How does the man do it? Johan Søe rides in a class of his own on the third day of the final foil event of the season. "The Beast" took two wins and jumped to the top of the rankings. Not all of the Dane's starts were perfect, but after the first gybe at the latest, Søe drove away from the rest of the field at will - the dreaded "Beast Mode". "It was a great day, couldn't have been better! I'm in tune with the material, the tactics are right too," he analysed coolly.
It started early in the morning with the final of the third men's elimination, which could not be raced yesterday. Today too, the wind was always at the lower limit and there were several longer interruptions. At times it even turned almost 180 degrees. In the end, it was still enough for a fourth score, which then brings the first stringer into play and shakes up the ranking. Johan Søe was able to cancel out his opening slip-up and now leads by a clear margin with a flawless hat-trick of three wins in a row.
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Pierre Mortefon on course for the World Championship
While Søe was usually the first to cross the finish line in the fourth round - only Jordy Vonk was able to get ahead of the Dane once - the focus was also on the World Championship duel between Pierre Mortefon and Daniele Benedetti. The Frenchman initially took second place, but only managed a fifth place in the fourth elimination. It was the other way round for Benedetti, who finished the day in second place, having previously finished fourth. Even though Mortefon had to relinquish the event lead to the superior Johan Søe, he is still on course for the world championship. Benedetti's chances have diminished further, he is currently only in fourth place behind Matteo Iachino.
The two NeilPryde riders Enrico Marotti and Bruno Martini made for a special story: Marotti's mast broke during the countdown to the first quarter-final. When Bruno Martini saw this while waiting for his own run, he went over to his team-mate and offered him his sail so that he could race. He then met him at the finish line, where he took the sail back and returned to the start of his own race. In the end, thanks to Bruno's help, Enrico and Bruno both progressed in their heats - happy ending and great fair play!
More about the PWA World Cup in Japan
Black day for Justine Lemeteyer
Justine Lemeteyer is also hoping for a happy ending. After a slow start yesterday, she still managed to climb to the top of the rankings. However, the world championship leader had a bad day today, crashing on two jibes in the final of the only women's elimination of the day and dropping out. Even though she was able to take her twelfth place as a stripper, she slipped to second place behind her World Championship rival Marion Mortefon. "It wasn't a good day, I made some stupid mistakes," she said afterwards. "That's part of it, it was very emotional, I'm a bit nervous."
In order for Mortefon to still have a chance of winning the World Championship title, Lemeteyer should finish a maximum of fourth. But she can't afford to make any more mistakes, as her string is already set after her slip-up today. Mortefon, on the other hand, is very much in the flow after her victory: "It's always good to have a 0.7 on the score sheet," said the Frenchwoman after her second elimination win. She was followed by Tamar Steinberg and Lina Erzen.
Becker and Prien in the final
The day also went well for the two German starters: Michele Becker finished second in the B final in the morning, while Nico Prien came fifth. In Elimination 4, both raced through to the grand final, with Becker even winning his semi-final ahead of big names such as Mortefon, Iachino and Rutkowski. Things went wonderfully in the final too - first place behind Johan Søe after the first jibe - but after a crash, Becker only managed eighth place. "I had a bit of a headwind," said Becker after the heat. "But I'm happy that I was there, the speed was right, which was missing in the last few races!" Things went even better for Nico Prien, who took sixth place and climbed to eighth place in the event rankings.
Everything looks like tomorrow could be the decisive day: The forecast promises solid racing conditions, while a calm has been announced for the official last day on Tuesday. It will definitely be exciting, any mistake could decide the World Championship!
Tobias Frauen
Editor
Tobi is our digital man, he looks after the surf website and social media channels and gets on everyone's nerves every morning by asking for more pictures and videos. His surfing CV includes all the famous choppy water spots: As a teenager, he went from his home in Münsterland to the Ijsselmeer or the Brouwersdam, and during his civilian service on Sylt, after countless washes on the west side, the Königshafen became his preferred spot. After studying in Kiel and Heidkate, he was supposed to go to Hamburg “only for a short time”, but this short time has lasted for over ten years and has made him a “weekend warrior”. He goes on tour with his family and camper van as often as possible, often to the Baltic Sea, SPO or Denmark, but also likes to go to Finland, Sweden or Sardinia.
