After a slow start the final day of freestyle competition got underway with the second round of the mens double elimination. Lighter winds saw several technical and close heats pass until the third round where the local effect truly kicked in to provide ideal 4.4 conditions for the riders.

The talk of the morning was how the event title and the PWA overall title race would pan out. The maths had it as Dieter van Der Eyken leading both the event and the overall rankings, however Kiri Thode was still very much in the game. Having to only pass one heat Thode would secure the event lead unless van Der Eyken could not only stop whoever he would face for second place but also defeat Amado Vrieswijk twice.

With Thode on a charge, Dieter put a stop in his tracks to defend his position, however some work still needed to be done. Sailing an impressive heat in the final, van Der Eyken managed to defeat a slightly off the ball Vrieswijk to then take him on the super final. With a solid heat from Vrieswijk and a good heat from van Der Eyken it really came down to the wire as the judges took their time to make a final decision. Nonetheless it was not only to be van Der Eyken’s day but also his event as he secured the win in the double elimination and the event title. Having never made a PWA podium in the past he certainly took his first one with style and showed an impressive level across a full range of conditions here in Fuerteventura.

With the freestyle event all wrapped up, van Der Eyken now leads the PWA world rankings and goes into the final event of the year with a lot of confidence in his stride.

Meanwhile amongst the ladies Sarah-Quita Offringa takes a staggering 8th world title and continues her roll of not losing a single heat in over six years. Despite an impressive performance from Oda Johanne, who stuck a shaka flaka, burner and even showed some regular ducking, it was not to be enough to defeat the queen of freestyle who laid out a truly awesome heat with burners, culos, toads and more…

With the PWA Freestyle complete we go back to back straight into the PWA Slalom tomorrow, stay tuned for more updates.