Taking centre stage for the first five days of competition, the 50 strong men’s and 15 strong women’s race fleets hit the water to kick-start the final event on the Canaries leg of the PWA World Tour.

Hosting the action was the world famous Rene Egli Windsurfing Centre, which sits in prime position just a stones throw from the waters edge. The idyllic location, with its white sands and azure backdrop proudly boasts a wealth of heritage, being one of the most enduring fixtures on the PWA world tour, with a history of epic contests stretching back over more than twenty years.

Women’s Races 13 & 14 : Valerie Ghibaudo fought to claim second place in the first race, doing enough to seal her the event victory. Karin Jaggi added a fifth race win to her impressive tally, making her untouchable in second place overall, and Sarah Hebert (Starboard, Naish) cruised across the line in third, edging her up the overall scores. Moving into the final race of the event for the women, Nagoshi and Korzitz were locked in a battle for third position overall. Aiding Nagoshi, Korzitz took a fall rounding the third mark, meaning Nagoshi just had to stay upright and hold onto her third place in the race to beat Korzitz in the overall rankings. On the finish line, Ghibaudo won in true style, with Jaggi in second, and Nagoshi holding on to take third. Nagoshi’s podium finish is all the more impressive considering she was competing on borrowed equipment right the way down to her fin bolts.

 Women’s Slalom Event Winner, Valerie Ghibaudo : “For my sponsors, I really wanted to do well here, so I feel superb. It’s fantastic to come first. I had some really close runs with Karin Jaggi, and conditions were really difficult all five days, so it hasn’t been easy. It’s still sinking in that I’ve actually won, I just hope I can sail like this at the next event in Alaçati !”

Men’s Race 13 & 14 : Albeau, the consummate professional, continued to dig his teeth in and sail to yet another victory in race 13, when he could have sat back and reveled in his glory. And, crucially, Dunkerbeck, who finished in sixth, had done enough to cement himself into second position overall for the event. Meanwhile, more solid sailing from Van Der Steen earned him second, and Volwater found his feet in third. Van Der Steen’s result meant he was in contention for third place overall, but rivals Williams and Pritchard had also done enough to be knocking on the podium’s door. Therefore, positions three, four, and five would all be settled in the event’s final nail biting race.

First to falter in the pressure cooker like final race was Williams, who failed to make the winners final, and subsequently took 5th position overall for the event. Entering the winner’s final, Albeau threw caution to the wind and disappeared down the first reach after a perfectly timed start. He wouldn’t be seen again, winning the last race of the event in style with a mammoth jump over the finish line. A crash from Angulo caused havoc at mark two, allowing Pritchard to sneak through the pack and sail into third behind Volwater, it was enough for him to claim third place overall. Van Der Steen also took a fall ending in ninth, and thus fourth place overall.

 Men’s Slalom Event Winner, Antoine Albeau : “I started the event really well with three firsts, but I was taking a lot of risks to win. After that I dropped down a bit to stay safe. I didn’t want to go over early or make stupid mistakes, just be consistent. I think I did a good job, and today after the first race I knew I’d won the event, so I went full on. I could have stopped, but I just had to win those last two races, and I did. I’m really happy now !”

The 2008 PWA Fuerteventura Grand Slam Men’s Slalom Results :

 1st Antoine Albeau
 2^nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck
 3rd Kevin Pritchard
 4th Ben Van Der Steen
 5th Ross Williams

The Season as it stands :

 1st Antoine Albeau
 2^nd Kevin Pritchard
 3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck
 4th Cyril Moussilmani
 5th Peter Volwater

The 2008 PWA Fuerteventura Grand Slam Women’s Slalom Results :

 1st Valerie Ghibaudo
 2^nd Karin Jaggi
 3rd Junk Nagoshi
 4th Lee Korzitz
 5th Sarah-Quita Offringa

The Season as it stands :

 1st Karin Jaggi
 2^nd Lee Korzitz
 3rd = Iballa Moreno
 3rd = Valerie Ghibaudo
 5th Alice Arutkin

Moving over to freestyle for the second half of event, and the Fuerteventura wind machine went into overdrive, churning out 35 knots of breeze and a building groundswell.

