The wind returns in the dying hours to produce a Super Sunday finale

For a long time on the final day it didn’t look like it would be possible to complete anymore racing in Costa Brava with the conditions remaining extremely light throughout the day. However, as has happened on a few final days here in recent years the wind kicked in, in the dying hours of the event to produce a frantic finale, which began with several sailors desperately scrambling their equipment to the beach in order to make their heats — with the arrival of the wind catching many off guard.

With the way the event rankings stood, some sailors had everything to lose, while others had everything to gain and as the second elimination was completed the rankings changed quite substantially with just 3 out of the original top 10 sailors holding their position from the first race. Crucially though one of those sailors who managed to defend their positions was Pierre Mortefon, who had led the event since the opening day and the Frenchman claims his first event victory of the year, while also taking the lead in the race for the 2016 PWA Slalom World Championship.

Men's Elimination 2 - Winners’ Final

Finian Maynard held a narrow advantage over Andrea Cucchi, Jordy Vonk and Antoine Albeau as the fleet rounded the opening buoy, while Pierre Mortefon found himself at the back of the fleet. However, after the third gybe the positions took a major change with several sailors struggling to exit the gybe, which allowed Cucchi to burst into a significant lead, while Ross Williams and Arnon Dagan moved into second and third place respectively. Mortefon benefited the most as he moved from last to fourth after pumping his heart out. With a clear advantage Cucchi safely navigated the final buoy to claim his first bullet of the season — which sees the Italian claim the final spot on the podium, which is his maiden top 3 finish. Behind him Williams secured second place ahead of Dagan, third, and Mortefon successfully defended off the challenge of Maciek Rutkowski to finish fourth. Twenty three year old Vonk was possibly the unluckiest on the exit of the third and the Dutchman misses out on a maiden podium finish by an agonizing 0.3 of a point.

In the losers’ final Jimmy Diaz led from start to finish to complete an excellent for the President of the PWA. Diaz has looked sharp on his starts over the couple of completed races and earns 6th place overall. Steven Allen finished behind the Italian Matteo Iachino, who now occupies 2nd in the overall rankings, and Sebastian Kördel, who finished 4th in Heat 15.

Elsewhere, Nicolas Goyard performed excellently as the 20 year old qualified for the semifinals after showing excellent tactical awareness, and the ability to perform under pressure, when being pursued by Julien Quentel. Goyard eventually finished the round in 14th place.

After a frantic finale the closing ceremony was held shortly after 6 PM where Pierre Mortefon was crowned the champion of Costa Brava alongside Arnon Dagan and Andrea Cucchi.

Day 5 - Antoine Albeau discusses the season so far after another day on hold

The sailors endured another day on hold as the waiting game continued for the fourth consecutive day in Costa Brava. Unfortunately the forecast Tramontana wind never materialized on the penultimate day. After a cloudy and rainy start to the day the sun eventually broke through and for a while the thermal effect tried to kick in allowing a few planing runs, but it was never suitable for resuming the racing. After being on hold for another day the sailors were released at 6 PM.

Earlier in the day we caught up with reigning world champion — Antoine Albeau:

PWA: It hasn’t been the easiest start to the year with the conditions — how do you cope with that mentally?AA: “Mentally there is nothing I can do because there is no wind, so actually it’s extremely difficult to show that I can still go fast. I didn’t have much luck here in my first heat because I got stuck after the first gybe and I couldn’t get planing. We were supposed to get Tramontana wind this morning, but unfortunately that never came through. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get lucky with the Tramontana in the morning, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

PWA: You came into the season on the back of carrying a knee injury over the winter and you are wearing a support at the moment — is it okay?AA: “Yeah, my knee is okay. I don’t have any problems sailing with it, but I wasn’t able to train as much as I wanted over the winter, but I’m feeling confident with my gear, my boards are working well and my sails are amazing. I’ve just been a bit unlucky so far. In Korea, we ran my semifinal numerous times and I was flying and then in the final I was on the same gear, but I made a poor start and with it only being possible to complete one race it’s just the way it is. There’s not much we can do about the wind at the moment, but let's hope Fuerte and the remaining events have good wind.”

PWA: Where does A2 come from?AA: “It’s just my initials. Antoine Albeau — A2.”

PWA: Slightly away from the world of windsurfing… you are expecting your first baby. How are you feeling and when is the baby due?AA: “It should be next week, but you never know. It’s possible for the baby to come earlier or later. I’m not as stressed as my girlfriend Paula, but I was confident she could wait a little bit. So now it's just a day and a half until I can be back home with her and I’m looking forward to that.”

