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SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: CAFFEINE, COURAGE AND TWEAKED PUSH LOOPS

Sarah-Quita Offringa has won plenty of World Cups, but some victories mean more than others. In Tenerife, she faced wild winds, heavy waves and a final that pushed everyone to their limits…and came out on top. From pre-heat nerves and caffeine-fuelled preparation to a last-minute, fully committed push loop, Sarah-Quita takes us through one of the most memorable days of competition she can remember.

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WINDSURF: So, talk us through the two days of wild competition.

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA:

“I think the first day was quite windy. I ended up sailing my 3.7m and I had my 4.5, 4.2 and 4.0 ready, but in the end I had the 3.7 and 3.3 rigged because the wind picked up a lot.

I only sailed one heat that day, which I think went quite well, although I was quite nervous. I couldn’t really shake the nerves. I was relaxed when I started, but once the heat began, I suddenly got nervous. But I did okay, passed and won the heat but only by 0. something!

I only realised afterwards that the winner of that heat was going straight through to the semi-finals, so that was a nice little bonus to discover afterwards.

Then the next day I arrived at the beach and, first of all, I’d slept badly, so I didn’t exactly have the best start to the day. I was basically feeding myself caffeine!

Then I got to Cabezo and the conditions were so wild. It becomes a bit of a mental challenge because you need to calm yourself down. We’ve seen this kind of wind before in Pozo, so it’s very similar, but here, with the waves, it just looked wilder.

I was watching all the other girls sailing and I could see from their faces that they were a bit nervous and thinking, “Wow, this is rough.” So, I decided not to go out for the early-morning session because I didn’t want to psych myself out too early.

I just waited for the calls. Once they called the competition on, I had my 3.3m and 3.7m ready. About ten minutes before my heat I actually went for a quick run and I was powered, but I just accepted it. I was like, “This is what it is.”

I think my semi-final was the best heat I’ve had in a really long time, in general. I had a few good jumps, but it was particularly the waves. It was just wave after wave and the conditions were incredible.

I think I finished that heat on 27 points and Lena had 25. I really enjoyed that heat because I saw her doing a really big, stalled forward, which made me want to go for the stalled forward as well. So, yeah, I can say I really enjoyed that one.

When I went into the final, I was already pretty exhausted, even though I’d only sailed one heat. I realised just how tense it is sailing in conditions that tough and giving it your all.

Before the heat I was thinking, “Oh, I don’t know if I can do this.” I only went sailing for about 15 minutes beforehand.

Then, in the final, the wind actually dropped a little bit right before my heat. I realised that, so I put a bit less downhaul on my sail. I’m not sure it really helped! I was still on my 3.3m, but it became gustier. When there was less wind, there was just nothing…you were standing there with no wind. It wasn’t consistent.

I had two empty runs on the jumps and then eventually I did a good push loop. But it was a tweaked push loop that was scoring a lot more. I had two okay wave rides, and then Oda was waving to me from the beach to do another jump.

I was trying to calculate whether that was the right thing to do because I knew I’d already done a push loop and a forward. But then I thought, “Okay, I guess I just need another tweaked push loop.”

All the way towards the end of the heat, in the last minute, I finally found a piece of swell. We didn’t have as many opportunities as in the semi-final because the wind was dropping.

Then Justyna was coming my way. I’d specifically asked that morning who had priority in that situation and I knew jumping had priority. So, I think I jumped about a metre upwind of her and just went for it.

I think that was probably the biggest push loop I’ve done here in competition for a while. I kind of stomped it, and yeah, that was it, really.

Coming back to the beach, I was very satisfied with my sailing because that’s been the thing for me in waves. I feel like I’ve been spreading myself too thin across the disciplines and not putting enough time into any one of them.

I feel it most with wave sailing because I’m not always super confident when I compete, especially after Fuerteventura when you’re doing freestyle and when I did slalom.

So, I came back to the beach already quite happy with the heat. Then Oda showed me that I’d won and I couldn’t stop screaming!

I was so excited because I was happy with my sailing, and the girls I was competing against…Lena, Justyna and Alexia…are all incredible sailors. So, yeah, it was really the cherry on top.”

WINDSURF: So… were you feeling much pressure beforehand?

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: “No. Funnily enough, here in Tenerife I don’t feel so much pressure because, statistically, it’s not my best event for some reason, even though I love competing here.

It’s one jump and two wave rides, so I’m actually quite relaxed when I compete here.

It was more the elation of having such crazy conditions, overcoming my fears in those conditions and performing well. It’s not like we just survived, you know…we actually performed.”

WINDSURF: It looked like your board was working really well this year. Is that a new design?

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: “I’m very comfortable on my boards this year. They’re turning much better for me.

But I also took some time off from slalom. I had about ten days in Pozo to sail before coming to this event rather than just one day in between events.

So, I feel like I gave myself some time to get more dialled in with my gear. Even before Pozo I hadn’t really had the chance to do that because we didn’t have much time.

I think I just had more time to prepare.”

WINDSURF: When you came back in after the final did it feel like the pressure had been released?

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: “I wouldn’t say there was pressure. It was just insane excitement. It was such a cool moment and such a cool day to be competing.

Very often we come here and get light-wind days with good waves, but then they only count two wave rides. In Pozo, I finished second and the final was cool, but the conditions were a bit mediocre, so it was a bit boring.

This was just super exciting to compete in.

So, yeah, it was a day for the history books, I think. One of the best days in the Canaries for me, maybe. In Tenerife, definitely one of the best days I’ve had in ten years.

The last time I remember conditions this good was probably around 2015, 2016 or 2017, when we had some really good conditions.”

WINDSURF: Do you read the Windsurf predictions before an event?

WOMEN

1: Sarah-Quita Offringa
2: Alexia Kiefer
3: Lina Erpenstein
Wildcard: Pauline Katz

Sarah-Quita Offringa

We’re backing Sarah-Quita to rediscover her best form in Tenerife.

Daida Moreno was sensational in Gran Canaria but, from what we’ve heard, that will be her only appearance on the 2026 tour. That should ease the pressure slightly, while Sarah-Quita will hopefully have had more time on the water after arriving in Pozo underprepared due to the poor forecast beforehand.

Never write off a 28-time world champion or is it 29 after Fuerteventura??

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: “Yeah, I do. I read the Windsurf predictions all the time because I think they’re quite funny to look at.

But also, I’m very competitive, so if I see a certain prediction I’m like, “Oh, okay… let me see if I can prove it wrong!”

For this event, though, you had me in first, and I was actually doubting it a little bit. I was like, “Hmm, I don’t know…” because statistically this hasn’t been my best event.”

WINDSURF: So we actually gave you a confidence boost?

SARAH QUITA OFFRINGA: “Yeah, maybe! With the girls you almost nailed it…You had Lena and Alexia the wrong way around….right…But you got the men’s top three correct! Solid prediction this time!”

WINDSURF: We’ll take that! We almost had two full houses, so it wasn’t bad. Brilliant. Thanks, Sarah-Quita!