A round up of an amazing week of adrenaline fueled slalom.

Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) stole the limelight come the end of the week in Alacati, as the French woman was crowned the 2012 PWA Women’s Slalom World Champion, after a magnificent season. In the meantime, Alacati continued to enhance it’s global reputation as a windsurfing Mecca by providing five days of wind out of possible six. After nine grueling eliminations, held in perfect slalom conditions, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) claimed his first event victory of the year. The big Frenchman dominated the proceedings in Turkey as he won six out of the nine races completed. Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz), meanwhile, marked her return to the slalom scene with an emphatic victory after finding her form in the latter stages of the competition, which saw the lady from Aruba reign victorious in the last four eliminations in a row.

Day One and Two

The quiet and relaxed start of day one was soon replaced with epic racing on day two of the competition as the wind peaked at twenty-five knots.

Men
Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different) claimed the first bullet of the week, after the flying Dutchman provided the crowds on the beach with an absolute master class. Meanwhile, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) had to settle for second place as the terminator finished one place ahead of his closest rival, Antoine Albeau, for the world title. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne / Mystic) completed the top four after the Frenchman took advantage of Finian Maynard’s (RRD / Avanti) crash at the penultimate mark. In the second elimination, Antoine Albeau, took full advantage of Dunkerbeck’s disqualification, for a false start, as the Frenchman hit back with his first victory of the week. The battle for the top three resulted in a MauiSails second and third as teammates Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) completed the top three.

Taty Frans

Women
Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) came into the event as the current leader of the women’s PWA Slalom World Tour and the Swiss gem made the perfect start to the competition. Jaggi sailed faultlessly for claim the opening victory ahead of her nemesis Valerie Arrighetti and sixteen year old Fulya Unlu (Starboard / Severne). The second race of the day saw the reigning world champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa, qualify for her first winners’ final of the week, but the major news was the fact, that after such a brilliant start, Karin Jaggi missed on a place on the winners’ final. With the door wide open for it was the local girl Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Loft) who seized the initiative to steal the number one spot, and that’s exactly what she managed to do. Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) won the battle for second of Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne), whilst Offringa finished in fourth after uncharacteristically flaming her opening gybe.

Sarah speeding

Day Three

The strong winds continued on day three of the competition, and after a somewhat frustrating morning, the afternoon delivered another afternoon of enthralling slalom.

Men
Antoine Albeau claimed back-to-back victories at the beginning of day three as he stormed to victory in elimination three. The big Frenchman faced some stern competition in the shape of Ben Van Der Steen, but by the end of the race, Albeau has opened up a substantial lead. Behind him there was a battle between Van Der Steen, Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Gaastra), Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft) and Micah Buzianis. In the end though Van Der Steen claimed second ahead of Menegatti. Meanwhile, Bjorn Dunkerbeck, missed out on a place in the winners’ final after finish sixth in heat fourteen. Elimination four witnessed two flying Dutchmen rise to the top. This time around it was Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti), who stole the show as claimed his first bullet of the year, ahead of his fellow countryman Ben Van Der Steen and Britain’s Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra). Dunkerbeck, however was still searching for his first win after finishing in fifth position. The real shock of the fourth elimination involved Antoine Albeau, who after winning the previous two eliminations, failed to progress from the first round after he became locked in a battle with Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) for the final qualifying spot. However on the last gybe Albeau pushed a little too hard and he crashed out contention.

Bjorn dueling

Women
Sarah-Quita Offringa jumped the gun in race three, as Karin Jaggi returned with a vengeance to claim her second victory of the contest. The multi-talented Jaggi was able to keep Valerie Arrighetti and the local girl, Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360), at bay whilst Italy’s Greta Benvenuti (Patrik / Point-7 / AL360) finished in fourth. As the women lined up for their second winners’ final of the day, it was Offringa that returned to the top of the table. After slightly holding back on her start, the lady from Aruba then turned on the afterburners to destroy the rest of the field. Karin Jaggi was her closest challenger, followed by Lena Erdil and Delphine Cousin.

