Who’s going to come out on top in the battle of the contortionists?

After the PWA Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival last week, our attention now firmly turns to the wonderful world of freestyle ahead of the PWA Fuerteventura World Cup, which will be running from the 20th to the 26th July. The beautiful golden sand beaches of Sotavento, Fuerteventura, are some of the most famous in the windsurfing world thanks to the its glorious year round sunshine and strong consistent winds, which create spectacular conditions for windsurfing. Now we take you through a run down of the top contenders.

Top Contenders

With the second stage of the PWA Freestyle World Tour under a week away we take a look at the top contenders for both the male and female titles:

Reigning PWA Freestyle World Champion Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo has won the last four events in a row; including the opening event of the year in Austria and the Venezuelan goes into the event as the clear favorite. Gollito was present in Pozo and whilst the wave conditions may not have been suitable, the twenty-four year old was freestyling out on the water whenever possible, landing an explosive repertoire of moves such as monster shakas, stunning no-handed burners and his trademark paskos to name a few.

Steven van Broeckhoven was the last man to beat Estredo in his world championship winning year - 2011 - on the shores of Fuerteventura. The Belgian maestro excels in the extreme conditions which Sotavento is so often graced with, and as a result he stands as one of Gollito’s biggest threats.

Team Bonaire will also be a force to be reckoned with next week, spearheaded by the unquestionable talent of Kiri Thode, who has finished in the overall Top 3 for the past six years. Along with Thode will be the likes of Taty Frans and Tonky Frans, Amado Vrieswijk and Björn Saragoza.

Having been unbeaten for the last five years on the PWA Freestyle World Tour, it’s hard to see how anyone will be able to stop the formidable force of Lady Sarah-Quita Offringa; who was knighted in May this year (article available here!). The Aruban gem has the talent to make many of the men shudder as she rotates her way through the latest power moves such as phenomenal culos, burners and konos.

With vice-world champion Laure Treboux absent from the entry list, all eyes will now be turned towards the freestyle talents Arrianne Aukes who finished third last year and is ever improving and Yoli De Brendt who has finished 4th or better for the past four years - including 2nd place overall in 2010.

Make sure you tune in from the 20th July to follow all of the amazing action live at the PWA World Tour website! and daily reports on the Starboard website

- Text and pictures are courtesy of the PWA World Tour -