Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Day 3
by Chris Yates 20 Jul 05:53 PDT
Balz Mu¨ller earns his first podium on the World Tour © John Carter
Freestyle continues to hit new heights as a pulsing swell adds an extra dimension as Lennart Neubauer claims epic win ahead of Yentel Caers in one of highest scoring finals ever.
Yesterday the level of Freestyle witnessed was already incredibly high, however, today the world's best Freestylers once again raised that bar at the 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam as a new bigger swell pulsed into Sotavento overnight to provide some of the best Freestyle conditions ever witnessed in a contest.
Freestyle is a spectacular discipline in flatwater and it's absolutely incredible what they can do on the flats, but when you add waves into the equation it gives the sport a totally different dimension. You could almost say that it's a different sport as waves truly redefine what is possible. Today saw perfect kickers on the way out and beautiful flatwater in between the waves as Sotavento turned into the equivalent of a windsurfing skatepark and the level went through the roof.
It's hard to put the conditions, and the level of sailing on offer, into context with words, but if you could imagine writing an advert for Freestyle windsurfing, today's conditions would be the exactly that you would script.
Freestyle Men's - Two Tumultuous Talents
Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) set up a rematch with overnight event leader Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) after producing a standout performance to defeat Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing) in Round 9 of the Double Elimination as he landed anything from shifty shakas to a double air culo and even a double forward, which is made all the more impressive as Caers says he hasn't tried one in about a year, to post his highest scoring heat of the event thus far - 44.02 points.
However, what followed in the final is simply unmatched in terms of what has been seen before on the Freestyle World Tour as Neubauer and Caers delivered what can only be described as a Freestyle feast. Fittingly the two top seeds ended this year's contest by posting the two highest scoring heats of the entire event in the Final - 46.59 vs 45.88 points - as these two proved almost inseparable again. From a selfish perspective it would've been great to see a Super Final, such was the calibre of sailing on offer, while the atmosphere on the beach was electrifying as the best Freestylers in the world bounced off of each others energy in the quest of innovation.
The two sailors went blow for blow throughout the final and Caers threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at Neubauer with a variety of double forwards, double air culos (the only sailor in the contest to land this move, and on multiple occasions), shifty shakas and a spock into double culo to race to 44.43 points within the first three minutes as he exploded out of the blocks.
Against pretty much any other sailor in the world, the Belgian would've already had the heat wrapped up, but unfortunately for Caers, his Greek rival is built differently and somehow found a way to surpass that total. Neubauer started the heat with a ridiculous double culo before going on to land a shifty and shifty shaka of his own, but his standout move of the final came late on as he planed all the way through a spock double culo to earn 8.14 points and seal an unforgettable victory.
Balz Handles The Pressure & Continues to Inspire
Yesterday Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing) was very candid in admitting that the pressure can sometimes become too much and have a detrimental effect on his sailing when it gets into the latter stages of a tournament, so today he could've been forgiven for letting such an occasion get the better of him as he tried to defend a maiden podium on the World Tour against a marauding Jacopo Testa (WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360). However, today the 32-year-old more than rose to the occasion as he produced a polished display to bring Testa's superb comeback to an end to deservedly earn his first podium on the World Tour - a moment he has waited far too long to achieve given his level of talent and creativity.
Müller's positivity and genuine love of Freestyle, and windsurfing in general, is infectious and you can sense the camaraderie that he evokes with many other sailors admitting that he is a real driving force for them pushing their own boundaries.
Müller is not one to rest on his laurels and constantly wants to innovate. Müller has one of the most creative minds in the sport and not only does he come up with ideas, he manages to execute them. He's coined as Mr. Freestyle because he is the very essence of Freestyle. For most sailors they'd prefer to stick to tricks they know they have a decent chance of landing during a heat, but not Balz, he's constantly on the quest to push the boundaries and he did it again against one of his best friends, Caers, in the battle for second and third place as he landed the first ever double air kono in a contest.
Müller has always been a lovable, sometimes slightly eccentric character, but without the top result to match his talent and innovation. However, that's not the case anymore: In the words of Balz Müller: "What a time to be alive.".
Windsurfing is very much alive and well.
We'll take a more thorough look at the rest of the top ten in the Event Summary, but very quickly a special shoutout to Testa, who produced one of the comebacks of the Double Elimination as the Italian won four heats on the spin to climb back into fourth place. Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), who also won four consecutive heats before losing out to Testa to finish in sixth place, while George Grisley (Duotone Windsurfing) earns his first top ten finish on the World Tour - joint ninth.
Frestyle Women's
The Women's Double Elimination also began and Helena Lale (Severne Windsurfing) will now face Sandra Schill in the first heat up tomorrow, which should see the Women's Freestyle Double Elimination completed in more firing conditions.
The strong winds and waves are expected to continue tomorrow, but with only a maximum of five heats to run on Monday the skippers' meeting has been put back slightly to 12pm (GMT+1), which gives a first possible start at 12:14pm.
Waterspeed - Global Windsurfer Quest
From June until December, every kilometre you log on the Waterspeed app adds to your position on one global leaderboard — the Global Windsurfer Quest has been developed between Waterspeed and the PWA to bring the entire windsurfing community together. Sign up via the app now HERE and record one session before the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam for your chance to win a signed lycra from the winners.
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 simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Current Standing 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women's Freestyle
*After Single Elimination
1st Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lisa Kloster (GER | Starboard)
4th Sandra Schill (GER)
Result 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men's Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
4th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)
5th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)
6th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
7th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
9th Bodhi Kempen (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)
9th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)