Pegasus Airlines Alaçati PWA World Cup 2014, day 2

After teasing the competitors for the majority of the afternoon the wind finally filled in just after 4pm on day two of the Pegasus Airlines Alacati PWA World Cup. The second elimination of both the men’s and women’s fleets were completed – in 7-18 knots – as Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) secured his first bullet of, not only the week, but also the season, whilst Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Mystic / Chris Benz / Maui Ultra Fins) made it two wins out of two with another fine display of sailing.

Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) led the race as the fleet approached the first mark, but his lead didn’t last long as Julien Quentel executed a magnificent gybe to storm into the lead. The Frenchman continued to look blisteringly quick on the straights and had opened up a comfortable advantage over Angulo, Matteo Iachino (Fanatic / North) and Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) – a lead the Frenchman wouldn’t relinquish and he was soon celebrating his first bullet of the season, which sees him rise to second in the overall event rankings. Fellow Frenchman – Pascal Toselli (Starboard / Point-7) – claimed fifth place, which proved good enough to take him to the top of the rankings, overnight at least, with Ben Van Der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) missing from the final and Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) only being able to muster seventh place after a poor start cost him his chance at moving to the top.

Elimination Three
The third race has been whittled down to the top sixteen and there has already been plenty of action witnessed in the opening twelve heats. Ethan Westera (Starboard / GA Sails) and Jordy Vonk (F2 / Point-7) both did brilliantly to qualify from the opening heat as they overtook Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / North) to qualify alongside Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) and Tristan Algret (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic). In heat four Kurosh Kiani (Angulo / Point-7 / Maui Ultra Fins) did well to fight back to qualify. The Dane, who suffered a injured knee after breaking his board and mast extension in a savage wipeout yesterday, dropped his opening gybe when in the lead, but fought back into the top four after Giorgos Sakantaris cracked under the pressure at mark three. Also qualifying was Josh Angulo, Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) and Casper Bouman (Angulo / NeilPryde).
The quarterfinals saw yet more upsets and exciting racing as Matteo Iachino and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) both missed out on a place in the semifinals, after finishing fifth and sixth respectively in heat nine. Advancing was Ben Van Der Steen, Taty Frans, Tristan Algret and Steve Allen (Starboard /Severne). In the very next heat – 10 – there were further upsets as Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) and the reining world champion Antoine Albeau failed to advance into the semifinals – with Albeau being overtaken at the final mark by Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North Sails), who staged a brilliant comeback. The upsets didn’t stop there either as Cyril Moussilmani finished fifth in heat eleven behind Antoine Questel (Starboard / Loft Sails), Pascal Toselli, Sylvain Moussilmani (Simmer) and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails).

Turkey’s very own Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne) made the best start in the winners’ final, but Sarah-Quita Offringa burst into the lead again by the opening buoy as she continued to blitz away the rest of the competition with her rapid straight line speed. Unlu entered the first gybe in second place with Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) and Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360) completing the top four at that point. Offringa maintained her lead into the third and it wasn’t long before the lady from Aruba was crossing the finish line to sustain her perfect record thus far, which cements her place at the top of the rankings. However, behind her it was a different story – Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Loft Sails) staged a brilliant comeback to claim second place, whilst Erdil and Suzuki completed the top four in third and fourth respectively.

Meanwhile the 2012 PWA Slalom World Champion – Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) – suffered a day she’d rather forget as she mistimed her start for the second heat in a row to finish last in the losers’ final, which was eventually won by Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde) followed by Estelle Barré (Fanatic / North), Ceren Yaman (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Deniz Demirasal.

The forecast for tomorrow looks as though we should see a late show again with a similar forecast as this afternoon. With this in mind the skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am. 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.