What do Maciek Rutkowski, Matteo Iachino and Pierre Mortefon have in common? All three have been world champions once and are keen to win a second title. Ahead of the season finale at the Fly ANA! Windsurfing World Cup in Yokosuka, Japan, the top riders are closer together than ever before. This promises a highly exciting event, which runs from 11 to 15 November. The location on the Japanese Pacific coast is eight hours ahead of European time - so you can watch the World Cup race in the morning hours in a relaxed livestream.
A look at the rankings shows: Maciek Rutkowski goes into the final as the leader, but Matteo Iachino lurks behind him on equal points. Just 100 points behind them are Pierre Mortefon and newcomer Johan Søe. Amado Vrieswijk also still has a theoretical chance of winning the World Championship if all four ahead of him slip up. With four events so far, one stringer has already been taken into account. It also depends on the number of eliminations how many points are awarded in Japan: With four runs or less, there are 10,000 points for the winner, with five or more eliminations it's 10,300 points. Second place and above each receive 100 points less.
Should there be a tie on points in the end - which is entirely possible given the starting position - a number of criteria will be taken into account to determine a winner according to the PWA regulations: Who has finished ahead of the other in more events? Who has more first, second and third places at the events? Who has more first, second and third places in individual eliminations? As a last resort, there may be a Sail-Off, i.e. a separate deciding race between the competitors.
The World Championship candidates in the slalom
Maciek Rutkowski
The Pole also won his first World Championship title in Japan in 2022 and led the rankings for the entire season. So he had the best chance of defending his title, but the ambitious and highly professional Rutkowski fell somewhat short of expectations on Fuerte and Sylt. Although he won an elimination off Westerland, he only finished eighth in the end due to a few mistakes. He wanted more - on the almost windless last day he gesticulated wildly up and down in front of the judges' container to show that he thought more races were possible. Because Rutkowski already has a stringer with Sylt, he has to come far forward in Japan.
Matteo Iachino
No event win yet in 2023, but a steady improvement over the course of the season: After sixth place at the start on Lake Garda, the Italian climbed to second place on Sylt. If he takes this form with him to Japan, he will be hard to beat. Especially as Iachino still has a score to settle: in 2022, he only lost to his training partner Rutkowski by a wafer-thin margin at the Japan Cup.
Pierre Mortefon
The Frenchman's form curve is pointing in the opposite direction: after second place at the start of the season, things slowly but surely went downhill. The 2019 world champion only managed ninth place on Sylt. That is currently his record, and Mortefon cannot afford another slip-up.
Johan Søe
Only 19 years old and already a top rider: Søe is already in with a chance of winning the world title in his second PWA season. He hasn't slipped up yet this year and is always in the top three - but because he didn't take part in Pozo due to his graduation, the Dane has a zero as a striker. He should therefore be right at the front in Japan. But either way, Søe will be one of the top candidates for the World Championship title for the foreseeable future
Who else is there
Sylt winner Amado Vrieswijk in fifth place is also still in the race with 30,000 points, but only theoretically. After ending his ambitions in the iQFoil, the freestyle skier is also attacking again in the slalom and has ridden straight back to the top of the world rankings. However, he would only have a chance if none of the four other World Championship candidates make it to the top. Michele Becker and Nico Prien also want to establish themselves there. With a solid lead in seventh and ninth place, a top ten result should be secured for this year. Both have already proven this season that they have what it takes to finish even further up the field.
Pozo winner Enrico Marotti will not be taking part, as the Croatian is waiting for the birth of his first child. However, the surprise rider of the Lake Garda Word Cup is back at the start: Will McMillan, who sensationally finished third in Torbole, has registered for the Japan event. The 19-year-old Australian, who competes for Thailand, is as strong as a bear on the foil. Will he be able to beat half the field again?
Maths games: Who will be world champion and when?
Because it's so close at the top, the world championship decision is relatively simple in many scenarios: whoever does best in Japan is the world champion. The only constellations in which a place further back could be enough are those in which one of the two current leaders (Rutkowski/Iachino) finishes second and one of the riders in third and fourth place (Mortefon/Søe) wins. Then there would be a tie in the points and the tiebreaker would come into play. It then becomes clear that only second place would be enough for Maciek Rutkowski to win the title, provided Pierre Mortefon wins:
- Mortefon wins, Rutkowski second: Rutkowski is world champion because he was ahead of Mortefon in three out of five events
- Mortefon wins, Iachino second: Mortefon is world champion (3x ahead of Iachino)
- Søe wins, Rutkowski second:Søe is world champion (3x ahead of Rutkowski)
- Søe wins, Iachino second: Søe is world champion (3x ahead of Iachino)
These scenarios also apply to the places further down the field if only drivers who have nothing to do with the World Championship race finish ahead of the World Championship candidates.
Amado Vrieswijk, currently 300 points behind in fifth place, also still has a mathematical chance of winning the title. He would have to win, but none of the other four candidates should finish better than fourth. Then there would also be a tie on points here, and if the top four were placed worse, Vrieswijk would be world champion. In a tie-break, the man from Bonaire would have the advantage over Rutkowski, Mortefon and Soe, and would only lose out to Iachino.
Ladies
The women's World Championship race is not quite as close: The top three Blanca Alabau, Marion Mortefon and Justine Lemeteyer are separated by 200 points each. However, because the women did not compete on Sylt, a stringer will only come into play in Japan, which could cause a few more shifts in the rankings. Sarah-Quita Offringa, who won on Fuerte and came second in Pozo, is not registered for Japan. She would have moved up into the circle of top favourites with a stripe.
All results and decisions from the PWA World Cup in Japan can be found on surf-magazin.de!