Day Four

The Meltemi winds continued to deliver in Alacati as winds of 15-25 knots greeted the competitors, and ensured the crowds were treated to some remarkable action on the water.

Men
Antoine Albeau made the perfect recovery on the fourth day, after crashing out in the first round of race four. Albeau was simply untouchable today as he claimed two more bullets in eliminations five and six. However, Dunkerbeck was missing from another winners’ final after an altercation with Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7), which saw Dunkerbeck limp out of heat fourteen with a broken sail. Race six saw Ross Williams claim his best finish of the week thus far, as the Brit finished in second place behind Albeau, whilst Dunkerbeck made a return to the winners’ final as he claimed third.

Bjorn getting mauled by Josh

Women

Valerie Arrighetti rubbed salt into the wounds of Karin Jaggi, after the Swiss gem false started in her semi-final. With her biggest rival absent from the center piece, Arrighetti made no mistakes in heat eight as she claimed her first victory of the week and put a huge dent in Jaggi’s title challenge. Meanwhile, Offringa continued to find her feet as she backed up her victory in the previous race with a solid second ahead of Marion Mortefon. With the reigning world champions form improving all the time, race six marked the start of her dominance over the rest of the event after she kept Arrighetti, Mortefon and Jaggi behind her. With Offringa looking more dangerous than ever this was the start of an incredible run of form.

Day Five

For the fourth day in a row the beautiful bay of Alacati was blessed with idyllic conditions, as a further two eliminations were completed for both the men and women. However day five would only belong to two sailors.

Men
Antoine Albeau enjoyed another brilliant day on the water as he cemented his place at the top of the rankings. By the middle of the afternoon Albeau had completed a hat-trick of elimination victories, and before the day was out he ensured that his name appeared at the top of the last four races, as he stepped up his title challenge. The seventh elimination saw Dunkerbeck enjoy his best finish in five races as he finished second behind Albeau, whilst Ben Van Der Steen continued his superb form to claim third. The penultimate race of the event saw a magnificent performance from Alberto Menegatti. The Italian gave Albeau a run for his money before eventually finishing in second place ahead of Van Der Steen and Dunkerbeck.

Women
With Offringa having found top great there was simply no stopping her on day five as she blew the rest of the competition out of the water. Just like Albeau, Offringa also claimed a hat-trick of victories to take command of the overall event lead. However it wasn’t a great day for Jaggi, despite finishing second in elimination seven, as she undid all of her hard work by finishing fifth in her semi-final, which meant she was left to settle for a place in the losers final rather than the winners’. With Offringa having secured the top spots in races seven and eight, Lena Erdil enjoyed her best finish of the competition in the eighth race as the Turk finished in second place ahead of Cousin and Arrighetti.

Day Six

One final race was completed on the last day of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup, as the winds arrived a little later than usual. The sailors were left to reach for their bigger equipment today lighter breezes blessed the race course.

Men
Having been so consistent for the entire week, Ben Van Der Steen, endured a horrid final race as the Dutchman suffered a first round exit. Van Der Steen chose to sail the other side of the race start line buoy to avoid being over early. Unfortunately for the Dutchman no other sailors had mistimed their starts and with this he was out of the race. The final winners’ final of the week started under dramatic circumstances as Peter Volwater, Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) and Ross Williams were all disqualified for the crossing the start line too early. With just five sailors remaining it was Josh Angulo who grabbed his moment in the spot light as he led from start to finish. For once Antoine Albeau wasn’t at the top and he eventually had to settle for fifth as Dunkerbeck, Cedric Bordes and Patrick Diethelm (Patrick / Loft) completed the top four.

Women
Today saw the most intense final of the week, as Valerie Arrighetti and Karin Jaggi battled it out for the final time to decide who would be crowned the 2012 PWA Slalom World Champion. Whilst Lena Erdil knew that she had to finish fifth or better to become the first Turkish girl ever to finish in the top three. Offringa secured the event victory with another magnificent display of sailing as she finished clear of Cagla Kubat in second. Meanwhile the battle for the world title saw Arrighetti finish ahead of Jaggi, as they finished in third and fourth respectively. The top four completed all eyes turn to Lena Erdil as she battled for that crucial fifth place. After safely navigating her final gybe, the Turk cruised down the final straight to write her name in windsurfing history.

