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Stunning New Caledonia was the perfect stage for a thrilling show-down of the PWA Slalom Tour 2017. The Airwaves Noumea Dream Cup delivered five fairly solid windy days in a row. Just one remark upfront: Our top NorthSails Slalom contenders were on fire at this last PWA Slalom event of the season.

3th place: Pierre Mortefon Pierre Mortefon looked to be back to his deadly best in New Caledonia as the Frenchman closed to within just 1.6 points of the event lead heading into the final day. Unfortunately, the wind didn’t play ball, but Pierre won’t be too disappointed with that as his excellent 3rd place here sees him pip Ross Williams to the final place on the overall podium. So all in all again a great season for Pierre who is constantly in the top 3 overall since 2014, now. Just a matter of time for Pierre that the grand plan will be succeeded.

4th place: Marco Lang In the opening event of the year – South Korea – Marco had looked blisteringly quick, but unfortunately for the Austrian, the winners’ final couldn’t be completed meaning no result was gained. From a potential top 8 finish, Lang then had to settle for a disappointing 41st place finish in Japan. However, from there Marco slowly steadied the ship with 9th, 14th and 16th place finishes in Costa Brava, Fuerte and Denmark, before stealing the windsurfing limelight in Sylt by winning both eliminations completed in emphatic style to win his first event on the world tour. Marco carried that winning form into New Caledonia to claim an excellent 4th place here which deservedly sees him break into the overall top 10 for the first time in his career – 7th – and he looks to be developing into a serious contender after showing glimpses over the past couple of years. So Marco is definitely THE hot shot of the season this year, jumping from an 19th Overall in 2016 straight into 7th Overall in 2017. What a great achievement for the mastermind of the NorthSails Warp testing program, who worked very hard for this success. Huge congrats Marco!

3th place: Marion Mortefon Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails), breaks into the overall top 3 for the first time in her career after clinching her 3rd podium finish out of 4 events. After an injury of Lena Erdil, who was placed on 3rd at that time, Marion still had to perform in the final two races of the competition to overcome the 4 point advantage that Erdil started the penultimate day and that’s exactly what she managed to do with solid 3rd and 4th place finishes. So definitely well deserved and a sensational success for Marion. Congratulations!

Jordy Vonk could not come any closer to breaking into the top 10, but there are certainly a lot more positives than negatives for the 24-year-old to walk away from 2017 with. The one moment that will probably stand out will be his podium finish in Japan and it surely won’t be long until the young flying Dutchman establishes himself in the top 10.

Thomas Goyard (Fanatic / NorthSails) saved the 3rd place for NorthSails/Fanatic at the Foil Exhibition in Noumea. Well done.

Final Event results men

1st Antoine Albeau 2nd Matteo Iachino3rd Pierre Mortefon (NorthSails/Fanatic)4th Marco Lang (NorthSails/Fanatic)13th Jordy Vonk (NorthSails/Fanatic)

Final Event results women

1st Delphine Cousin Questel 2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa3rd Marion Mortefon (NorthSails/Fanatic)

PWA Slalom Overall results men

1st Antoine Albeau 2nd Matteo Iachino3rd Pierre Mortefon (NorthSails/Fanatic)7th Marco Lang (NorthSails/Fanatic)11th Jordy Vonk (NorthSails/Fanatic)

PWA Slalom Overall results women

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa 2nd Delphine Cousin Questel3rd Marion Mortefon (NorthSails/Fanatic)

More info: pwaworldtour.com PICS: PWA/CARTER