Awaza PWA World Cup Türkmenistan, day 2

Robert Hofmann (Starboard, Loft Sails) ci aggiorna sulla seconda giornata di gara dal Turkmenistan!

La battaglia della 4° heat con Maynard, Iachino

“Oggi giornata tenace… skippers meeting alle 6:00 ora locale GMT + 5ore) … partenza alle 6:30! Si parte un po’ più tardi alle 6:45 con la finale femminile… vento sui 7-12 nodi. Poi la prima heat maschile e un susseguirsi di innumerevoli tentativi di altre heat con sempre cali di vento in boa! Alle 17:00 arriva il termico con vento dai 8-14 nodi, si fanno le heat 2-3-4 poi il vento cala… grande colpo di scena… Albeau PMS (partenza anticipata). Poi il tutto reso difficile da una presenza massiccia di alghe in acqua… io stesso mi sono fatto un po’ di bordi e ogni 50 metri mi dovevo fermare con alghe alla pinna! Domani si replica, tutto uguale… ore 6:00 Skippers meeting… partenza 6:30… a domani!”.

Robert Hofmann con il copricapo turkmeno

Malte Reuscher (RRD, Challenger Sails)

Anche oggi il PWA ci ha proposto il Live Streaming anche se a causa delle continue cancellazioni delle heat e del vento veramente leggero, l’action non era molto emozionante. La 4° heat del turno di qualifica ha riservato nonostante la condizione alcune sorprese. Probabilmente la più difficile con Albeau, Questel, Maynard, Iachino e Menegatti. Albeau parte anticipato e viene squalificato quindi è ultimo di questo tabellone… ora per tentare di recuperare e di sperare di scartare questo risultato dovranno essere completati 3 tabelloni interi! I suoi diretti avversari potrebbero prendere in caso non si completassero i 3 tabelloni un notevole vantaggio.
Ad ogni modo sia Matteo Iachino (Fanatic, North Sails, LSD Fins) che Alberto Menegatti (Starboard, Point-7) si sono qualificati per la heat successiva. Lo stesso fanno Malte Reuscher (RRD, Challenger Sails) e Andrea Rosati (RRD, Neil Pryde) nella loro heat. Staremo a vedere cosa succede domani!

Atleti in attesa della partenza

TESTO Robert Hofmann, 4Windsurf
FOTO John Carter/PWA

Awaza The second day of the Awaza PWA World Cup proved to be a long and largely frustrating affair, spanning twelve and a half hours, as light and gusty winds played havoc for much of the day. Early this morning Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Loft Sails) made the perfect start to her title defence as she claimed the first victory of the year in the women’s fleet, however only one heat of the men’s was completed before the wind became too light. After an eleven hour long break the wind finally returned – swinging from east to northwest – allowing a further three heats to be completed in winds ranging from 8-13 knots. Stunning sunrise start in Turkmenistan Men’s Although only four men’s heats were completed today, there was plenty of drama as several big names fell in the light and tricky winds. In the first heat Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) failed to make the start line in the light winds, meaning for the second event in a row he suffered a first round exit in the first elimination. Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) became the first man to qualify for the semifinals ahead of Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North), Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails), Malte Reuscher (RRD / Point-7 / AL360), Andrea Rosati (RRD / NeilPryde) and Sean O’Brien (Starboard / Severne) – who did well to out pump Sylvain Moussilmani (Simmer) to claim the final qualifying place. Julien Quentel leads the way When heat two was finally completed Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) booked his places in the next round alongside Pascal Toselli (Starboard / Point-7), Jordy Vonk (F2 / Point-7), Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails), Benoit Moussilmani (Simmer) and finally Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North Sails). However, there was no place in the next round for Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails), who suffered a cut heel after colliding with his own fin. Cyril Moussilmani triumphs in heat two In the penultimate heat of the day Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails) came out on top, whilst Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails), Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne), Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / MFC), Ben Van Der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) and Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) all successfully navigated their way into the semifinal. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel cruising The final heat of the day saw the reigning PWA World Champion and current world tour leader – Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) – make a catastrophic mistake as he crossed the line early, along with Gunnar Asmussen (Patrik / North), to be disqualified from heat four. The big Frenchman will now be praying that at least four eliminations are completed in order for him to discard this result. Upon the restart Antoine Questel (Starboard / Loft Sails) managed to finish in first place ahead of Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic), Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7), Matteo Iachino (Fanatic / North) and Enes Yilmazer (Starboard / Severne). Finian Maynard cranks a gybe Women’s  With each women’s heat being run as a final this week there is added pressure on the women, knowing that a perfect start is even more crucial. Reigning PWA World Champion – Delphine Cousin – showed no signs of cracking under the pressure as the French woman claimed the first bullet of the season with an assured display of sailing. Behind her Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360) battled her way into second place, ahead of Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde) who eventually finished in third place, ahead of Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne), Maria Andres (Patrik / Gun Sails / Mystic) and 2012 PWA World Champion Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic), who had to settle for sixth place in elimination one. Delphine Cousin claims her first victory of the season Lena Erdil reflects after the opening elimination: “First day of racing today, we were the first ones to race this morning starting in around 8-11 knots at exactly 6:32am this morning! I managed to get a solid second place finish, so far so good! Congratulations to my Loft Sails team mate Delphine Cousin for taking first place in these challenging conditions.” Lena Erdil on the move The skippers’ meeting has once again been called for 6am with the action commencing from 6:30am, if conditions allow. Don’t miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.comwhere you’ll be able to follow the racing as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.