2019 FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Freestyle

Das war Tag 1:

The wind may have taken a little while to cooperate on the opening day of the 2019 FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup, but eventually, the breeze returned during the mid-afternoon to allow the first round of the Men’s and Women’s Single Eliminations to be completed. The action which followed was explosive as the world's best freestylers took full advantage of the world class on offer, but not only were massive moves thrown down, but there was also a few massive upsets along the way!

Giant killer - Julian Mas

Women’s

Single Elimination

Just the first two heats of the Women’s Single Elimination were completed on the evening of the opening day. Italian Francesca Floris produced a confident performance to defeat Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde) in Heat 10a, before Poland’s Julia Pakosz sailed excellently to take down local girl Angela Koch.

Men’s

Single Elimination

Julian Wiemar (Starboard / Severne) claimed an impressive victory against Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) in the opening heat of the contest to book his place in the top 16. The 21-year-old combined the latest power moves and combinations to progress and will now face Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) in the next round. The Italian faced a late scare against the young upcoming talent of Corto Dumond (Starboard / Severne), but the New Caledonian’s shaka-flaka wasn’t quite enough as he lost out to Testa by just 2 points.

Julian Wiemar

The fireworks exploded in Heat 2a as Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) went blow-for-blow with Bonairean Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti). At one point the two sailors almost collided with Schmit carving downwind for a one-handed ponch just in front of Scheffers, who was mid double e-slider. Luckily they avoided each other. In the end Schmit came out on top with a trademark shuvit spock and a sick spock into one-handed ponch inflicting some of the damage. Next up Schmit will face fellow Bonairean - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who successfully dispatched of 15-year-old - Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins).

Amado Vrieswijk

Taty Frans (Point-7) became the next home grown hero to progress into the top 16 as he defeated Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne) in Heat 3a, before former world champion - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) - produced a clinical performance to dispatch of Max Rowe (Simmer / Simmer Sails) - Frans and van der Eyken will now go head-to-head in the round of 16.

Dieter van der Eyken

Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails) produced the first real upset of the day in Heat 4a as the Italian claimed a narrow victory over teammate - Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails). In fact by the end of the heat there was just 1 point separating the two sailors - crucially for Passani that was in his favour.

Giovanni Passani

Heat 4b saw the matchup of the first round as vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - was drawn against former world champion and current event champion - Kiri Thode (Severne / Severne Sails) and the action didn’t disappoint with both sailors producing explosive performances, which saw the lead continually changing hands. However, it was Bosson who eventually progressed as the 27-year-old survived a stern test. The level was so high that Bosson and Thode set the two highest scores of the day at that point - 127.7 & 127.07 points.

Adrien Bosson

Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) faced Jamie Howard (F2 / F2) in the first round and the Italian successfully navigated his way past the Brit with a late kabikuchi sealing the deal. Cappuzzo will now face a tough test against Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails) after the Belgian produced the highest scoring heat of the day - 131 points - against Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails). On his way to victory Van Broeckhoven landed a variety of moves but the pick of the bunch was a new combination - a shaka-spock.

Steven Van Broeckhoven

In Heat 6a - Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde) - made the perfect start as the Frenchman produced a polished performance to eliminate Riccardo Marca (Fanatic / Duotone), who sailed welled below par. The Italian will now have to look forward to the double elimination to try and stage a comeback. Meanwhile, in Heat 6b - Yentel Cabers (I-99 / Point-7) - looked to be in fine form as he ended the hopes of Aaron Etmon (Starboard / S2Maui) - with a combination of old school moves and the latest power combinations.

Yentel Caers

Heat 7a saw another incredibly close heat between Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) and Loick Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails) and in the end there was just a point separating the two sailors. Spicher made the brighter start, but Fabrizi battled back by the end to set an intense finish. However, Spicher sealed the deal as he landed a kabikuchi in the dying seconds to advance. The Swiss will now face Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) in the next round after the young Frenchman produced a late fight back against Adam Sims (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg). For a long time it looked as though Esteve would be crashing out early after sailing below par for much of the heat, but luckily he escaped this time around.

