2016 Ulsan PWA World Cup

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After the freestyle fleet opened proceedings in Austria 2 weeks ago it is now the turn of the world’s fastest sailors to take centre stage as they prepare to kick off their campaign in Ulsan, South Korea, between the 19th-24th May. Last year saw an enthralling battle for the title, which went down to the wire between — Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde / Chris Benz), Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) — and this season looks set to be just as exciting and intense.

Jinha beach has quickly earned itself the reputation of being the top windsurfing destination in the country, due to it’s beautiful white sand beaches and reliable trade winds, which blow consistently between May and June. South Korea often proves to be one of the most challenging stops on the tour, which will ensure an exhilarating opening to the 2016 PWA Slalom World Tour.


All set to go at Jinha Beach

Ones to Watch

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) made an emphatic return to the full slalom world tour last year — after completing her studies — as she recorded two victories and a 2nd place to deservedly capture a second world crown in slalom — to add to her 8 freestyle world titles. Offringa is without doubt the girl that everyone else has to beat and you wouldn’t want to bet against her making a flying start to 2016 as the 24 year old goes in search of back-to-back titles.


Sarah-Quita Offringa leading the way

Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails) relinquished her world crown for the first time in 2 years and she’ll be doing everything in her power to return to the top of the podium. A slow start cost Cousin badly last season as she opened with two 4th place finishes. However, in the final event of last year the 24 year old looked back to her very best as she dominated proceedings in New Caledonia with 7 victories out of the 9 eliminations completed. If Cousin picks up where she left off then Offringa may have her work cut out if she wants to make the perfect start to her title defence.


Delphine Cousin

Having finished 2nd and 3rd respectively over the last two seasons — Lena Erdil (Patrik / Point-7 / Mystic / AL360) — should again be in the hunt for a maiden world title. The Turkish beauty usually times her starts to perfect and shows blistering straight line speed and she’ll be looking to be coming out with all guns blazing when the green flag is raised.


Lena Erdil

Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne) is the brightest young talent on the tour and the 20 year old comes into the new season on the back of her best performance to date, which saw her finish 4th in 2015, while also being crowned the PWA Youth Slalom World Champion for the second consecutive year. Ünlü has all the potential and it will be exciting to see how she has progressed after another winter of training.


Fulya Ünlü

Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Gun Sails) ended 2015 in fine form — recording 2nd and 4th place finishes to claim 5th place overall. A slow start here this time last year — 8th — cost her a shot at a podium finish, but if she can pick up where she left off the 24 year old will be battling it out for the top places come the end of the week.


Marion Mortefon

Also in contention will be the likes of Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Severne), Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic), María Andrés (Fanatic / North) and multiple time world champion — Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails). While Esther de Geus (JP / Point-7) could be the dark horse after a winter of solid training under her belt in Tenerife.


Cagla Kubat

Men’s

Antoine Albeau staged a heroic comeback in the final event of last year to claim a superb hat-trick of world titles as he staved off the challenges of Pierre Mortefon and Matteo Iachino. As a result he’ll be the one that everyone has to beat when the opening battle begins this week. AA has been hampered by a knee injury over the winter, but is raring to go despite less than ideal preparation and you can expect to see him doing everything in his power to make a perfect start to his title defence as he goes in search of a fourth consecutive world crown.


Antoine Albeau

Pierre Mortefon came agonisingly close to capturing a maiden world title in 2015 as he finished level on points with Antoine Albeau, but unfortunately lost out on count back with AA recording a better result at 4 out of the 6 events in 2015. Mortefon dominated the final event of 2015 and if he’s anywhere near that level of form he’ll be incredibly hard to stop from claiming the first bullet of the year.


Pierre Mortefon

Having led the title race for much of the last year Matteo Iachino fell at the final hurdle in New Caledonia — but 2015 still represented a breakthrough year for the Italian, who completed the overall podium in 2015. The 26 year old barely put a foot wrong during last year’s campaign and he’ll be eager to make a flying start on his new equipment having changed sponsors to Starboard and Point-7 over the winter. Expect to see Iachino battling it out for the top positions come the end of the week.