The Thoughts From The Event Winner

Sarah-Quita Offringa
“I’m so glad that I managed to get it together eventually. I didn’t have any expectations coming into the event and it’s gone way better than I thought it would have. I’ve spent three weeks in Alacati and it’s been great. I want to say a big thank you to everyone.”

Overall Results of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different)
3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)
4th Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra)
5th Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti)
6th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
7th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
8th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne / Mystic)
9th Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7)
10th Patrick Diethelm (Loft / Patrik)

Overall Results of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz)
2nd Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
3rd Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
4th Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360)
5th Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)

Overall Results of the 2012 PWA World Tour - Women’s Slalom
1st Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
2nd Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
3rd Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360)
4th Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
5th Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Loft)

The fourth day of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup witnessed another enthralling day of action on the water as Alacati delivered the perfect slalom conditions for the third day in a row. With the sun shining and the wind blowing, between 15-25 knots, hundreds of spectators were treated to a sight to behold as the elite of the slalom world delivered another outstanding display. Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) was simply untouchable as he took home two bullets, which now means the big Frenchman has won incredible four out of the six eliminations completed thus far. Meanwhile, Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz), claimed victory in one elimination each.

Sarah

Men’s elimination Five

Winners’ Final
Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Antoine Albeau burst across the line ahead of the rest of the fleet. However, as he has done so often this week, Albeau ensured that he was the first man to the opening buoy after flying down the opening leg, at this point Toselli and Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different) were just behind him. However Albeau continued to fly down the straights and plane all the way through his gybes, which made him uncatchable and it wasn’t long before he claimed another bullet. Behind him Toselli held second place as he approached the final mark, but Van Der Steen cranked through a gybe before lighting up the final straight with his blistering place. Amazingly the flying Dutchman managed to overturn the deficit he faced, as he snatched second place from the hands of Toselli. Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) completed the top four.

Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) was absent from the winners’ final after he and Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7) endured an altercation at the opening mark of the second semi-final. As the pair approached the first buoy Dunkerbeck and Angulo collided whilst gybing, which resulted in Dunkerbeck emerging with a broken sail and Angulo in the drink. This ended both of the two sailors chances as the rest of the fleet avoided the mayhem. Eventually Pierre Mortefon, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North), Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti) and Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) all advanced into the winners’ final after a dramatic heat. Elsewhere Malte Reuscher (RRD / Point-7 / AL360) sailed well to reach the semi-finals before finishing sixth in the losers’ final.

Ouch!!!

Elimination Six

Winners’ Final
The second winners’ final of the day saw Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) and Josh Angulo time their starts to perfection, however it wasn’t long before the man of the moment, Albeau, had positioned himself at the front once more and this is where he stayed for the entirety of the race. Williams stayed within touching distance of Albeau to the second mark, but with Dunkerbeck and Van Der Steen for company, Albeau managed to increase his lead. The terminator stalled on the exit of the third gybe, which presented Van Der Steen with the opportunity to pounce. Unfortunately for the Dutchman he couldn’t take full advantage and Dunkerbeck was able to hold off his rival. In the end it Albeau claimed the victory followed by Williams, Dunkerbeck and Van Der Steen with Angulo not far behind.

It was a case of third time lucky for heat ten, after Bora Kozanoglu (Starboard / Severne) and Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft) were disqualified for false starting, before Sylvain Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer) also crossed the line early upon the restart. With just five sailors remaining it was Sebastian Kördel (NeilPryde) who seized the initiative as the young German crossed the line in first place. His lead didn’t last long though as the heavy weights were soon upon him, and after such a great start he eventually missed out on a place in the semi-finals as Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Ben Van Der Steen, Jimmy Diaz and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) all booked their places in the next round.

The seventh elimination began in the early evening and the first round was completed just like yesterday. The men’s elimination will resume tomorrow from the quarter finals onwards.

