Da am vierten Tag des PWA Grand Slam 2026 auf Fuerteventura maximal fünf Läufe gesegelt werden mussten, um den Freestyle-Wettbewerb der Frauen abzuschließen, trafen sich die Fahrerinnen etwas später als üblich – um 12 Uhr –, bevor der Finaltag in Gang kam. Die heutigen Bedingungen waren nichts für schwache Nerven: Es gab noch reichlich Wellengang vom Vortag und Windböen von weit über 35 Knoten stellten den Mut der Frauen auf eine harte Probe – die sie jedoch mit Bravour bestanden. Da ein Weltmeistertitel auf dem Spiel stand, erreichten Spannung und Emotionen ihren Höhepunkt, doch am Ende konnte es nur eine Siegerin geben…
Freestyle
Women’s
Day four started with Maaike Huvermann (Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) bidding to write her name into the windsurfing history books as she attempted to become Freestyle world champion for the first time in her career. On day two, Huvermann took a huge step towards achieving that goal by winning the Single Elimination to enter uncharted territory.
However, today was never going to be easy when you have a 17-time Freestyle world champion hunting you in the shape of Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who was looking to keep her unbeaten run here - which stretches back to 2008 - going, while also aiming to win an 18th Freestyle crown.
Offringa successfully set up a rematch of the Single Elimination Final after defeating Lisa Kloster (Starboard) in Round Five and then produced a polished display under pressure to force the Super Final in a one heat takes all decider, so the tension on the beach was palpable.
Meanwhile with winds gusting well over 35 knots, it was a real battlefield out on the water. It may sound a little strange to say as as windsurfers most of us love strong winds, but if anything the wind was a little bit too strong today, which meant it was more of a battle of survival at times, rather than being able to truly showcase the absolute best moves.
In the end, it was Offringa who was able to manage the extreme conditions slightly better as the Aruban once again proved why she is an elite athlete - not only in terms of performance, but mentally too - as she landed a variety of power moves to deny Huvermann a maiden world title, while deservedly getting her hands on world title No.29 and counting. This one might feel all the sweeter to Offringa after having to do things the hard way by beating Huvermann twice.
Sarah-Quita Offringa immediately after coming off the water: “Oh my god! That’s so crazy, I didn't even think about that [World title No.29]! It was just about getting through the Double Elimination and seeing if I could challenge Maaike… I can't believe that I'm standing here now. I wasn't sure it was going to go my way.
It feels really, really incredible. It's nice when you get challenged so hard. The level of all the girls is going super high up, so I had to give my best to rise up to the challenge.”
This will obviously be a heartbreaking defeat for Huvermann to digest after investing so much time and energy into her latest bid, but she should take great heart and immense pride in the fact that she managed to achieve what no one else had managed to do against Offringa here in almost two decades. Although it wasn’t her ultimate goal, the 28-year-old still claims another vice-world champion title.
Lisa Kloster sailed well against Sandra Schill to successfully defend her third place from the Single Elimination, which means the German finishes third overall in the world for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, Schill finishes in fourth on her debut on the World Tour one place ahead of Helena Lale (Severne Windsurfing), who completes the top five.
With the official Freestyle competition now complete, attention will now begin to turn towards the start of the Men’s and Women’s Slalom X, which begins on Wednesday 22nd July. Tuesday will see the official prize giving ceremony held at 12pm.
Result 2026 PWA World Tour - Women’s Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lisa Kloster (GER | Starboard)
4th Sandra Schill (GER)
5th Helena Lale (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
Result 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Women’s Freestyle
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Severne Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lisa Kloster (GER | Starboard)
4th Sandra Schill (GER)
5th Helena Lale (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
Result 2026 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
4th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)
5th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)
6th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
7th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
9th Bodhi Kempen (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)
9th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)