Primo giorno in Turchia ad Alacati nello splendido spot che da alcuni anni vede svolgersi una tappa Slalom del PWA. Quasi due tabelloni portati a termine, ma la gara è ancora lunga, e per ora Ben Van Der Steen guida la classifica maschile mentre la giovane freestyler Sarah Quita-Offringa è al comando della classifica femminile motorizzata con le sue nuove vele Point-7. Il Black Team ci ha appena dichiarato che Sarah sta usando le Black Sails per questo evento ma che non c’è ancora nulla di ufficiale… e se son rose fioriranno…
Matteo Iachino (Fanatic, North Sails, LSD Fins) ci aggiorna: ” Bel giorno di vento qui in Turchia. Ho gareggiato quasi sempre con la 7.8 Warp e il 110 Falcon a parte un paio di heat con la 8.6. Il livello come sempre è molto alto ma sono riuscito a guadagnare la finale vincenti nel primo e nel secondo tabellone. Nel primo sono partito male in finale e ho finito 6° mentre la finale del secondo dobbiamo completarla domani. A presto!”.
Malte Reuscher (RRD, Challenger Sails) aggiunge: “Ciao a tutti amici di 4Windsurf!! Oggi è stato il primo giorno di gara qui in Turchia. Sono arrivato sabato e ho avuto un po’ di tempo per trimmare al meglio l’attrezzatura dato che dalla tappa di Fuerteventura sono riuscito ad allenarmi solo 4 volte e mai in condizioni ottimali! Nella prima prova ho passato il primo turno e nel secondo causa una brutta partenza e una strambata non tanto buona ho finito solo ottavo (30esimo). La seconda prova è andata leggermente meglio, ho passato il primo turno e nel secondo mi sono anche ritrovato in un momento quarto, ma poi alla penultima strambata Dagan si è fermato e io per non prenderlo ho dovuto rallentare e gli altri da sopra mi hanno passato finendo la heat sesto (22esimo). Per domani le previsioni sono simili, sono sicuro che farò meglio!!! Ho gareggiato con l’X-FIRE 129 e 114, e la Aero+ 7.8 e 8.5. Ciao!”.
Andrea Rosati per ora al 17° posto e Malte Reuscher al 29°. Tutti gli altri italiani sono impegnati in Croazia a Bol per l’europeo di Slalom e Formula.
Alessandro Venezia, amico e collaboratore di 4Windsurf, si trova in vacanza proprio ad Alacati e ci comunica: “Sono stato tutto il pomeriggio a fare windsurf con il mio freestyle vicino alla barca delle partenze e mi sono goduto dal vivo lo spettacolo. Cyril Moussilmani era l’unico atleta con il caddy alla prima boa, con rig e tavola pronti alla sostituzione. Aveva addirittura un auricolare dove gli comunicavano i distacchi dagli altri…”
Results After Elimination One Pegasus Airlines Alicati PWA World Cup – Men’s Slalom
1st Ben Van Der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
2nd Pascal Toselli (Starboard / Point-7)
3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
4th Tristan Algret (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic)
5th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North)
6th Matteo Iachino (Fanatic / North)
7th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
8th Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails)
9th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
10th Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic)
2nd Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360)
3rd Fulya Unlu (Starboard / Severne)
4th Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Loft Sails)
5th Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
6th Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
7th Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Severne)
8th Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Loft Sails)
ALACATI PWA WORLD CUP
Day 1: Ben Van Der Steen and Sarah-Quita Offringa claim the first bullets of the week
The inaugural day of the 2014 Pegasus Airlines Alacati PWA World Cup saw the opening races of the week completed in winds of 11-20 knots. Registration was soon completed between 10am and 11am, allowing the real action to begin. After an exciting afternoon of racing Ben Van Der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) struck first in the men’s division, whilst Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Mystic / Chris Benz / Maui Ultra Fins) made the perfect start as she claimed her first bullet of the year in her opening slalom appearance of 2014.
Elimination One
Winners’ Final
Ben Van Der Steen claimed the first blood of the week as the flying Dutchman raced into the lead by the opening mark ahead of Pascal Toselli (Starboard / Point-7), Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Tristan Algret (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic). From here Van Der Steen took full advantage of the clean wind and flat water ahead of him to extend his lead over the remainder of the course, and it wasn’t long before he was celebrating the opening victory of the week. Meanwhile, the top four remained unchanged leaving Toselli in a solid second place ahead of Albeau and Algret, who finished third and fourth respectively.
Elimination Two
There are now only three heats remaining to be sailed in the second elimination as the early evening wind became too gusty to allow its completion. However, there was drama almost from the word go as Antoine Albeau suffered a scare in heat two. The Big Frenchman was comfortably qualifying for the next round, but made an uncharacteristic mistake as he dropped his gybe at the second mark to drop to sixth place. However, Albeau remained composed to fight his way back into the top four by the final mark to qualify alongside Sean O’Brien, Ross Williams and Malte Reuscher (RRD / Challenger Sails / AL360). Meanwhile, after sailing superbly in the opening race Amado Vrieswijk suffered a first round exit in race two as he finished fifth in heat four, whilst Bjorn Dunkerbeck also missed out on a place in the quarterfinals.
Elsewhere Antoine Questel produced a brilliant gybe at the penultimate mark to out manoeuvre Jordy Vonk (F2 / Point-7) in heat ten as the Frenchman claimed the final spot in the semifinals, but Ben Van Der Steen suffered a shock early exit, after making a perfect start to the event, as he finished fifth in heat twelve to miss out on a place in the top sixteen.
As well as Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) being missing from proceedings, Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) is another high profile sailor sadly missing from the event. Maynard isn’t in Turkey because he is frustrated from being 75% at all the events in 2014 and is now recovering to 100% before competing again with a clear eye on getting back to his best.
Elimination One
Winners’ Final
Japan’s Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Loft Sails) made the best start to the opening winners’ final of the week, however she was unable to make the most of her start as Sarah-Quita Offringa stormed into first place ahead of Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360), Fulya Unlu (Starboard / Severne), Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) and Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) as the pack approached the first buoy. Offringa continued to press the pedal to the metal to open up an unassailable lead come the finish line. Behind her Erdil and Unlu secured second and third, whilst reigning world champion – Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Loft Sails) – forced her way into the top four with a good comeback to leave her rival Ghibaudo settling for fifth place.
With the wind becoming too gusty at 5:50pm the sailors were released for the day. The forecast for tomorrow is marginally lighter than today, so we should hopefully see the completion of both the men’s and women’s second races at a minimum. Skippers’ meeting tomorrow has been called for 10am with the action commencing from 10:30am. Don’t miss any of the exhilarating racing by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com where you’ll be able to follow the amazing action as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.