PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP 2013 Slalom

Das war der gestrige Tag:

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PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP

Day 2: First blood to Albeau as the reigning world champion claims the first victory of the week

The local thermal effect kicked in once again on day two of the PWA Catalunya World Cup as the remainder of the opening elimination was completed, under glorious sunny skies and winds ranging from 7-14 knots. Reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) - sailed a flawless elimination and was duly rewarded with the first bullet of the week, firmly stamping his name at the top of the event rankings, but it was truly a day to forget for Alberto Menegatti.

Elimination one

Winners’ Final

With the current tour leader - Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) - surprisingly missing from the winners’ final - due to gybing around the wrong mark in heat twelve - Antoine Albeau was presented with the opportunity to take control of the title race, and the Big Frenchman duly obliged as he seized the early initiative by claiming the first victory of the week. Albeau didn’t have it all his own way though as it was Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) who crossed the start line in first place. The young Pole’s lead didn’t last long, however, as Albeau, Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360), Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) and Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde) all came surging past him to complete the top four at the first mark. Over the remainder of the course Albeau sailed brilliantly to open up a substantial lead over his closest rival Iachino, and after safely navigating the final mark he was left to enjoy the final reach before crossing the finish line. The top four remained unchanged, meaning that Iachino finished in second followed by Cyril Moussilmani and Bijl in third and fourth respectively.

A Moment of Madness

The incident that everyone has been talking about today involved Britain’s Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) and the current tour leader Alberto Menegatti. The duo were both involved in the final quarterfinal and looked as though they were both comfortably going to qualify for the semifinals as they held first and second place respectively. However, as the pair headed down the second reach Williams initiated his gybe much too early and rounded the wrong mark, unfortunately - from Menegatti’s perspective at least - the Italian also followed Williams around the same mark to leave everyone on the beach and on the water in disbelief at what they were watching - none more so than the head of Point-7 Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7), who benefitted from both Williams’ and Menegatti’s disqualifications to qualify for the next round, even though he probably would’ve probably preferred to see his main man advance. Also benefitting from the pairs mistake was Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) who eventually went on to book his place in the winners’ final, whilst Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) and Pascal Toselli (Tabou / Point-7) qualified for heat fourteen as well.

Menegatti will now be praying for more wind in order to bring a discard into play, however if that doesn’t happen then today’s trivial mistake could prove to be one of the defining moments of the season - which could ultimately cost the twenty-eight year old a maiden world championship title.

Elimination Two

The second elimination began shortly after three o’clock and the opening five heats were completed before the wind started to deteriorate, which eventually drew the day to a close at 17:15.

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) took full advantage of the re-sail of heat one to book his place in the quarterfinals by winning the heat. Originally the Frenchman had found himself outside of the crucial top four, before the heat was cancelled due to a wind shift. On the second time of asking Mortefon made no mistakes as Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde), Malte Reuscher (RRD / Point-7 / AL360) and Casper Bouman (Angulo / NeilPryde / Mystic) all escaped from the first heat.

Alberto Menegatti showed that his mistake in the first elimination hadn’t affected him mentally as the Italian successfully came out on top in heat two ahead of Cyril Moussilmani, Oliver-Tom Schliemann (Starboard / Point-7) and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails). Steve Allen suffered a surprise early exit in race two as he finished sixth in heat three, having found himself in the losers’ final of the first race. Croatia’s Enrico Marotti (Starboard / Point-7) continued to look dangerous and seriously quick on the course as the twenty-two year old successfully navigated his way through the opening round, to secure another place in the quarterfinals. Despite heat six starting, unfortunately, it could not be completed due to the wind rapidly diminishing. This means that when the action returns tomorrow that heat six will be the first heat to be sailed.

The forecast for tomorrow is slightly better than today, which means we should see more nail biting racing on day three of the PWA Catalunya World Cup. As always you’ll be able to follow all the action live by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com

Results After Elimination One

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)

3rd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

4th Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde)

5th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

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Das war Tag 3, fast nix:

Zitat von PWA

PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP

Day 3: A day of two winds...

