Hat-trick for Offringa and Goyard

29/07/2023

In increasingly difficult conditions as the day progressed, the Fuerteventura Windsurf World Cup in Sotavento enabled new races to be completed on Friday, 3 of them won by Sarah-Quita Offringa in the women's category and Nicolas Goyard in the men's category.
14 to 18 knots at the start of the day, more than 30 knots at the height of the day, the spot still as technical as ever, the competitors in this Fuerteventura Windsurf World Cup were not spared on this 2nd day of racing, with often heavy falls, a lot of broken equipment and collateral damage, but fortunately, no injuries to report!

After a difficult start on Thursday, Frenchman Nicolas Goyard showed the full extent of his talent with an impressive hat-trick. This performance enabled him to take 1st place in the overall standings. After starting the day in 7th position, F-465 quickly took the lead with a series of clear-cut victories. Despite his supremacy, Goyard can't afford to relax, as Denmark's Johan Soe is just 0.9 points behind him. "The Beast", as he's known, took two 4th places and one 2nd place, moving up to 2nd place in the standings. Amado Vrieswijk, 3rd overall, remains a serious threat for victory should the leaders make any mistakes, while Maciek Rutkowski holds on to 4th place. Among the day's sensations was the fine comeback of Italian Bruno Martini, who moved up from 13th to 6th place with a series of fine performances in an "all or nothing" sailing style. Having qualified for all the finals so far, Pierre Mortefon is just short of a podium place... Winner at Pozo Izquierdo 2 weeks earlier, Enrico Marotti has suffered a series of equipment failures and has been involved in several major crashes, which have earned him a modest 13th place for the moment...

In the women's race, Sarah-Quita Offringa caused a sensation on Friday, recovering brilliantly from a costly error in elimination 6. Just as she was about to cross the finish line, a spin out a few meters from the line sent her to the wrong side of the buoy, relegating her to 11th place! Despite this incident, Offringa's determination was far from dented - on the contrary. ARU-91 followed this up with a string of victories to complete her second hat-trick. This impressive performance enabled her to take control of the competition, winning 6 of the 9 eliminations so far. Reigning World Champion Marion Mortefon's consistency on Friday was rewarded with 2nd place overall. She is followed by the other French rider, Justine Lemeteyer, who won her 1st race of the week in Sotavento earlier in the day. Current leader and the rare competitor to sail exclusively with foil, Spain's Blanca Alabau got off to a bad start with disqualification in elimination 5 for dangerous sailing, following an incident involving England's Jenna Gibson. E-3 bounced back well with 2nd and 3rd places, remaining 4th overall.
Saturday sees the 3rd of 5 days of the Fuerteventura Windsurf World Cup, with the weather forecast to be lighter and the rankings still subject to change...