The penultimate heat of the day saw Nic Hibdige (Tabou / GA Sails) take on local hero Tonky Frans and the young Brit, who used to live here, produced the best performance of his career so far to take down Tonky. The 23-year-old was on fire throughout as he inflicted telling blows with kabikuchis, a no-handed culo and a super tweaked shuvit spock to deservedly progress.

Nic Hibdige

Hibdige will now lineup against Julian Mas (JP / Gun Sails) after the Frenchman not only produced the biggest shock of the day, but also one of the biggest upsets in recent years, by defeating 9-time world champion - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - in the first round. The Venezuelan certainly didn’t sail a bad heat, but just met a sailor who came out with all guns firing, and seemingly being able to pull off almost any move he wanted today - which included landing a new combination - flaka into bob. Mas was understandably delighted after claiming the biggest scalp of his career, while Gollito now faces a mammoth task to salvage anything from the event. However, with 9-world titles you definitely wouldn’t bet against him doing just that!

Julien Mas

There’s another promising looking forecast for Wednesday and the sailors will meet again at 8am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 8:15am (GMT-4) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

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Das war Tag 2:

The upsets and surprises continued in the Men’s Single Elimination on Day 2 of the 2019 FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup, while the top seeds in the Women’s draw prevailed on another action-packed day at Sorobon Beach. The wind may have taken a little while to fully fill in, but by the time the finals came around, there was a solid 25 knots blowing, which led to a spectacular show consisting of freestyle of the highest quality. After an enthralling day of competition there is a new name at the top of the men’s podium with local boy - Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) - tasting victory for the first time, while Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) fended off a stern challenge from Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Youp Schmit

Women’s

Single Elimination

Unlike in the Men’s draw, the top seeds in the Women’s Single Elimination successfully navigated their way into the finals. In the opening semifinal Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was on top for a long time against Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins). That was until the 21-year-old pulled off a brilliant double spock to turn the tie on its head and booker her place in the Winners’ Final where she would face Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who overcame Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) in the semifinals with a proficient display.

Maaike Huvermann

Having booked her place in the Winners’ Final - Huvermann said that she would change up her strategy against Offringa and the current vice-world champion certainly threw everything she had at the reigning world champion. Huvermann sailed a brilliant final, opening with a regular kono before adding a culo, shuvit spock and landing double spocks on both tacks, but as she so often does, Offringa posted her highest heat of the contest in the final - 141.6 points - to claim a thoroughly deserved and well earned win. On her way to victory Offringa also landed a double spock, explosive culos and burners before ending the final with a spock-culo to take one step closer to making the perfect start to her title defence.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

In the battle for 3rd and 4th - Oda Johanne faced Arrianne Aukes - and it was the Norwegian who came out on top after producing a superb display, which saw her land every move she attempted.

Oda Johanne

At the end of the Single Elimination, the top 4 is exactly the same as last year’s overall top 4.

Men’s

Single Elimination

The form book for the Men’s Single Elimination was seemingly thrown out of the window in the opening Freestyle event of the year with all 3 of last year’s top 3 being eliminated in the second round or earlier as vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - suffered surprise early exits just as Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) experienced yesterday. Bosson fell at the hands of Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360), while fellow Bonairean Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) defeated Vrieswijk and both Passani and Schmit would go on to be two of the sailors of the day.

Youp Schmit

With all 3 of the last year’s top 3 out of the equation, it looked as though the door would be held wide open for either Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) - 4th overall in 2018 - or Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails) - 5th overall in 2018 - to come through and pick up the pieces. Both men successfully navigated their way through their opening heats of the day to set up a tie against each other in the quarterfinals. The battle of Belgium which followed proved to be the tightest heat of the entire single elimination with just 0.8 of a point separating the two sailors at the end of the duel, but crucially for Caers, the decision went in his favour.

