Marc Paré and Sarah-Quita Offinga revalidated their victories in the Open categories, while Sol Degrieck, Trine Gobisch, Ben Proffitt, Michael Friedl, Carlos Kiefer Quintana and Peter Gobisch completed the record of the World Championship
The Wind&Waves Festival 2026 has put an end to ten days of competition, sport, music, gastronomy and activities in the Médano, consolidating itself as one of the great international windsurfing events. Between July 31 and August 9, El Cabezo beach once again became the scene of a top-level competition that brought together some of the best riders in the world and combined the action on the water with a wide program open to residents and visitors.
This year’s edition was marked by the dominance of Marc Paré in the Men’s Open category. For the third consecutive year, the Spanish rider conquered the El Médano test, after his victories in 2024 and 2025. Paré also completed a perfect performance, prevailing in the four sets played and signing in the grand finale the best Championship score, 36.63 points, ahead of Philip Köster, Marino Gil and Lennart Neubauer.
In the female category, Sarah-Quita Offinga from Aruba also revalidated her victory in Cabezo. The 29-time world champion once again demonstrated her dominance and won all the sets she played to conquer the Tenerife test for the second consecutive year. Lina Erpenstein, Alexia Kiefer Quintana and Justyna Sniady completed the final.
The rest of the World Championship categories also left their winners. The Belgian Sol Degrieck dominated the Pro Junior Girls category (sub-21), while the German Trine Gobisch won Junior Girls (Under-18) after an exciting battle with the Japanese Natsuki Wakasa. In Masters, the British Ben Proffitt repeated the victory achieved in 2024, while the German Michael Friedl took the victory in Grand Masters.
The junior male categories also had a Canarian and Spanish prominence. Gran Canaria Carlos Kiefer Quintana took the victory in Pro Junior Boys, while the German Peter Gobisch was the winner in Junior Boys.
The festival also hosted the celebration of the Spanish Windsurfing Championship, where Liam Dunkerbeck and Alexia Kiefer Quintana were the winners of the test in the absolute categories. Javier Escribano won Junior, Dennis Kolb in Sub-15 and Josep Pons in Masters.
Beyond the competition, the Wind&Waves Festival once again offered a parallel program that turned the Médano into a meeting point throughout the week. The Wind&Waves Market, the gastronomic area Wind&Waves Gastro, the Wind&Waves Kids children’s space, the activities linked to sustainability and a daily musical program completed a proposal that had at the Corona Sunset Sessions one of its main Attractions.
The vice president and director of Tourism of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Lope Afonso, pointed out that «The Wind&Waves Festival has been a magnificent example of how Tenerife has managed to turn its extraordinary natural conditions into a competitive advantage to position itself as an international destination for water sports. This important event projects the image of the island in strategic markets and attracts visitors seeking experiences linked to sport, nature and sustainability. Afonso added that ‘the dune has once again been in the world windows of windsurfing and has demonstrated the ability of the island to host competitions of the highest level together with a program open to residents and visitors’.
For Tenerife Tourism Delegate Councilor, Dimple Melwani, ‘Tenerife Wind & Waves Festival once again demonstrates that Tenerife is an international benchmark for the celebration of major sporting events linked to the sea and nature. During these days, the island has projected to the world its extraordinary potential as a destination for the practice of wind and wave sports, while showing the authenticity, hospitality and wealth of our territory.’
‘From Turismo de Tenerife we want to thank the commitment of all the institutions, organizing entities, sponsors, volunteers and professionals who have made possible the success of this edition, as well as the effort and talent of the athletes who have offered us a first-class show, making El Médano a More year, as an exceptional setting for this top-level competition in this discipline, Melwani points out.
The mayor of Granadilla de Abona, José Domingo Regalado, highlighted the importance of having welcomed the El Médano coastline and, especially, in El Cabezo, the Spanish Championship and the Tenerife World Cup, held from July 31 to August 9, ‘A first-level event that has turned our municipality into a meeting point for windsurf lovers during these days and has once again placed Granadilla de Abona and El Médano on the international map of this discipline’. The mayor also highlighted the repercussion that this type of event has for the promotion of the municipality: ‘Sport is a magnificent tool to project our tourist image, attract visitors and make known our natural spaces and our coast. The celebration of this competition allows us to show the Cabezo and the Médano as A reference destination for those looking for sports, nature and unique conditions for windsurfing”.
José Domingo Regalado congratulated all the riders for their participation and, in a special way, to local athletes, ‘who have once again demonstrated their talent, effort and passion for this sport and who are the best ambassadors of Granadilla de Abona’. ‘Thank you for taking the name of our municipality and El Cabezo to the top and for contributing, with your effort, to the Médano continuing to consolidate itself as one of the great international references of windsurfing,’ he added.
For her part, the Councilor for Tourism, Eudita Mendoza, highlighted that the celebration of the Spanish Championship and the Tenerife World Cup ‘supposes an extraordinary opportunity to continue promoting the Médano and the Cabezo as a tourist destination linked to sport, the sea and nature’.
Mendoza pointed out that ‘hosting events of these characteristics allows us to teach the world one of the great values of our municipality: a coastline with exceptional conditions for the practice of windsurfing and an environment that combines sport, landscape and tourist quality’. In this sense, he stressed that ‘the presence for several days of riders, teams, fans and visitors also generates an important promotional impact and contributes to reinforcing the positioning of Granadilla de Abona as a sports tourist destination’.
The councilor concluded by highlighting that “events like this help to consolidate the Médano as one of the great international references of windsurfing and allow us to continue building a tourism promotion based on our own resources, our identity and the enormous capacity that our coastline has to Attract sports lovers from all over the world.”
