Sarah-Quita Offringa emerged as the dominant force, taking home the event win.
Situated on the east coast of Central Lanzarote, the popular tourist resort of Costa Teguise played host to the first outing of the year for women’s freestyle fleet.
The area is famed for its superbly consistent trade winds that blow throughout the summer months, and this event was no exception. From the outset, howling wind battered the shoreline, providing perfect conditions for a six-day long freestyle standoff.
Sarah Quita/photo PWA Carter
Day 1
In the women’s fleet, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) emerged as the person to beat, and challenging her in the final was Daida Moreno (North Sails). Moreno fought hard, but when push came to shove, failed to match Offringa’s technical, and tactically brilliant routine, leaving Offringa to take victory.
Quita, Treboux and Moreno/photo PWA Carter
Day 2
In the women’s fleet, Japan’s Junko Nagoshi (Simmer, Dakine) pieced together two crippling heats, defeating Yolanda Freites De Brendt (Fanatic, North Sails) and Silvia Alba Orozco (MFC) to advance her into the final stages of the women’s elimination. Having found her form she posed a considerable threat to day one’s fourth place finisher, Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails).
Treboux had her work cut out to match Nagoshi’s slick clue first punetas, and had to delve deep into her bag of tricks to eventually defeat her rival with some super technical switch moves in the testing conditions.
Advancing into the final, Treboux stood to challenge Offringa’s dominance. Defiant, Offringa dealt out a hefty dose of super technical moves that took their toll on Treboux’s defenses, opening the door for her to secure victory in the first double elimination. Treboux took second, Daida Moreno third, and Iballa Moreno fourth.
Day 3
With a full double elimination in the bag, the Lanzarote wind machine was once again turned to full power to deliver another successfully completed single elimination on day three.
In the women’s division, the final was to be a rematch of the previous days double elimination final between Offringa and Treboux. From the outset, Offringa seemed to raise her game to a whole new level, with a run that included; a shaka, air flaka, eslider, funnel and a grubby diablo to name but a few. This comprehensive repertoire secured Offringa another victory, with Treboux looking dangerous in second, and Daida Moreno mounting her attack in third.
Day 4
There was a sense of déjà vu when the women’s double elimination final once again pitched Offringa against Treboux. Treboux, hungry for retribution, dealt out formidable blows which including a soaring shaka. However defiant Offringa showed no signs of intimidation, and went on to piece together one of her finest runs, to reap victory and further reinforce her event lead.
Day 5
Pressure mounted, as the third successive single elimination was completed on the fifth day of competition. Trumping the bill was Estredo who, in a familiar final showdown with Thode, nailed a shuvit spock 900 in the testing conditions. Thode was let down by his weaker port tack sailing and was forced to hand another victory to Estredo.
A women’s final of Offringa versus Daida Moreno served up intense action from the word go. Turning up the heat, Moreno planed out of a perfect eslider and then nailed a flaka diablo to pile the pressure on Offringa. Unphased by Moreno’s attack, Offringa summoned a brutish assault to overthrow Moreno and continue her unbeaten run.
Day 6
Entering the final day of competition, Offringa took top honors in the women’s fleet.
Raising the bar, the 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup was an undoubted success, and stands as a tribute to the sponsors and local organizers, without whom, this exceptional event would not have been possible. We look forward to returning next year for more awe inspiring freestyle revelry on Costa Teguise’s idyllic coastline.
The 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Event Results
Women’s Fleet
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde) 2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails) 3rd Daida Moreno (North Sails)
The tour now rolls on to Pozo for the 2008 Gran Canaria PWA Grand Slam, which starts on the 3rd of July. Be sure to check www.pwaworldtour.com from then to follow the action with our live event ticker, daily news summaries, video footage, awesome photo galleries, online elimination ladders and more!
Or, for more information contact the PWA office via [email protected]
