PWA Ulsan Slalom World Cup Korea 2010

Das war Tag 5:

Zitat von PWA

The 2010 PWA Ulsan World Cup, Korea – Day 5

Costly mistakes cause havoc for many, allowing Albeau a golden opportunity to strengthen his lead.

Following two days on standby, day five of competition began in a similar fashion. However, with signs of the weather clearing up, race director, Juan Antonio Aragon, made the call for the sailors to be ready to race at a moment’s notice. By 14:30 there were promising signs that racing would take place, and within the hour, the competition was in full swing.

Unstoppable Albeau
In his usual dominating fashion, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) fought his way through his initial heats, straight into the finals, and claimed yet another race win whilst many of his rivals were left to battle it out elsewhere. During the early rounds, the current world champion was seen almost relaxing round the course. He even allowed Alberto Menegatti (Starboard, Simmer) to pass through and claim victory on the last leg of his first round heat.

Crashing Out
For many others however, the day was a completely different story. Shocking mistakes and premature starts, all contributed towards a day of upsets, and realignment on the results sheet.

The first of the frontrunners to fail to get through a single heat was Israeli racing sensation, Arnon Dagan (Tabou, Gaastra). He had a cracking start, but ended up at a standstill after the first mark. Throughout the heat he was hanging on for the final qualifying spot, but got pipped at the post by Czech racer, Tom Malina (Fanatic, Simmer).

Next up, Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) led a charge towards the start slightly early, taking 2 others over with him, and straight out of qualification. A disappointing way to start the day.

Moussilmani seemed to set the trend for things to come. Josh Angulo (Angulo, Gun), Dan Ellis (Mistral), and Wojtek Brzozowski (Starboard, NeilPryde) all followed suit in the second round. Then during the qualifications for the finals, both Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine), and Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra) made the same mistake.

The biggest shock was yet to come however. During Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s (Starboard, Severne) qualification round for the finals, he flew off the line with amazing speed and went straight into the lead. After rounding mark one with ease, he sped down the straight, but lost it on the second gybe, allowing everyone to pass him. This mistake allowing Albeau an easy final with one of the PWA’s fastest missing from the word go.

Overall, Albeau has now pulled out in front ahead of Bjorn. The real battle however is for third, where Maynard, Steve Allen (Severne), Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North), and Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) are all within 1.3 points of each other.

Climbing The Ranks
Whilst most of the world’s best were hitting the wall, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) was quietly plugging away, making amends for his premature start in the very first race of the contest. After winning all of his heats, he cruised into the final and sailed home in 3rd, putting him back on the radar and in the top 3 overall.

Jaggi Closes The Gap
The women’s fleet sailed in a split heat format today to enable the top 8 to rise to the top and battle it out in an all action final. Eight women managed to qualify, but only five actually sailed it!

Following in her team mate, Cyril Moussilmani’s footsteps, Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) powered off towards the first mark a few moments early, and gained a premature start in the process, leaving her to watch on as Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) led the pack to victory, and narrowed Arutkin’s lead overall.

Arutkin wasn’t the only victim of an early start in the women’s fleet today though. Her fellow French lady Morane Demont (Starboard, Severne) also pushed it too hard, allowing Sarah Hebert (Naish) to overtake her in the rankings.

Jaggi is now piling the pressure on Arutkin, with only 2 points separating them overall. Over the next few days it’ll be exciting to see whether experience or youth will win on the Sea of Korea.

PWA Ulsan World Cup – Results After Day 4
Men
1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 3.4 pts
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) 7.7 pts
3rd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 13.7 pts
4th Steve Allen (Severne)14.0 pts
5th Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North)14.0 pts

Women
1st Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) 6.4 pts
2nd Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) 8.4 pts
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) 10.0 pts

Looking Forward
The organizers are hopeful that the weather system that’s played havoc here over the past couple of days has passed, and we should see a return of the thermal breezes that allowed for plenty of action on day 2.

Stay In The Groove
For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

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Tag 6:

Zitat von PWA

The 2010 PWA Ulsan World Cup, Korea – Day 6

A tough day at the office sees Karin Jaggi leap out in front, whilst Antoine Albeau strengthens his lead as his rivals fall by the wayside.

With signs of a thermal wind kicking in early, the beach was awash with competitors from the early morning. By midday, the wind had swung and began to build, allowing two full eliminations to take place for both the men and women in glorious sunshine on the turquoise waters off Jinha beach.

