterday afternoon and he soon had things wrapped up as he won the opening race of the day to take the World Tour lead.

Slalom X

Men's

Pierre Mortefon started the day with a commanding 5.6 point lead after rattling off back-to-back bullets yesterday afternoon and the Frenchman continued his rich vein of form today as he completed a brilliant hat-trick to have the event wrapped up with two races to go. The reigning world champion then made it four bullets in a row as he won the opening long distance race after reeling in Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) before finishing the week with another solid second place to cap an amazing displaying - especially considering everything Mortefon has been through in the lead up to this event.

Matteo Iachino claims second place on Day 5 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - photo © Carter / PWAWorldTour.com

With the event victory already decided, there was still a battle between Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Fins) and Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) to decide second and third place. The duo enjoyed a superb fight in the first long distance race as they played cat and mouse before Iachino got on top in the latter stages to claim third one place ahead of Rutkowski. However, the decider was a bit of an anti-climax with Rutkowski jumping the gun to be disqualified and gifting the Italian second place. Iachino would go on to win the last elimination anyway to leave the result in no doubt, while Rutkowski completes the podium.

After his heavy crash yesterday, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) was unfortunately ruled out from racing on the final day, but even after not being able to race the flying Dutchman, who was enjoying arguably his best event ever on the World Tour, still walks away from Fuerte with a fourth place and he'll now face a race to be fit in time to compete in Tenerife, which starts on 1st August.

Jordy Vonk still finishes fourth on Day 5 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - photo © Carter / PWAWorldTour.com

Five is the Magic Number

Taty Frans (Point-7 / Z Fins) was Mr. Consistent today as he finished in fifth place in each of the three eliminations completed today to finish the event ranked fifth overall.

The only sailor to gain places in the top ten on the final day was Bruno Martini (I-99 / S2Maui / Z Fins) after the Italian produced his best performance of the event with a second, a third and seventh place to climb from eighth into sixth place with the third discard coming into play after the completion of Elimination 12.

The top ten is completed by Bonaire's Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Fins) - 7th - Germany's Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) - 8th - France's Jimmy Thieme (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails) - 9th - and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) - 10th.

Freestyle Preview

Women's

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) will look to win a record extending 16th Freestyle world title, and 27th overall, over the next five days - an incredible run that stretches back to 2008. The Aruban has a massive target on her back, but whether anyone is able to land a telling blow is unknown - history would obviously tell you no.

Unfortunately, one of Offringa's main threats, current vice-world champion, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails) has been ruled out of this year's event due to a niggling back injury, so the impetus will now fall on Maaike Huvermann (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) to try and challenge the Queen of Freestyle. Huvermann is the only sailor to have taken a heat off of Offringa (Bonaire 2019), so she knows it is possible and it looks like she's been sailing plenty before the event.

Behind the top two, Lisa Kloster (MB-Boards / Sailloft Hamburg) is the sailor most likely to be vying for the other final spot on the podium.

Men's

Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) is the man that everyone else will need to beat in Fuerteventura. The 21-year-old won his maiden world title in 2024, while he has also dominated the European scene after winning events in both Naxos and Paros. Neubauer sails incredibly consistently, possesses all the stylish tricks and has an impenetrable mindset, which essentially makes him a competition beast. There really are no weaknesses in his skillset. The only slight question mark will be whether he is fully fit after tweaking his foot when landing a forward loop flat in Pozo.

Vice-world champion, Adrien Bosson (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) will likely be one of Neubauer's biggest threats as the Frenchman consistently performs well in Fuerteventura. Bosson won the Single Elimination here last year, but couldn't quite hold off Neubauer in the double, which was run in lighter, flatter conditions. The 34-year-old is capable of landing a lot of the power moves and combinations on both tacks, which always makes him a major threat, and the stronger and wavier the conditions get, the better it will be for Bosson, as those are the conditions he normally thrives in.

Another obvious threat for Neubauer will come in the form of former two-time world champion, Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde), who finished third here last year, while he also won here in 2023. The Belgian has one of the most powerful styles on tour and is always challenging for the podium and beyond.

Balz Müller (Severne / Severne Sails) is the very essence of Freestyle and remains by far the most innovative sailor. Müller's style and innovation saw him finish fourth last year and you'd have to say a podium finish is very much within his grasp. Let's see if he's got anything new up his sleeve this time out?

Former 9-time Freestyle world champion - Jose 'Gollito' Estredo (Tabou / GA Sails) - also returns after re-emerging to lineup last year. The Venezuelan has transferred to Tabou and GA Sails since this time last year. If he's been sailing a lot then it's difficult to rule him out from being a threat given his history, but it would seem a tall order to come back and challenge for the very top spot, but let's see.

Other sailors to keep an eye on include; Italy's super stylish Jacopo Testa (WeOne / Point-7 / AL360), the Belgian duo of Steven Van Broeckhoven (WeOne / GUNSAILS) and Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), Bonaire's Youp Schmit and Amado Vrieswijk, as well as Frenchmen Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing), Germany's Niclas Nebelung (Duotone Windsurfing) and the Netherlands' Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails), who if he's on form can still be a real threat.

18-year-old Takumi Moriya (Severne / Severne Sails) will also be pushing for a place in the top 10 and beyond as the hugely talented young Japanese sailor continues to progress at a rapid pace under the watchful eye of Dieter van der Eyken, who has been mentoring his protege.

The Freestyle fleet will be registering between 09:30-10:30am (GMT+1) on Wednesday morning and with a solid forecast to come the skippers' meeting will be held at 11:30am with a first possible start at 12pm.

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

Result 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women's Slalom X

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 Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (NB | Starboard / NeilPryde)

Current Ranking 2025 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men's Slalom X
After 9 Eliminations (2 Discards)