PWA Japan 2025: Lemeteyer and Søe unbeatable - slip-ups lead to World Championship preliminary round

Penultimate day of the Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup 2025 in Japan, and at least a few more results. In wind conditions between 6-10 knots, the athletes had to use their biggest equipment to complete Elimination 2 and most of Elimination 3. Justine Lemeteyer and Johan Søe continue to dominate and are unbeaten in the lead, while Lemeteyer in the women's and Matteo Iachino in the men's are on the verge of winning their next world titles.

Lemeteyer's grip on the world championship title

After Lina Eržen's surprising semi-final exit in Elimination 3, Justine Lemeteyer now has one hand firmly on her second world title. The Frenchwoman has an unblemished record, having won the second elimination and already qualified for the final of the third elimination. After three early starts, there are only five women left in the race.

Although Eržen was able to limit the damage by winning the B final, the 20-year-old will still collect a costly nine points, shifting the title race even more in Lemeteyer's favour. Should the Frenchwoman win the next elimination, she would build up an impressive 11.9-point lead - an almost insurmountable hurdle for her rivals with just one day of competition remaining. With more races on the final day, Eržen could theoretically still take her result from elimination 3 as a string, but it would take a miracle to catch her French rival.

Lina Erzen and Blanca Alabau with mistakes

Lemeteyer's tactics continued to be excellent: she did not risk too much at the starts and relied on her speed and gybes to work her way through the field. In Elimination 2, although she did not lead at the first buoy, she had already taken the lead at the second buoy and then pulled away from the rest of the field, just like the day before. A second consecutive world championship title is now within her grasp.

As Eržen is likely to drop out of the top 3 after elimination 3, the race for the runner-up world title will also open up. Blanca Alabau, who was fast throughout the day, took second place in Elimination 2. The Spaniard had a great chance to consolidate this second place in Elimination 3, but made an early start. A missed opportunity for Alabau, as she ultimately only made up three points on Eržen. The 2023 World Champion did not agree with the decision not to abandon the start, but the result stands.

Søe remains unbeatable in the men's competition

Like Lemeteyer, Johan Søe also has a perfect record of 1.4 points after once again leading from start to finish. Pierre Mortefon tried to challenge the Dane for the lead, but Søe eventually prevailed and moved one step closer to a second consecutive victory in Japan. The 22-year-old has also safely qualified for the final of Elimination 3 and is currently showing no weaknesses.

Mortefon beat Matteo Iachino in the final of Elimination 2 to secure second place. The two are now tied on five points with identical results. Both have already qualified for the final of Elimination 3, but if Iachino achieves another top three result, he could be on the verge of his third world title. Should Mortefon finish second, Iachino would have to finish outside the top five to lose the title.

Battle for the podium places

Maciek Rutkowski confirmed his fourth place from the previous day with another fourth place in Elimination 2, putting the Pole in fourth place overall - three places and eight points ahead of Amado Vrieswijk, who is currently seventh after qualifying for the final of Elimination 2. However, Vrieswijk did not make it into the top eight in the next round, giving Rutkowski a clear advantage in the battle for the overall podium.

Fabian Wolf remains in fifth place, while William Huppert moves up one place to sixth. Alexis Mathis remains eighth, while Jordy Vonk climbs into the top ten. For John Soukos, on the other hand, it was a bad day - he drops from sixth to tenth. Two botched jibes cost him dearly - first in the B final of Elimination 2, followed by a disappointing quarter-final exit in the next round, which could set him back further in the rankings once this round is over.

Strong newcomers

Bob van de Burgt, Scotty Stallman and Elia Colombo all recorded their best results of the event by qualifying for the final of Elimination 3. Van de Burgt got off to a perfect start in his semi-final and capitalised on that advantage, while Stallman won his semi-final ahead of the likes of Iachino and Mortefon.

The forecast for the last day looks promising, with winds of 17-24 knots in the early afternoon. The crucial difference: the wind will blow from the south-west instead of the north-east, which could bring new challenges.

Interim status PWA Japan 2025

Ladies

1. Justine Lemeteyer
2. Blanca Alabau
3. Lina Eržen
4. Marion Mortefon
5. Femke van der Veen

Gents

1. Johan Søe
2. Pierre Mortefon
3. Matteo Iachino
4. Maciek Rutkowski
5. Fabian Wolf
6. William Huppert
7. Amado Vrieswijk
8. Alexis Mathis
9. Jordy Vonk
10. John Soukos