Yentel Caers

However, next up for Caers was - Julian Mas (JP / Gun Sails) - who claimed the scalp of Gollito Estredo on the opening day before producing another excellent performance to defeat Nic Hibdige (Tabou / GA Sails) followed by fellow countryman - Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) - to prove it wasn’t just a one heat fluke and that he meant serious business. And unfortunately for Caers, Mas continued his incredible form into their semifinal with the 29-year-old barely putting a foot wrong, and seemingly landing whatever move he wanted, including another new combination with a super technical flaka-clock, which saw Mas set the highest scoring heat of the contest so far - 171.30 points - and book himself a place in a first ever winners’ final.

Julian Mas

Waiting for Mas in the final would be local boy Youp Schmit after the Bonairean managed to defeat Julian Wiemar (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in the quarters followed by an impressive victory against Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails), who had been in inspired form, in the semis.

Youp Schmit

Schmit came out with all guns blazing in the Winners’ Final and was clearly pumped to be competing at his home event. The 24-year-old has had his fair share of injuries and misfortune so far in his career, but today everything clicked into place as he continued his rich vein of form landing trademark super tweaked shuvit spocks, one-handed double ponches and even a clew-first ponch to claim a memorable and thoroughly deserved first victory in front of his home crowd.

Youp Schmit's victory moment

In the Winners’ Final, Mas faltered a little for the first time during the contest and as a result he couldn’t land a telling blow to worry Schmit, but will still be delighted with his best performance ever on the world tour.

Yentel Caers secured the final place on the podium by winning the battle for third and 4th between himself and Giovanni Passani with the Belgian posting the highest scoring heat of the entire single elimination - 171.5 points.

Yentel Caers

Take nothing away from Passani though as the Italian sailed several outstanding heats, which earlier saw him two highly impressive victories against both Adrien Bosson and Taty Frans (Point-7). The 23-year-old showed sailed with style and swagger throughout while showing off clinical execution of his moves. Passani is now guaranteed his best result no matter what happens from here.

Giovanni Passani

Double Elimination

After the completion of the Single Elimination, the contest rolled almost immediately into the double elimination, which featured 9-time world champion - Gollito Estredo - in the first round - not something you hear very often, if ever. The Venezuelan faced Tonky Frans and was clearly out prove a point as he went on to post the highest scoring heat of the contest so far in Heat 18a - 172.6 points. Gollito then successfully continued his comeback by defeating Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) to set up a mouthwatering third round tie against Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) after the Bonairean dispatched of Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) in Heat 22b by posting the highest score so far - 181.9 points.

Amado Vrieswijk

At the start of the week, no-one would have ever predicted that Gollito and Vrieswijk would meet each other in just the third round of the Double Elimination, but they are now set for a colossal tie with whoever loses potentially already realistically out of the title race.

Gollito Estredo

The remainder of the first round was also completed and Riccardo Marca (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), Jamie Howard (F2 / F2), Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Max Rowe (Simmer / Simmer Sails), Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) and Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) are all successfully into the second round.

Jamie Howard

Unfortunately, during the opening round it looked as though defending event champion - Kiri Thode (Severne / Severne Sails) - suffered a serious injury against Antony Ruenes and everyone from the PWA would like to wish Kiri all the best with his recovery.

Kiri Thode

The wind is predicted to be lighter tomorrow with WindGuru forecasting 16-19 knots. The sailors will meet again at 9am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 9:30am (GMT-4) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

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Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Johanna Rümenapp (GER - I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

1st Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)

2nd Julian Mas (FRA - I-99 / Gun Sails)

3rd Yentel Cabers (BEL I-99 / Point-7

4th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails)

5th Julian Wiemar (GER - Starboard / Severne Sails)

5th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)

5th Taty Frans (NB - Point-7)

Das war Tag 3:

The wind remained light for much of Day 3 of the FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup, but during the afternoon the wind slowly started to increase and by the early evening there was enough to allow the Women’s Double Elimination to begin in 15-20 knots of wind and mirror flat water, while the men remained on hold throughout.