Men’s Final Elimination : High caliber moves provided an action packed backdrop to the final elimination of the competition. Advancing through to the semi finals, Estredo challenged Campello, and Frans squared up against Browne in a clash that would decide who would advance into the final.

After a tense few minutes in the judging tower, the winners were announced. Browne and Estredo ploughed on through to the final, leaving Campello and Frans to duel in the losers final.

Fighting for third position, Campello threw everything he had at Frans, including a backloop, and a pushloop. Calm and collected, Frans bided his time and was eventually rewarded with a steep ramp to throw a towering air chachoo. This, combined with some polished sliding moves on the inside, was eventually enough to defeat Campello, who’d lost his rhythm from previous days.

In the winners final, Browne sailed a solid heat, but had nothing on rival Estredo. More determined that ever, the Venezuelan threw down the biggest, and without a doubt, the best air chachoo seen all competition. Also landing a spock 900, a sky-high air flaka and a pushloop, Browne was eventually condemned to second position.

In the double elimination, Thode looked threatening after advancing through 4 tough heats, but was stopped by a devastating performance from Tonky Frans, leaving Frans to challenge Browne, just one step away from the final.

The heat was off the scale, as the fiercely competitive duo threw all they had at each other. Frans’ downfall would come when his concentration lapsed, and he left his score sheet one move short. The error was punished by Browne, who progressed to line up against Estredo in the decisive last heat of the day.

Final time, and Estredo drew the first blood with a towering air flaka, accompanied by a colossal air chachoo. Browne didn’t let Estredo’s aerial antics distract him, throwing down an assertive mix of an air chachoo, a misty flip, and a burner. Defiant Estredo shunned Brown’s attack, nailing a perfectly rotated air funnel 540, alongside a mix of freestyles most explosive moves.

A spate of falls from Browne towards the end of the heat proved to be critical. All too aware of the implications, Browne left the water with his head down. Estredo knew he’d done enough to win the heat, and claim second place overall for the event. Despite Browne’s loss, he still topped the event standings, and sits second overall for the 2008 season.

Women’s Final Elimination : Offringa was on her usual dominant form, advancing all the way to the final, alongside Treboux. Continuing her assault by landing an air flaka and a ponch, Treboux had to dig deep to reply, but some costly crashes haunted her score sheet, meaning she’d have to make do with second in the single elimination.

In the double elimination, Daida Moreno climbed the ranks, defeating Treboux to eventually face Offringa in the final. Treboux’s performance had earned her third place for the event, and sneaked her ahead of rival Nagoshi in the 2008 ranking, to a podium finish in third.

Regardless of the outcome in the final, Offringa and Moreno had done enough to secure first and second position respectively, meaning the ensuing bout was going to be a battle of pride alone.

Hungry to continue her unbeaten run, Offringa launched into her usual assault of funnels, switch chachoos and air flakas. Opting for higher aerial moves, Moreno threw forward loops on both tacks, and her usual slick goiter on the inside. Despite a spirited performance from Moreno, she failed to match Offringa’s depth and technicality.

Maintaining her perfect run of first place finishes ; Offringa added one more victory to her tally, extending her unprecedented run for the 2008 season, and making her World Title taste that much sweeter.

The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Men’s Freestyle Results :

 1st Marcilio Browne
 2^nd Jose Estredo
 3rd Ricardo Campello
 4th Tonky Frans
 5th Kiri Thode

Overall Men’s Results for the 2008 season so far :

 1st Jose Estredo
 2^nd Marcilio Browne
 3rd Ricardo Campello
 4th Tonky Frans
 5th Kiri Thode

The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam Women’s Freestyle Results :

 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa
 2^nd Daida Moreno
 3rd Laure Treboux
 4th Yolanda De Brendt
 5th Junko Nagoshi

Overall Women’s Freestyle Results :

 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa
 2^nd Daida Moreno
 3rd Laure Treboux
 4th Junko Nagoshi
 5th Iballa Moreno

The tour now heads back to the Mediterranean for a slalom extravaganza in Alaçati, Turkey from August 11th through 16th.

Press info PWA / Andrew Buchanan