Women’s elimination Five

Winners’ Final
The first ladies winners’ final of the day saw Valerie Arrighetti produce a sterling performance as she came from behind to claim her first bullet of the week, after she managed to overcome Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360), Greta Benvenuti (Patrik / Point-7) and Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne) after they had made a better start. Arrighetti displayed her perfect gybes and amazing speed to take the lead by the third mark. Sarah-Quita Offringa was also on a charge and she managed to force her way into second place just behind Arrighetti. The top four was completed by Mortefon and a battling Lena Erdil, whilst Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) had to settle for fifth, having lead the event two days before hand.

Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Loft) stole the limelight ahead of Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) in the losers’ final with an established performance. Meanwhile, Marianne Kaplas (Starboard / Severne) and Dilara Uralp (JP / NeilPryde) sailed magnificently to claim fourth.

Cagla

Elimination Six

Winners’ Final
The current world champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa, rose to the top of the crop again today in the second winners’ final, despite not crossing the line in first place. In fact Marion Mortefon (JP / NeilPryde) made the first buoy in the lead after Offringa held back on her start. The lady from Aruba then went on to destroy the field with seamless gybes and an untouchable top speed with Arrighetti being her closest challenger in second followed by Mortefon and Karin Jaggi. The Swiss gem experienced a slightly frustrating day in comparison to yesterday, but she will now look to resurrect this tomorrow as she continues her bid for another world title.

The earlier half of the sixth elimination went according to plan apart from Mariah Andres (Starboard / Gun / Mystic), Dilara Uralp and Deniz Sekercioglu who, surprisingly, all failed to advance into the semi-finals.

Tomorrow offers yet more wind as Alacati continues to live up to it world class reputation. Therefore we are expecting to see the completion of at least one more round if not two. Antoine Albeau currently leads the way for the men, whilst Valerie Arrighetti holds the event lead for the women.

Results After Six Eliminations - Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different)
3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)
4th Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti)
5th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)

Results After Six Eliminations - Women’s Slalom
1st Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz)
3rd Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
4th Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne)
5th Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360)

Day three: Alaçati continues to produce as four more winners are crowned.

The third day of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup saw a further two eliminations completed, once the wind had settled in, after a somewhat frustrating morning. However, the wind soon swung more cross-shore which resulted in an afternoon of spectacular slalom, with high, lows and non-stop drama. By the end of the day we saw four different winners crowned as the unpredictability of the week here in Alacati continued. Winning the men’s races today were Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti), whilst the winners of the women’s division were Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz).

Men’s elimination Three

Winners’ Final
Antoine Albeau laid down the gauntlet at the beginning of the day by winning his second successive elimination, after winning race two yesterday. The big Frenchmen wasted little time in picking up where he left off and despite Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different) making the best start of the fleet, Albeau had risen to the front of the pack as they approached the first mark. Over the remainder of the course Albeau cranked his way through effortless gybes as he opened up a substantial lead by the finish line. Behind him there was a battle between Van Der Steen, Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Gaastra), Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft) and Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails). The big hitters continued to battle it out but in the end it was Van Der Steen who claimed second followed by Menegatti and Buzianis.

Ben taking 2nd

The other major news of race three was the fact that Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) missed out on a place in the winners’ final after finishing sixth in heat fourteen. The terminator was then only beaten by a flying Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) in the losers’ final as he had to settle for tenth overall. Whilst Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) managed to edge his way past Patrick Diethelm (Patrik / Loft) on the final straight to finish third and fourth respectively in heat fifteen.

Bjorn ended up tenth overall

Elimination Four

Winners’ Final
The second winners’ final of the day witnessed two flying Dutchmen at the front of the fleet, but it was Peter Volwater who timed his start to perfection to lead from the outset, just ahead of Britain’s Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra). Volwater handled the pressure with consummate ease as he held off his rivals to claim his first bullet of the year, after an outstanding display of sailing. His fellow countryman Ben Van Der Steen was a man on a mission and he surpassed Williams to claim second place overall. The Brit meanwhile had to settle for third, whilst Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne / Mystic) and Dunkerbeck had their own private battle for fourth and fifth. Eventually Moussilmani managed to overtake his teammate after an exciting finale.

