2024 Gran Canaria GLORIA PWA Windsurfing World Cup Pozo Izquierdo

Sarah-Quita Offringa and Pierre Mortefon dominate the opening day of racing as Slalom X makes its exciting debut on the World Tour

The decision was made early on on Day 5 of the 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup that Slalom X would have the priority today after three solid days of wave competition. Slalom X was making its debut on the World Tour and for the majority it proved to be hugely popular as the world’s best racers got to battle it out on purely fins for the first time in several years, but with the subtle twist that they would be required to jump a hurdle at some stage of the race today. From a viewing perspective the racing looked spectacular with many of the sailors being on their smallest gear to combat the strong winds and water conditions, which saw a mixture or chop, swell and waves to provide a genuine all-round test for the men’s and women’s fleets. At the close of play, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins) both hold healthy leads at the top of the current event rankings.

Slalom X in full flow

Slalom X

Women’s

Supposedly ahead of the start of the Slalom X Sarah-Quita Offringa was considering withdrawing from the racing after being exhausted from three days of competing in the waves. Fortunately, Offringa didn’t follow through with that plan as she produced a flawless display to win all four races today as she made the perfect start to the event. Offringa made relatively easy work of the first two races, but was made to work hard for the next two bullets. In Elimination 3, she hunted down Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) as the Aruban opted to jump the obstacle, which was introduced from the second race onwards, which saw her greatly reduce the French girls lead before picking up the reigns to complete a quite brilliant hat-trick. Offringa could’ve been forgiven for settling for second place in the fourth and final race of the day as Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) held a substantial lead after the opening buoy. However, the Briton opted to head upwind to avoid the jumping obstacle, while Offringa hit the jump head on at full speed to take out a decent chunk of Gibson’s lead. Offringa was then within striking distance of Gibson as they exited the penultimate gybe and the 22-time world champion opted to go low to the last mark, which paid dividends as she gybed first at the last to complete a superb four-timer, which means with the discard coming into play, Offringa finishes the day with a perfect score of 2.1 points and she will be guaranteed to be leading the event rankings after Elimination 5 even if she doesn’t sail.

Sarah-Quita Offringa denies Jenna Gibson to complete a perfect day

Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Patrik Sails) is Offringa’s closest rival at the close of play - trailing by 4.9 points after a very consistent day. The 3-time world champion only finished outside the top 3 once - recording two second places and a third to leave herself prominently places.

Marion Mortefon

Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing) recovered from jumping the gun in the first elimination of the event to finish the opening day ranked in third place after improving in each race from there on in - fifth, third and second, which sees her three points off of Mortefon and 7.9 points off the top of the rankings.

Jenna Gibson

Justine Lemeteyer experienced a slightly topsy turvy day as she recorded results of a second and a fourth together with an eighth and a tenth. Lemeteyer, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Marine Hunter (Quatro / KA Sail) are currently tied on 14-points after the opening four races. Like Lemeteyer, Brødholt had a mixed bag of results - starting with an excellent third and fourth before finishing with a seventh and a tenth, while Hunter was very consistent with a third, a fifth and two sixth places.

Justine Lemeteyer

Elsewhere, Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) recovered from a slow start - eleventh and seventh - with two fourth places in Eliminations 3 and 4 and keep herself in contention for a place on the podium.

Blanca Alabau

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon holds a healthy lead at the top of the event rankings at the end of the opening day of racing after producing a brilliant performance. The 2019 world champion secured the opening bullet of the day before backing it up with two second places as he barely put a foot wrong. The Frenchman consistently looked as though he had another gear up his sleeve if and when required, while he made the hardcore racing conditions look relatively effortless. Mortefon leads the overnight rankings by 8.3 points.

Pierre Mortefon makes a great start

Forget loyal to the foil for a moment and think more about loyal to the fin, which describes Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) perfectly and that paid off handsomely today with the advent of Slalom X. The Dutchman looked extremely quick throughout the day and the 33-year-old enjoyed his best day to date on the PWA World Tour. Daldorf recorded results of a third, a fourth and a sixth to be ranked second in the event rankings at the close of play.

