PWA CATALUNYA WORLD CUP WRAP UP

Event Summary: A familiar face surrounded by two, new, potential stars of the slalom world

The final day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup witnessed a mammoth final elimination, which took four hours to complete due to the gusty and shifty winds. After a long and largely frustrating afternoon, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), eventually powered to victory in race four and more importantly this clinched the overall event victory for him. The reigning world champion’s first event victory of the year sees him return to the top of the overall rankings too. A grueling day was eventually completed shortly after 7pm to conclude another fantastic event on the beautiful shores of Costa Brava.

Antoine Albeau was able to claim two bullets, as well as a third and a fourth to cement his place as the King of Costa Brava. The reigning world champion became the first man to stop his arch nemesis – Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) – from claiming the title for the first time in three years. Albeau demonstrated his perfectly timed starts time and time again, along with a phenomenal top speed to blow the competition out of the water.

Words from the winner:

“I’d like to thank all the organizers – thanks Panxo – because you did a great job again to organize this wonderful event. Thanks also to the owner’s of the campsite as we stay here, and this really is a beautiful, beautiful place to windsurf, and it is perfect for holidays too. I’m also really happy to see new blood on the podium [Julien Quentel and Matteo Iachino], it’s really nice and I think I’m going to have a big battle with Julien this year. And thanks to everyone because today was really hard. Thanks to Juan Aragon and his team, I think they did a really good job re-adjusting the course so quickly and see you next year!”

Bjorn Dunkerbeck managed to recover from a disastrous first round exit in the opening elimination to fight back to fourth place. The most successful windsurfer of all time started his recovery with a seventh and a tenth place, before showing what he is truly made of to take home second place in the final elimination, which allowed him to discard a 44.5 point score, which then saw him fly up through the rankings.

Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) was able to put the disappointment of Korea behind him and firmly get his season back on track with a fifth place finish. The American showed his perfectly timed starts and super consistent gybes to claw his way back towards the top of the pack. He will now be hoping to continue the form he showed here, at the next event in Turkey.

Flying Dutchman – Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) – was able to back up his third place finish in Korea with a solid sixth this week with a gritty display of sailing. Van Der Steen now sits in fourth place overall in the rankings, perfectly poised to make an attack for the top in Turkey. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) is similarly positioned and showing the kind of consistency that is required to finish in the top five and above overall.

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) continues to prove that his change of equipment in the winter is working wonders for him as he now sits inside the top then. The Israeli was able to finish seventh this week, and his result may have been even better – with a bit more luck – if the first attempt to complete the winners’ final hadn’t been cancelled due to a drop in the wind.

Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) came into the event as the leader of the tour, but a combination of bad luck and a major error – sailing to the wrong mark in the opening elimination – cost him dearly. The Italian finished eighth overall and still finds himself in third place overall. Menegatti reaffirmed his title winning credentials with another bullet in the third elimination, so it remains to be seen whether his mistake in the first race comes back to haunt him, come the end of the season.

Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) achieved his first top ten finish on the PWA in almost a decade with a fantastic display of sailing. The man behind Point-7 made one appearance in a winners’ final along with two losers’ finals to claim his best finish in a very long time.

The remaining winner of a race this week was Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) – who stole the show in the second elimination. Maynard lit a trail a blaze as he hunted down Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft Sails) to move into the lead, and once in the lead he was in complete control of the race.

The 2013 PWA Catalunya World Cup Standings:

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)

4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)

5th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

6th Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different)

7th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

8th Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)

9th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

10th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

Day 4 of the PWA Catalunya World Cup

Maynard and Menegatti steal the show with one elimination victory apiece

Day 3 of the PWA Catalunya World Cup

The third day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup saw winds ranging from 7-20 knots as two wind directions hit the Golf-de-Roses over the course of a few hours. Costa Brava was transformed from a starboard tack slalom paradise into a port tack slalom heaven in the same afternoon. The sea breeze, which is synonymous with Costa Brava enabled a further six heats to be completed. Shortly after three o’clock it looked as though the racing was over for the day, before the local ‘Garbi’ wind kicked in from the Northeast. Unfortunately it only made a brief appearance, meaning that only a further three heats were completed before the end of the day.

Read the full report on Day 3 over at the PWA website.  If you’re like us and missed day 2 here it is!

