Page 14 - ARUBA TODAY

A14 LOCAL
Tuesday 15 augusT 2017
Featuring Aruba’s Champion Sarah-Quita Offringa:

PWA Windsurfing Second Stop of Wave World Tour Held in Tenerife

ORANJESTAD/TENERIFE - gust 6th thru 12th.
Sarah-Quita Offringa sand-
wiched between the Span- The first event of the year

ish wave sailors on the po- was somewhat of a disap-
dium. El Médano situated pointment for Sarah-Quita
on the Southeast coast of Offringa.
Tenerife, Canary Islands The 26-year-old finished 2nd ish this time around. How- performance. wave event win. Success
played host to the world’s in Pozo in 2016, but could ever, Offringa came into In the men’s division Philip in Tenerife sees Iballa take
best wave sailors from Au- only muster a 5th place fin- Tenerife on a high having Köster (Starboard / Severne control of the title race
just captured her 10th PWA / Maui Ultra Fins) continued heading into the autumn
Freestyle World Champion- his dominant start to the season.
ship in Fuerteventura and season to collect his sec- Sarah-Quita Offringa may
came in charging for the ond victory of 2017, while feel that this was a missed
podium again. Iballa Moreno (Starboard opportunity for her as she
For the 7th year in a row Te- / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was only a minute away
nerife delivered world class fought back to deny Sarah- from winning the event.
conditions to maintain its Quita Offringa (Starboard / However, Iballa produced
100% record of gaining a NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins). a brilliant buzzer beater of a
result. Iballa Moreno suffered a wave to deny the 26-year-
After a slow first few days, El shock semifinal exit at the old.
Médano more than made hands of Sarah-Quita Of- Nonetheless, after a dis-
up for that with some of the fringa in the single elimina- appointing 5th to start the
best conditions we’ve ever tion, but the reigning world season in Pozo, Gran Ca-
seen in Tenerife with winds champion staged a rous- naria, the Aruban should
reaching in excess of 50 ing final day comeback to be delighted with the way
knots at times and waves earn her first victory of the she bounced back to earn
up to mast high providing season after defeating Of- second place here, which
the ideal playground for fringa, twice to deny the sees her rise to 3rd in the
windsurfing of the highest Aruban her first port tack overall rankings.q