PWA Youth Foil Slalom Aruba: Lorho and de Jong dominate at the start, Emser in third place

Perfect conditions with 20-25 knots of wind and flat turquoise water provided the setting for a spectacular start to the PWA Youth Foil Slalom Series on Bonaire. Brendan Lorho put in a flawless performance in the U21 boys' class, winning all four races of the day. The Frenchman is now the clear leader in the overall standings after the first day of competition.

Behind Lorho, an exciting three-way battle broke out for the other podium places. Kasper Nielsen from Dänamark, Benedikt Emser from Germany and Tycho Smits from Bonaire fought a close race. The choice of material played a decisive role. While Lorho took a risky but successful approach with a smaller rig, Nielsen and Emser opted for medium sizes. As the wind increased, Lorho's strategy paid off, while his rivals struggled to control the power.

De Jong defends girls' title

In the girls' U21 class, defending champion Bobbi-Lynn De Jong seamlessly built on her successes from the previous year. The Dutchwoman also won all four races, but had to fight hard to do so. Especially in the first race, when she started late, De Jong showed her class and fought her way to victory. Louise van der Meulen and Kit De Jong fought a thrilling duel for second place. While Kit De Jong scored with her superior jibing technique, van der Meulen impressed with her high ground speed.

As the wind increased, the race organisers decided to switch to Fin Slalom in the afternoon. In gusts of over 25 knots, Brendan Lorho once again showed his class as he continued his winning streak. However, he faced tough competition from Storm Nicolai, the reigning U17 World Champion in the Fin Slalom. Nicolai, who was promoted to the U21 class this season, was on a par with Lorho. Local favourite Tame Mondria consistently finished in third place, but was disqualified in the second race due to an early start.

Dominance of Bonaire talents in U17 and U15

The young talents from Bonaire set the tone in the younger age groups. Tycho Smits and Arxon Gomperts fought thrilling duels in the boys' U17 class. Both are students of Taty Frans and are currently leading their respective age groups. Gomperts dominated the U15 classification. Similarly good conditions are expected for the coming days with winds of between 20 and 30 knots.