With winds gusting between 10-16 knots, the majority of the fleet chose to compete on the largest board they’d registered, and sails between 8.5m and 10.0m. However, with some stronger winds blowing through on occasions, and some even bigger lulls, choosing the correct gear for the conditions was the key to success.

Albeau Again
Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) dominated the first race final strengthening his lead on Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) and the rest of the fleet. After the first gybe, he pulled out a comfortable lead and never looked back. If he had, he would have noticed that his nearest rival, Dunkerbeck, was still piling on the pressure racing ahead of the rest of the pack in 2nd.

However, the second race final was a completely different story. After a mediocre start, Albeau was just mid fleet at the first gybe mark. Not one to lose hope, Albeau gained a few places by cutting inside of everyone, and powered out of his turn in third. At mark two, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) closed the gap on the inside, blocking Albeau from doing the same again. So instead, he executed a fine gybe on the outside of Maynard to edge past and claim 2nd. Albeau was left without a chance of claiming another bullet, after an amped up and injured Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North), who was out to make amends for his performance in race 5, powered off into the distance to claim a convincing victory.

Although Albeau is out in front again, and doesn’t seem to be that much faster than anyone else, he simply isn’t making any mistakes. And to make matters worse, when the chips are down for his rivals, he’s always there to capitalize on the situation.

Jaggi Ceases The Day
Costly mistakes by her closest rivals made the first women’s final an easy affair for Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne). A premature start by the overnight leader, Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North), during her round one heat, ruled her out from even qualifying. And, Sara-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra), who was leading the final at the first gybe, sailed off downwind towards the wrong mark, clearing the way for Jaggi, who then pulled clear ahead of the rest of the pack.

The race 7 final wasn’t such a walk in the park. With everything lying on the outcome of this one race, Arutkin and Jaggi were fighting hard right from the start. In the most action packed race of the event, they were neck a neck going into the first gybe, but Arutkin took things a little too far, crashing into Jaggi, and putting them both at the back of the fleet. This left the freestyle world champion, Offringa, to redeem herself of her previous mistake, and claim her first bullet of the event.

Arutkin managed to beat Jaggi in the final race, but it wasn’t enough to put her back on top. Instead her mistake had not only cleared the path for Jaggi to take the lead, but she’d also allowed Offringa to sneak past.

President On The Move
Following an awesome performance in the final of race 5, and an almost as strong race 6, the President of the PWA, Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North) moves into 3rd overall.

Brothers In Arms
Despite taking line honors in the final race, Cyril Moussilmani has dropped to 12th overall, allowing his brother Sylvain (Starboard, Simmer) to fly the family flag in 8th instead. Benoit (Starboard, Simmer) also put in a great performance, qualifying for both winner’s finals today, and ensuring ‘Les Mouss’ brothers are all toward the top of the crop.

Final Words
Karin Jaggi
“I had half a good day today! I had a great first race where I felt really in tune with my equipment, and my result reflected that. With the ‘no rules’ racing, I can’t really complain about the crash in the second race, it’s just the way things go. Overall I’m stoked to be in the lead at this event now.”

Results
Men
1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 6.1 pts
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) 16.7 pts
3rd Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, Severne) 23.0 pts
4th Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) 31.0 pts
5th Steve Allen (Severne) 32.0 pts

Women
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) 9.1 pts
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) 10.7 pts
3rd Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) 11.4 pts

Stay In The Groove
For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

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Game is over, keine weiteren Rennen mehr in Korea.

Antoine Albeau gewinnt erwartungsgemäß vor Bjørn Dunkerbeck. Überraschend an dritter Stelle aufs Podium geschafft hat es Jimmy Diaz.

Und hier das Fazit vom letzten Tag 7:

Zitat von PWA

The 2010 PWA Ulsan World Cup, Korea – Day 7

Antoine Albeau and Karin Jaggi claim their crowns in Korea

Following two consecutive days of fast and furious racing, the competitors were greeted on day 7 with glorious sunshine and flat calm waters off Jinha beach. All the signs were present for the thermal breeze to build, but by the cut off point of 14:00 the conditions remained the same.

This left the event leaders from day 6 basking in both the sun and their glory, having claimed victory at the first PWA slalom world tour event of 2010.

Men
Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) sailed consistently all week with very few mistakes or surprises, to claim his crown with a convincing margin. His nearest rival, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) showed moments of pure excellence, but a few mistakes gave Albeau the chance to relax.

Alongside Albeau and Dunkerbeck, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) and Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) both claimed final race wins, but couldn’t quite match the consistency of the 2009 World Champion.

Putting in an awesome performance, and only failing to qualify for the finals once, was Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North), who takes up the remaining spot on the podium. At times, he was out in front with the world’s fastest. Perhaps we’ll see more of the president on the podium throughout the year.