Matteo Iachino

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) will come into the new season full of confidence having equalled his best ever overall result last year — the Brit finished in 4th place in 2015 — a result he had not emulated since 2008. Williams recorded two podiums together with 4th, 6th, 10th and 11th place finishes as he showed the level of consistency needed to compete at the very top of the game and he should be in the thick of the action again.


Ross Williams

Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) is another man who will enter the opening event of the year full of confidence after the Frenchman produced his best performance to date during the last campaign. Bordes finished in the top 10 at all but one event in 2015 and he was rewarded with a fantastic 5th place finish overall. The 31 year old will now be looking to continue his rich vein of form from last season.


Cedric Bordes

Ben Van der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails) has consistently been one of the best sailors on the tour in recent years with the flying Dutchman not finishing outside the overall top 6 since 2011. Van der Steen holds all the attributes necessary to battle it out for the world title and based on previous year’s he should be there or there abouts again.


[FONT=trebuchet ms, helvetica, sans-serif]Ben Van der Steen

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Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) changed sponsors during the close season, which sees him join Patrik and Avanti. Quentel has become a force to be reckoned with over the last couple of seasons — finishing 2013 as the PWA Vice-World Champion — and he’ll be hoping to make a bright start on his new equipment.


Julien Quentel

Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne) has been the master of consistency with the Australian finishing between 8th-11th place overall in 6 out of the last 7 seasons. Allen competed at the same high level during 2015 which saw him finish in joint 8th place alongside Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) — who finished 2014 as the PWA Vice-World Champion. The Frenchman looked backed to his best in New Caledonia, where he recored 3rd place, and he’ll be hoping he can mount another title challenge over the course of the season.


Cyril Moussilmani

Antoine Questel (Starboard / GA Sails) completed the overall Top 10 last yearand the Frenchman will be hoping he can start the season with the same kind of form that almost brought him a maiden event victory here in 2012 — where he claimed 2nd place.


Antoine Questel

Also keep an eye out for Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic), who comes into 2016 fresh off the back of a 4th place in the freestyle, while also finishing last year with a flourish as the Bonairean earned his first podium finish in slalom — 2nd in New Caledonia.


Taty Frans

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Point-7) narrowly missed out on a place in the Top 10 in 2015 — finishing 11th — and the Argentinian will be another one to watch alongside a whole host of other names such as; Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic), Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Point-7), Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / North).


Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

While slalom used to be a game purely for those with vast experience there are now several younger sailors starting to flourish and showin no fear in facing their idols with the likes of current PWA Youth Slalom World Champion — Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic), Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / North), Laurence Carey (Fanatic / North) and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) all chomping at the ankles of their more experienced rivals.


Tristan Algret

The level of racing on the PWA Slalom World Tour continues to rise every year and as a result every heat is an intense battle and almost anyone is capable of qualifying for the latter stages of each elimination, which will make the opening an event of the year a blockbuster. Make sure you don’t miss any of the action by tuning into http://www.pwaworldtour.com/ from the 19th-24th May — here you’ll be able to watch fantastic live coverage via the PWA live stream.

Recap Overall Rankings of the 2015 PWA Slalom World Tour - Women’s

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails)
3rd Lena Erdil (Patrik / Point-7 / Mystic / AL360)
4th Marion Mortefon (Patrik / Gun Sails)
5th Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne)

Recap Overall Rankings of the 2015 PWA Slalom World Tour - Men’s

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde / Chris Benz)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North)
3rd Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7)
4th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
5th Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Ben Van der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)
8th Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne)
8th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
10th Antoine Questel (Starboard / GA Sails)

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The opening day of the Ulsan PWA World Cup proved to be a quiet affair with the wind remaining extremely light over the duration of the day. The sailors registered for the upcoming six days of competition between 10am-12pm, before making any final adjustments to their equipment to ensure they are 100% ready for when the racing kicks off.


Rigged and ready for action

Earlier in the day we caught up with Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / North), who changed sponsors during the close season:


Question time for Jordy Vonk

PWA: You changed sponsors over the winter to Fanatic and North Sails — how are you getting on with your new gear and what have you been up to during the close season?

