Day 3: Teasing winds result in a slightly frustrating day for the competitors as the heat rises

Day three of the PWA Pegasus Airlines World Cup saw just three heats completed in the women’s second elimination as fluky winds brought an early conclusion to the day. After a similar start to Wednesday as yesterday, conditions began to rapidly improve at around 2 PM. However the wind didn’t last long as lulls of five knots appeared on the race course by 3 PM and unfortunately the wind never returned from this point, meaning that the men’s and women’s fleets are both poised at the semifinal stages.

Women’s Elimination Two

Heat two was the first heat of the day to be sailed and was completed at the second time of asking, after the first attempt was canceled due to a drop in the wind. Upon the restart Marion Mortefon made the best start of the fleet, but it was local hero Cagla Kubat who fought back to claim first place, whilst Mortefon, Lena Erdil and Gelly Skarlatou - who is making her debut on the PWA World Tour - all qualified for the next round.

Heat three also needed two attempts to be completed. In the end Burce Vardarli, Melek Toraman, Ceren Yaman and Deniz Sekercioglu comfortably booked their places in the semifinals with confident displays.

The final heat to be completed today was heat four, featuring the current event leader Sarah-Quita Offringa and the reigning world champion Valerie Arrighetti. Offringa got away to the perfect start as she crossed the start line in first place, but Finland’s Marianne Kaplas broke into the lead by the opening buoy and would eventually claim victory. However after such a good start Offringa was slow to plane away from her jibe after getting caught in dirty wind and needed to clinch the final to qualifying spot to ensure her inclusion for the semifinals. Meanwhile, Delphine Cousin and Arrighetti finished in second and third place respectively.

The first men’s semi final was started but lulls in the wind soon brought an end to proceedings with the competition officially being called off at 5 PM.

After a stiflingly hot and almost windless start to day two of the PWA Pegasus Airlines World Cup the wind eventually filled in shortly after two O’clock enabling the resumption of the second eliminations, in winds ranging from 7-15 knots. After two and a half hours of competition a further nine men’s heats were completed, which brings us to the semifinal stage of the second race, whilst the opening heat of the women’s was also finished, before the wind became to fickle to continue, bringing the conclusion of day two at 17:30 PM.

Men’s - Elimination Two

The first heat of the day - heat four - saw Alberto Menegatti comfortably qualify for the quarterfinals as he cruised to victory ahead of Pierre Mortefon, Enrico Marotti and Enes Yilmazer, but there was no room for Steve Allen as he narrowly missed out in fifth place. The only other shocks in the first round were that Cedric Bordes failed to qualify from heat eight - also narrowly missing out in fifth - whilst Bora Kozanoglu’s crash in heat seven cost him dearly as he went from first place at the opening mark, to missing out on a place in the next round as Jordy Vonk, Josh Angulo, Matteo Iachino and Ludovic Jossin all booked their places in the next round.

Into the quarterfinals and heat nine was eventually completed after numerous attempts, but it wasn’t without its drama as Bjorn Dunkerbeck was involved in a collision with Ben van der Steen at the first mark. The flying Dutchman escaped unscathed as he went on to qualify for the semifinals, but for the terminator that would be the end of the line after the nose of his board was badly damaged, forcing his retirement from the race. An appeal was made but it turned out to be in vain as the result was upheld. Finian Maynard claimed victory in heat nine, whilst Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and Fred Morin finished in third and fourth place respectively also advanced.

Heat ten saw Alberto Menegatti storm down the opening reach to move into the lead by the opening buoy and he was able to hold onto the number one spot come the end of the heat as he finished with a substantial lead over Pierre Mortefon and Enrico Marotti. The final qualifying place saw an intense battle between Enes Yilmazer and Julien Quentel. In the end the Frenchman just edged the duel - completing a fine comeback having been outside the top four at the first buoy - to advance into the semifinals.

In the penultimate quarterfinal Ross Williams was disqualified after being a little too eager with his start. Upon the restart Arnon Dagan successfully booked his place in the next round after a confident display. Also joining him in the semifinals will be Andrea Cucchi, Antoine Questel and Cyril Moussilmani after the Frenchman was able to out maneuver Peter Volwater.

