2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup

Costa Brava

After the Asian leg of the 2017 PWA Slalom World Tour, the men’s slalom and foil fleets return to Europe for their third event of the year as they prepare to return to Costa Brava, Spain, for the Catalunya PWA World Cup, which takes place between the 23rd-28th May.

So far, the wind God’s haven't really been on our side, so only the one elimination has been completed so far this year, but hopefully, the next 6 days in Costa Brava prove to be more fruitful.

The picturesque town of Sant Pere Pescador is located 150km to the north-east of Barcelona and is blessed with twelve kilometres of jaw-dropping white sand beaches and the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Gulf-de-Roses have become a world renowned destination due to its clockwork-like sea breezes, which frequently grace Costa Brava with their presence during the summer months. However, whilst offering an astonishing backdrop, the Pyrenees Mountain’s can also transform Costa Brava into a white-knuckled assault course - when the ferocious Tramontana wind whistles down the mountain range in excess of thirty knots - ready to test the mettle of any world class sailor.

Beautiful sunrise in Costa Brava

Ones to Watch

In the event preview for South Korea we mentioned that Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) could have a genuine shot at the title if he is able to convert a few of his top 5 finishes into podiums and victories - and in Japan that’s exactly what he managed to do as he claimed his first victory on the world tour since 2014 to take the early season lead. The 30-year-old is consciously trying to sail more aggressively and has done well here in the past - finishing 2nd in 2013 - and he’ll be feeling confident heading into the third event of the year, so you can expect to see another big performance from him.

Julien Quentel

Another man to make an impressive start to the year has been Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails), who earned his first ever podium on the world tour in Japan. The Flying Dutchman has looked blisteringly quick so far and his starts seem on point. The 23-year-old clearly has his mind set on reaching the very top of the game and if he is able to continue the early season form he has shown so far then you can expect to see him challenging for the podium again.

Jordy Vonk

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) made a solid start to the year by completing the podium and as a result, he comes into Costa Brava in 3rd place in the overalls. Albeau is reportedly happier with his equipment this year and has his usual air of confidence surrounding him.

Antoine Albeau

Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails) comes into the third event of the year off the back of his best result since 2012 having claimed 4th in Japan. Maynard shred 10 kilos over the winter and that could prove crucial in enhancing his chances in Costa Brava as the winds have been on the light side over the last few years.

Finian Maynard

Perhaps the surprise result from Japan was the performance of Andrea Rosati (RRD / LoftSails), who stayed out of trouble to navigate his way into the top 5, which was a turn up for the books having only recorded one top 16 result in the last two years.

Andrea Rosati

Reigning world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) - had to settle for 6th place to open his title defence campaign, but with just the one elimination completed so far in 2017 - it’s safe to say that you’d expect him to steadily rise to the top of the pack with the more races that are completed. The 27-year-old has qualified comfortably for both winners’ finals thus far and he’ll be in the thick of the action again over the next 6 days, while also trying to reclaim his event title from 2015.

Matteo Iachino

The same can be said of Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) - one of Iachino’s biggest rivals - who placed 7th in Japan. The Frenchman has been involved at the business end of the season for the last three years running and he’ll be there or there abouts again. Mortefon also comes into the event as the defending event champion having won here last year.

Pierre Mortefon

The top 10 at this stage of the season is completed by Argentine Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), who made the best start to the winners’ final in Japan before seaweed ended his hopes, Briton Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses), who ensured his place in the top 10 by winning the losers’ final after a premature start in the semifinals, and German Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails), who has made an excellent start to the season - qualifying for the winners’ final in South Korea - before securing the remaining place in the top 10 .

Ross Williams

The likes of Marco Lang (Fanatic / NorthSails), Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) and Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) will also be desperate to put Japan behind them, after all three of them had qualified for the winners’ final in South Korea - which couldn’t be completed - but were then eliminated in the quarterfinals or earlier in Japan.

Taty Frans

Also, keep an eye out for reigning Youth World Champion - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - who recorded his first ever top 16 result in Japan and fellow youth Jacquin Basile (Starboard / Point-7), who finished 17th and also looks an exciting prospect for the future.

Ethan Westera

Elsewhere expect to the experienced figures of Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde), Ben Van der Steen (Patrik / Gun Sails), Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins) trying to make their impression on the top 10 after suffering disappointment in Japan.

Arnon Dagan

With just the one elimination completed this year, the men’s slalom fleet will be desperate for more wind and more racing over the next 6 days, which would give more of an idea of who is going to emerge as the genuine challengers for the rest of the season.

Foiling

Over the next 6 days, we’ll also be bringing you more foiling, which looks set to feature heavily on the racing circuit in the coming years. At the moment foiling is still in it’s youth, but even over the last year there has been rapid progress and in Costa Brava, there should be more thrilling racing for windsurfing’s newest discipline. We’ll be releasing an interview with Antoine Albeau and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel during the event to shred more light on foiling and what to expect from it.

Foiling

In Japan, Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) walked away with top honours in the foiling after showing an unbelievable level of consistency with counting results of 2 victories and three, 2nd’s to keep Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde), Antoine Albeau and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel at bay, but will he be able to do it again? Tune into www.pwaworldtour.com between the 23rd-28th May to find out.