Cyril taking a stab at the terminator

The fourth elimination proved to be an intriguing affair throughout as the intensity and furiousness of the heats continued to increase, which resulted in some major upsets such as, Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne), Micah Buzianis and Sylvain Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer) all being knocked out in the opening round. However, the biggest shock of them all arrived in the final heat of the first round, involving Antoine Albeau, who had won two out of the three eliminations completed thus far. However on this occasion the big Frenchman failed to progress into the quarter finals after battling it out against Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) for the final qualifying spot, however as Albeau cranked around the final mark he fell ending all hopes of him advancing. Going through to the quarterfinals from heat eight were Cyril Moussilmani, Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer), Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Mortefon.

The fifth elimination is underway and the first round was completed by the end of the day, which means the quarter finals will be the first heats to be sailed when the action resumes tomorrow.

Women's third Elimination

The first women’s winners’ final of the day required a restart after the current reigning world champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa, jumped the gun. When the seven remaining sailors were underway again it was Karin Jaggi and Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne) who leapt out of the blocks. As the women approached the opening gybe it was Jaggi that had taken command of the heat as she rounded the buoy in pole position with Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) and Mortefon trying to keep her company. The Swiss Gem looked back to her brilliant best today and despite Arrighetti fighting back, she didn’t quite have enough in the tank to overcome her fierce rival and stop Jaggi claiming the victory. With the top two confirmed it was now all about the intense battle for third and fourth, which involved Mortefon and Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360). By the final mark Erdil had managed to maneuver her way past her French counterpart and the Turk made no mistakes on the final leg to claim third overall.

Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) came into the third elimination tied as the current event leader, after a brilliant display on Tuesday. However today the young French woman made a catastrophic tactical error in the opening round of the day. Cousin was disqualified from heat two for a false start and with it she was handed an unwanted early exit. Elsewhere Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins), who is well known for her freestyling abilities, is competing in her first slalom competition ever and the Dutch woman progressed into the semi-finals for the first time today. The freestyler finished fourth in heat three behind Sarah-Quita Offringa, Valerie Arrighetti and Annika Valkna.

Sarah-Quita up front

Fourth Elimination

Winners’ Final
Sarah-Quita Offringa marked her return to the slalom competition scene with a victory in the fourth race after overcoming competition from Lena Erdil, Karin Jaggi and Delphine Cousin. Erdil crossed the line in first place but it didn’t take long for Offringa to step on the gas and take the lead. From this position she was never going to give it away and she deservedly claimed first place. Meanwhile, Jaggi finished just behind her in second with Erdil and Cousin claiming third and fourth respectively.

In the losers’ final the victory went to Greece’s Leta Margoni, who is making her debut on the PWA World Tour, as she finished ahead of the Turkish contingent consisting of Dilara Uralp (JP / NeilPryde) and Fulya Unlu (Starboard / Severne).

Fulya Unlu

After another day of fantastic racing, tomorrow promises to be action packed once more with plenty of wind on offer. Crucially too the forecast is predicting a more favourable wind direction so hopefully the local thermal will kick in too. Either way we are preparing ourselves for more enthralling slalom and you’ll be able to see it all live by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30.

Results After Four Elimination - Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different)
3rd Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)
5th Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti)

Results After Four Elimination - Women’s Slalom
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
2nd Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
3rd Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
4th Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz)
5th Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360)

Day two: The heat continues to rise after an intense day of racing.

After a relaxed opening to the event yesterday, today was at the opposite end of the spectrum as the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup exploded into life. The wind arrived right from the off, which allowed two men's and women’s eliminations to be completed in incredible slalom conditions over a grueling seven and a half hours on the water. The competitors made the most of the perfect, 15-25 knots of wind, as they treated the crowds to a relentless episode of adrenaline fueled slalom.

Men’s elimination One

Winners’ Final
The opening winners’ final of the event saw Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different) give an absolute master class as he led from start to finish to claim the first bullet of the day. The Dutchman came flying out of the blocks and he never looked like surrendering his lead as he combined his phenomenal top speed with super fluid gybes to keep the rest of the chasing pack at bay, which consisted of Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz), Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) and Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde). However by the third mark Maynard had crashed out of contention, allowing Dunkerbeck and Albeau to pass as well as the hotly pursuing Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne / Mystic). The top four remained unchanged until the finish line with Dunkerbeck being Van Der Steen’s closest challenger followed by the French contingent of Albeau and Moussilmani.