Women
Following a premature start in race one, the legendary Karin Jaggi’s (Patrik, Severne) experience shone through, helping her to claw back the top spot.

The freestyle world champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) bounced back into 2nd after a convincing final race victory. But, she sailed the wrong course in the penultimate race which she was leading, and later discovered that if she’d taken that bullet, she would have crept into first overall!

The young star, Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North), put in a stunning performance on the first day of racing to take the early event lead, but a few premature starts later saw her losing her grasp and finishing 3rd.

Winning Words
Antoine Albeau
“It’s always difficult at the first event because nobody knows who’s going to be fast, or who’ll be in top shape for the new season. I was the only guy to qualify for all of the winner’s finals, which means I was really consistent. I didn’t make too many mistakes, and I won three out of the six races. This was basically the perfect event for me.”

Karin Jaggi
“I’m super stoked to have won here in Korea, especially as I started off so badly with my premature start in the first race. You can’t really get a worse start to the season, but it was totally my mistake so I only had myself to blame. After that I had a hard time catching up and getting my thoughts focussed again. Luckily we had a few more days of wind, and I scored some great results, apart from my crash in the last one. You can’t really do anything about that though because that’s racing. I’m feeling really good on my equipment, and I think I’m faster than last year, so I’m looking forward to the next event in Costa Brava.”

Results
Men
1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 6.1 pts
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) 16.7 pts
3rd Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North) 23.0 pts
4th Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) 31.0 pts
5th Steve Allen (Starboard, Severne) 32.0 pts
6th Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 35.2 pts
7th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra) 36.0 pts
8th Sylvain Moussilmani (Starboard, Simmer) 41.0 pts
9th Arnon Dagan (Tabou, Gaastra) 48.5 pts
10th Ben Van Der Steen (JP) 50.0 pts

Women
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) 9.1 pts
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) 10.7 pts
3rd Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) 11.4 pts
4th Sarah Hebert (Naish) 16.7 pts
5th Morane Demont (Starboard, Severne) 20.0 pts

Stay In The Groove
For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

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Event-Summary:

Zitat von PWA

The 2010 PWA Ulsan World Cup, Korea – Event Summary

Antoine Albeau and Karin Jaggi lead their respective fleets on the PWA World Tour after claiming their crowns in the first action packed slalom event of the season in South Korea.

Six races for the men, and seven races for the women, on the Sea of Korea, allow the world’s most savvy slalom racers to prove their worth, collect their cash, gain those all important points towards their overall world ranking, and stake their claim for the highly coveted PWA slalom world title.

Open Season
Men
The opening rounds of the 2010 slalom season began on day 2 in Korea, allowing the French to leap ahead and take command after 3 fast and furious eliminations in the men’s fleet, and four for the women.

After a winter away, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) dominated his early heats and earned his ticket to the race 1 final with ease. In the manner that we’ve come to accept, Albeau led the final from start to finish, creating a vibe that Korea would be another Antoine Albeau white wash.

However, in race 2, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) put in a performance that was akin to that of his ‘80s and ‘90s days, flying off the start line without a second thought for anyone else and claiming a convincing victory. Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North) and Arnon Dagan (Tabou, Gaastra) also sailed an impeccable final to finish clear ahead of Albeau, and claim 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The unbeatable Albeau had already become beatable. And, this continued in race 3 when Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) found his form and claimed a bullet, redeeming himself of his premature start in the first race, and his 10th place finish in the 2nd.

Despite the first day of racing not belonging entirely to Albeau, he had been more consistent than any of his rivals, allowing him to take the early event lead.

Women
With the 2009 slalom world champion, Valerie Ghibaudo (Loft), out of the picture due to injury, Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) was the event favorite from the word go. However, a premature start in the first race, had her playing catch up for the remainder of the event.

The young star, Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North), took full advantage of the situation claiming the first bullet of the season. Sarah Hebert (Naish), and Jaggi took the next two consecutive race wins with Arutkin posting consistent results just behind them. Arutkin went on to win the final race of the day, and take an early hold on the event with a great set of results.

The Waiting Game
A frustrating day of being teased by the wind, and another getting soaked by torrential rain, left Albeau and Arutkin sitting pretty at the top of their fleets on the beautiful Jinha beach.

A Day Of Mistakes
Men
Day 5 saw a return to the norm. With the cloud dispersed and the land heating up, the thermal wind kicked in towards the mid-afternoon, allowing another full round of world-class racing.