Day 2 of the PWA Catalunya World Cup

First blood to Albeau as the reigning world champion claims the first victory of the week

The local thermal effect kicked in once again on day two of the PWA Catalunya World Cup as the remainder of the opening elimination was completed, under glorious sunny skies and winds ranging from 7-14 knots. Reigning world champion – Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) – sailed a flawless elimination and was duly rewarded with the first bullet of the week, firmly stamping his name at the top of the event rankings, but it was truly a day to forget for Alberto Menegatti.

Get indepth coverage of day 2 at the PWA Catalunya World Cup at PWAWorldTour.com

Results After Elimination One

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)

3rd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

4th Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde)

5th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

Day 1 of the PWA Catalunya World Cup

Day 1: Tricky conditions make for a tense start in Costa Brava
The inaugural day of the PWA Catalunya World Cup saw the competitors registering for the upcoming competition between 10am and 11am. With a less than promising wind forecast, combined with a very quiet start to the day, not everybody was expecting to be competing come the afternoon. However, as the skippers’ meeting took place at one o’clock the wind gradually started to increase as the local thermal effect kicked in. Shortly after 14:45 the first heat of race one was underway in winds ranging from 7-10 knots. A stop-start afternoon was eventually concluded at around 17:30 with five heats being completed – there were however a number of casualties in the opening round as the marginal winds made for very tricky racing conditions.
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Day 6 of the Ulsan PWA World Cup

A magic day for Menegatti and Jaggi as they claim the opening victories of 2013

A promising forecast never quite materialized on the final day of racing at the Ulsan PWA World Cup as hazy skies and cooler air temperatures inhibited the local thermal effect from kicking in. With winds blowing anywhere between 3-23 knots the competitors had to wait until 5:30pm before the racing began. However, after the completion of heat nine, a combination of premature starts and fluctuating winds prevented any further heats from being finished. The sailors were released for the final time this week at 6:30pm.

With the fourth race not being completed no discards came into play, which means this week will live long in the memory of Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) as he claims his maiden event victory on the PWA World Tour. However, the Italian was made to sweat it out for almost an hour this evening having been disqualified from heat eleven, after being a little too eager to make a good start. This presented the opportunity for Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) to swoop in and steal Menegatti’s thunder, but it wasn’t to be as the wind soon deteriorated, leaving a delighted – but relieved – Menegatti to revel in his success. Today is also a big day for his sail sponsors – Point-7 – who will be celebrating in Italy tonight having finished on the podium for the first time in their history.

Alberto Menegatti speaking after his first ever event victory:

“I thought I’d lost the event – even though Antoine (Albeau) would have still had to finish third or better in the winners’ final – so I’m still processing it. I’m super happy, I’d like to thank my fin sponsors – Z Fins – for their help throughout the whole winter as their fins allow me to be fast in both flat water and waves. I’d also like to thank my friend from South Africa Peter Langley after he helped me a lot when I was there this winter. At the start of the season if someone would’ve offered me 3rd, 4th or 5th place I’d have happily taken it. To have finished in first is just a dream. I also need to thank both my sail and board sponsors as the equipment couldn’t work better and I couldn’t have wished for a better start.”

In the women’s fleet Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) reaffirmed her title winning credentials after a magnificent performance over the three eliminations which were completed. The multiple-time world champion reigned victorious in two of those races, whilst finishing second in the other to stamp her authority over the event. In doing so, the Swiss gem becomes the first woman to prevent Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) from claiming the Jinha Beach crown since 2010 – when the reigning world champion missed the event due to a shoulder injury.

Karin Jaggi speaking after winning the first event of the season:

“It’s always good to naturally start the season ahead. The best thing for me is that I I feel really comfortable on my equipment, I still made a few mistakes, but I have such good board speed and control in pretty much all conditions. I think it can be quite a good season for me. Now I’ll be traveling to Thailand for a bit for work, before going back to Australia, then heading back to train in Europe – I’ll probably head to Gran Canaria early to get used to the conditions. ”

Please note that there will be no racing tomorrow – the sailors will be treated to a city tour of Ulsan by the organizers, which will conclude another fantastic event at South Korea’s famed Jinha Beach. Thank you for tuning into the action this week and we hope you will join us again from June 11th as the men’s slalom fleet head to Costa Brava until 16th June.

The 2013 Ulsan PWA World Cup Overall Standings: Men’s Slalom

1st Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)

2nd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde_

3rd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different)

4th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)

5th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)

The 2013 Ulsan PWA World Cup Overall Standings: Women’s Slalom

1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)

2nd Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)

3rd Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)

4th Ayako Suzuki (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)

5th Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde)