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FUERTEVENTURA FREESTYLE: SOTAVENTO SHOWDOWN

20/12/2024
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FUERTEVENTURA FREESTYLE: SOTAVENTO SHOWDOWN

 

Sotavento provided the world’s best Freestylers with the ultimate all-round test as they had to deal with anywhere from relatively light 20 knot winds to howling 40 knot offshore winds in their opening event of the year. We hear from the men’s and women’s top three.

Words: Sarah-Quita Offringa, Lennart Neubauer, Oda Brødholt, Adrien Bosson, Yentel Caers and Maaike Huvermann.

Photos: Carter / pwaworldtour.com

SARAH-QUITA OFFRINGA – 1ST – FREESTYLE WORLD TITLE NO.15

The title tally is up to twenty-four in total and fifteen for Freestyle. I have won fifteen in a row now! This year’s competition was nerve racking actually. I think because I am also competing in waves and slalom. In freestyle the heats are very intense as in just eight minutes you have to perform between six to fourteen moves. I felt like I was not in the right mental state for freestyle. We started with the women on the first day, which caught us off guard. I usually take my time in the morning watching the heats and get mentally prepared and now we had to just jump straight in. I was very nervous in the single. In the first two heats I actually sailed quite well, but then in the final I dropped the ball. I still won it by 0.4 of a point against Oda, but I think I got a bit lucky there.

For the double I was still nervous. It was a bit of a new feeling for me this year as I felt the pressure and I never managed to shake the nerves off. I didn’t really mind the light conditions, but it meant we had to revert back to basics rather than being able to perform the high-level moves. It wasn’t my highest level, but it was good enough for me to win the title, which is what matters in the end.

LENNART NEUBAUER – 1ST – BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES

I felt in a very similar mindset to when I won in Sylt last year. In Germany I felt very relaxed in the heats and zero pressure. I would say I was just as comfortable in Fuerteventura towards the last heats. I just tried to stay calm. I was very happy with the way I handled this kind of pressure. I did have some mental training with Red Bull when I was injured and it is all about staying in the moment and that is why I was taking my hand off the boom here and there and I was really trying to force myself to relax. I was sailing along and looking around at the scenery and up at the sky. I was trying to enjoy my time on the water and not make it feel like a final. I think that is what made me win in the end. All the pressure was released. I was just staying calm because I knew my training was solid and my level was there. It was about being mentally ready and performing when I needed to.

In the heat before the final, I took a 5.2m sail against Yentel [Caers] and I felt I had an advantage as he only had a 4.8m. In my mind, I felt the more the wind would drop, the more of an advantage I would have, but even if the wind had have been strong, I still felt very confident and composed. Whatever conditions we would get it was equal for everyone. I then beat Adrien [Bosson] twice to take the event win and that was an amazing feeling.

My injury is now behind me. I have completely forgotten about it and my knee does not affect my performance on the water at all anymore. I would not be here on top if I had not been injured though. It sounds ridiculous but I am 99% sure I wouldn’t have won this event without the experience of the injury. There were a lot more positives than negatives that came out of that period.

Going forward, I feel like there is more to come from my level of performance. I am really trying to keep a level head about the momentum right now. I am not getting too upset if I lose, nor too confident if I win. Right now, I am very satisfied with the way everything is going. The level was so high, and it felt good that I beat guys like Yentel and Adrien, who are both amazing sailors, which makes the victory even more satisfying. I’m riding the train and I want to stay on board for as long as I can. I will try and keep this winning rhythm going as long as the universe will allow me to.

ODA BRØDHOLT – 2ND – VICE-WORLD CHAMPION

I had some really good battles with Maaike [Huvermann] in both heats. I felt like I had things under control and I just took it one move at a time. I started training last year in Brazil for this and I also went to Aruba and Dakhla, Morocco. The trip to Dakhla was the game changer. The wind there is so stable. I just had day after day to repeat the moves over and over again. So everything I did in the heats I had really worked on. It felt like I was so familiar with all the moves, which was a game changer. I had a close heat with Sarah-Quita Offringa in the single final. I was surprised it was so close because I felt I had much more to give. I could have landed my tricks cleaner, but the same happened to her and we both could’ve sailed better. My hard work paid off, I guess. In the last final I was on too small of a sail as the wind dropped a lot in the final, but I was so happy just to be in second place already.

ADRIEN BOSSON – 2ND – ANOTHER CLOSE CALL

Once you win the single elimination and then you lose in the double you are always a bit disappointed, but if you’d have offered me second place before the event then I would’ve taken it. I am happy as I didn’t train so much this year as I have been busy with our newborn son and I am also busy with work, so I have less time to train and windsurf. It was a good break in my life to come to Fuerteventura. It has been a good holiday with nice sailing, so it has been a good cocktail for me. I am more comfortable in strong winds than in the light stuff. I was really happy I won the single against Yentel as it was a very close heat. In the double it took me some time to warm up in the light wind against Lennart. The super final was much closer and we had a good battle with only one point in it and I was happy with the way I sailed.

YENTEL CAERS – 3RD – FIGHTING SPIRIT

I am stoked to finish third in Fuerteventura. Everyone was sailing so well and the conditions were tricky in the double elimination. It was a bit lighter wind than we are used to for Fuerte and I prefer the stronger winds, but I still made the podium. The single elimination was held in very strong winds, but I was at the end of the draw, so I missed the best of it, but that’s competition for you. In the double I was on a 4.8m, which is a quite big sail for Fuerteventura. We normally sail with 4.4m or 4m. Lennart was on a 5.2m. He is a bit bigger than me, so it was a fair match up. I will just have to go and train for the next event. I come to events to win so I would rather have sailed in those conditions and lost than to have not sailed at all. I had nothing to lose. The only chance for me to be able to improve my position was to compete, so no matter what the conditions were, I wanted to sail and show what was possible. We were there to compete and I am glad we did, it just wasn’t the usual Fuerte winds we are used to.

MAAIKE HUVERMANN – 3RD – MOTIVATED TO TRAIN HARDER

I was a little bit disappointed with my result. I was hoping to show some different moves, but I am happy for Oda that she took second place. I have been training all year and I was hoping to show some different tricks to what I have done in previous years. I didn’t really get to do that, so I was a bit annoyed. In the single it was windy enough, but it was very offshore and tough to do any of the moves I can do such as the spock culo. I was happy to be in Fuerteventura and it was great to be on the water. Oda has been training really hard, she went to Dakhla before the event, and she was freestyling everyday there. I had a feeling it was going to be a battle. It is cool to see that we are really pushing each other. It is a boost for next year to train harder. It was fun that the level is higher and we are pushing ourselves. We need to step our game up and pull off some bigger moves. Sarah-Quita is not invincible and I think we can beat her somewhere down the line.

 

 

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