The Starboard girls, Sarah-Quita Offringa and Coraline Foveau, claim second and third place respectively at the Fiji Pro. This epic IWT/PWA event happened last week and wowed the riders as well as the spectators all over the world. The spot “Cloudbreak” had been firing already a few days before the event kicked off, providing incredible conditions for all the competitors, who had already made their way there.
Mens fleet
Six Starboard riders signed up and were eager to participate in this iconic windsurfing event: Björn and Liam Dunkerbeck, Antoine Martin, Federico Morisio, Flo Jung and Alex Grand Guillot. Martin, Morisio, Jung and Liam Dunkerbeck made it to the second round, with high scoring waves between 10 and more than 13 points! In the end, the best Starboard rider in the mens fleet has been Antoine Martin, claiming the fifth place.
You can find the whole result list HERE
We asked Sarah-Quita to give us some insights about her time at the event:
Sailing at Cloudbreak has been very special and something that I can now tick off the bucket list!
Before the event there was a huge swell, so some of the guys flew over earlier to ride it. Whilst waiting for my competition day I watched the guys sail massive waves! So I was actually very nervous to get in the water. I haven’t been in such big conditions since Maui 2019 and I felt I was very outside of my comfort zone. Besides that I get seasick fast so I really wasn’t sure about the whole thing haha.
The Competition
To get to the break we packed speedboats with 5-6 board bags and then went full throttle for 35 minutes to the outer reef before we caught sight of the spray of the massive swell. I only got on the water for the first time 30 minutes before my heat, I watched the other heat so that I could line myself up and just took it from there.
The heats
In my first heat I was quite careful, but slowly started feeling really excited. How incredible is it we get this spot to ourselves? I made it to the next round and final and was feeling more comfortable. My first wave was my highest scoring wave and of the heat, I only realised how big it was when it took me longer than normal to get to the bottom!
Feeling the energy of the wave behind really got the adrenaline pumping and from there I rode the wave the best I could and tried to stay in the pocket like I saw the guys do. 8.23! After that I got two backup scores and felt good, so I went out back to wait for a big set.
Unfortunately when this big set came in the last seconds I froze because it felt so big! What a bummer. I should have taken the chance because right before I saw that Sarah (Hauser) nailing the wave she took, with three powerful turns. Having said that… I am incredibly grateful for coming to Fiji and getting this chance of competing at such an iconic spot with some of the best riders in the world. I’m leaving with a 2nd place and feeling extremely inspired!
What’s next?
After this I’ll be heading to the Canary Islands and I’m looking forward to what the wave world ranking will look like after integrating all the riders in the Unified Wave tour.