JV: “I’m very, very happy. This year I’m on Fanatic, North and Ion. Over the winter I went over to Tenerife for 3 months where several of my other teammates passed by; Pierre Mortefon, Marco Lang, Laurence Carey, Vincent Langer and a lot of the other sailors who compete on the tour were also there, which was great as it gave me all the information I needed about my new gear and gave me the opportunity to tune everything up. Over the 3 months I was able to test everything on the race course, which was the perfect preparation for the year.”

PWA: You also just won the first stop of the Dutch Championships — can you tell us a little about that?

JV: “It was a hard days racing with gusty, shifty winds — 6-33 knots — so it was impossible to choose the right gear, so you had to be kind of lucky also. Taty Frans was also there, so the level was high. I’d say that Taty actually won as he won both finals — I was on his tail for both finals — but because we were using IFCA rules he was disqualified for pushing 4 people into the boat, so there were quite a few angry sailors who then protested. So the results were revised and he received a last place in the final, so that’s how ended up in first and won the opening leg of the Dutch Championship, but not in the way I would’ve liked.”

PWA: How are you feeling ahead of the racing here?

JV: “I feel good. I feel comfortable on all my gear from small to large. I’ve already been able to use everything a lot, so it’s about time to turn the training into action.”

PWA: Thanks, Jordy, and good luck with the racing this week.

The forecast looks slightly better for tomorrow — although the wind is predicted to be from the northeast rather than the prevailing southwest — so the normal thermal effect will not come into play. The best opportunity looks set be in the late afternoon with 11-16 knots being predicted. As a result the skippers’ meeting will be held at 9:30am with a first possible start of 10am. Make sure you stay tuned into http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?…waworldtour.com — here you’ll be able follow the action as it happens via the PWA live stream.


Forecast for the next few days

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The best opportunity for wind on the second day in South Korea always looked liked being in the late afternoon or evening and that’s exactly how it played out. After a still and extremely hazy start to proceedings the fog eventually cleared and the wind slowly increased, however, it wasn’t until just before 6:30pm that the first heat was completed, in 8-14 knots, as the temperature plummeted during the evening to aid the cause — allowing the opening 7 heats of the men’s first elimination for be completed before fading light brought an end to play.


Tuning up

Elimination One

Men’s

Heat 1 was completed at the second time of asking and just as in the first attempt it was Bruno Martini (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360) who held the lead from the word go. The Italian showed terrific straight line speed to qualify in style for the next round ahead of Daisuke Ikoma (RRD / NeilPryde), Laurence Carey (Fanatic / North) and Ramon Pastor (Tabou / Loft Sails) — who won the battle for the final qualifying place.


Bruno Martini leads the way

In Heat 2 Japan’s Norio Asano (RRD / NeilPryde) led from start to finish as he qualified ahead of Michal Aftowicz (Point-7), Jan Kosmina (Starboard / Point-7) and Andrea Ferin (RRD / Challenger Sails) — who produced an excellent gybe at the penultimate mark to overtake Janis Preiss.


Andrea Ferin goes through

Nicolas Warembourg (JP / NeilPryde) looked in impressive form in Heat 3 as the Frenchman secured a clinical victory by showing blistering speed and tidy gybes to finish well ahead of Fred Morin (Starboard / NeilPryde), Tomonori Anami (Starboard / Severne) and local boy Hyung-Kwon Kim (RRD / Point-7).


Nicolas Warembourg cruising alongside Arnon Dagan

Vincent Langer (Fanatic / Point-7) also led from start to finish in the last heat of the opening round, while Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) produced a superb first gybe to move into second place ahead of Akihiko Yamada (Starboard / Loft Sails) and Shinya Kunieda (Starboard / Loft Sails), who completed the top 4.


Amado Vrieswijk advances into the next round

Bruno Martini continued his winning ways in Heat 5 with another accomplished display to see off the challenge of Laurence Carey, Kurosh Kiani (Starboard / Point-7) and Andrea Rosati (North), who also qualify for round 3. The Italian changed sponsors over the winter and appears to have made a seamless transition onto his new gear.