First blood for Ben

One of the major incidents of the race one involved Frederic Morin (Starboard / NeilPryde), who suffered a nasty gash to his forearm after a crazy pile up at the first mark of heat four. Unfortunately for Morin not only was that the end of his race but it was also the end of his competition, thankfully though the injury wasn’t as bad as first feared or as bad as it potentially could have been. Meanwhile there were a number of big name casualties in the opening round as Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic), Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7), Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North), Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) and Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer) all took early exits, which reiterates the point that there truly are no easy heats in the current slalom world.

Frederic being taken down

Elimination Two

Winners’ Final
The second winners’ final of the day started under dramatic circumstances as the current leader of the PWA Slalom World Tour, Bjorn Dunkerbeck, jumped the gun which resulted in terminator having to settle for eighth place and a restart for the remaining sailors. Once the race was underway again we saw an intriguing battle for the front as Albeau, Maynard and Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) made brilliant starts. As the leading three sailors headed for the first mark it was the Frenchman who held his nerve, under some serious pressure, to take command of the race, whilst Finian Maynard ran wide to lose his momentum. Albeau continued to put the pedal to the metal and it wasn’t long before he was claiming his maiden victory of the week. The battle for the top three resulted in a MauiSails second and third as teammates Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) completed the top three, whilst Finian Maynard held off the challenge of Ross Williams to claim fourth.

Bjorn and Taty in better times

The opening round of the second race saw the majority of the top seeds safely pass into the second round as parity was restored. Meanwhile the two Turkish, Berk Yalgin (Fanatic / North / Maui Ultra Fins) and Poyraz Akay sailed solid heats to qualify for the second round. However it wasn’t long until there was more drama on the horizon in the form of heat twelve. At the center of the controversy were Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft) and fellow teammate Ben van der Steen. As the two sailors bore down on the start line, Jossin ran straight across the nose of Ben van der Steen’s board, which effectively ended the pairs eliminations, and left Ben van der Steen’s board in urgent need of repair.

The third elimination was started but it was only possible to complete it to as far as the end of the second round before the wind began to deteriorate, which eventually brought an end to today’s proceedings. Many of the top seeds were able to successfully book their places in the semi-finals, which will take place tomorrow, but Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Loft), Ross Williams and Finian Maynard will all be missing after they were all a little to eager to cross the start line in heat eleven. With only five sailors remaining it was eventually Costa Hoevel, Van Der Steen, Kurosh Kiani (Fanatic / Simmer) and Cedric Bordes who managed to escape from the heat.

Women's elimination One

Winners’ Final
The current top two in the world, Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) and Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) went head to head in the winners’ final. The French woman made a great start to the heat to seize the early advantage, but her closest rival, Jaggi, never let her out of her sights and it didn’t take long for the Swiss gem to move into the number one spot. Despite Arrighetti’s best efforts she wasn’t able to reel in Jaggi as the Swiss lady took the first blood of the day. Arrighetti finished second whilst the top four was completed by Fulya Unlu (Starboard / Severne) and Deniz Sekercioglu as the Turkish women stamped their authority over the event.

Fulya Unlu charged with local knowledge

In her first slalom event of the year the reigning world champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / Chris Benz), missed out on a spot in the winners’ final after the lady from Aruba false started in the semi-finals. Despite the disappointment of not making the final she managed to regain her focus to take the victory in the losers’ final ahead of the local girl Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL306), Lise Vidal (Fanatic / North) and the other local girl Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Loft).

Elimination Two

Winners’ Final
There was one serious name of note missing from race two’s winners’ final as Karin Jaggi failed to advance from her semi-final. With the door having been swung wide open Sarah-Quita Offringa looked as though she was going to announce her return to the competition scene with a win after she made a perfect start. However, things didn’t go quite to plan as Offringa made an uncharacteristic mistake by flaming her gybe at the first mark. Waiting in the wings was Cagla Kubat, who instantly seized the initiative by claiming a bullet on her home waters in front of Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde), Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne) and Sarah-Quita Offringa as Valerie Arrighetti had to settle for fifth place.