Antoine Questel

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2017 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)

2nd Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails)

3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

4th Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails)

5th Andrea Rosati (RRD / LoftSails)

6th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

7th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

8th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel ARG3 (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

9th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Glasses)

10th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)

Costa Brava

With registration out of the way by 11am on the opening morning of the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup - attention soon turned towards the prospect of today’s racing with the trees already rustling and the sea breeze trying to kick in early.

Registration

Cue frantic scrambling on the beach as the sailors tried to make sure they had their chosen gear ready for a 1pm start. However, the flurry of action proved unnecessary as by this point the wind had dropped back and it wasn’t until 2:20pm that the first, of numerous attempts, were made to complete the opening slalom heats of the week.

Eventually, after umpteen failed efforts in the marginal conditions the decision was made to switch over from slalom to foiling in order to take advantage of the light winds on offer - with the breeze generally between 4-9 knots.

Valentin Brault leading Heat 2 until it was cancelled

Earlier in the day, 24-men registered for the foil contest meaning that two semifinals were held to decide which 12 sailors would progress into the winners’ final - with the top six from each heat qualifying for the final.

Foiling is windsurfing's newest discipline and it showed its advantages today with it being possible to complete two, exciting races on a day where otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible to gain a result.

Light wind foil action

Foiling

Just as he did in Japan - Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - continued to look like the danger man - showing that his performance in Japan was no fluke as he claimed back-to-back bullets today to proudly sit at the top of the event rankings at the end of day one and he currently looks like the man that everyone else has to beat - especially after his victory last week.

Antoine Questel celebrates

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) is currently Questel’s closest challenger with the 23-time world champion having to settle for second place on both occasions today. AA did almost close down Questel in the second race after flying down the final reach, but he’ll have to wait until tomorrow for a chance to overturn his fellow countryman. Even at this early stage, it looks as though there could be an epic battle brewing between them for this weeks foil title.

Antoine Albeau

Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) finished second in Japan and the Dane has made a solid start to proceedings to the contest with 3rd and 5th place finishes today, which sees him sitting in 3rd place at the end of day one, but faced with a significant 4-point deficit between himself and Albeau in second.

Sebastian Kornum

The top five is currently completed by Brazil’s Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde), who sailed consistently to record 4th and 6th places, while Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde) and Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) are currently tied for 5th. Reuscher may be a little disappointed as he made a strong start by finishing 3rd in the opening race, but then a massive crash resulted in an 11th place finish in the second elimination.

Malte Reuscher leading the way

Having been in contention for the podium in Japan you’d have also expected to see Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) battling it out for the top places again, but things never clicked into place for the Argentine today, for whatever reason, and he makes a disappointing start which sees him down in joint 10th with Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) at the moment.

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel goes over the handle bars

The forecast for tomorrow looks light on paper, but a number of locals are predicting at least the same wind for tomorrow afternoon - if not better - which should allow for more foil races to be completed at a minimum, but hopefully the sea breeze kicks in strong enough to allow the slalom to begin as well. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am with the action commencing from 9:30am (GMT+2).

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -

*After 2 Races

1st Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

2nd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

=5th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

=5th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

=7th Nicolas Goyard (Starboard / Point-7)

=7th Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

9th William Huppert (Fanatic / NorthSails)

=10th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

=10th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

Current Ranking 2017 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)

2nd Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails)

3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

4th Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails)

5th Andrea Rosati (RRD / LoftSails)

6th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

7th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

8th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel ARG3 (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

9th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Glasses)

10th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)

Costa Brava

Highlights Day 1 - Catalunya PWA World Cup

For a long time it looked as though no result would be gained for either the slalom or foil fleets on day two of the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup after the opening foil race was discarded after a protest by Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), after several sailors were obstructed by a sand bank when trying to set up for a deeper lay line to the upwind mark.

Costa Brava from above

The plan after the initial attempt failed was to move immediately into another elimination, but at this point, the wind backed off to just 2-5 knots.

Usually, once the wind drops during the afternoon in Costa Brava, it doesn’t return, but today was one of those rare occasions where it did with the breeze increasing again to 4-10 knots - so the foil fleet were summoned to the water once again, which allowed a further two eliminations to be completed.

Antoine Albeau seemed to benefit the most from the additional knot or two on offer as he reversed the rankings over Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) today to claim two bullets from the two races completed.

Albeau levels up

The initial impression suggests that Albeau may need a touch more wind than yesterday, as in the slightly stronger winds in Japan he also dominated proceedings, while Questel again gained the upper hand in the slightly lighter airs. The two sailors are now tied on 3.4 points - after the discard - and they hold a significant advantage over Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) in third with a 6.6 point margin - meaning that even after two days of competition it could already, realistically, be a two horse race for the foil title.

Kornum will be disappointed that the triangle course from the first elimination was cancelled as in the opening semifinal he destroyed the rest of the field to win Heat 1 by over a reach long advantage, but he’s still on course for another podium finish.

Kornum on the cruise

Behind the Dane in the current rankings are Brazilian Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 4th - Pole Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) - 5th - and Argentine Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), who is the days biggest mover as he rises from 10th to 6th after recording 3rd and 4th place finishes.

