With the PWA world tour moving to its second destination on the Asian tour, the stage was set for women and men's slalom at Jin-Ha beach in the area of Ulsan, South Korea with the addition of women's foiling discipline.

Known for its thermal winds, this spot offers regular cross-shore winds. For this to happen, the weather needs to be sunny, which wasn't the case for the opening days of the event. While the slalom fleet was on hold, the PWA crew managed to squeeze in a number of foil races while waiting for stronger winds during the second part of the event. Marina Alabau once again took second place in the foiling discipline, which keeps her in second place on the overall ranking after 2 events.

After a disappointing start of the season in France where only one elimination was completed, Matteo Iachino picked up the pace of last year, to sail himself into each of the three winner-finals in Korea. Being the only rider to achieve this, paid off for Matteo. With his main opponents all making mistakes throughout the different eliminations, Matteo ended up on the top of the rankings taking his 3rd event victory in Korea and defending his event win from last year.

Matteo wasn’t the only rider who enjoyed a great event in Korea on his Mach2 sails. After a nearly equally stable performance, Tristan Algret managed to get himself onto the podium for the first time in his career in third place. An impressive performance from the young Guadeloupan, who was beyond stoked with this result.

We caught with both of them while they are traveling onwards to the next event in Costa Brava starting tomorrow.

Matteo Iachino: Winner PWA Slalom Korea

A big comeback for you after the first event of the year in France. How does it feel?

"Yes, it feels great. I had pretty bad luck in France and the wind was really weak during my heat but I knew I'm competitive. In Korea with more normal conditions and 3 eliminations things came together for me.

You´re now in 10th place overall, but things will change after a discard. Are you ready to take on the next events with Fuerteventura coming up in July.

"I don’t really care about my position at the moment. I´ll do my best every event. The tour is more of a marathon than a sprint, and I can’t wait to compete in Fuerteventura with strong winds."

What gear were you using throughout the event?

"I’ve been using my Severne Mach2 9.4, 8.6 and 7.8 on my iSonics 85 and 72."

Tristan Algret: 3rd Place PWA Korea

First podium ever on the PWA. How does it feel?

"I'm super happy with this result ... The first real slalom event of the season with an incredible level. I was fighting against 4 or 5 guys for the podium and I made it with the last winners final.I was close to making the podium in Turkey in 2015, but this time I finally got it. it was one of my goals for the season, so I´m super happy!"

The conditions offered offshore, flat water racing. Do you prefer this?

"I really like the flat water conditions, but it wasn't that flat at the end. We had really tricky conditions with gusty winds throughout most of the event. On the last day, we probably had the best conditions this spot has to offer with perfect wind conditions for the medium gear."

What gear were you using throughout the event?

"The first race was gusty and light. I used the Severne Mach2 8.6 and 7.8, with the 85 and 72 Starboard iSonic boards with the chopper fins 44 and 37."

Next up on the calendar will be PWA foiling world cup in Costa Brava May 28th - June 2nd.