PWA: Do you know if you are having a girl or a boy? Name?AA: “A little boy, but we don’t have a name yet. We have a few in mind but we haven’t decided yet.”

PWA: Thanks, Antoine. Good luck for the rest of the event and all the best with your baby.

The forecast for tomorrow means the sailors will be in for another early start with the skippers’ meeting being called for 7 AM and the action commencing from 7:30 AM (GMT+2) — if conditions allow. Hopefully the Tramontana wind prevails tomorrow morning, but it will require a bit of luck with the forecast showing less wind than today. Make sure you tune into PWA World Tour.com to stay up to date with all of the latest developments from the event.

Day 4 - The waiting game continues as the sailors patience is tested

The forecast always looked tricky for today and that’s the way the day unfolded. After a cloudy and still start the wind swung onshore over the course of the morning and then teased competitors again with winds of 5-11 knots throughout the afternoon — meaning it was possible to plane but unfortunately not suitable for competition racing.

The sailors were once again released at 6 PM and attention now turns towards the penultimate day and there’s a strong chance that racing will be able to resume with the current forecast still predicting Tramontana in the region of 22-28 knots.

Earlier in the day we quickly caught up with Jordy Vonk - who is currently sat in 4th place after replicating his best single result in a race since 2013 and the flying Dutchman had this to say: “It feels great to have the best result in my pocket again as it was 3 years ago since I managed to finish 4th in Sylt. I’m feeling confident and solid with all my gear, so I’m really looking forward to some more racing and hopefully the thermal wind will come back soon so we get back out on the race course.”

The forecast for tomorrow means the sailors will be in for another early start with the skippers’ meeting being called for 6am and the action commencing from 6:30 AM (GMT+2) — if conditions allow. And after the way the Tramontana kicked in out of nowhere yesterday it is likely the fleet will remain on short announcements for much of the morning — to ensure no suitable conditions are missed. Make sure you tune into PWA World Tour.com to stay up to date with all of the latest developments from the event.

Day 3 - A day of two halves

The competitors and race crew faced another challenging day on day four of the Catalunya PWA World Cup. A 6 AM skippers’ meeting in the hope of the Tramontana wind showing its face didn’t pay off, but it did arrive, just later than expected, and for a while it looked as though some good quality racing was going to be on offer. Unfortunately, however, the gusty nature of the wind enabled only a further heat to be completed.

As the morning progressed the wind swung onshore on a day of two halves, but unfortunately neither wind direction delivered suitable racing conditions with the breeze again teasing competitors as it hovered between 5-12 knots for the majority of the afternoon.

Heat 5 was the only heat that it was possible to gain a result for and Finian Maynard made the best start of the pack and he led the fleet as they rounded the first buoy ahead of Ross William and Adriaan van Rijsselberghe. Over the remainder of the course Williams was able to overtake Maynard to claim first place, while Maynard, van Rijsselberghe and Josh Angulo also safely advanced into the quarterfinals.

Numerous efforts were made to complete heats 6 and 7, but the wind refused to co-operate and the sailors were eventually released at 6 PM.

The forecast doesn’t look as promising on paper as the last two days, but as the first day showed anything can happen here no matter what the forecast predicts and Saturday still holds hopes of a stronger Tramontana wind funneling down the Pyrenees Mountains. The skippers’ meeting tomorrow will be held at 9 AM with the action commencing from 9:30 AM (GMT+2) — if conditions allow.

Day 2 - A slightly frustrating day as the wind teases competitors for much of the afternoon

The promising forecast never quite materialized with the wind lingering right on the race-able limit — 7-12 knots for the majority of the afternoon — which led to a slightly frustrating second day in Costa Brava. Over the duration of the afternoon a further three heats in the second race were completed — meaning the first round is now complete. Timing the starts proved crucial again to ensure a top four position was held after the first gybe, otherwise the competitors faced an uphill challenge to qualify.

In the opening heat of the day Andrea Rosati led from start to finish to comfortably qualify ahead of Tomas Malina, Ludovic Jossin and Enes Yilmazer, who did brilliantly to overtake Andrea Ferin to claim the final qualifying place.

Heat 3 was completed at the second time of asking after the initial effort had to be cancelled due to a drop in the wind. Upon the restart Kurosh Kiani made the best start and began his comeback after being disqualified from yesterday’s semifinal due to sailing in the wrong heat, which saw the Dane relegated to last place. However, Kurosh has displayed excellent pace on both days and looks ready to come back. Behind him were fellow Point-7 teammates Michal Aftowicz and Nicolas Goyard, while the top four was completed by Coen Swijnenburg.