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel back in the hunt

The forecast for tomorrow looks similar today with the wind again predicted to increase during the afternoon from the southeast - so hopefully the sea breeze properly kicks in. Stay up to date with all of the latest developments from Costa Brava by tuning intowww.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -
*After 4 Races - 1 Discard

=1st Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

=1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

5th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

6th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

7th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

8th Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7)

9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

10th William Huppert (Fanatic / NorthSails)

Current Ranking 2017 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)

2nd Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails)

3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

4th Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails)

5th Andrea Rosati (RRD / LoftSails)

6th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

7th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

8th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel ARG3 (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

9th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Glasses)

10th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)

Costa Brava

Highlights Day 3 - Catalunya PWA World Cup

The wind has been teasing the slalom fleet for the last couple of days in Costa Brava, but today the sea breeze provided winds between 8-15 knots, which allowed a light wind first elimination to be completed, so at the halfway stage of the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup it is Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) who leads the race for the event title after he claimed a convincing victory in the opening race.

Arnon Dagan celebrates

Elimination One

In the light airs Arnon Dagan looked exceptionally quick and the Israeli easily booked his place in the winners’ final with two comfortable victories in both the quarters and semifinals. Dagan carried that perfect form into the winners’ final as he led from start to finish with an astute display, which saw him extend his advantage over the duration of the course to secure a comprehensive bullet.

Fist pump - Arnon Dagan

Meanwhile, Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7 / Mystic), produced one of the performances of the day as the 21-year-old qualified for the winners’ final, but he wasn’t happy to purely make up the numbers in Heat 16 and at the first mark he leapfrogged Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins) and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) to move into the top two - a position which he was able to defend over the remainder of the course to claim a superb second place.

Nicolas Goyard celebrates superb second

Pascal Toselli will be pleased with his 3rd place finish in the opening race here after missing out on the finals in Japan, while Costa Hoevel has now qualified for both winners’ finals which have been completed this year and he sits in 4th at the end of day 3.

Pascal Toselli

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) starts the event with a 5th place finish, while vice-world champion - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) had to settle for 6th ahead of Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) and Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne), who blew his start in the final but still sits in 8th.

Antoine Albeau

After missing out on the winners’ final reigning world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) - put the disappointment of being absent from the final behind him as the Italian destroyed the rest of the field in the Heat 15 to secure 9th place, while limiting the damage to as little as physically possible.

Matteo Iachino

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) will be gutted that the first attempt to complete the second semifinal was cancelled as the Brit already held a substantial lead after the opening buoy and would’ve almost certainly qualified for the winners’ final. However, upon the restart, Williams tried to execute a tight inside gybe at the first as he battled against Cucchi, Costa Hoevel and Goyard for a place in the top 4, but in pushing so hard he ended up in the drink, which resulted in his elimination despite valiantly fighting his way back into 5th. The 37-year-old then finished second in Heat 15 to claim 10th.

Ross Williams goes down

In the same heat - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) - who came into Costa Brava on the back of his first podium in Japan - was disappointed with how he gybed in the losers’ final, which ultimately cost him 10th place in the opening elimination as Williams and Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins) both punished his sloppy gybes to overtake.

Jordy Vonk

The other main story of the day involved Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti), who came into the event as the tour leader, but he suffered a surprise early exit as he failed to advance from the quarterfinals. Quentel found himself with a large deficit to reduce as the fleet headed down the opening reach and he almost completed an unthinkable comeback, but ultimately his missed out in 5th and he made his frustrations and anger clear once back on the beach. The 30-year-old will now be praying that there is enough wind for a discard to come into play otherwise he will have undone all of his hard work from Japan.

Julien Quentel chases without success

The second elimination was started immediately after the conclusion of the opening race, but after the first heat had been completed, which saw Ben van der Steen (Patrik / Gun Sails / Mystic) safely progress after claiming the win ahead of Ramon Pastor (99NoveNove / LoftSails), Tom Malina (Fanatic / NorthSails) and Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer) - the wind deteriorated and the sailors were soon released for the day.

The forecast for tomorrow shows easterly winds of 8-9 knots for tomorrow afternoon, so whether the sea breeze will kick in without enough south in the wind remains to be seen. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+2) onwards. Stay up to date with all of the latest developments from Costa Brava by tuning intowww.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After One Elimination

1st Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7 / Mystic)

3rd Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins)

4th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

5th Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

6th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

7th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

8th Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne)

9th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

10th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -
*After 4 Races - 1 Discard

=1st Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

=1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

5th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

6th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

7th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

8th Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7)

9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

10th William Huppert (Fanatic / NorthSails)

Costa Brava

For a brief period it looked as though Day 4 of the Catalunya PWA World Cup would provide excellent racing conditions with the wind picking up in the late morning, which allowed the fifth foil race of the event to be completed and a further five heats of the second slalom elimination to also be verified, but after this a thick layer of cloud set in which interrupted the flow of the wind with the thermal effect almost instantly shutting down.

Early afternoon slalom

Foil

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) now holds the outright lead in the foil exhibition as he delivered another faultless display to earn a clear cut victory over his nearest challenger Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui). The two Frenchman were tied at the top of the rankings at the start of the day, but Albeau now has a 1.3 point lead.

Antoine Albeau

Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) still occupies third in the overalls after continuing to sail consistently with the Dane recording his third, third place in the five races so far completed.

Sebastian Kornum

Meanwhile, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) continues to recover from his slow start on the opening day and the Argentine gains a further two places to move into 4th.