Cagla claims that bullet

Just like the men’s third elimination, the wind deteriorated long before the completion of race three, as just one heat could be finished. The opening heat saw Marion Mortefon, Lise Vidal, Fulya Unlu (Starboard / North) and Greta Benvenuti (Patrik / Point-7 / AL360) navigate there way into the semi finals, as any early upsets were avoided on this occasion.

Results After Two Eliminations : Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)
3rd Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
4th Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti)

Results After Two Eliminations : Women’s Slalom
1st Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
2nd Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne)
4th Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
5th Deniz Sekercioglu

Day one, The heat is one as all riders prepare for a week of intense action. The inaugural day of the Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup saw a quiet start to proceedings, as the sailors registered for the upcoming week of competition between 10:30am and 12pm. With just a light breeze gracing the shores of Alacati, the skippers’ meeting was delayed until 2:30pm, however despite the postponement the wind remained absent on day one of the competition. In spite of the light winds there was still plenty going on, both on and off the water, with hundreds of beginners out making the most of the perfect learning conditions.

After the registration period closed we took the opportunity to catch up with the local man Bora Kozanoglu (Starboard / Severne), before the racing begins.

How have the last couple of months been for you?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“I’ve been very busy with my center, here in Alacati, we’re approaching the end of our season now and it’s been super tiring. It’s starting to calm down after a couple of crazy months and we can finally start to relax.”

You are a local here and you probably know the conditions here better than anyone...are you hoping to use that to your advantage over the next five or six days of the competition?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“Of course, I have been windsurfing here for the last twelve or thirteen years, so of course I know the area very well. Sometimes there are some wind shifts in the bay, so although it is flat water and it looks easy but it can be very challenging with the shifts. Having said that, all of the guys on tour are very experienced, and this is the sixth year that the competition has been held here so I don’t think I will have a massive advantage. I do think that being in my home spot is an advantage in terms of being more relaxed and having a team around that can help me.”

Do you have a caddy?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“I do here, but as this is my first year competing on the tour, and without any financial sponsors I didn’t have a caddy for the other events. However I will be taking a caddy with me to all the events next year.”

What sort of conditions can we expect for the coming week?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“Normally in Alacati the wind isn’t particularly strong, but just like last year it looks as though we will be surprised for the event with strong winds expected. Most of the time it is fifteen to twenty knots but when the event is in town the wind seems to go full power. It looks as though we will see a whole range of conditions from very strong in the next couple of days to ‘normal’ Alacati come the end of the week. I have my 6.2 to 9.5 ready to go.”

Can you tell us a little about your fin set up and which fins you are using with different sails?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“I use different fin brands and sizes depending on the conditions. Here in Alacati I use mainly carbon fins because the water is flat and you don’t need the softer feeling G10 fins. I’m using a combination of Z and Carpenter fins for my carbon setup, but in strong winds and choppy water and switch to my Talon Fins. I expect to be using my Talon and T3 fins in the first couple of days, paired with my 6.2 and 7.0 Severne Reflex IIIs. With my 7.8 I’ll be sailing with my 46cm Carpenter and Z fins.”

How have you found your first full year on the PWA Tour?

Bora Kozanoglu:
“It’s been a very exciting experience competing on the PWA Tour surrounded by all of the best sailors in the world. So even though I have many years of windsurfing experience, I have still learned a lot this year from the top guys in terms of preparation, starts and even kit tuning. I truly believe that windsurfing is one of the hardest sports in the world and it’s a shame we don’t have more individual sponsorship. For example a runner only needs a shoe whilst a tennis player just needs a racket, whereas with windsurfing we need a lot of gear to be competitive and we are also a very high class sport. You don’t see fighting between the competitors like you do in football or something.”

The forecast for tomorrow is fantastic with strong winds being predicted for the duration of the day, which means we should see some incredible racing between the elite of the slalom world. The skippers' meeting has been called for 10am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30.

More to come...

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