Ingmar Daldorf leads his teammate Malte Reuscher

Another sailor to enjoy their best day to date on the World Tour is Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) as the 22-year-old excelled in the new Slalom X format. The Frenchman, who is currently the youngest sailor ranked in the top 10 is ranked third after qualifying for two winners’ final - where he finished third and fifth - while he finished 10th in the other elimination to cap a solid day.

Benoit Merceur (middle)

Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) is currently tied with Merceur on 14-points, but is ranked fourth on countback, after qualifying for all three winners’ finals today - Mortefon and Daldorf are the only other sailors to be able to boast that record and the 34-year-old will now look to build upon that solid platform for the rest of the event.

Malte Reuscher in the thick of the action

Having being disqualified from the opening two races for premature starts - one in the opening winners’ final and the next in the b-final, Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) did well to fight back to claim third place in Elimination 3, which saw the Italian, who entered the event as one of the favourites for the event, gain five places from 10th to fifth to finish the day.

Matteo Iachino finishes strong

Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) was aggrieved to have missed out on the opening winners’ final of the event after a review of the finish in the opening semifinal saw him demoted to the b-final. However, the Pole bounced back superbly in Elimination 2 to claim his first bullet of the event, which saw him climb into fifth place in the overalls at that stage. However, Rutkowski then missed out on the next winners’ final after getting side-swiped by a wave on the final reach in the semifinals of Elimination 3 when he was in the qualifying positions. Rutkowski would go on to finish 11th in the third elimination to finish the first day of racing ranked in sixth place.

Maciek Rutkowski cranks a gybe

Having been the only racer to have won a race here on the fin last year versus the foils, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) entered the event as one of the favourites. However, the flying Dutchman, and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails), both suffered a serious bout of flu just before the event, so both of them are still trying to recover to full fitness. Having said that, both Vonk and Vrieswijk are still ranked inside the event top 10 - seventh and ninth respectively. Vonk began the event with a bang as he secured second place and looked on course to book his place in the winners’ final of Elimination 3, only to seemingly capitulate about 20 metres before the finish line in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Vrieswijk, who is probably also not at full strength, did well to recover from several dropped gybes to still qualify from several heats where he had seemingly no right to.

Jordy Vonk

Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) looked phenomenally quick the entire day, but only truly managed to use that pace effectively in the last elimination to sign off with a bullet, which sees him ranked eighth at the end of first day of racing. The Italian was one of the many sailors to come a cropper to the jump obstacle in the second race, which led to his elimination when leading the semifinal. However, the obstacle also provided Martini with the opportunity to overtake Mortefon in the last elimination as Mortefon slowed down before the jump, while the Italian powered into it at full speed to gain valuable ground and storm clear to claim a convincing bullet.

Bruno Martini celebrates

The top 10 is currently completed by Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), who is level on 33 points with Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7, while 22-year-old Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails) trails them by just 2.5 points. The young Brit qualified for the second winners’ final where he finished fourth.

Nico Prien

Elsewhere, Lucas Pierboni (FMX Racing / S2Maui) qualified for his first winners’ final in the second elimination on his debut on the World Tour.

The forecast for Thursday has improved slightly with the promise of stronger winds than originally predicted. It now looks as though we will be treated to another day of strong winds, although probably not as strong as today, but still plenty to provide more high octane racing. WindGuru is currently calling for winds of between 16-23 knots. The Slalom fleets will meet again at 10am for their skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11:30am (GMT+1) onwards - depending on conditions.