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

Slalom

Elimination Two

In the opening round of the second race the majority of the sailors you would expect to advance did, but Benjamin Augé (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) and Michal Aftowicz (Point-7) both faced disappointing first round exits. Meanwhile, Sean O’Brien (Starboard / Severne) completed a superb comeback as the Australian got up just before the line to steal the final qualifying place into the next round at the expense of Tomas van Zelst, who had held 4th place all the way until that point.

Sean O'Brien

Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) jumped the gun in Heat 5 to be left with a second round exit - upon the restart Cyril Moussilmani (99NoveNove / Severne) claimed top spot, but behind him there was plenty of drama as Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) catapulted on the final reach, when in second place, to allow Ben van der Steen (Patrik / Gun Sails) and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) into second and third, while Ramon Pastor (99NoveNove / LoftSails) was effectively the lucky loser as he unexpectedly grabbed the final qualifying position into the quarterfinals.

Taty Frans before he crashed out

Heat 6 was the final heat of the day to be completed and the top 4 remained the same after the first mark, which resulted in German Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) convincingly winning the heat ahead of Basile Jacquin (Starboard / Point-7), Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / NorthSails) and Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde).

Sebastian Kördel

Foiling looks set to play a major part in racing in the coming seasons so we caught up with Antoine Albeau and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, who are heavily involved with the development of foiling to find out more.

You are involved in the development of foiling - how do you think foiling compares to say this time last year?

AA: “Last year, in April, I started working with the guys from F4 in San Francisco and together with NeilPryde we decided to produce and release one carbon foil, so we’ve been working and developing the foil together to be able to release the production foil we have now. And then at the same time we’ve also been developing the aluminium foil for beginners, which is available for the super attractive price of €800. It’s much easier to use and allows people to try foiling out.

Compared to last year I think the development has been huge, but this is still only the beginning because now most of the companies already have a foil ready for the summer. I’m pretty sure that this time next year everything will have majorly progressed again.”

GCH: “I’ve been working on the Starboard Foils for about 6 months now. Last year when we started and just before Sylt’s PWA Demo Foil event, I had in my mind that foiling obviously was a new discipline for speed and racing lovers, but I was not sure who could actually do it. I thought that your level had to be pretty high - i.e. PWA level or a very technical guy. Now after all this time and evolution I am sure that we have managed to open up the chance to foil to a lot more normal windsurfers. Now we have managed to make foils that any freerider can have a go on and experience the magical feel of flying above the water. It is not only for pros anymore.

In the PRO level, we have managed to bring down our minimum winds and we were competing in Japan with winds between 4-8 knots, something last year we wouldn't have thought was possible. At higher speeds, we have created super stable foils, that allows us to go over 30 knots or challenge any slalom sailor on a 20 knots wind day.

Brands are also making specific foiling boards - what are the main differences between a slalom board and a foil board?

AA: “So with a slalom board it will be a little bit more pin tailed to reduce the drag on the water - whereas with a foil board you need to be much closer to the position you stand on a formula board - so the tail needs to be more square and because you aren’t touching the water (when foiling) there is no drag in the tail, which means you can have a wide tail to help you get going earlier and it’s also more comfortable.”

GCH: “A foil board needs to be pretty wide, with slalom we have a max width of 85cm, our big foil board by Starboard is 100cm wide. This gives us exceptional early planing ability in the 4-8kts range, plus it allows us to use bigger foils and more powerful setups. The further out you manage to stand. the more leverage and control you have over the foil. So it is actually easier to sail and control, which allows you to maintain your max speed for longer. The outline of the board should be pretty straight and the nose doesn’t need to be significantly big, as when we are flying we want less resistance on the front and a more aerodynamic design. If you want a high wind foil board we have slightly narrower shape and different rails, providing us control when flying. For a beginner, we have a slightly longer and higher rocker board, so that when you are learning and you dig the nose the board comes up instantly with control and you don't catapult. This is key! I wouldn't learn on those short boards and boards with a flat rocker line."

And what are the main differences between a slalom sail and foil sail?

AA: “With NeilPryde we have been developing a foil sail that has a bit more shape in the front because when you are flying you need the sail to be really stable. Also, the leach is a bit more closed because when you are pumping in the light winds you don’t want to be exhausting all the wind. It’s better to keep the wind in the sail rather than releasing it. We’ve found like this you can fly earlier and it’s easier to keep planing - those are the main couple of differences. In Japan, I didn’t bring the specific foil sail because of the excess baggage, so I used my slalom sails - for now the difference isn’t huge between the slalom sail and the foil sail.”

GCH: “The foil sails needs to be very light in feel when you are up there you don’t want a heavy sail, so they have a reduced boom length, and a higher aspect ratio. We are looking for efficient pumping to come up on to the plane and very good rotation so when you try to do a foil gybe you have less effort. At the moment most of us are using slalom sails, but with Severne we are working hard on achieving a sail that offers the same top speed as a slalom sail while providing a light and effortless feel when on the foil.”

As foiling continues to progress - where do you see foiling fitting in?

AA: “Personally I’m trying to push foiling as much as possible because it’s something I’ve done for a very long time. I think my first foil experience was in Maui in 2000. At the moment everybody seems to see foiling as a light wind solution, which it is super nice for and it’s easy in those conditions, but you can also foil in 20-30 knots - it’s harder but it’s possible.”

