A rollercoaster ride

15/11/2022

You couldn’t have scripted the drama that unfolded on the final day of the 2022 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup as emotions reached boiling point in the race for the World titles. The racing itself took place in 6-12 knots of wind meaning textbook gybes and perfectly timed starts were the order of the day in order to succeed as dropping off the foil would usually lead to elimination.

For the first time this week Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) missed out on a place in the Winners’ Final, which was somewhat of a shock given she had not finished outside the top 3 in the opening 4 eliminations. However, having built a solid 6.6 point lead there was little cause for worry and as soon as it was announced that the racing had officially been called off it was quickly apparent that she was deservedly the 2022 Women’s PWA Slalom World Champion. Mortefon has performed on a different level to everyone else this week and a second world title is her just reward. Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui / LOKEFOIL) made an extremely impressive debut on the full PWA World Tour, which saw her qualify for every Winners’ Final, whilst not finishing worse than fifth once. That level of consistency deservedly sees her crowned the vice-world champion and she is certainly one to watch closely in the coming seasons. Delphine Cousin Questel (FMX Racing / S2Maui) claimed the closing bullet of the week, which proved to be crucial in deciding the final position on the prestigious overall podium. The 5-time world champion started the day in 6th place, but with that bullet she leapfrogs Ma Kwan Ching, Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Helle Oppedal (Starboard / Severne Sails) to complete an all French overall top 3, whilst Oppedal agonisingly misses out by just 0.6 of a point.

The race for the Men’s World title took an unbelievable twist as Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) was eliminated in the quarter finals after hitting a plastic bag when prominently placed on the opening reach of Heat 9. Rutkowski was left understandably livid and heartbroken as it appeared that his world title aspirations were now in tatters, whilst it potentially opened up the draw for Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails), Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) depending on how results unfolded.
After a few quick calculations it soon became apparent that Rutkowski was still in with a great chance of becoming World Champion, the only difference now being that he would be totally powerless in having a say on the outcome, so he would have to agonisingly watch from the beach and pray that results fell in his favour. Rutkowski just missed out on the event title in Sylt after being pipped to the top spot on the podium by - Amado Vrieswijk - and it looked as though history may repeat itself in a horrible turn of events. With Rutkowski’s main rival for the title - Matteo Iachino - safely qualifying for the Winners’ Final the world title would all come down to that one heat, and with it now mathematically impossible for Iachino to finish worse than third it would be a straight fight between them. However, it would still be a tall order for Iachino to come out on top as the Italian either needed to beat Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) by at least two places, so that he would move into second place and pip Rutkowski to the title. The only other hope for Iachino was for Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7) to finish in the top 3, which would’ve seen the Dane leapfrog Rutkowski and deny him the title. In the end, things didn’t quite go Iachino’s way in the final with the 2016 World Champion ‘only’ finishing 5th, but Rutkowski was still made to sweat it out as Johan Soe chased Mateus Isaac (Severne / Severne Sails) down the final straight hunting for the third place which would derail Rutkowski’s dream, whilst making Iachino’s. Isaac would hold on though and Rutkowski could finally breathe a huge sigh of relief after surviving an almost unbearable rollercoaster ride as he was officially crowned the 2022 Men’s PWA Slalom World Champion for the first time in his career! Ironically Isaac inadvertently denied his teammate the world title, whilst if the standings between Isaac and Soe were reversed, it would have Soe denying his teammate. The loss will obviously hurt Iachino, who also came agonisingly close to a second world crown in 2019, but you can expect to see him challenging for top honours again next season.

Away from the world title race, there was a separate, equally exciting battle for the event title between Enrico Marotti and Nicolas Goyard. Before the final there was just 0.7 of a point between them, so it would be a straight fight between the two top ranked sailors and the final certainly didn’t disappoint as they went rail-to-rail in a classic race. Marotti did brilliantly to hold his nerve under intense pressure as the Croat signed off the event in style by claiming his second bullet of the week, but more importantly it secured him his maiden victory on the World Tour, which sees him ranked third in the overall rankings. Goyard walks away from the event in second place, whilst Iachino completes the overall podium.
Today also marks the end of a legendary career for the one and only Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), who brings down the curtain on a career spanning 3 decades. Albeau goes down in history as one of the greatest windsurfers in history - having won 25 world titles across multiple disciplines, whilst he still remains the fastest windsurfer on the planet with his world record. From everyone at the PWA we would like to wish Antoine all the best for the future and congratulate him on an unbelievable career.