The third day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup saw winds ranging from 7-20 knots as two wind directions hit the Golf-de-Roses over the course of a few hours. Costa Brava was transformed from a starboard tack slalom paradise into a port tack slalom heaven in the same afternoon. The sea breeze, which is synonymous with Costa Brava enabled a further six heats to be completed. Shortly after three o’clock it looked as though the racing was over for the day, before the local ‘Garbi’ wind kicked in from the Northeast. Unfortunately it only made a brief appearance, meaning that only a further three heats were completed before the end of the day.

Heat six - the first heat of the day - was eventually completed just before 2:30pm after the wind eventually settled down sufficiently to allow suitable racing conditions. Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic) and Sebastian Kördel (Gaastra), both made fantastic starts, and the Frenchman took full advantage of his perfectly timed start to finish the heat in first place ahead of Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde), Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear). The terminator successfully defended off the attack of Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) to book his place in the quarter finals. The remaining two heats of the opening round saw no major upsets as the top seeds made in through unscathed.

Into the quarterfinals and it was the usual suspects who managed to successfully qualify from heat nine - which saw only seven sailors competing after Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) missed his heat. Meanwhile, heat ten, witnessed a big upset as Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger / AL360) - who finished second yesterday - failed to advance into the semifinals after being made to pay for a poor start. The Italian battled hard to fight back, but agonizingly had to settle for fifth place as Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti), Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) and Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft Sails) all advanced. The last of whom did well to qualify as he overtook Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti) on the exit of the third gybe. The penultimate quarterfinal proved to be a chaotic affair after Alexandre Cousin dropped his gybe at the first mark, causing a several sailor pileup. Fortunately for Andrea Cucchi and Bjorn Dunkerbeck they both managed to miss to carnage and enjoyed an easy passage into the semifinals from there on, whilst Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde) managed to grab the remaining qualifying places. Heat twelve was a very tough heat packed with several big names, but in the end it was Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra), Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) who were able to advance as they ended the hopes of Antoine Questel (Starboard / Loft Sails), Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails). Questel will be left ruing his luck as the first attempt to run heat twelve saw the race cancelled at the fourth gybe mark - when the Frenchman was comfortably leading.

The first semifinal was dominated by Patrick Diethelm after the Suisse maestro stormed across the line with a perfect start to lead from start to finish with an accomplished display. Also joining him in the winners’ final will be Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) and Finian Maynard, but there was no place in the final for Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) after Cedric Bordes showed good pace and was able to overtake the Italian giant on the final reach, with Menegatti underpowered on his 7.8m.

The final heat of the day - the second semi-final - saw two arch rivals go head-to-head as Antoine Albeau and Bjorn Dunkerbeck battled it out for a place in the winners’ final. The two heavy hitters of slalom both made great starts and they played cat and mouse with each other over the duration of the course. Eventually it was Albeau who crossed the finish line first, but Dunkerbeck will be more than happy to have successfully booked his place in the winners’ final, after a disastrous first elimination - by his standards. Meanwhile, Britain’s Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) put yesterday’s error behind him to claim his place in the final, as did Josh Angulo.

Unfortunately the wind dropped just before the conclusion of race two and at 18:15 the call was made to end the day with the deteriorating wind conditions. Tomorrow promises to be an excellent day on the water with the best forecast of the week - on paper - thus far. Tomorrow’s skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am if conditions allow. Join us at www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the incredible action as it happens.

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Der 4. Tag ist auch um mit vielen Unterbrechungen mangels Wind:

Zitat von PWA

PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP

Day 4: Maynard and Menegatti steal the show with one elimination victory apiece

Day four of the PWA Catalunya World Cup saw the wind arrive much earlier than the opening three days of the competition, which enabled the conclusion of two more eliminations. The competitors endured a grueling day - spanning seven hours - after they began competing shortly after eleven o’clock. Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) claimed the first bullet of the day - his first of the season - before Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) reaffirmed his title winning credentials with his second victory of the season in elimination three after a thrilling finish with Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails).