Oda Johanne sunset session

Freestyle

Women’s

Double Elimination

The first heat of the day saw last year’s world No.5 - Johanne Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails) - versus Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde) - who is competing in her first event since 2016. Rümenapp sailed a solid port tack heat landing a flaka, spock and shuvit, but left herself vulnerable as she failed to register a move on starboard tack. Ultimately that cost the German as Zwerus completed her scoresheet on both tacks to progress.

Next up for Zwerus was Julia Pakosz and the 23-year-old continued her comeback by showing a much greater level of consistency to complete her scoresheet once again.

Jazzy Zwerus

In the bottom half of the draw Eva Wyss successfully navigated her way past local girl Angela Koch, but she was then eliminated by Francesca Floris (RRD / RRD Sails) in the next round and Floris will now face Zwerus in the battle for 5th and 6th place.

Francesca Floris

The forecast for the last two days of the contest looks excellent with 18-22 knots predicted for Friday, which should almost guarantee an explosive day of action. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 9am for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 9:30am (GMT-4) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

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Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

1st Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)

2nd Julian Mas (FRA - I-99 / Gun Sails)

3rd Yentel Caers (BEL I-99 / Point-7

4th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails)

5th Julian Wiemar (GER - Starboard / Severne Sails)

5th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)

5th Taty Frans (NB - Point-7)

Tag 4:

Upon arriving to Sorobon Beach on the morning of Day 4 of the FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup it looked as though there may be a quick start to the action with conditions already looking promising. However, after patiently waiting the wind never really kicked in, which led to a two-hour break between 12-2pm. The wait was more than worth it though with Bonaire delivering exactly the kind of conditions the world’s best freestylers had been craving - 20-30 knots of wind and flat water - which allowed the men’s fleet to wow both the crowd and the judges with just over 3 hours of world class explosive freestyle.

Amado Vrieswijk

Men’s

Double Elimination

Once the second round of the Men’s Double Elimination had been completed all eyes were drawn to a mouthwatering 3rd round battle featuring 9-time PWA Freestyle World Champion - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - and world title hopeful Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne). In recent years we have become accustomed to seeing arguably the two best freestylers in the world battle it out in the finals. However, after a surprising single elimination the two heavy-hitters would have to meet far earlier than they are used to - and perhaps with more pressure on the line - with no discard for the Freestyle fleet this year - defeat for either sailor would more than likely spell the end of their title hopes for 2019.

Mutual respect between Amado Vrieswijk (left) & Gollito Estredo (right)

The action which followed was more than worthy of being a final with both men landing several outstanding moves and combinations. However, in front of a home crowd, who were fully behind their local man, and wanting to keep his title aspirations alive there was no stopping Vrieswijk, who went on to set the second highest scoring heat of the contest so far - 180.7 points - after Vrieswijk himself set the highest scoring heat of the contest thus far in the round prior against Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) - 181.9 points. During the heat, Vrieswijk landed a huge kabikuchi to kick things off and then went from strength-to-strength landing anything from a flaka-shaka-720, flaka-into-bob and almost perfect flaka-into-ponch, which not only drew massive cheers from the beach, but also drew celebrations from Vrieswijk, who upon hearing the cheers responded with a dab and pumping his sail!

Amado Vrieswijk mid ponch

Vrieswijk then dispatched of Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), who tried to go big in order to match the Bonairean, but couldn’t on this occasion, to set-up another huge heat against vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - who had earlier defeated Jamie Howard (F2 / F2), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) and Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) with a series of hugely impressive performances.