GCH: “After Japan I see it progressing strongly on our tour. Already in Japan it has proved that it works perfectly in our light wind range and it massively reduces our minimum wind limit to 4 -8 knots. The medium wind range is yet to be properly discovered as most are only using foils in extremely light winds at the moment, but I see it being a great discipline in 8-15 knots as well. When the wind gets above 20 knots it is still a lot of fun, but then the performance of foiling and slalom become super close.“

What winds do you think foiling is currently best in?

AA: “When it’s super, super light, foiling is also really hard to get planing / flying - just like slalom - and it’s tricky to stay on the foil, so for me I would say 15-20 knots is the best range - particularly with flat water because then it’s quite easy.”

GCH: “4-15 knots.”

What are the main differences between slalom and foiling - in terms of racing and sailing angles?

AA: “With the foil you can point much higher and lower than slalom - it’s more comparable with formula. I haven’t done any racing again a good formula guy, but I’m quite sure on a foil we would win and be faster.”

GCH: “On a foil you can point much higher and race in much lighter winds. We could bring back upwind, downwind racing again, and bigger fleet systems. There many things that could be insane with foiling, but i think for now we need to develop and try different formats - focusing on the light winds under 15 knots.”

Do you need different foiling setups?

AA: “I currently have two front wings that I can change. For light winds I have a wing with more area and width to generate more lift and it allows to me go upwind and downwind, but if the wind is constant and say between 15-20 knots then you can change down to the medium wing, which is super stable and very easy to use.”

GCH: “You could play around a lot. At Starboard we designed a modular setup, meaning that you can change the fuselage length and the wings. So if it’s light you will put in a longer fuselage and bigger wings will make you plane earlier and have good lift and speed around the course. Then if the wind picks up, or if you are sailing a more traditional slalom course, or a long distance course, you can change to the smaller fuselage with smaller wings and it will give you higher speeds and comfort.

We have opted for this as we believe that in the future you will be able to change a wing, just as you change a fin and this will allow massive changes in performance. As well for the R&D it is much easier to evolve being able to try different combos of your parts, fuselage, mast, front and back wings.”

Compared to slalom do you setup the board or sail differently?

AA: “With the harness lines they need to be further forward compared to when slalom sailing and the harness lines are much shorter, but for a beginner it isn’t a good idea to immediately start with super short lines. You still need to shorten them a bit compared to your windsurfing setup, but then gradually shorten them as you progress.

GCH: “You can use the sail with slightly less downhaul, that’s for sure. Mast base and footstraps position go in a very similar place as for slalom, if you want slightly more power then set everything back, if you want more control further forward.”

Why is it not a good idea for beginners to start out with super short harness lines?

AA: “Because when they are super short it’s hard to get out of the harness if you lose control, which will happen, to begin with until you get used to it, so it’s better to have them so they are easier to get out of and it’s safer.“

The stance for foiling looks quite different to normal windsurfing - how do they compare?

AA: “The main differences are that you need to keep your body weight over the top of the board - you stand much more vertical. If you start to try and lay down it means that you will luff up. When you are just starting it’s really important that you keep your mast and body as vertical as possible.

Steering still uses the same principles as windsurfing with heel and toe pressure to change direction - so pushing on your toes will take you downwind and conversely pressure through your feet will bring you upwind.”

GCH: “If you’ve watched closely you would’ve noticed that some of us are railing the board to leeward, this stance allows you to control the foil and go for more speed. It is like your body is almost a continuation of the mast and of the foil angle, so your weight and strength keeps the board on trim with downforce. If you adopt a normal slalom stance you will probably take off and explode instantly. Sometimes you will see us leaning extremely far forward, this is for control and to keep the foil down.

But some foils produce more lift and others less, that’s why you will see some different stances around.

Is the pressure you have to apply when foiling different compared to windsurfing? (Is foiling more sensitive)

AA: “Yeah it is because if you apply the same pressure as when you are windsurfing you will turn much quicker and harder. You also have to be aware that every time you turn the foil will generate power as it turns, so it’s critical you really concentrate when you are trying to turn.”

Is it strange / difficult to switch between slalom and foiling?

AA: “No, it’s not hard. But there’s quite a big difference between the two. If it’s choppy you feel every bit of chop with the slalom gear, but when you are foiling you can just cut straight through it, so it’s great to be foiling when conditions are choppy.”

Do you think foiling needs different safety measures put in place?

AA: ‘No, I don’t think so. I think the problems that we saw on the start line on the first day of foiling in Japan are just because it’s the beginning of racing with the foils. People are already thinking that they know how to foil and that they know everything, so I knew that everyone was going to push like crazy at the start, but you cannot stop like you can in slalom and you cannot turn the same either, so I just decided to start from the back because I didn’t want to crash.

I just think at the beginning this is how it’s going to be because the people are not aware of how difficult it is to brake and turn, but over time this will change as everyone’s level progresses.”

GCH: “I think we need to use helmets for sure. It can be pretty dangerous if someone crashes in front of you. It is pretty technical to make a sudden change of course with control. The volume of water that you cover with the foil is much greater than with a normal fin too. Courses can help us to have less crashes and as we are doing it now helps a lot. We changed the angles a bit on the first leg and at the start and we have a downwind second leg too that allows room where everybody gybes.”

