Leichte Cross-On-Winde & eine gewaltige Welle sorgen für extrem schleppende Fortschritte bei den Wettkämpfen. Geduld ist gefragt bei der Annäherung von Offringa & Köster an die jeweiligen Weltmeistertitel.
Da die Wellen auch am dritten Tag des Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic laufen und die Tradewinds erste Anzeichen von Bewegung zeigten, wurde beschlossen, die Doppel-Elimination der Herren um 11 Uhr zu beginnen. Allerdings, da der Wind quer auflandig und leicht war und kaum stärker wurde, wurden nur zwei Läufe in zwei Stunden abgeschlossen. Zahlreiche Läufe wurden gestartet, aber mit riesigen West-Sets die auf den Hoopika Beach Park zurollten und den Channel abschlossen, wurde bald die Entscheidung getroffen, den Wettbewerb auf Eis zu legen, mit der Begründung, dass die Bedingungen zu gefährlich seien, um fortzufahren.
Unfortunately, Zane Schweitzer (Starboard) sustained a dislocated knee during Heat 27, which was one of the only heats to be completed, but despite that, the 26-year-old still advanced in second place, behind Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS). Everyone from the PWA wishes Zane a quick recovery.The only other heat of the day to be completed was Heat 25, which saw Russ Faurot (S2Maui) use his local knowledge to full effect as he stayed out of trouble, while linking together a 6.38 and a back up of 3.88 points to win the heat ahead of Flo Jung (Starboard / GUNSAILS), who was making his first appearance on the world tour since 2018 after sustaining a serious knee injury. Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Duotone) had his chances but was unable to cleanly complete his best waves, which cost him a place in the next round - however, the two heat results gained thus far will not count unless the whole of the first round is completed.The difficulty of the conditions today was clearly highlighted by the amount of broken gear and the number of sailors who ended up on the rocks and once the contest was placed on hold at 1pm the conditions never really looked like becoming suitable to resume - with the wind remaining onshore and the swell continuing to pump - so the fleets were released at 4pm.Realistically with just two days of the contest period remaining, and the forecast not looking particularly promising to complete the Double Eliminations, that means that both Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) are slowly edging closer to a first and 5th wave world title respectively. Offringa’s main threat would be Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who finished second in the Single Elimination, but Iballa would be required to defeat Offringa twice to deny the Aruban a maiden world title, while defending her own world crown, but she may not get the opportunity to do that.For Köster, the German would be required to win two heats in the Double Elimination to defend his 9th place in the Double Elimination as if the 25-year-old was to lose before that stage he would then be demoted to joint 13th or 17th, which would then see Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) overtake Köster in the race for the world title. However, it now looks extremely unlikely that we will be able to even get to his first heat in the Double - which would be Heat 38.Looking ahead, Wednesday on paper realistically looks like a lay day with light onshore winds expected, but as always you never know until the day, so the sailors will meet again at 10:30am (GMT-10) tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting.To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Maui — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Women's Single Elimination1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) 2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) 3rd Motoko Sato (JPN | Starboard / Severne Sails) 4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails) 5th Angela Cochran (USA) 5th Tatiana Howard (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic - Men's Single Elimination1st Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde) 2nd Camille Juban (GPE | Quatro / S2Maui) 3rd Bernd Roediger (USA - Naish | Naish) 4th Kai Lenny (USA | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) 5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing) 5th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde) 7th Robby Swift (GBR | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) 7th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards) 9th Graham Ezzy (USA | Tabou / Ezzy Sails) 9th Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde) 9th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)