Adrien Bosson shuvit spock

In Heat 30a both men once again went all out, while treating the crowd to another freestyle feast, but even with Bosson posting the 4th highest heat score of the competition - 176.9 points - there was still no stopping Vrieswijk from driving into the top 6 - leaving Bosson to settle for joint 7th in the opening event. Vrieswijk now holds the 1st, 2nd and 3rd highest scoring heat of the contest after setting a monstrous 188 points tally against Bosson, which is also the highest points haul ever since the new live scoring system was introduced. If the 23-year-old is even anywhere near the sort of level he showed today, it is difficult to imagine anyone stopping him from fighting all the way back to claim the event title. However, there is still plenty of work to do before reaching that point…

Amado Vrieswijk (left) & Adrien Bosson (right) embrace after an epic duel

In the bottom half of the draw, both Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) mounted brilliant comebacks of their own, which would eventually see the two teammates meet in Heat 30b.

Antony Ruenes

Enroute to that point Ruenes dispatched of Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde) and Taty Frans (Point-7), while Scheffers, who can blow hot and cold started to gather momentum and hit a hot streak which saw him style his way past Loick Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails), Nic Hibdige (Tabou / GA Sails) and Julian Wiemar (Starboard / Severne) - after combining the latest power moves with innovative combinations.

Davy Scheffers mid air bob

The heat between Ruenes and Scheffers turned into another fascinating battle with Scheffers once again making a flying start with a huge air bob culo, skopu 360, air funnel 720 and an amazing switch chachoo burner. However, after a flying start the 27-year-old, who was suffering slightly from a toe injury began to slow down. Meanwhile, Ruenes, who was a little slow to start began to come right back into it with a perfect spock-culo, flaka into ponch, air funnel-burner and a trademark no-handed burner taking the Frenchman into a narrow lead. Scheffers had the beating of Ruenes on starboard tack but crucially had to count a wet kabikuchi on starboard - only 11.6 points - which proved to be the difference between the two. Scheffers obviously knew that he was missing a move on starboard tack, but unfortunately just ran out of steam at the crucial moment as he crashed his final 3 attempts.

Sarah-Quita Offringa consoles Davy Scheffers

Take nothing away from Ruenes though, who gathered momentum throughout the afternoon and sailed to the level everyone knows he is capable of. The Frenchman will now face Vrieswijk in the battle for 5th/6th place and beyond.

A pumped up Antony Ruenes

The forecast looks set for a Super Saturday Grand Finale with the strong Tradewinds predicted to continue. The sailors will meet again at 8am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 8:30am (GMT-4) onwards. Make sure you don’t miss any of the pulsating action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

- Facebook:@PWAWorldTourWindsurfing

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Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle
*Result May Still Change

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

*Results May Still Change

1st Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)

2nd Julian Mas (FRA - I-99 / Gun Sails)

3rd Yentel Caers (BEL I-99 / Point-7

4th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails)

5th/6th Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

5th/6th Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails)

Das war der letzte Tag:

The final day of the 2019 FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup was billed as Super Saturday and in the end it didn’t disappoint with a mix of emotion and drama making for a fitting finale in front of a packed out crowd, who created a football match-esque atmosphere which spurred the world’s best freestylers to push even harder in the pursuit of victory.

Beautiful Bonaire

Women’s

Double Elimination

Finals day was split into two halves and in the morning the women’s fleet was whittled down to just the top 3 ladies standing, which saw Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) successfully defend her 4th place, but she may feel there was a missed opportunity as she pushed Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) all the way in the battle for 3rd and 4th, but couldn’t quite land the higher scoring move she needed on starboard tack to earn her first podium since 2014.

Arrianne Aukes & Oda Johanne

Upon the restart Johanne faced a rematch with Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and for a long time the heat was evenly balanced, however, Huvermann then upped her game by landing a double spock on both tacks and a culo to setup a rematch with Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - leaving the Norwegian to complete the podium in 3rd place.

Into the final and Huvermann, just as she did in the single elimination, threw everything she had at Offringa, but for a long time, it was the Aruban leading the fight and looking like she would claim the victory there and then. However, Huvermann managed to stay in contention throughout and in the dying seconds the 21-year-old performed a buzzer beater as she landed a superb regular chachoo to take the event into a Super Final.

Maaike Huvermann celebrates

Offringa was as gracious in defeat, her first time that she had lost a heat in 11 years on the world tour, as she is in victory, but unsurprisingly she was emotional upon hearing the result. Meanwhile, with a rapturous crowd and becoming the first person to take a heat off Offringa, Huvermann dropped to the ground almost in disbelief as emotions rose to the boil.

Sarah-Quita Offringa congratulates Maaike Huvermann

After a short break , Offringa and Huvermann would once again go head-to-head in a winner takes it all finale, which turned into another enthralling battle. However, it was Offringa who was able to raise her game to another level as she dug deep to win the opening event of the year. Huvermann, after reaching the dizzy heights of the final couldn’t quite replicate the same performance again and after a couple of failed double spock attempts it took some words of wisdom from the beach by Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) to lift Huvermann to fight further. And that’s exactly what she did - landing double spocks on both tacks again almost immediately afterwards. Offringa though wasn’t to beat as she set the second highest scoring heat of the contest to rightfully be crowned the Queen of Bonaire. Both girls deservedly received a warm reception upon returning to the beach after putting on a wonderful display.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

Sarah-Quita Offringa makes a winning start to the year: “Cheers first of all to everyone, and thanks to everyone on the beach, we can hear you cheering on the water and that really motivates us! This was the first time in 11 years that I’ve lost a heat, and I’ve been thinking about that this week - about how I would react… I didn’t want to be a sore loser and actually, I felt a sense of excitement after the heat with Maaike! Congrats to Maaike - she sailed an amazing heat! Thanks to everyone from the PWA for an amazing week!”

Sarah-Quita Offringa celebrates victory

Men’s

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) was the star of the double elimination and the local boy continued his comeback in the morning by defeating Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) and Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) to move into the top 3. By this point, Vrieswijk had already won 7 heats in a row.

Yentel Caers & Amado Vrieswijk

After a middle of the day interlude, Vrieswijk would then resume against Julian Mas (JP / Gun Sails), who was already guaranteed his first ever podium. The atmosphere during this heat was exceptional with the local crowd cheering for their local boy, while the French possie responded for their man. Unfortunately for Mas, he never quite scaled the heights that he had shown in the single elimination leaving Vrieswijk to march on and set up a final against fellow Bonairean - Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti).

Amado Vrieswijk

In the final Vrieswijk would prove too strong for Schmit with the 23-year-old once again posting a monstrous score over 180 points and it was soon clear that a Super Final for the Men’s fleet was also on the cards.

The Super Final began in dramatic fashion… prior to the heat starting, Schmit needed medical attention for a swollen foot and just a few minutes later the 24-year-old appeared to be sailing back to the beach. At this point, the crowd and the judges weren’t sure if Schmit would be forced to retire through injury. It then became apparent that Schmit had lost his fin after attempting a flaka-shaka in the shallows. Once Schmit neared the beach he threw his board away in disbelief at the timing and understandably looked dejected. However the local crowd were quick to rally behind another of their local men, almost like the 12th man, and Schmit reacted immediately by landing a double culo. The two Bonairean’s then traded world class manoeuvres, which saw the lead swing back and forth with the duel poised on a knife-edge. Ultimately though it was Vrieswijk, who would manage to complete a mammoth comeback with Vrieswijk winning 10 consecutive heats to be crowned the King of Bonaire, but even more importantly taking a massive step towards a maiden world title having earlier defeated 9-time world champion - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - in the 3rd round of the double elimination.

Amado Vrieswijk does it the hard way: “It’s been a long, long, long week, a long week, but an amazing though. The wind was light the final, but the level has been so high throughout and Youp pushed me all the way! I’m just really, really happy!”

Youp Schmit & Amado Vrieswijk after their epic showdown

Schmit also deserves great credit for the way in which he dug deep when it really counted and should be hugely proud on his first podium finish on the world tour, which also sees him end the event as one of the title contenders for 2019.

Youp Schmit

Shortly after the conclusion of the finals, a prize giving was held in front of packed out beach and this event will go down as one of the best ever Freestyle events. We’ll be back on Monday with a full summary of a spectacular event to see how the season weighs up from here.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

- Facebook:@PWAWorldTourWindsurfing

- Instagram: @pwaworldtour

- Twitter: @pwaworldtour

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Jazzy Zwerus (NED - JP / NeilPryde)

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)

2nd Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)

3rd Julian Mas (FRA - JP / Gun Sails)

4th Yentel Caers (BEL I-99 / Point-7

5th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails)

6th Antony Ruenes (TFRA - abou / GA Sails)

7th Adrien Bosson (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

7th Davy Scheffers (NED - Tabou / GA Sails)

9th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

9th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)

9th Taty Frans (NB - Point-7)

9th Julian Wiemar (GER - Starboard / Severne)

Die Zusammenfassung:

Bonaire is dubbed as the spiritual home of Freestyle and over the last 5 days, you can understand why with the world’s best Freestylers channeling its relaxed Caribbean atmosphere and taking full advantage of Bonaire’s world class conditions to provide a scintillating, and sometimes unpredictable, start to the season…

All the winners

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) was pushed all the way by vice-world champion - Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who became the first woman in 11 years to win a heat against Offringa on the PWA Freestyle World Tour, but eventually it was still the 11-time Freestyle World Champion who would walk away from Bonaire as the event champion. Having not faced in defeat in so long, many people wondered how Offringa would cope in the Super Final, but she barely put a foot wrong as she posted the second highest scoring heat of the contest with 140.7 points.

Sarah-Quita Offringa: “Cheers first of all to everyone, and thanks to everyone on the beach, we can hear you cheering on the water and that really motivates us! This was the first time in 11 years that I’ve lost a heat, and I’ve been thinking about that this week - about how I would react… I didn’t want to be a sore loser and actually, I felt a sense of excitement after the heat with Maaike! Congrats to Maaike - she sailed an amazing heat! Thanks to everyone from the PWA for an amazing week!”

Sarah-Quita Offringa celebrates

When Huvermann faced Offringa for the first time in the single elimination the 21-year-old said that she would use a different approach against the reigning world champion and that’s exactly what she did with Huvermann throwing everything she had at Offringa on each of the 3 occasions she faced her in Bonaire. Huvermann’s aggressive approach eventually paid off in the double elimination Final as she landed a regular chachoo on the buzzer to force a Super Final. In hearing the result Huvermann fell to the ground in celebration, but couldn’t quite find a way to defeat Offringa two-times in a row. However, the 21-year-old must be delighted with taking a heat off Offringa and things now become very interesting heading into Fuerteventura in July.

Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) sailed consistently and stylishly throughout to claim the final place on the podium. Last year’s world No.3 couldn’t find a way to threaten the top 2 this time out, but will no doubt be training hard between now and the next world cup in Fuerteventura.

Women's podium - Maaike Huvermann, Sarah-Quita Offringa & Oda Johanne (left to right)

Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) successfully defended her 4th place from the Single Elimination, but will probably be a little bit disappointed to have not beaten Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) as she certainly had the opportunity with the Norwegian not enjoying her best heat. However, Aukes couldn’t quite find the higher scoring manoeuvre she needed on starboard tack and may feel that this was an opportunity missed to earn her first podium finish since 2014.

Arrianne Aukes

Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde) won 3 consecutive heats in the double elimination to fight back into 5th place in her first competition since 2016. On her way to fifth, the 23-year-old defeated last year’s world No.5 - Johanne Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails) - Julia Pakosz and Francesca Floris (RRD / RRD Sails).

Jazzy Zwerus

Men’s

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) may have had to do things the hard way, but eventually, the 23-year-old deservedly claimed the top spot on the podium to make the perfect start in the bid for his first world title. A second round exit in the single elimination meant that Vrieswijk then faced a gruelling fight back through the double elimination, but it was evidently a fight that he relished as he won 10 consecutive heats to deservedly be crowned the King of Bonaire. Vrieswijk consistently posted heats scores over 180 points - and was the only sailor to achieve this feat - so there can be no complaints that the best man won. Having defeated his major rival, 9-time Freestyle World Champion - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - in just the second round of the double elimination it now seems the path by finally be opening up for Vrieswijk to get his hands on the biggest trophy of them all.

Amado Vrieswijk: “It’s been a long, long, long week, a long week, but an amazing though. The wind was light the final, but the level has been so high throughout and Youp pushed me all the way! I’m just really, really happy!”

Amado Vrieswijk celebrates

Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) couldn’t quite defend his single elimination crown, but put up a brave fight against Vrieswijk in the Super Final. The 24-year-old had to sail through the pain barrier and then needed to be rallied by the home crowd after breaking his fin in the first few minutes of the Super Final and almost found a way to defeat Vrieswijk, but not quite. Schmit clearly revelled sailing at his home event and walks away from the opening event of the season with his first ever podium, while also emerging as a potential world title challenger for the remainder of the year!

There were quite a few upsets along the way in the men’s division with the form book seemingly being thrown out of the window, but the biggest upset of them all was delivered by Julian Mas (JP / Gun Sails), who defeated Gollito Estredo in the first round of the single elimination. The Frenchman landed a new combination in a contest with a flaka-bob and was consistently able to land this manoeuvre along with many others to advance all the way into the final of the single elimination, which would also guarantee Mas a first ever podium! Eventually, the 29-year-old would finish 3rd and can be delighted with recording his best ever result on the PWA World Tour.

Men's podium - Youp Schmit, Amado Vrieswijk & Julian Mas (left to right)

Last year’s world No.4 - Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) - starts the year with a solid 4th place and with he and Vrieswijk the only members of last years overall top 5to make it into the top 4 here in Bonaire - Caers could prove to be Vrieswijk’s main challenger for the world title going forwards.

Yentel Caers

Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) will walk away from the opening event of the year a very happy man with the Italian deservedly claiming his first top 10 result on the world tour - 5th. The 23-year-old sailed brilliantly throughout executing his moves clinically and with plenty of style!

Giovanni Passani

Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) fought his way back from the first round in the double elimination to 6th place after gaining momentum and winning 5 heats in a row. Firstly the Frenchman defeated former world champion - Kiri Thode (Severne / Severne Sails) - followed by Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde), Taty Frans (Point-7) and finally a hard fought win over teammate Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails). However, Ruenes’ comeback was then brought to an end by eventual champion - Amado Vrieswijk.

Antony Ruenes

Like Ruenes, Scheffers also staged a brilliant comeback through the double elimination which saw the Dutchman win 4 hits on the bounce to earn joint 7th place alongside last year’s vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), who was a little unfortunate to meet Amado Vrieswijk in Heat 30a as aside from the Bonairean, Bosson was the next highest scoring heat with - 176.9 points.

Adrien Bosson

The top 10 was completed by Taty Frans (Point-7), Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) & Julian Wiemar (Starboard / Severne).

The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the organisers, sponsors and everyone that helped out at the 2019 FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup for making it such a great start to the year - we hope to be back in 2020.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

Having started the season with an explosive installment of Freestyle it is now time for the Men’s and Women’s Slalom fleet to take centre stage for the first time this season. Where? The South of France for a new addition to the calendar with the Marignane PWA World Cup running between 17th-22nd April.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Bonaire — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

- Facebook:@PWAWorldTourWindsurfing

- Instagram: @pwaworldtour

- Twitter: @pwaworldtour

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Jazzy Zwerus (NED - JP / NeilPryde)

Result FORSA Bonaire PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)

2nd Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)

3rd Julian Mas (FRA - JP / Gun Sails)

4th Yentel Caers (BEL I-99 / Point-7)

5th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails / AL360)

6th Antony Ruenes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)

7th Adrien Bosson (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

7th Davy Scheffers (NED - Tabou / GA Sails)

9th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

9th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)

9th Taty Frans (NB - Point-7)

9th Julian Wiemar (GER - Starboard / Severne)