Bruno Martini enjoys a fine day

Reaching the first mark in the top four proved critical in the light winds and Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) made a bright start as he too led from start to finish as he pressed home the advantage of clean wind. Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) made no mistakes to ensure their place in the next round — qualifying in second and third place respectively — while Benjamin Augé (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) capitalised on Andrea Ferin’s mistake at the last to clinch the final qualifying place in round 3.


Andrea Cucchi leading down the opening reach

Heat 7 proved to be the final heat of the day and it was Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / North), who came out on top as the Dutchman also led from start to finish to advance. Meanwhile, Nicolas Warembourg, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Josh Angulo (Angulo) completed the top 4.


Jordy Vonk out on his own

With the light rapidly fading day two was called to an end and the sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 8:30am for the skippers’ meeting — with the action commencing from 9am if conditions allow. The forecast looks better for tomorrow, compared to today, so with a bit of luck there will be a full schedule of racing on the agenda. Make sure you tune intohttp://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?…waworldtour.com to follow all of the action live.

To see all the latest from the event — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click%3D247%26cHash%3Dd85c9bf9d6f85824b5cfad602ac3f0ad"]HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

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The better forecast for today never quite materialised, which led to a rather frustrating afternoon of racing as light and gusty winds made for a stop-start affair. Over the course of 4 hours it was only possible to complete a further 6 heats in the men’s division, while the opening 2 heats in the women’s fleet were also completed before being were released for the day with conditions continuing to deteriorate.


Light wind battle

Women’s

Elimination One

Mio Anayama (Starboard) made the best start to the opening women’s heat of the year and led as they rounded the first mark, however, by the time the fleet approached the third mark it was Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360) who had moved to the front of the pack and she went on to win the heat ahead of Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7), Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails), Anayama and Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails).


Lena Erdil

A result was finally gained for Heat 2, an hour and a half after the first attempt as the wind continually fluctuated between being suitable and unsuitable. Unfortunately, on what proved to be the penultimate start Marion Dusart (Patrik / Gun Sails) was disqualified for a false start. Upon the restart reigning world champion — Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) — safely booked her place in the first winner’s final of the year as the Aruban gem won the heat ahead of María Andrés (Fanatic / North), Fulya Ünlü — last year’s youth world champion — Esther de Geus (JP / Point-7) and Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Point-7).


Fulya Ünlü and Sarah-Quita Offringa fighting it out

Men’s

Elimination One

Matteus Isaac (Starboard / NeilPryde) made a winning start in the first heat of the day as he secured a place in the quarterfinals alongside Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne) and Vincent Langer (Fanatic / North), who fought back to knock out Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails).


Vincent Langer clinches fourth

Both Ben Van der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails) and Laurence Carey (Fanatic / North) were disqualified from Heat 9 for premature starts, which left 6 sailors battling for the top 4 qualifying positions. Ultimately, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Point-7), Bruno Martini (Starboard / Point-7), Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) and Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails) advanced.


Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) made a winning start to life on his new equipment in Heat 10 as he fended of competition from Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North). Meanwhile, Antoine Questel (Starboard / GA Sails) overtook teammate Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) as they completed the heat in third and fourth place respectively.

Julien Quentel leads the way

Arnon Dagan led from start to finish in Heat 11 as the Israeli showed tremendous speed in the light winds to build a significant advantage over his closest challengers — Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde), who did well to see off the challenge of Josh Angulo (Angulo).

Arnon Dagan and Ross Williams

In the last quarterfinal — Heat 12 — Marco Lang (Fanatic / North) was extremely unlucky as the Austrian caught a plastic bag around his fin just before to the start to ruin any chance of him qualifying for the next round. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) won the heat ahead of Amado Vrieswijk — who advanced through is third consecutive heat — Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne) and reigning world champion — Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde).

Cyril Moussilmani

Many of the sailors who competed in Heat 13 were not overly happy with the conditions in which they raced, but the result stood despite a protest. Matteo Iachino showed he has had no problem adjusting to his new equipment — Starboard and Point-7 — as the Italian booked his place in the winners’ final alongside Julien Quentel, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and Pierre Mortefon.