In Costa Brava we’ll be holding more foil exhibition races - what do you think people can expect?

AA: “I think we will see more people participating, but the problem is that at the moment the foil companies leading the way aren’t quite ready for the level of demand, so I think by Denmark (in September) that almost everybody will have a foil and by then people will have had more time to train over the summer, so if we have foiling in Denmark I think there will be even more people and you might see different names fighting for the top places.”

Thanks Antoine and Gonzalo.

The forecast looks promising for tomorrow afternoon with potentially ideal conditions for the sea breeze to kick in with a gradient wind of 9-10 knots from the southeast and clear skies. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10am with a first possible start at 10:30am (GMT+2)

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -
*After 5 Races - 1 Discard

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

5th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

6th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

7th Nicolas Goyard (Starboard / Point-7)

8th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

10th Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

Current Ranking 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After One Elimination

1st Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7 / Mystic)

3rd Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins)

4th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

5th Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

6th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

7th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

8th Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne)

9th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

10th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

Costa Brava

Highlights Day 5 - Catalunya PWA World Cup

The penultimate day of the Catalunya PWA World Cup provided great racing conditions with winds between 10-20 knots blowing for the entire afternoon. At the end of an action packed day a further 4 eliminations have been completed and there was plenty of exhilarating racing on offer with risky overtaking manoeuvres, crashes, epic comebacks and close calls throughout as slalom showed the side of it that everyone loves.

Carnage ensued on Day 5

Slalom

Sailor of the Day

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) was without doubt the standout sailor of the day - as he so often is - the 23-time world champion produced a scintillating display to claim two, firsts, a second and a fifth to cap an exceptional day which deservedly sends him into a commanding lead at the top of the event rankings with one day to go. Albeau’s never say die attitude was never more prevalent than in Elimination 3 when facing a semifinal exit, but on the final reach Bruno Martini (RRD / Point-7) succumbed to having Albeau breathing down his neck and the Frenchman snatched the last place in the winners’ final, which he duly went on to win. AA is now in an extremely strong position heading into the final day and it’s difficult to see anyone stopping him from here.

Antoine Albeau cranks a gybe

Fellow countryman - Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins) - rises one place into second after enjoying a fine day - with the only blip coming in the third race when he was eliminated in the semifinals. In the race prior, Toselli secured the opening bullet of the day in impressive fashion and he immediately discards the 14th place finish from Elimination 3 after qualifying for every other winners’ final.

Pascal Toselli on form

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) completes an all French top 3 heading into the final day and the reigning vice-world champion sailed consistently for the majority of the day - recording results of 2nd, 3rd and 4th - with the only blemish coming in race 5 when he suffered a surprise quarterfinal exit, which he discards. Aside from that the 27-year-old hasn’t finished worse than 6th and remains on course for the podium.

Pierre Mortefon

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) led the event rankings at the start of the day, but slips to 4th at the end of today’s proceedings. The Israeli was firmly in contention in the last race as he entered the first gybe in second, but was then covered on the exit, meaning he had to settle for 6th place.

Arnon Dagan

Reigning world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) - has recorded a mixed bag of results so far this week with the Italian only qualifying for two winners’ finals out of the five races completed. However, the 27-year-old is still in 5th place after he dug deep to secure a clinical victory in the final race of the day. Iachino will be hoping that it is possible to complete at least a further two eliminations tomorrow, which would bring the second discard into play and provide him with the opportunity to be one of the biggest movers of the day.

Matteo Iachino

Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) currently occupies 6th place, but the Italian was visibly annoyed at himself in race five when he inexplicably dropped his third gybe in the semifinals when in the qualifying positions.

Andrea Cucchi

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) produced a couple of miraculous comebacks today to earn the worthy title as the comeback King. The Brit flirted with danger in two successive heats in the opening race of the day - quarters and semifinals - and looked to be down and out, but he somehow reeled in his rivals to advance into the winners’ final. The pick of the bunch of his manoeuvres came in the quarterfinals of Race 2 when he jumped from 7th to 4th with a text-book gybe at the last to progress. The 37-year-old is currently in 7th place heading into the final day, but things could’ve been even better had he not suffered a broken boom.

Ross Williams

Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins) made a flying start to the day as he chased home Pascal Toselli in the opening race to claim second place, before finishing 7th in the next. Unfortunately, after this, his day faded somewhat with quarter and semifinal exits, but the 23-year-old remains on course for the top 10 - 8th at the moment.

Tristan Algret

After a disappointing quarterfinal exit in the opening race of the week - Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) has produced an excellent recovery, which sees the 32-year-old rise to 9th. Questel’s best result came in the third elimination - 5th - and has then produced the consistency needed to challenge for the top 10 with results of 10th, 11th and 12th.

Antoine Questel in contention

Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) may have suffered disappointing quarterfinal exits in the opening two races, but since then the German has recovered brilliantly to move into the final place in the top 10. The 26-year-old had looked quick in both South Korea and Japan and things finally clicked into place as he recorded a 4th and two 9th’s in the last 3 eliminations today. Kördel will be another sailor hoping for a further two eliminations as he could potentially then discard and 18.5, which could then open up the possibility of a top 5 finish.