Elimination Two

Winners’ Final

Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) and Finian Maynard both made flying starts to the winners’ final, but it was Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) who showed phenomenal speed to burst into the lead by the first mark. However, being maxed on his 9.6m and going at full tilt meant that the terminator ran wide in the opening gybe allowing Maynard, Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft Sails) and Angulo all to overtake. Dunkerbeck then found himself in dirty wind which cost him dearly as from that point onwards he was only able to fight back into seventh. Meanwhile, the battle at the top was an exciting affair as Diethelm broke into the lead after the exit of the first gybe. The Swiss maestros time at the front didn’t last long though as Maynard turned on the afterburners, combined with a brilliant gybe to storm into the lead after the third gybe - a position he wouldn’t relinquish as he claimed the first bullet of the day. Diethelm managed to hold on to second place, whilst Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) managed to overtake Angulo to claim third place.

“The wind arrived much earlier than normal, so we were all rushing to get to the start line. Best wind so far, consistent 12-15 knots. 9.4m Machine and RRD 129l and had a good start at the pin with josh, found myself with good speed and arrived with Dunky, good gybe but Diethelm better gybe. Second mark best gybe in long time boom to boom harness to harness and managed to overtake Diethelm from there I was in control of the race. Felt absolutely great considering the hard winter I have had.”

Elimination Three

Winners’ Final

The second winners’ final of the day proved to be the most exciting heat of the day, with Alberto Menegatti and Micah Buzianis at the forefront of the action. The Italian crossed the line in first place, but Buzianis started with more speed marginally behind him. By the opening mark the American’s greater speed across the line had proved pivotal as he now held the lead. Buzianis looked as though he was cruising to victory, but Menegatti was gaining on the American on each reach. Buzianis still held the lead after the final gybe, but Menegatti continued to reel him in. Last year’s third place finisher tried to force Menegatti upwind but, the Italian continued to rapidly gain on him until it came down to a nail biting photo finish - which Menegatti crucially clinched by a board length as they crossed the finish line. Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) took on Antoine Albeau in the battle for third and Quentel eventually came out on top, leaving the reigning world champion to settle for fourth, but still safely at the top of the overall event rankings.

Elsewhere in the third elimination there were a few shocks in the opening round. First of all Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) - who had been showing terrific speed - made a massive error as he went over the line early to be disqualified from heat one. Other upsets saw the likes of Andrea Rosati (RRD / Point-7), Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) and Pascal Toselli (Tabou / Point-7) all take early exits.

It wasn’t plain sailing in the quarterfinals either as further shocks occurred - Patrick Diethelm - who finished second in race three - was knocked out in heat ten after being a little too eager to cross the start line. Furthermore Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) also took an early exit after narrowly missing out in fifth place. Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7) and Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) also failed to qualify for the semifinals on this occasion.

Fourth Elimination

The fourth race was started, but fluctuant winds made it impossible to finish more than the three heats, which were completed thus far, and the top seeds involved in the opening three heats, were successfully able to navigate their way into the quarterfinals.

Tomorrow’s skippers’ meeting will be held at 10:30am with the action commencing at 11am if conditions allow. As we’ve seen throughout the week so far the local effect plays a much more significant role in the wind from the forecast, so we are very likely to be racing again tomorrow.

Results After Elimination Three

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

4th Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)

5th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

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Kein Wind gestern, heute letzter Tag:

Zitat von PWA

PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP<o:p></o:p>
Day 5: Celebrating fifteen incredible years of PWA Costa Brava World Cups
The penultimate day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup proved to be a largely frustrating affair as winds of 5-13 knots teased the competitors for the duration of the afternoon - so despite several sailors checking the conditions - the wind never quite materialized enough to resume the racing. The sailors were eventually released shortly after 7pm, and now all attention is firmly focused on tomorrow’s forecast in order to complete elimination four, to try and gain a discard.
Although there was no competition today, there was still an amazing atmosphere surrounding the event area as the crowds arrived for the weekend and a Volkswagen Festival took place at 5pm with an impressive 564 VW Campervans turning up to mark the tenth anniversary of the festival. With plenty of downtime today we caught up with the man that has been making this fantastic event possible for the past fifteen years - Panxo Pi-Sunyer.
PWA: When did the event originally start?
Panxo: “I’m the owner of the Surf-Vela Windsurf Magazine - which is the Spanish windsurfing magazine. The owner of the campsite approached me twenty-nine years ago to tell me that Costa Brava is very windy and that many German tourists are windsurfing here - he wanted to advertise in the magazine to try and encourage Spanish windsurfers to get involved. At that point windsurfing was only just entering Spain. I originally suggested not to make an event, but instead to hold windsurfing weekends with all the equipment on offer to attract people, we also invited Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) - when he was very young - and on the tenth anniversary we invited him here again and he saw the new bungalows etc. It was then that he suggested that we should organize a World Cup event. I was thinking no because it’s very expensive, but then the owners of the event said no problem, if you can organize the event then we will talk with the tourist board. So at the beginning the tourist board were involved.”
PWA: Over the 15 years of the competition, what have the main changes been? If any?
Panxo: “The biggest difference comes with regard to disciplines. We started with freestyle then Super-X and now slalom. I am very happy though as I got to see the beginning of Ricardo Campello [JP / NeilPryde / MFC], Kauli Seadi (JP / MFC), Taty Frans (Starboard / Maui Sails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) and Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra) careers. It was one of their first events with coaches, so that was pretty special. For me slalom is the most impressive discipline and it brings a lot of publicity to the sport. The most impressive thing for me this year was seeing the number of younger sailors here. I can remember Bjorn saying that it was impossible for anyone that is 95kg to win the world title, when Kevin Pritchard was competing, which proves that the sport is always changing. I think it’s different now with the competitors too as many of them are training in teams.”
PWA: Do any of the years of competition stand out in your mind over others?
Panxo: I remember two or three years ago we had 45 knots for three rounds of crazy slalom... I can remember Bjorn and Jimmy [Diaz (Starboard / North)] coming to me and saying we can’t sail anymore because they are too tired, but the race director (Juan Aragon) said no you are professionals and you must compete if it’s windy, ha! If we can finish three rounds we will finish three rounds.
The forecast for tomorrow looks much better than today, so with that in mind the skippers’ meeting has been called for 10am with the action commencing from 10:30am.

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Das wars:

Zitat von PWA

PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP

Event Summary: A familiar face surrounded by two new potential stars of the slalom world

The final day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup witnessed a mammoth final elimination, which took four hours to complete due to the gusty and shifty winds. After a long and largely frustrating afternoon, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), eventually powered to victory in race four and more importantly this clinched the overall event victory for him. The reigning world champion’s first event victory of the year sees him return to the top of the overall rankings too. A grueling day was eventually completed shortly after 7pm to conclude another fantastic event on the beautiful shores of Costa Brava.

Antoine Albeau was able to claim two bullets, as well as a third and a fourth to cement his place as the King of Costa Brava. The reigning world champion became the first man to stop his arch nemesis - Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) - from claiming the title for the first time in three years. Albeau demonstrated his perfectly timed starts time and time again, along with a phenomenal top speed to blow the competition out of the water.

Words from the winner:

“I’d like to thank all the organizers - thanks Panxo - because you did a great job again to organize this wonderful event. Thanks also to the owner’s of the campsite as we stay here, and this really is a beautiful, beautiful place to windsurf, and it is perfect for holidays too. I’m also really happy to see new blood on the podium [Julien Quentel and Matteo Iachino], it’s really nice and I think I’m going to have a big battle with Julien this year. And thanks to everyone because today was really hard. Thanks to Juan Aragon and his team, I think they did a really good job re-adjusting the course so quickly and see you next year!”