Forecast for Thursday and Friday

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Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Slalom X

*After 4 Eliminations

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

2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)

3rd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing)

4th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)

5th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne Sails)

Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Slalom X

*After 3 Eliminations

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins)

2nd Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)

3rd Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

4th Malte Reuscher (GER | Tabou / GA Sais)

5th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)

7th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)

8th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)

9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)

10th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Wave

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

2nd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)

3rd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Duotone Windsurfing)

4th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)

5th Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Pauline Katz (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)

2nd Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS)

3rd Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

4th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

5th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde)

7th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN)

8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)

9th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)

9th Leon Jamaer (GER | Flikka / GUNSAILS)

9th Arthur Arutkin (FRA | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Boy’s U21 Wave

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

2nd Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Gregory Stathopoulos (GRE | Goya Windsurfing)

4th Samuele Ferraro (ITA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)

Birthday girl Sarah-Quita Offringa and Pierre Mortefon extend their respective leads after another solid day of Slalom X

Slalom X continued on the sixth day of the 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup as a further three eliminations for both the men’s and women’s fleets were completed in 30 knots of breeze and treacherous water conditions. After the introduction of the jump yesterday, today also included another new element with a chicane, which largely split opinion, entering the fray. At the end of the second day of racing, overnight leaders Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails) have both increased their advantages at the top of the rankings.

Slalom X in Pozo

Slalom X

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa held a 5.9 point advantage at the start of proceedings and after another three eliminations were completed today, the Aruban has extended her lead to a commanding 11.5 points. Offringa didn’t have the best start to the day after being disqualified for a premature start in the opening race - Elimination 5 - but recovered with a a second place in the next before signing off with a brilliant bullet to end her Birthday on a high after hunting down Jenna Gibson (Duotone Windsurfing). Offringa has been in dominant form thus far - winning 5 out of the 7 races - and looks as though she will be mightily difficult to stop.

Sarah-Quita Offringa airborne

Jenna Gibson leapfrogs Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Patrik Sails) into second place - gaining one place from the overnight rankings on countback. Both women are currently tied on 14 points, but Gibson is ahead by the narrowest of margins having beaten Mortefon on more occasions in the first seven races. Gibson recorded two second places and a sixth today, the latter she discards. Meanwhile, Mortefon didn’t enjoy her best day on the water today, yesterday, the former world champion only finished outside the top three once, whereas today she only secured one top three finish.

Jenna Gibson

Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails) will remember today for a long time after the 24-year-old secured her maiden bullet on the World Tour in Elimination 6. van der Veen enjoyed a terrific day on the water overall as she also recorded a third and a fourth to jump from eight to fourth by the end of the day.

Femke van der Veen

Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) slips from fourth to fifth in the overalls despite winning Elimination 6, which she was clearly pumped about - letting out a huge roar as she crossed the line. Unfortunately, after winning that race, the vice-world champion then marginally mistimed her start in the last race of the day to finish last.

Justine Lemeteyer

Men’s

Overnight event leader Pierre Mortefon enjoyed another great day on the water as he recorded a bullet, a second and a third to cement his place at the top of the event rankings. Elimination 4, was the first and only time the 2019 world champion has finished outside the top three and he currently holds a 10 point advantage at the top of the rankings - while he currently discards a third, such has been his phenomenal level of consistency thus far. Things could’ve been even better for Mortefon as he was miles ahead in the last race of the day, only to be caught by Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) at the chicane when he unfortunately found himself in a patch of lighter wind and failed to get away cleanly.

Pierre Mortefon

That small twist may seem insignifant at the moment, but it could yet still prove pivotal in the outcome of the event as Rutkowski has emerged as Mortefon’s main threat for the event title. The Pole made a few mistakes on the opening day of racing, but bounced back superbly today with results of a first, a second and a third to keep himself within striking distance. On paper, there is a 10-point gap between Rutkowski and Mortefon, however, after the completion of the next race, the second discard comes into play, which could potentially allow Rutkowski to drop an 11th place result.

As things stand, after the completion of the next elimination, the worst total Mortefon can be on is 7.4 points, but if Rutkowski was able to win the next race he would be on 7.1 points, so the next race is critical. Of course Mortefon has the luxury of being able to afford two poor results, which looks highly unlikely given his current level of performance, as he would simply discard them, whereas a poor result for Rutkowski would almost all but end his challenge for the event title.