Heat 4 proved to be the final heat of the day and it was German Gunnar Asmussen who came out on top ahead of Sebastian Kornum, Alexandre Cousin and local boy Marc Paré, who clinched the final qualifying place.

Earlier in the day we caught up with Taty Frans, who finished 6th in yesterday’s final and made a change to his quiver for the 2016 season — changing his biggest registered sail from 8.6m² to 9.2m² — a move which evidently paid off and the Bonairean had this to say:

“It was the first time I was using such a big sail in the slalom and it’s actually kind of crazy. The racing was really good yesterday with steady winds, I also made a few of the guys angry with some aggressive, tactical gybing close to the mark, but for me that’s part of racing and if you don’t push the limit enough you’ll never make it to the top four. I just want to race and whatever happens it’s their problem or my problem — that’s just the way racing is.

I think changing up to the 9.2m² was a positive move for me because we’re racing in lighter conditions and I’m also slightly heavier than I was. With the 9.2m² I’m able to exit the gybes more easily and overall I think it really helps a lot even though it doesn’t necessarily feel like it to begin with.”

The forecast for tomorrow shows the possibility of Tramontana wind in the morning so with this in mind the sailors will meet bright and early tomorrow morning for a 6 AM skippers’ meeting — with the action commencing from 6:30 AM (GMT+2) — if conditions allow. Make sure you tune into PWA World Tour.com to stay up to date with all of the latest developments from the event.

Day 1 - Mortefon strikes first in Costa Brava on a drama filled opening day

After a week of waiting in South Korea it was a welcome relief to see the wind kick in early on the opening day of the 2016 Catalunya PWA World Cup, which caught a few people by surprise with the forecast not looking brilliant on paper. However, racing was soon underway with the wind picking up to between 8-16 knots shortly after 1 PM and the opening race of the week produced a few upsets along the way, while Pierre Mortefon struck first blood to claim his opening bullet of the season.

Men's Elimination 1 - Winners’ Final

The winners’ final was completed at the second time of asking after Jimmy Diaz was a little too eager for a good start and was unfortunately disqualified for jumping the gun. As the remaining top 7 sailors approached the opening buoy it was Pierre Mortefon who managed to steal a narrow lead over Pascal Toselli, who produced an excellent first gybe to leapfrog past Tristan Algret and Jordy Vonk. In the light winds the tussle for the top positions after the first gybe often proves crucial and this proved to be the case again as Mortefon made full use of the clean wind on offer to build a healthy lead as they rounded the final mark — before flying down the home straight to claim an emphatic victory, which moves the vice-world champion to the top of the rankings at the end of day one. Meanwhile, Toselli finished in a clear second ahead of Algret, who managed to out manoeuvre Vonk for 3rd place, but all four sailors will be delighted with their starts to the event — with the latter two recording their best results in a single race. Arnon Dagan and Taty Frans claimed 5th and 6th respectively ahead of Matteo Iachino, who had to settle for 7th place after slamming on the brakes to avoid going over early.

Elsewhere the opening race threw up several upsets and none were bigger than reigning world champion — Antoine Albeau — taking a quarterfinal exit after getting covered on the exit of the first mark, which left AA powerless to avoid an early exit. The first race proved to be a tough affair for the current top 10 as only half qualified for the semifinals. Together with Albeau the likes of Cyril Moussilmani, Ross Williams, Julien Quentel and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel all too took quarterfinal exits.

Ethan Westera was the youngest sailor to qualify for the semifinals as the Aruban qualified from his first three heats — before the 18 year old went on to finish 6th in the losers’ final — 14th overall — as Andrea Cucchi won Heat 15 ahead of Antoine Questel and Steve Allen.

The second elimination was started but the wind soon started deteriorate as a thick layer of cloud rolled in to put a kink in the works. The sailors were released shortly afterwards at 5 PM and will now prepare for another day of racing tomorrow.

The forecast looks excellent for the second day in Costa Brava and it looks as though we should see a full afternoon of racing. The sailors will meet again tomorrow at 9:30 AM (GMT+2) for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start of 10 AM. Make sure you tune into PWA World Tour.com to stay up to date with all of the latest developments from the event.

Current Standings Catalunya PWA World Cup — Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon2nd Pascal Toselli3rd Tristan Algret4th Jordy Vonk5th Arnon Dagan6th Taty Frans7th Matteo Iachino8th Jimmy Diaz9th Andrea Cucchi10th Antoine Questel

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