Between the 9th-13th October the next generation of racers battled it out at the Alacati Windfest PWA Youth and Junior Slalom Cup, which eventually saw plenty of racing after a less than favourable forecast at the start of the week.

Fin

U21 Boy’s It was a back and forth battle between Thijs Hanemaaijer (FMX Racing / North Sails) and Brendan Lorho (FMX Racing / Point-7) all week with Hanemaaijer taking the first victory on Day 3, but Lorho hit back with two bullets to edge ahead. Going into the final race it was all to play for, with whoever beating who between taking the event victory. With a fantastic start, Hanemaaijer led from the first mark and despite Lorho closing him down the whole race, it was Hanemaaijer who ultimately claimed the victory, and more importantly, the event win. The boys finished tied on points – the battle was that close, but the tiebreak rule (who beat who the most times) came into play and gave the victory to Hanemaaijer. Mert Kacan found consistency on the final day, scoring 4-3-4 to take the final place on the podium.

U21 Girl’s Racing together with the U17 girls, it was a great battle all week. Vera Pristupin Tzoannopoulou took an early lead in the U21 rankings, showing great consistency in the opening three rounds. However, Ahniia Mikheieva staged a late comeback, favouring the stronger winds of the final day to go as far as winning the final elimination and securing the event win. Dorota Janiszewska completes the podium in third place.

U17 GIRL’S In a battle we are sure to see for years to come between Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Damla Kurtdemir (F4 Foils), it all went down to the final race. With both riders finishing on equal points, but with Kurtdemir edging De Jong with phenomenal speed on the final leg, she took the event victory on the tiebreak! Given the fights these two also had on the foil, it’s sure this isn’t the last time we are going to see these two battling for victory, with Kurtdemir set to make her pro tour debut in Japan in a few weeks time. Selin Aktas held second place for much of the week with her lightning speed in the light winds putting a lot of pressure on the top two!

U17 BOY’S Another final race nail-biter saw Storm Nicolai (Starboard / Severne Sails) jump from third place to first after taking the race win. With three different race winners and no one showing real dominance, it shows just how deep the talent is in the age group. Doruk Daniel Eder took the first victory of the event and ultimately finished second, while a tiebreak between Sarp Paksoylu and Muzzafer Yagiz Elbir went in the favour of Sarp to take the final spot on the podium.

U15 Boy’s Sarp Mutluel led from the first elimination, and as the only rider to score only top three results all week, his consistency paid dividends and gave him the win in this division. Both Arxon Gomperts and Ali Demirci took elimination wins, with both boys looking strong in the windy conditions, but mistakes cost them both chances of taking the victory this week. Sabri Ediz Garip put in three consistent performances to bag himself the last spot on the podium, with Demirci in second and Gomperts ending up in a solid fourth place. 

U15 Girl's It was a rollercoaster of lead changes on the final day as Derin Gokmeral started the day on pole, but going over the start line early in Elimination 3, along with Irem Metin, was extremely costly for them both and actually temporarily knocked her off the overall podium. Meanwhile, after a difficult start to the week, Lone De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) bounced back in the stronger winds to take victory in Elimination 3, capitalising on the mistakes of her competitors. With uncertainty over whether Elimination 4 would be completed, Nicole Filidis saw herself temporarily led the event, but as the day played on, it was decided there was time for another elimination to be sailed for the girls, meaning the discard came into play and another huge shift in the rankings. Gokmeral took the victory to seal the event win, while Karla Iktin remained consistent, taking second in the race and confirming second overall. Meanwhile, De Jong L took home third place in Elimination 4 and with it edged her way onto the podium with the final race of the entire event!

U13 Boy’s It was a 3-way battle on the podium for the U13 Boys, with the youngest competitor in the competition, 9-year-old Alp Ege Erden, taking an early lead with wins in eliminations 1 & 2 after good battles with Gaspar Schwarzenlander and Faruk Berk Orge. The stronger winds on the final day didn’t favour the youngster, however, and Schwarzenlander took the victory in Elimination 3, followed closely by Orge. The last race brought the discard into play, and it was all to play for. Unfortunately for Erden, a sixth place finish saw him drop to third overall, but it was still a great effort from the 9-year-old. Orge claimed the victory in the final race, which edged him ahead of into second place overall, while the win in Elimination 3 was enough for Schwarzenlander to take the victory in the U13 Boy’s.

Foil

U21 Girl's It was a battle that has played out numerous times on the national circuit, but this time a bigger prize was at stake for Elif Ercan (Duotone Windsurfing / F4 Foils) and Zeynep Hacudi – a Youth PWA World Cup victory. The lead ping-ponged back and forth all week between Ercan and Hacudi. It was the latter who took an early lead with back-to-back wins, but four bullets in a row for Ercan in Eliminations 3-6 ultimately gave her the edge and the victory this week. Racing alongside the U17 girl's, first-placed U17, Bobbi-Lynn De Jong, took third place in the U21 girl’s.

U17 Girl’s The aforementioned Bobbi-Lynn De Jong came straight from the PWA World Cup in Sylt the week before, where she placed fourth in Foil Slalom, proving her skills in the strong, gusty winds of Sylt are up there with the best in the world. However, the 14-year-old showed there is still room for improvement in the lighter winds and had some good battles with the U21 girl’s and Damla Kurtdemir throughout the week. Between equipment troubles and an over-early, Kurtdemir didn’t get off to the start she wanted, but made a strong comeback on the final day to take second place ahead of Ela Ozcan.

U15 Girl’s Irem Metin and Beren Ulkumen put in performances this week far above their years and were consistently battling with girls far older than them. Metin took a resounding victory in this division, followed by Ulkumen, who is actually only U13, but with no other competitors in this division, she was required to race in the U15 division. Ilya Paksoylu took third place after a tiebreak with Kit De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde), who made a late comeback after struggling in the lighter winds at the start of the week, but ultimately had to settle for fourth.

U21 Boy’s It was a final race smash-and-grab victory for Kasper Friis Nielsen (Loftsails / F4 Foils), who stole the event win from Mathieu Assorin (Starboard / Severne Sails), who led from the first race until he wiped out by himself while leading, causing a semifinal exit in the last elimination. Only a first or second in the final elimination would hand Nielsen the event win, but securing it in style, Nielsen took the race win, and with it, the event title. Assorin was outstanding on Day 1, securing 3 bullets in a row, but after an allergic reaction, he struggled in the following days to find his consistency and ultimately finished in second place. Rounding out the podium was Benedikt Emser (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils), who sailed incredibly consistently all week with only one result outside the top four.

U17 Boy’s Only one word describes the performance of Tycho Smits (Future Fly / NeilPryde / Z Foils) this week: PERFECTION with seven wins from seven, Smits didn’t put a single foot wrong all week, with unbelievable speed allowing him to win races by huge distances time and time again. Best of the rest was Kuzey Ziyal, who despite a challenging first day, went on to put together a great event. Behind him in third was fellow countryman Mert Gunel.