Matteo Iachino

The second semi-final was started, but had to be cancelled with the wind being deemed too light. With the conditions failing to improve the sailors were released at 6:30pm.

The forecast looks similar for tomorrow and the sailors will meet at 8:30am again for the skippers’ meeting — with the action commencing from 9am (GMT+9) if conditions allow. Make sure you tune into http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?…waworldtour.com to follow all of the action live.

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After slowly edging towards the conclusion of the opening race over the last two days a result was finally gained during the afternoon of day four. The conditions remained light once again — with winds of 7-14 knots — making starts and the opening reach critical in order to advance. A few slices of luck were also needed today with seaweed causing havoc on several occasions. However, come the end of day — Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360) — stand at the top of the current event rankings after claiming victory in the opening races of the season.


Lena Erdil and Matteo Iachino celebrate

Elimination One

Women’s

Winners’ Final

The women’s winners’ final was completed at the second time of asking after the first effort had to be cancelled, with Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails) holding a significant lead, due to a lack of wind. Upon the restart Mio Anayama (Starboard) made the best start of the fleet, but as they rounded the opening buoy it was Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7) who struck to the front after a great gybe with Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7) narrowly behind. At this point Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) was towards the rear of the pack, but the reigning world champion turned on the afterburners on the second reach to move from 6th into 2nd place before taking an aggressive approach at the second gybe. This forced Kubat wide — allowing Erdil to seize the initiative and hit the front of the pack ahead of Cousin and Offringa, who wobbled away from her penultimate gybe — costing her valuable time. Erdil remained calm in the lead and after a tidy final gybe the 27 year old was soon celebrating claiming the first bullet of the season. Meanwhile, Offringa managed to out manoeuvre Cousin as the reigning world champion and vice-world champion finished in second and third place respectively, while Cagla Kubat secured a clear fourth ahead of Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Point-7).


Lena Erdil leads the way

[FONT=trebuchet ms, helvetica, sans-serif]Men's

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Winners’ Final

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) immediately picked up where he left last year as the Italian flew down the opening reach to claim the lead ahead of Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne), Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) and Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde). By the penultimate gybe Iachino had extended his lead and this proved to be unassailable advantage as he claimed the opening bullet to complete a fantastic day for Starboard and Point-7. Behind him Moussilmani and Williams claimed second and third, while Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) was able to move up into fourth place with Reuscher slipping back to sixth due to seaweed getting wrapped around his fin. The final wasn’t without incident either as Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) — who finished 6th — collided with Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Point-7) — who was in third place as he entered the gybe — to end the Argentinian’s hopes in the final.


Matteo Iachino strikes first

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) almost caused a massive upset by nearly knocking out reigning world champion — Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) — in the second semifinal as they battled it out for the final qualifying place. Vrieswijk produced a fantastic gybe to move right onto the tail of Albeau, only for a piece of seaweed to cost him a chance of qualifying for the final as AA advanced. The final didn’t go Albeau’s way on this occasion as a rare poor start cos him dearly and he eventually finished in seventh place.


Albeau hangs on

Meanwhile, Cyril Moussilmani, was lucky to escape with just a cut ear after being squeezed into a five man pileup before the start of the semifinal. Moussilmani, to his credit, was able to remain focused at the task at hand and claimed second place in Elimination One.


Cyril Moussilmani cranks a gybe

In the losers’ final — Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails) — claimed a convincing victory to secure ninth place in the opening race ahead of Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne) and Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Maui Ultra Fins).


Pascal Toselli

The first five heats of the men’s second elimination were completed before conditions deteriorated and the racing was abandoned for the day.

The forecast looks extremely light for tomorrow with just 6-7 knots being predicted, but the forecast for the final day now shows 11-27 knots — accompanied by heavy rain. The sailors will meet again tomorrow at 9:30am for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start of 10am. Make sure you tune intohttp://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?…waworldtour.com to follow all of the action live.