Sebastian Kördel

Elsewhere, Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) showed he has the speed and the talent to compete with the best names in the business after recording a superb second place Elimination 4. If the flying Dutchman can find the recipe to consistently find that form then he could be one to watch for the remainder of the season.

Ingmar Daldorf

Gabriele Browne (Goya Windsurfing / Point-7) is in his first year back on the PWA World Tour and he’s enjoying a fine event - currently ranked 11th. The Brazilian qualified for the first winners’ final of the day to take home 5th place, while making the semifinals on a further two occasions, but has just a one-point advantage over Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails) - who is very much still in the hunt for successive top 10 finishes.

Gabriel Browne

Last year’s world No.6 - Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) - suffered a couple of disastrous eliminations to start the event, with a snapped harness line costing him dearly in the second elimination, but since then he has firmly set himself on the road to recovery with 4th, 8th and 12th place finishes in the last 3 races, which sees him rise to 13th. Frans is another sailor, who could massively benefit from the second discard and a top 10 finish is very much on the cards if the wind shows up again tomorrow.

Taty Frans leading the way

Fellow Bonairean - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - who is the freestyle vice-world champion - also enjoyed a fine day as he qualified for three semifinals to show he also possesses some serious skills on the race course. The 21-year-old recorded his first top 10 in a single race - Race 3.

Amado Vrieswijk chases

After his best ever result in the last event - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) - will be disappointed to find himself down in 18th place, but Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) may be the most disappointed man of all. The 30-year-old won the event in Japan, but finds himself in a lowly 32nd place after becoming involved in a number of tussles and collisions in the five races thus far and realistically there is no-way back for the man from Saint Maarten here in Costa Brava - and he will just have to erase this event from his memory.

Jordy Vonk shows his frustrations

The forecast looks excellent for tomorrow with clear skies and moderate southeasterly winds being predicted, which should hopefully provide a Super Sunday finale to the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup. The sailors will meet again at 10:30am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+2) onwards. Stay up to date with all of the latest developments from Costa Brava by tuning intowww.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom

*After 5 Eliminations - 1 Discard

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins)

3rd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

4th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

5th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

6th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

7th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

8th Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins)

9th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

10th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)

Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -

*After 5 Races - 1 Discard

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

5th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

6th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

7th Nicolas Goyard (Starboard / Point-7)

8th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

10th Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

FEATURED EVENT

Costa Brava

Costa Brava, Spain, produced the best conditions we have seen in the Gulf-de-Roses for quite a few seasons with sunny skies and their clockwork-like sea breezes kicking in daily to provide action on the water on each of the six days of contest.

The opening half of the week saw the foil exhibition take centre stage, with lighter airs on offer, and there was plenty of exciting racing with five foil races being completed in total, while the weekend - particularly Saturday - provided world class slalom conditions, which saw close-calls, upsets and some very tired sailors after completing 8 eliminations in the final two days.

Over the course of the 6 day event 13 races were completed across 2 disciplines - slalom and foil - but in the end there was only one winner with 23-time world champion - Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) - proving unstoppable after producing a truly magnificent performance.

Antoine Albeau

Foiling

Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) claimed victory in Japan and the Frenchman made a strong start in Costa Brava as he quickly reeled off bullets in the opening two races to open up a healthy lead at the top. Questel has been the dominant sailor when sailing in the extremely light breezes around 4-8 knots, but once the wind increases by just an extra knot or two it seems that conditions then favour Antoine Albeau, who hit back in devastating fashion by completing a hat-trick to steal the event victory from Questel, who finishes second.

Antoine Questel and Antoine Albeau battling it out

Denmark’s Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) records successive podium finishes after another extremely consistent display, which saw the 24-year-old record 3, third place finishes in 5 races, but this time he has to settle for 3rd - after his 2nd place in Japan.

Sebastian Kornum

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) recovered from his share of bad luck and errors in the first couple of races to finish 4th, while Brazil’s Mateus Isaac completes the top 5 - just ahead of Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails).

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

Slalom

In the slalom, Antoine Albeau claimed a decisive victory after the Frenchman didn’t put a foot wrong in the 8 races completed. In fact, Albeau was so good that the worst result he recorded was a 5th place, while he won 3 races and finished 2nd on a further two occasions. Albeau’s dominant performance here sees him seize control of the title race at this early stage after making an extremely impressive start to the season with a victory and 3rd place from Japan.

Antoine Albeau enjoys returning to life on top: “I feel super good. I knew that in the foil I had a good chance to be at the top because there’s not as much competition, yet, as in the slalom. You never quite know what you are going to get in Costa Brava, but it looked like we would get wind at the weekend and in the end the weekend was unbelievable and we were even able to use our medium boards, which was great. It’s been a long time since we were able to complete so many races (8) and in the end I managed to record superb results in both the light and medium winds. So, yeah overall I’m really happy because this is more or less the first contest of the season where you can really find out where you are in terms of speed against everyone else - and now I can see that I’m going good, so I’m pretty happy. See you in Fuerte.”

Antoine Albeau with his son Alani celebrating victory

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) almost saw his podium chances fade away after a shock quarterfinal exit in race 5, before an even bigger surprise as he suffered a second round exit in the very next race. Fortunately for the Frenchman 8 races were completed, which brought two discards into play and after this blip he responded in the perfect fashion by claiming his first bullet of the season in Elimination 7, which slingshotted the two-time vice-world champion from 6th to 2nd place. Mortefon has made a solid start to the season and currently sits 2nd in the overall rankings.