Maciek Rutkowski

Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) currently completes the top three after another solid day on the water. The Dutchman is now the only other sailor to have qualified for every winners’ final aside from Mortefon as he continues to enjoy his best date to date. Daldorf started the day with two fourth places before finishing eighth in the half fleet elimination - which he currently discards - to keep himself firmly in contention for a maiden podium on the World Tour.

Ingmar Daldorf

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) started the day in fifth place and his day really couldn’t have started any better as he secured his first bullet of the event in Elimination 4 before backing that up with a solid second place in the next to climb into second, at that stage, in the event rankings. However, after his third premature start in seven eliminations, which is very unlike the Italian, the reigning slalom world champion now faces a mountain to climb if he still wants to battle for the event title as he basically cannot afford another error. In reality he can’t afford to finish outside the top two if he wants to contend. Iachino still gains a place from the overnight rankings - moving into fourth and is still only 1.7 points off of Daldorf in third, but he will be ruing that latest over early.

Matteo Iachino

Twenty-two year-old Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) enjoyed another extremely consistent day on the water with two fifth places and a sixth, but due to how other results unfolded he slides two places to fifth. However, he is still only three points outside the podium positions.

Benoit Merceur

Considering how much Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) is battling his physical condition having been extremely ill before the start of the event, the flying Dutchman still finds himself ranked sixth at the close of proceedings, which is quite remarkable really. Vonk recorded a third, an eighth and a tenth today, but is clearly gutted to have gotten so sick just before the event as he would’ve been so desperately looking forward to a fin only event. Vonk has often been competing for first place down the opening reach before sometimes running out of power by the end of these extended courses.

Jordy Vonk

Having signed off yesterday with a bullet, it felt like Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) might have found his form, but things didn’t quite click today as the Italian, who is visibly one of the quickest sailors on the water, had to settle for a slightly disappointing fifth, an eight and a twelfth, which leaves the Italian ranked seventh.

Bruno Martini

Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) breaks into the top 10 - eighth - by the close of play after recording sequentially better results today - an eighth, a seventh and a fourth, which is his best result of the event thus far. Frans will now look to build upon that solid platform by maintaining that progressive performance.

Taty Frans

Having qualified for all three winners’ finals yesterday, Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) couldn’t quite maintain that bright beginning. After such a bright start yesterday, the 34-year-old started the day level on points with third place - 18 - but after a quarterfinal exit to start the day, Reuscher then missed out on a place in the next winners’ final as well to unfortunately slide down the rankings - finishing the day ranked in ninth.

Malte Reuscher

Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) started the day in 10th place and he finishes the day in 10th place, but the German did sign off with his best result thus far - 6th - in Elimination 6.

Nico Prien

Fortunately the last few days of the forecast look like they will be Pozo windy rather then the lighter winds that were originally predicted earlier in the week, which should hopefully provide a naturally high octane finale to the '24 edition of the Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup. The skippers' meeting for tomorrow has been called for 09:30am (GMT+1), which gives a first possible start for Wave at 10am and 11am for the Slalom X.

The forecast for the last few days

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

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

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Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Slalom X

*After 7 Eliminations (Two Discards)

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

2nd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Duotone Windsurfing)

3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)

4th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)

5th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)

Current Ranking 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Slalom X

*After 6 Eliminations (One Discard)

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails)

2nd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | NeilPryde)

3rd Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)

4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

5th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

6th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)

7th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)

8th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)

9th Malte Reuscher (GER | Tabou / GA Sais)

10th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Wave

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

2nd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)

3rd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Duotone Windsurfing)

4th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)

5th Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Pauline Katz (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)

2nd Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS)

3rd Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

4th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

5th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde)

7th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN)

8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)

9th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)

9th Leon Jamaer (GER | Flikka / GUNSAILS)

9th Arthur Arutkin (FRA | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Boy’s U21 Wave

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

2nd Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Gregory Stathopoulos (GRE | Goya Windsurfing)

4th Samuele Ferraro (ITA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)