Bjorn Dunkerbeck managed to recover from a disastrous first round exit in the opening elimination to fight back to fourth place. The most successful windsurfer of all time started his recovery with a seventh and a tenth place, before showing what he is truly made of to take home second place in the final elimination, which allowed him to discard a 44.5 point score, which then saw him fly up through the rankings.

Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) was able to put the disappointment of Korea behind him and firmly get his season back on track with a fifth place finish. The American showed his perfectly timed starts and super consistent gybes to claw his way back towards the top of the pack. He will now be hoping to continue the form he showed here, at the next event in Turkey.

Flying Dutchman - Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) - was able to back up his third place finish in Korea with a solid sixth this week with a gritty display of sailing. Van Der Steen now sits in fourth place overall in the rankings, perfectly poised to make an attack for the top in Turkey. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) is similarly positioned and showing the kind of consistency that is required to finish in the top five and above overall.

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) continues to prove that his change of equipment in the winter is working wonders for him as he now sits inside the top then. The Israeli was able to finish seventh this week, and his result may have been even better - with a bit more luck - if the first attempt to complete the winners’ final hadn’t been cancelled due to a drop in the wind.

Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) came into the event as the leader of the tour, but a combination of bad luck and a major error - sailing to the wrong mark in the opening elimination - cost him dearly. The Italian finished eighth overall and still finds himself in third place overall. Menegatti reaffirmed his title winning credentials with another bullet in the third elimination, so it remains to be seen whether his mistake in the first race comes back to haunt him, come the end of the season.

Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7) achieved his first top ten finish on the PWA in almost a decade with a fantastic display of sailing. The man behind Point-7 made one appearance in a winners’ final along with two losers’ finals to claim his best finish in a very long time.

The remaining winner of a race this week was Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) - who stole the show in the second elimination. Maynard lit a trail a blaze as he hunted down Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft Sails) to move into the lead, and once in the lead he was in complete control of the race.

An Injection of New Blood

Whilst one of the stalwarts of the slalom world - Antoine Albeau - claimed his familiar place at the top of the podium, this years top three was dominated by an influx of new - youthful - blood as Julien Quentel and Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360) claimed second and third place respectively, proving that it is possible for the “next generation” of slalom sailors to already strive for the top of the rankings. Quentel - twenty-seven - equaled his second place finish, which he achieved here last year to claim successive podium places in Costa Brava. Meanwhile, Iachino claimed his first ever podium finish to significantly improve his previous best result - 11th in Sylt last year. This may prove to be a pivotal moment of the season as younger sailors truly start to believe that they can crack the years of experience, which is so often associated with slalom in order to be successful.

It’s also important to realize the potential of the likes of Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) - 21 - who also enjoyed his best result in a winners’ final as he finished seventh in the first elimination of the week, whilst Enrico Marotti (Starboard / Point-7) - 22 - was able to claim ninth in the final elimination of the week, to prove that there is plenty of young talent coming through the ranks and starting to blossom, which should hopefully entice more young sailors to consider slalom as a discipline to pursue.

Where’s Next?

The next stop on the PWA World Tour sees the wave sailors feature for the first time this year. Once again they will be returning to the howling shores of Pozo to perform gravity defying stunts, as well as destroying the lip of the wave. The contest will be taking place between the 9th to the 14th July. Make sure you tune in to www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the action as it happens.

The 2013 PWA Catalunya World Cup Standings:

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)

4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)

5th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

6th Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft Sails / Mystic / Different)

7th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

8th Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)

9th Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7)

10th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

Scope The Action

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Was war eigentlich mit Gunnar los?

Slalom 63, das bedeutet: 6 Segel und 3 Boards. Aber nicht wie Slalom 42 je Worldcup, sondern für die volle Saison.

Die Sache ist die: Würde die PWA die Events stattfinden lassen die sie großspurig verspricht, ist das ja ok. Tut sie aber nicht, wer also braucht diese Saison von den Topfahrern ein 5.6 oder 6.2? Keiner! Registriert haben sie es aber dennoch.

Das ist ein offenes Geheimnis in Holland...