Pierre Mortefon

Reigning world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) - endured an indifferent week, but he showed his champion qualities to battle through and snatch the final place on the podium from Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails), which could yet prove pivotal in deciding the title later this year. Iachino may have not looked as consistently quick as he did last season, but even through all of his difficulties over the last 6 days, the Italian was still able to claim one bullet, while he’s still firmly in contention for the title in 3rd place overall.

Matteo Iachino

Pascal Toselli agonisingly missed out on a place on the prestigious podium by just one-point having been in the top three for the entire event up until the last race. Toselli missed out on the last winners’ final, which proved critical, but he’ll still have been happy to bounce back after a disappointing result in Japan - where just one race was completed.

Pascal Toselli

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) rises to 4th in the overall rankings after recording a solid 5th place in Costa Brava - with the Brit sailing extremely consistently again. Williams completed a couple of miraculous comebacks in a couple of races and he looks set to be challenging for the overall podium again in 2017.

Ross Williams

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) said he lost a bit of confidence after Japan, but you wouldn’t have known it given the way he destroyed the field in the opening race of the week and that victory clearly meant a lot with his emotions clear to everyone as he celebrated as he crossed the line. The Israeli then sailed consistently for the remainder of the event to finish in 6th place, but things could’ve been even better had he not suffered a broken mast in the 4th race, which resulted in a quarterfinal exit.

Arnon Dagan

Movers and Shakers

Elsewhere, Finian Maynard slips one place to 5th in the overall rankings after a 13th place finish here, while Gonzalo Costa Hoevel rises two places to 6th. Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) moves into 8th overall after a 10th place finish.

Finian Maynard

Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) hangs on to his place in the overall top 10 after a 14th place finish in Costa Brava. The German looked set for a top 10 finish, but then suffered his worst results in the final two races to miss out.

Sebastian Kördel

Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) may have made a great start to the season in Japan by claiming victory, but he had an event to forget here in Costa Brava and he’ll want to quickly erase this result - 20th - from his memory, while trying to make sure he resets before returning to action in Fuerteventura. Quentel slips from 1st to 7th in the overalls.

Julien Quentel

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) also slides down the rankings to 9th after recording his best result ever in Japan - where he finished second - but for whatever reason he couldn’t quite find that form over the last 6 days, but you’d expect to see him bounce back from a disappointing 21st in the coming events.

Jordy Vonk

Former youth world champion - Tristan Algret - Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins) missed the event in Japan due to his studies, but showed why he’s one of the most exciting young talents on the tour to secure an excellent 7th place with his best result going in the 2nd race when he claimed 2nd.

Tristan Algret

Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) finishes 8th in Costa Brava, while Marco Lang completed an impressive comeback to claim 9th. The Austrian faced quarterfinal exits in 3 out of the first 4 eliminations, but then found his form to record 4 top 10 finishes - including a 3rd in Elimination 6.

Marco Lang

Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) suffered a mixture of bad luck and poor decision making to cost him a top 10 finish. The Bonairean’s harness line snapped on the final reach, in the second round of Elimination 2 - when he was comfortably qualifying, which resulted in his exit, before suffering another second round exit from Elimination 7 after catapulting while posing for the camera when leading Heat 6 to leave him in 12th place.

Taty Frans

Elsewhere, Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), may be much more associated with radical freestyle as the reigning vice-world champion - but the young Bonairean showed he's also capable of mixing it with the best in the business on the race course as he qualified for his first winners’ final this week. The 21-year-old also finishes in the top 16 for the first time at a slalom event - while also placing 10th in the foil.

Amado Vrieswijk

Other, young, promising talents include 18-year-old Basile Jacquin (Starboard / Point-7), who qualified for 3 successive winners’ finals in Eliminations 5-7 - and more than held his own as he recorded a superb 2nd, before finishing 4th and 5th as well. Also fellow Frenchman - Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7 / Mystic) - looks one to watch after the 21-year-old finished 2nd in the opening race, before seeing his hopes fade.

Nicolas Goyard

The last 6-days in Costa Brava provided plenty of world class racing, which was very welcome after a couple of unlucky events in Asia - in terms of the wind. The slalom tour now takes a short break after a busy month of May and the world’s fastest sailors will return to action in Fuerteventura in July. The PWA would like to thank everyone involved with the event and we look forward to returning for the 20th edition of the Catalunya PWA World Cup in 2018.

To view previous news and photos from Costa Brava — including elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply clickHERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

After concentrating on the race course for the opening events of the 2017 PWA World Tour it’s now time to turn our focus towards the waves as the most radical sailors in the world prepare for their first battles of the season in Pozo, for the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival, which starts on the 9th July and runs until the 15th. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow all of the explosive action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

Current Ranking 2017 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

3rd Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

4th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

5th Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails)

6th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

7th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)

8th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

9th Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails)

10th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)

Result 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

3rd Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

4th Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins)

5th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

6th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

7th Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins)

8th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

9th Marco Lang (Fanatic / NorthSails)

10th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

Result Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)

3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)

4th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

5th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

6th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)

7th Nicolas Goyard (Starboard / Point-7)

8th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)

9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

10th Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)