Wenn es um den „Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup“ geht, sind wir mittlerweile alle bestens mit den Dramen vertraut, die er nur allzu oft bereithält, und tatsächlich erwies sich der letzte Tag der Ausgabe 2026 als nahezu unfassbar. Die Wendungen, die sich heute ereigneten, waren völlig unvorhersehbar, und was für den einen Fahrer eine Qual war, war für den anderen ein Gewinn.
Women’s
Lina Eržen (Starboard / S2Maui) made the perfect start to the final day as she rattled off a clinical bullet to climb into the event lead after the completion of Elimination 2. At that stage just one point separated first to third after Justine Lemeteyer (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System) bounced back from a fourth place in the opener yesterday with a second, while Blanca Alabau (WeOne / Severne Sails), who led the event at the start of the day, had to settle for a disappointing sixth place, but was still firmly in contention.
The title race then took a dramatic turn as Eržen, who looked so lethal in Elimination 2, missed out on a place in the Winners’ Final of the next race after catapulting on the opening reach in the semifinals to suffer a severe dent to her world title aspirations.
In the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3, Lemeteyer and Tuva Oppedal enjoyed a thrilling tussle, which came down to the wire. In the end it was Oppedal who would snatch the victory in a photo finish to also stake her claim for the world title heading into the fourth and final race.
Heading into the last race Lemeteyer held a 2.7 point lead over Oppedal, but with the discard coming into play there was still a handful of sailors who had a shot at the event and world title depending on how results played out.
Fine Margins
Eržen did all that she could possibly do in her bid to become world champion
for the first time in her career as the 21-year-old led from start to finish to
claim her second bullet in four races. But behind her was where the real story
was that had huge title implications. Oppedal T held second place as they
rounded the last mark, meaning that if things stayed as they were, Eržen would
become world champion. However, Lemeteyer had other plans and the reigning
world champion produced a superb last reach to snatch second place and with it
the world title - her third Foil Slalom world crown in a row - to deny Eržen.
In the end just 0.4 of a point separated Lemeteyer and Eržen, such was the
closeness at the top.
Meanwhile, Tuba Oppedal completes the overall podium, while showing that she’ll be a real threat moving forwards if she chooses to compete on the World Tour again. Her sister, Helle Oppedal (Starboard / AEON Foil System), finishes just behind in fourth, while Blanca Alabau completes the top five. After such a great start yesterday - second - Mae Davico (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System) has to settle for sixth.
Men’s
If the battle for the Women’s world title was dramatic, the fight for the Men’s virtually couldn’t have been scripted such were the twists and turns throughout the day.
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils) started the day ahead in the fight for the world title on countback against Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde), so when the Italian endured a huge catapult in the semifinal of Elimination 2 it looked as though the world title race had swung massively in the Bonairean’s favour. Especially with Vrieswijk securing a solid second place, while probably fighting every bone in his body to just settle for second and not push Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System) for the bullet - with the German bouncing back brilliantly after a quarterfinal exit yesterday.
Iachino would go on to finish tenth in Elimination 2, which saw him drop to fifth in the event rankings and trail Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / North Sails) in second by six points, while he trailed Bruno Martini (WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils) by three points in third. For Iachino to have any chance of the world title he would need to find a way of breaking into the top three - and if he were to finish third he would be required to win the last elimination to level Vrieswijk on three bullets apiece for the season and then take the title on countback (Iachino: 4x second places versus 3x second place for Vrieswijk).
This is the point at which things become a bit crazy as Vrieswijk, Mortefon, Iachino and Martini all qualified for the top eight - meaning that Mortefon would need to finish outside the top six in order for Vrieswijk to be denied a maiden racing world title. On any given day - with no meant disrespect to the other sailors involved in the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3 - you would bet your life that Mortefon would finish in the top six, such has been the Frenchman’s consistency over the years.
However, the unthinkable then happened with Mortefon and Vrieswijk having a coming together before the start line, and inadvertently taking each other out. This didn’t change the requirements for Iachino - a win and a win only - but it did massively affect Vrieswijk’s chances. Not only did the former Freestyle world champion now no longer have fate in his own hands, the very person he needed to be in the top six was also out of contention with both salvaging broken equipment.
Vrieswijk had looked phenomenally quick throughout, and he’s the kind of sailor that will take a loss on his chin if he’s made a mistake, but not to have had the chance to control his own destiny will hurt. Even more so, when the only combination of results played out - Iachino winning and Mortefon being out of the top six. This will be a bitter pill for Vrieswijk to swallow, despite his generally laid back attitude, as you can’t really come any closer to winning a world title, without actually winning it.
For Iachino, you have to take your hat-off. The 37-year-old could’ve easily thrown in the towel and thought he was totally out of it - particularly after being placed in around 7th during the B-Final of Elimination 2, before hauling himself back into second (10th for that race). If he’d have finished in third the results would’ve been reversed, such are the very fine margins at the very top of the sport.
So in the end, Iachino walks away with his sixth world title overall, and second this year, while Vrieswijk finishes as vice-world champion - yet another close call in his career between Freestyle and racing world titles.
For Mortefon, it’ll also be a sucker punch, as he too misses out on not only the event podium, but also the overall top three too, but I think the one thing you would say is that Mortefon is one of the fairest racers out there and there was absolutely no malice in how things prevailed.
After such a dramatic final day, we will take a full look at the overall standings in the Event Summary, but a huge shoutout must also go to Bruno Martini (WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils), who claimed second here to finish on the overall podium for the first time in his career.
What a way to end the season. Japan sure has a habit of delivering drama of the highest calibre.
You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Japan — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Result 2026 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Foil Slalom
1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON
Foil System)
2nd Lina Eržen (SLO | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Tuva Oppedal (NOR)
4th Helle Oppedal (NOR | Starboard / AEON Foil System)
5th Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
Overall Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Women’s Foil Slalom
1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON
Foil System)
2nd Lina Eržen (SLO | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Tuva Oppedal (NOR)
4th Helle Oppedal (NOR | Starboard / AEON Foil System)
5th Blanca Alabau (ESP | WeOne / Severne Sails)
Result 2026 Fly! ANA Yokosuka, Miura Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Foil Slalom
1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z
Foils)
2nd Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde)
4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)
5th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
6th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)
6th Sem Stroosma (NED)
8th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
9th Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)10th
Noah Vinther (NOR | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)
Overall Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Men’s Foil Slalom
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde)
2nd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils)
3rd Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)
4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)
5th Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
6th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
8th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)
9th Sem Stroosma (NED)
10th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils)
10th Noah Vinther (NOR | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)