To see all the latest from the event — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click%3D247%26cHash%3Dd85c9bf9d6f85824b5cfad602ac3f0ad"]HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Standings Ulsan PWA World Cup — Women’s Slalom

1st Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails)
4th Çağla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7)
5th Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Point-7)

Current Standings Ulsan PWA World Cup — Men’s Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7)
2nd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
4th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North)
5th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)
6th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)
7th Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
8th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Point-7)
9th Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails)
10th Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne)

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As predicted the wind remained light on the penultimate day of the Ulsan PWA World Cup meaning no further racing took place. With the sailors on hold until 4pm we caught up with a few of them to see what they made of yesterday’s racing in tricky conditions.

Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360), who won the opening race of the year: “Still reliving the excitement of yesterday’s final in my mind! What an epic race with the top 4 changing constantly! Light wind mixed with a seaweed obstacle course made this into one of the most exciting races I have ever sailed in I think! So happy to have been able to come out on top for this first final in 2016! Thanks to everyone cheering me on and sending me messages! Now fingers crossed for more, hopefully, better wind and more racing!”


Lena Erdil

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7), who claimed an emphatic victory in the opening men’s race: “I had an amazing start. When there 3 seconds to go I closed my sail and just decided to go for it. The guys upwind from me were a little bit late and the guys at the boat were also hitting the start perfectly. I had a better line which allowed me to reach the first mark in the lead, which made life a lot easier. I’ve trained the whole winter, but you never know until you come to the first event exactly where you are — so it feels good to get the first bullet."

Matteo Iachino

Reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde): “What a day yesterday. Light wind and the committee was pushing a lot. We tried to run the semifinal 5 times and I made 5 good starts. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to another good start in only final we did. Not bad at the end to finish 7th as it was easy to get bad luck in these tricky conditions. 1 more day to go.”


Antoine Albeau

Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde): “Yesterday we finally managed complete elimination one. I was lying in 4th place in the final, but sadly caught some seaweed which made me drop back to 6th. Not the result that I was hoping for but it's still okay! Hoping for more races tomorrow to finish the event.”


Malte Reuscher

Reigning world champion — Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins): “AWO! A second place finish in the first race got me smiling, since it's quite tough on the water! It was a proper fight where there were 4 of us that took over the lead for a little while until Lena sealed the deal. Exciting! I sailed 8,6m and 114L board. Looking forward to some more! Vamooosss.”


Sarah-Quita Offringa

Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails), who could almost taste victory yesterday, before the first attempt to run the final was cancelled: “Again light conditions yesterday, but we finished the first race! Little be upset because I was leading the race, but it has been canceled because of "not enough wind "... For the second try, it was a very big fight with Lena Erdil at the first mark and at mark 3 I got seaweed around my fin and so eventually I finished 3rd... Not so bad with those tricky conditions where anything can happen! Fingers crossed for action on the final day!”


Delphine Cousin battling with Lena Erdil

Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7): “Yesterday in Korea we continued to have quite difficult conditions which were again on the limit and with the challenge of avoiding the seaweed. Due to the limited winds we have been only able to finish one round here in four days. In yesterday’s hotly contested final, I finished fourth. The last days forecast looks quite difficult for wind, but we are continuing to pray for it and trying to stay relaxed and have fun.”


Cagla Kubat

After a day on hold attention now turns towards tomorrow, which currently has forecasts predicting winds between 10 and 28 knots, which could provide a grand stand finale to the event. However, the only cause for concern is the amount of rain accompanying the wind, which could potentially make the wind extremely squally. The sailors will meet again tomorrow at 8:30am for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start of 9am. Make sure you tune into http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?…waworldtour.com to follow all of the action live.

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Bei mir sind die da...
Was fehlt denn bei dir?

Ätzend, dass die in der Emailbenachrichtigung an die Medien eine neue Formatierung haben. Nervt mich sehr...

Ok, dann verzichte ich zukünftig wieder auf das Miteinstellen der Bilder...

Brauchen wir die PWA Themen überhaupt noch?

Ok.

Das Problem ist halt, und das ist genau einer der Gründe, warum ich es eigentlich nicht mag:
Die Bilder sind nicht bei uns gelagert, sondern bei der PWA.
Wer weiß, ob die in 4 Wochen noch zu sehen sind. In 5 Jahren sicher nicht mehr.
Darum kann ich die auch in der Größe nicht beschneiden.
Sie sind schlicht verlinkt.

