World Cup Fuerteventura: Dream start for Sarah-Quita, lots of drama in the men's event
SURF Redaktion
· 28.07.2023
The start couldn't have gone much better for Sarah-Quita Offringa. The windsurfing queen began with a clean hat-trick, dominating the field with a fin. In the fourth heat too - the twelve women all started together directly as a final - it looked like another victory when she took the lead from Blanca Alabau at the last buoy. But the Spaniard fought hard, crossing the finish line first by a wafer-thin margin in a thrilling finish. With the second place as a stringer, Sarah-Quita leads the ranking by a large margin ahead of Justine Lemeteyer.
The Frenchwoman is 5.9 points behind after achieving two second places, a fourth and a sixth place in the first four races. After her fifth place in Pozo, the winner of the Lake Garda event now wants to get back to the top. Just one point behind her in third place is Jenna Gibson, after the Briton finished second, third, fourth and eighth.
Blanca Alabau, the current leader in the annual rankings, found herself in fifth place at the end of the opening day. The Spaniard didn't really get going, failing to finish in the top three in the first three runs, but at least she ended the day with a sense of achievement with a brilliant victory in the final race.
The favourites stumble
In the men's event, the first day on Fuerteventura was a rollercoaster of emotions for many of the top riders. After the first two eliminations, William Huppert leads the event rankings after qualifying for both final races, where he finished a solid fourth and fifth. This is the first time the Frenchman has led an event, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with this pressure going into day two.
Reigning world champion and current World Tour leader Maciek Rutkowski got the event off to a perfect start when he claimed the first win of the week. However, he crashed in the semi-finals of the second elimination, breaking his streak of having reached every final of the season so far. Rutkowski was then involved in a massive crash in the B final, meaning that he is currently only in fifth place. It was a similar story for Bruno Martini, but the other way round: after a disastrous exit in the first quarter-final, the Italian won the second elimination - currently 13th place for him.
Michele Becker also didn't get off to the best start in the event, also being eliminated in the first quarter-final. However, like Martini, Becker came back with a bang, finishing second behind the Italian in the second elimination and thus in ninth place after the first day. Nico Prien is currently twelfth with a 12th and a 15th place.
Vrieswijk and Søe with brilliant comebacks
Amado Vrieswijk was also in the spotlight. He was only two points behind the leaders, but could have been right at the front. The man from Bonaire was leading in the first final until he had a spectacular fall on the third shot and then only finished eighth. However, a third place in the second round brought him back into the lead. Johan Søe from Denmark also made a remarkable comeback. After crashing at the buoy in the first semi-final, he started a brilliant comeback. Because Alexandre Cousin thought he had secured fourth place, the Frenchman easily cruised towards the finish line on the last stroke. The Dane then appeared out of nowhere behind him and saw off the Frenchman in the final metres. Søe then finished second in the final, in the second round he couldn't get past tenth place, which ultimately meant third place in the ranking.
Enrico Marotti, who had won the last event on Gran Canaria, had a day to forget. Two mistakes in the jibe cost him a place in the finals. The Croatian then only came 10th in the first elimination, before things went even worse for him in the second round: Quarter-final exit, only 14th place after the first day.
The forecast also looks good for today, Friday, and the wind could die down a little. After the turbulent start, many of the top riders will try to regain their consistency and make up for their mistakes. It remains exciting!
