"This is one of the best waves I've ever seen!" livestream commentator Kai Katchadourian shouted into the microphone in a booming voice, while Baptiste Cloarec was already floating in the water. Just a few minutes before the end of the final heat, the young Frenchman had put in an unrivalled ride. With three aerials and radical turns, he showed, as so often in the last few days, that he and Cloudbreak tick completely to the same rhythm.
The Frenchman also dominated his semi-final at the beginning of the afternoon on Fiji. Float & ride conditions with head to mast high waves meant a noticeable and visible improvement in the conditions compared to yesterday. Almost all riders were able to go full throttle and show the best that windsurfing has to offer.
Sarah-Quita Offringa and the best wave of her life
First up were the women, with eight starters in the semi-finals and the best four going through to the final. Sarah Hauser, big wave specialist and coach of the big stars, came out on top in the end and took the win.
Second-placed Sarah-Quita Offringa provided a very special moment. "She probably had the best wave of her life, I heard her screaming to her friends in the line-up," reported water photographer Paul Karaolides from Fish Bowl Diaries afterwards. The wave had previously been left to her by Sarah Hauser, although she would actually have had the right of way - great sportsmanship! In third place behind Hauser and Offringa was Coco Foveau.
In the first men's semi-final, Ricardo Campello only moved into second place behind Baptiste Cloarec at the last minute, thus securing his place in the final. This pattern was then repeated there once again: Campello, initially far behind, only collected the necessary points in the final minutes and shot himself into second place with a radical hit on his last wave. The Venezuelan ended up with just two points on the scoresheet, but was just ahead of Robby Swift, who finished third ahead of Takuma Sugi.
What has happened in Cloudbreak so far:
Fifth place in the final instead of disqualification
With Antoine Martin, the final suddenly had a fifth competitor. The man from Guadeloupe suddenly appeared on the live stream with a very good ride, and commentator Kai Katchadourian feared a hefty penalty for disrupting the competition. But IWT Tour Director Simeon Glasson explained that Antoine had spontaneously been pushed into the final.
In the second semi-final, all four riders had called on the help of their Jet Ski riders within a previously defined zone in order to get back into the line-up quickly. This was actually forbidden, as the riders themselves had previously decided. Antoine Martin was the last to use this help and with the least consequences, as Simeon Glasson explained. Martin was actually eliminated in third place behind Robby Swift and Takuma Sugi, who had benefited the most from the assistance, but the judges spontaneously gave him a place in the final. "We didn't want to disqualify him," said Simeon Glasson.
The main classifications at the Fiji World Cup 2023 are now complete, only the masters have not yet taken place. It was announced a few days ago that only one single elimination would be held for organisational reasons. Even though the contest window is still open until 12 June, surfing is only allowed on the reef on a few days and a double elimination would take too long due to the time-consuming journey.
After the spectacular conditions in the warm-up a few days before the contest, Cloudbreak was once again at its very best for the final. "It was already good last year, but this year it was on another level," enthused Kai Katchadourian.
Watch the finals in Cloudbreak
Results PWA x IWT Fiji Pro 2023
Gents
- 1st Baptiste Cloarec
- 2 Ricardo Campello
- 3. Robby Swift
- 4th Takuma Sugi
- 5 Antoine Martin
- 6 Antoine Albert
- 7th Antony Ruenes
- 7 Marc Paré
- 9 Bernd Roediger
- 9th Morgan Noireaux
- 9th Leon Jamaer
- 9th Federico Morisio
- 13th Liam Dunkerbeck
- 13 Flo Jung
- 17 Philip Köster
- 17 Julian Salmonn
Ladies
- 1st Sarah Hauser
- 2. Sarah-Quita Offringa
- 3 Coraline Foveau
- 4th Jessica Crisp
- 5 Sol Degrieck
- 5 Maria Andres
- 7th Jane Seman