Heat twelve was also full of drama - first of all the current event and world tour leader, Antoine Albeau jumped the gun resulting in his disqualification - before carnage followed at the first mark following the restart. Jimmy Diaz tried diving down the inside at the first mark but with inadequate room a pileup ensued allowing Pascal Toselli and Ludovic Jossin to open a sizable lead over the remaining pack. In the end Matteo Iachino claimed third place, whilst Micah Buzianis came agonizingly close to a stunning comeback - after being in seventh place, after the carnage at mark one - as he pushed Josh Angulo all the way to the finish line for the final qualifying place. However, Angulo used all of his experience to put an end to the American’s revival.

Women’s - Elimination Two

The opening heat of the women’s second elimination was completed, however after this the wind became very patchy and started to change direction meaning no further heats were finished. However, Karin Jaggi, looked in much better form today as she was able to beat Ayako Suzuki to claim victory in the opening heat. Also qualifying from heat one are Fulya Unlu and Dilara Uralp, who finished in third and fourth place respectively.

Tomorrow’s forecast promises much the same as today meaning, hopefully, we should see the conclusion of the second race. The skippers’ meeting will be held at 10:30 AM tomorrow morning, with the first possible start at 11 AM, if conditions allow. Make sure you don’t miss a thing by following all of the epic racing via the PWA live stream.

The inaugural day of the 2013 PWA Pegasus Airlines World Cup began with a bang - after the formalities of registration had been completed between 10 AM and 11 AM - with the Meltemi wind in full swing the opening eliminations of the week started just after 1 PM, and by 4:30 PM results for both the men’s and women’s fleets had been obtained as Antoine Albeau and Sarah-Quita Offringa claimed the first bullets of the week with commanding displays.

Men’s Elimination One - Winners’ Final

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel came flying out of the starting blocks as he made the perfect start to cross the line in first place, but his lead didn’t last long as a rampaging Antoine Albeau flew down the opening reach to storm into first place by the opening jibe and from here the reigning world champion only extended his lead with a combination of blistering speed and fluid jibes, and it wasn’t long until he was claiming the first bullet of the week. Behind him Pierre Mortefon turned on the afterburners as well as out maneuvering several sailors at the first mark to move into second place, a position that the Frenchman was able to secure as he crossed the finish line to make a strong start to the week.
Costa Hoevel eventually finished in third place ahead of Antoine Questel - who held off the strong challenge of Ross Williams at the final mark to complete the top four - meanwhile, Bjorn Dunkerbeck had to settle for sixth place.

A few big names were eliminated from the first round though as Ludovic Jossin, Maciek Rutkowski, Cedric Bordes and Andrea Rosati all took early exits. The second semi-final saw a collision between Ben van der Steen and Pieter Bijl at the final mark as they battled for the final qualifying place, but in the end neither of them qualified after their crash.

Women’s Elimination One - Winners’ Final

The first winners’ final of the week started under dramatic circumstances as reigning world champion Valerie Arrighetti was disqualified along with Marion Mortefon after both women mistimed their starts. The second attempt to begin heat four saw yet more drama as a further two sailors were disqualified for premature starts - this time Lena Erdil and Delphine Cousin. However no mistakes were made on the third attempt to complete the final as Sarah-Quita Offringa took full advantage of the absence of several big names, including the current world tour leader Karin Jaggi. The Aruban gem - making her first appearance of the season - put together a commanding display to claim victory by a substantial margin over her closest challengers Cagla Kubat, Ayako Suzuki and Ceren Yaman who completed the top four.

The losers’ final saw the Turkish women dominate as they claimed the top three places. Fulya Unlu came out on top with Melek Toraman and Deniz Sekercioglu in second and third place respectively, Karin Jaggi though could only manage a fourth place finish after colliding with Gelly Skarlatou at the third mark.

The day was eventually concluded at 6 PM as deteriorating and increasingly gusty winds brought an end to the proceedings. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30 AM tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11 AM. Of course you’ll be able to see all of the enthralling racing live by tuning into the PWA TV!

Results After Elimination One - Men’s Slalom

1st Antoine Albeau
2nd Pierre Mortefon
3rd Gonzalo Costa Hoevel
4th Antoine Questel
5th Ross Williams
6th Bjorn Dunkerbeck
7th Sylvain Moussilmani
8th Josh Angulo

Results After Elimination One - Women’s Slalom

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa
2nd Cagla Kubat
3rd Ayako Suzuki
4th Ceren Yaman
5th Burce Vardarli

- Text and pictures are courtesy of John Carter / PWA World Tour -