Ich will jetzt auch nicht mehr viel verändern an den Forums-Einstellungen, da unsere Tage mit vB eh gezählt sind.
Natürlich kann man die Bilder auch ins Forum hochladen, aber die Anzahl ist ja je Beitrag auch limitiert und man muss es auch machen.
Also Arbeit. Ich kann einfach nicht alles machen oder wir müssen einen aktiven Moderator dabei nehmen...

Ist natürlich saublöd, wenn gerade Bilder in ein paar Jahren nicht mehr zu sehen sind.
Ich überlege mir was...

Zitat von Arnon Dagan

Thats it for the first PWA event Korea. I have to say one of the worst events ever due to wind conditions, weed and trush in the water. For me it is a shame to see so many extreemly good sailors not really having the chance to show how good they are. I ended up 15th after not being able to plane while leading my semi final. Lets hope for better wind in the next event.

Ich begreife einfach nicht, wie man über Jahre an solchen Drecks-Spots festhalten muss. Die Anreise steht finanziell und vom Aufwand her in keinem Verhältnis, es gab bei kaum einem Korea Worldcup mal eine vernünftige Serie an Eliminations.
Hauptsache mal wieder, dass die PWA ihre Kohle im Sack hat.
Ein Witz...

Macht nichts, ich bin eh immer der Doofe...

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On paper the final day of the Ulsan PWA World Cup would seem rather uneventful with the overall result of the event not changing — however that doesn’t tell the full story. The forecast always looked tricky for today and that’s exactly how it played out — resulting in just 8 heats being completed over a period of 6 hours.


Action at the first mark on final day

The outcome of the men’s standings was just 1 heat away from changing quite significantly, but ultimately the wind didn’t play ball despite numerous efforts to gain a result.

As a result several sailors were left with their hearts in their mouths as their result hung in the balance on the completion or non-completion of Heat 14. After being made to sweat it out for the entire afternoon the likes of Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) — 3rd in race one — Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) — 4th — Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde) — 6th — reigning world champion — Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) — 7th — and Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne) - 10th — were all able to breathe a sigh of relief, after quarterfinal exits, when the event was officially called off just before 5pm.


Ross Williams sails away with 3rd

In the women’s fleet Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7) was also left breathing a sigh of relief after falling at the opening buoy in her semifinal, which would have almost definitely resulted in the 27 year old missing out on a place in the winners’ final, while potentially costing her the event victory.


Lady luck shines on Lena Erdil

Immediately after coming off the water we quickly caught up with both Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360), who claim the opening victories of the year to take an early season lead in the race for the 2016 world titles:

Lena Erdil reflects on a slice of luck and capturing the event victory: “I feel really lucky actually. It’s been a hard week with not much wind and a lot of tries at racing as well as battling it out with the seaweed. Today we were trying really hard again and I wouldn’t have qualified from my heat today if it wasn’t abandoned. I feel very happy and lucky.”


Lena Erdil comes out on top

Matteo Iachino picked up immediately from where he left off last season and had this to say: “I feel really good and really happy. It was a hard day because we were on the water for about 3 hours waiting for good conditions, but the wind was so up and down and there was also a lot of seaweed in the water, which made it even more difficult to deal with the pressure. I managed to avoid going over early in the quarterfinals and then I was leading my semifinal before it was cancelled, but I’m super happy. It’s the best possible start to the year.”


All smiles for Matteo Iachino

That concludes the 2016 Ulsan PWA World Cup. The conditions have been extremely tricky over the last 6 days with it only being possible to complete one elimination in both the men’s and women’s fleets. We’ll be back again on the 7th June when the Men’s Slalom fleet will be in action again as they head to Costa Brava, Spain, for the second stop of the PWA Slalom World Tour.

Result 2016 Ulsan PWA World Cup — Women’s Slalom

1st Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Gun Sails)
4th Çağla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7)
5th Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Point-7)

Result Ulsan PWA World Cup — Men’s Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7)
2nd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
4th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North)
5th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)
6th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)
7th Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
8th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Point-7)
9th Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails)
10th Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne)

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