PWA World Cup Yokosuka: Maciek Rutkowski and Marion Mortefon are world champions

Maciek Rutkowski went into the final day of the PWA World Cup in Japan as the world championship leader and had it in his own hands to secure his first title. But in his first heat, on the first stroke, the Pole suddenly disappeared in a cloud of spray. He had probably hit an object in the water. With no chance of progressing, Rutkowski had to sit idly by on the beach for the rest of the day.

The wind had dropped again, meaning that heats had to be cancelled again and again during the morning. In the women's event, the leader Marion Mortefon only reached the B final, but even a 9th place was enough for her to win the event after strong and consistent performances and thus her second world championship title in a row. She was followed by newcomer Justine Lemeteyer and Delphine Cousin Questel, with Sarah-Quita Offringa in seventh place.

Maths games for the World Cup title

In the men's event, there were various scenarios as to who could become world champion and when. When it became clear in the semi-final that Amado Vrieswijk, the event winner from Sylt, would only make it to the B final, the man from Bonaire was out of the running. This meant that all eyes were on Matteo Iachino, who had to finish at least third in the final. However, the Italian and 2016 world champion gritted his teeth against another very strong Johan Søe and crossed the finish line in fifth place. That made it clear: despite the disastrous start to the day, Maciek Rutkowski is slalom world champion for the first time!

Up front, Enrico Marotti took his second Elimintaion victory in Japan and thus also the event win. A strong performance from the Croatian, who was also consistently among the front runners on Sylt. Sebastian Kördel finished the World Cup in 15th place, making it through to the final in the last race. The Newly crowned iQFoil world champions had previously announced that he wanted to start in Japan without any pressure, and he was also slowed down on the first day by a destroyed sail.

World Cup Japan became a wind roulette

At the start of the World Cup in Japan, the riders still had to contend with weak winds and many false starts. Only six men's heats and one women's heat could be completed on the first day. The second day was also tough, but at least the first women's elimination was completed, with Marion Mortefon finishing ahead of Helle Oppedal and Ma Kwan Shing. For the first time, the women were also able to choose between fin and foil - an opportunity for specialists like iQFoil starter Helle Oppedal from Norway. Permanent world champion Sarah-Quita Offringa, on the other hand, had not yet fully arrived on the foil and was only in the top group once. The men worked their way up to the final heats in no more than ten knots of wind. However, Amado Vrieswijk, who led the world championship ranking after his victory on Sylt, was eliminated beforehand, as was Sebastian Kördel.

On the third World Cup day, the wind finally picked up: up to 25 knots, but also repeated rain showers with wind fluctuations made for challenging conditions. The focus was on the World Cup duel between Amado Vrieswijk and Maciek Rutkowski. It was perfectly scripted back and forth: elimination one: a poor result for Vrieswijk, a solid fourth place for Rutkowski. Elimination two: third place for the man from Bonaire, boom knockout for the Pole. Elimination three: Broken boom for Vrieswijk, second place for Rutkowski. Before that, Matteo Iachino and Enrico Marotti showed their class and each took a win.

In the women's race, Marion Mortefon maintained her lead ahead of Justine Lemeteyer and Blanca Alabau. While Alabau was able to continuously improve, newcomer Lemeteyer showed her class and consistency in an impressive manner.

Exciting fin vs foil duels

Things got really exciting on the fourth day: more than 35 knots were measured on the course in the morning, but with strong gusts and ever-increasing wind holes. Jordy Vonk chose a fin set-up and was able to win some of his heats, with a colourful mix of fins and foils behind him. Lots of crashes and tight scenes ensured excitement and two preliminary decisions: Amado Vrieswijk was eliminated in the first heat of the fourth elimination - which meant that his chances of winning the World Championship were severely diminished, as his close rival Maciek Rutkowski drove solidly through to the final.

Shortly afterwards, Matteo Iachino, the previous leader in the event classification, was eliminated in a photo finish in the semi-final and slipped to third place as a result. Nicolas Goyard took the win and second place. In the women's race, Sarah-Quita Offringa showed her class with a second place, while Marion Mortefon once again crossed the finish line at the front. However, the wind dropped abruptly around midday, meaning that no further races were possible and the decisions were postponed until the exciting final day, at the end of which Rutkowski and Mortefon were able to celebrate!

Antoine Albeau is bid farewell

At the end of the event, Antoine Albeau was honoured after the last PWA event of his career a fitting farewell:

Results PWA Worldcup Japan

Ladies

1. Marion Mortefon
2. Justine Lemeteyer
3. Delphine Cousin Questel
4. Helle Oppedal
5. Blanca Alabau
6. Ma Kwan Ching
7. Sarah-Quita Offringa
8. Jenna Gibson
9. Rina Niijima
10. Veerle ten Have

(Event ranking and World Championship standings at the same time)

Gents

1. Enrico Marotti
2. Nicolas Goyard
3. Matteo Iachino
4. Maciek Rutkowski
5. Johan Soe
6. Mateus Isaac
7. Amado Vrieswijk
8. Pierre Mortefon
9. Basile Jacquin
10. Jordy Vonk

World Championship Ranking Slalom Men

1. Maciek Rutkowski
2. Matteo Iachino
3. Enrico Marotti
4. Amado Vrieswijk
5. Nicolas Goyard
6. Mateus Isaac
7. Pierre Mortefon
8. Johan Søe
9. Jordy Vonk
10. Sebastian Kördel

Also interesting:

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