The early heats saw plenty of upsets with many of the top seeds failing to make it through to the final. The first of these was Israeli sensation, Dagan who after a cracking start got covered at the first mark and was left at a standstill to watch as everyone else planed off into the distance. Next up was the flying Frenchman, Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North), who led a charge to the start slightly early, resulting in a PMS.

This turned into quite a trend for the day, with the likes of Josh Angulo (Angulo, Gun), Dan Ellis (Mistral), Wojtek Brzozowski (Starboard, Severne), Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine), and Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra), all picking up a PMS in various heats.

The biggest shock was yet to come however. During Dunkerbeck’s qualification round for the finals, he flew off the line with amazing speed and went straight into the lead. After rounding mark one with ease, he sped down the straight, but lost it on the second gybe, allowing everyone to pass him.

Whilst everyone else was playing fool to the wind, Albeau cruised through his heats yet again. And, with many of his rivals already down and out, he wounded them further with another race win, tightening his grasp on the Korean title.

Women
With PMS being the score of the day, the inexperienced Arutkin, joined the masses, allowing Jaggi a clear run in the final.

Following Jaggi’s premature start in the first race of the event, the scores started to even up, and many wondered if the young Arutkin could hold on, or whether experience would win through.

Consistency Is Key
Men
On the sixth day of competition, the thermal breeze developed early, giving everyone the opportunity to redeem themselves of their mistakes from the previous day.

Albeau stamped his authority on the event in a star studded final by pulling away from the rest of the fleet and taking another race victory by a convincing margin. Dunkerbeck did all he could, and led the rest of the pack, but this wasn’t enough to improve his chances of taking down Albeau.

A notable performance from Diaz during race 5 helped him to climb up the ranks, and claim his place on the podium.

The final race on the turquoise Seas of Korea went to Cyril Moussilmani, who despite carrying an injury to his ribs, and the fleet being tougher than ever, claimed it with ease. Going against the trend, with the wind decreasing, he chose to take a smaller rig. Apparently he was unable to pump his 9.0m because of the injury, so needed a sail that would make it easier on his body to get round the course. The risky choice paid dividends as he shot into the lead and never looked back, dropping off the plane only when he hit the beach!

After a very average start to the final race for Albeau, he pulled out all the stops, overtaking some of the quickest sailors in the world, including Maynard, to claim 2nd behind Moussilmani. It may not have been the ending that he wanted, but it was more than enough to secure him with the overall event victory.

Women
Costly mistakes helped Jaggi cruise to victory in the final of race 6. Arutkin failed to qualify for the final after gaining another PMS. And, the young Aruban freestyle champion come slalom racer, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra), led the way round mark one but headed off to the wrong buoy, clearing the way for her rivals.

Offringa wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice however. She sped off the line in the women’s final of race 7, led the fleet, and added another victory to her long list of PWA achievements. Behind Offringa, it was all action as Arutkin and Jaggi collided whilst gybing rounding mark one. This spelt the end of it for Arutkin, as she handed overall victory to Jaggi, and allowed Offringa to sneak into 2nd overall.

Highs
The expression on Albeau’s face when he won the first race of the season was one of absolute joy. His winter training had paid off, and he remained on top of the world.

Diaz standing on the podium, fully suited and booted, in front of Ulsan’s most influential leaders at the closing ceremony. Will this lead to an official PWA dress code…

Lows
The many premature starts posted by the highest ranked sailors on tour. When you’ve worked hard all winter, to blow it by being over the line early is a tough pill to swallow.

Offringa realizing that if she hadn’t sailed the wrong course in the final of race 6, she would have won the event! Lesson learnt.

Results
Men
1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 6.1 pts
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne) 16.7 pts
3rd Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North) 23.0 pts
4th Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) 31.0 pts
5th Steve Allen (Starboard, Severne) 32.0 pts
6th Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 35.2 pts
7th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra) 36.0 pts
8th Sylvain Moussilmani (Starboard, Simmer) 41.0 pts
9th Arnon Dagan (Tabou, Gaastra) 48.5 pts
10th Ben Van Der Steen (JP) 50.0 pts

Women
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) 9.1 pts
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) 10.7 pts
3rd Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) 11.4 pts
4th Sarah Hebert (Naish) 16.7 pts
5th Morane Demont (Starboard, Severne) 20.0 pts

For more information on all the entrants, or to view the elimination ladders, results, daily summaries, JC’s picture gallery, and the awesome video clips, click on www.pwaworldtour.com.

PWA/Paul Griffiths

Professional Windsurfers Association

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