Justine Lemeteyer retained her PWA Foil Slalom world title at the season finale in Yokosuka, Japan. The Frenchwoman took second place on the final reach to win her third straight crown by just 0.4 points. After a whole season, the title came down to one last manoeuvre.
Three second places, then the last reach
The first three days in Japan lacked enough wind, so on the final day every gybe and wobble counted. Before that day Lemeteyer led Tuva Oppedal by 2.7 points, but discards kept several sailors in the hunt. Blanca Alabau had led the event overall, then slipped to sixth in Elimination 2 and fell away.
After Elimination 2, only one point separated first from third. Her discarded result was that fourth place, while Eržen's discard was a ninth.
Lina Eržen won a race and looked set for her first world title, then catapulted on the opening reach of a semifinal and missed the next Winners' Final. In the Elimination 3 final, Lemeteyer and Tuva Oppedal fought a close duel, and Oppedal won the photo finish. That win pushed Oppedal into the title mathematics for the decider.
In the decider Eržen led from start to finish for her second win in four races, and Tuva Oppedal held second around the last mark, which would have handed Eržen the crown. After briefly faltering on a gybe, Lemeteyer passed Oppedal near the finish to take second and keep the title. "I knew the situation and knew that I'd have to go on the inside on the last gybe," she said.
A third Foil crown, won on a knife-edge
This was Lemeteyer's third straight Foil Slalom world title, settled only once discards came into play. In July she had added the women's Slalom X world title at the Fuerteventura Grand Slam, in winds of over 50 knots. Eržen, 21, finished the season second overall, denied her first world title by a hair.
The final-race order read Lemeteyer, Eržen, then Tuva Oppedal, the same as the 2026 overall ranking. The Yokosuka finale closed the Foil season, run on a tour with only one women's World Cup. Her reign now runs to three years.
