PWA Fuerteventura Day 8
Albeau und Williams festigen mit jeweils einer gewonnenen Elimination ihre Podiumsplätze.
Der Wind ließ sich am 8. Tag des Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam etwas Zeit – aber ab 14:30 blies er wieder in gewohnter Stärke. Gefahren wurde erneut mit den kleinen Slalomboards und Segeln zwischen 5,6 bis 6,3m². Auch am dritten Tag waren Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) und Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Segel / Mystic / Shamal Sunglasses), sehr stark, sie hielten die ersten beiden Plätze in der Gesamtwertung, jeder gewann heute eine Elimination der Rennen Nr. 6 und 7. Elimination Six Winners’ Final Josh Angulo (Angulo) made the best start to the winners’ final, but it was Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) who led the race into the first mark ahead of Angulo, Antoine Albeau and Ross Williams, who produced an excellent first gybe and turn of acceleration to grab pole position as they rounded the second. However, in a hotly contested final it was soon a 3 or 4 way battle over the remainder of the course between Albeau, who held the advantage into the third, Williams, Iachino and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails), but ultimately Albeau wouldn’t be denied a 4th bullet of the week as he extended his lead at the top of the event rankings. Meanwhile, Williams, hung onto 2nd place after a photo finish with Mortefon after a thrilling final leg. 18 year old Ethan Westera booked himself a place in his first semifinal of the week to recover from a poor day yesterday. The young Aruban couldn’t navigate his way into the winners’ final, but he secured 13th overall in the sixth race. Ross Williams found himself in a spot of trouble in the semifinal, but escaped brilliantly by executing a superb gybe at the second buoy to jump from 7th to 4th. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) missed out on a place in the winners’ final, but was able to limit the damage by claiming victory in the losers’ final to maintain his place in the overall top 10 of the event. Elimination Seven Winners’ Final The 7th elimination brings the second discard into play, but the top 10 doesn’t really change after this. The biggest mover is Matteo Iachino, who rises from 10th to 6th. However, the last winners’ final of the day saw another thrilling finale with Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails) leading Heat 16 from the start until half way down the final reach only for Williams to haul himself back into contention to force an absolutely flat out fight for the finish line and as the two sailors past it was too close to call. Soon afterwards it was confirmed that Williams had managed to secure his opening bullet of the week, while denying Toselli a second victory. Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) ended that day with his best result of the event so far — 3rd — while Antoine Albeau will currently discard his 4th place finish. In the losers’ final Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) saw off the challenge of firstly, Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails), and then Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) to earn 9th place and the Dutchman was clearly delighted with his efforts as it brought him back into the overall top 16, while Mortefon claimed 2nd ahead of Maynard in 3rd. Both Mortefon and Maynard were involved in a collision in the opening semifinal, which ultimately cost them a place in the winners’ final when both well placed. Elsewhere, Matteo Iachino, produced a superb comeback in the quarterfinals after falling at the second when in the lead. The Italian made a quick recovery to somehow still grab the final qualifying place as he denied Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg). The forecast looks windier again tomorrow, which should see the exhilarating slalom continue. The sailors will meet again at 10:30am — with the racing commencing from 11am (GMT+1) onwards. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the racing live. To see all the latest from the event — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Current Ranking Men’s Slalom — Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam 1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) 2nd Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Sunglasses) 3rd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) 4th Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) 5th Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails) 6th Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7) 7th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) 8th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) 9th Ben van der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails) 10th Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic)