Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA World Cup

October 6, 2016 Created by Chris Yates

Day 7: A day of bitterly cold freestyle leaves only five sailors still standing

The mercury plummeted on Day 7 of the Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA Grand Slam, making today as much of a battle against the cold and it was against each other for the competitors. Despite, the bone numbing wind chill the freestyle fleet still produced an impressive display and now only the top five sailors remain in the contest, as unfortunately, the wind dropped before the double could be completed.

Freestyle

Men’s

Double Elimination

Mattia Fabrizi (Fanatic / NorthSails) produced a stunning comeback in the double elimination, which saw the Italian win five heats on the bounce. Fabrizi won his first two heats in the double two days ago, so his first victim today was Youp Schmit (99NoveNove / Avanti), before he won an incredibly close battle against fellow Italian Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails) — with a radical air chachoo proving pivotal. The 24 year old then defeated Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) before Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne) brought his comeback to an end — leaving Fabrizi in 7th place for the double.

Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses) looked to be inspired form in his opening heats today and the Belgian produced the highest scoring heat of the day — 113.5 points — in Heat 40a against Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) — landing the move of the day with an outstanding air kabikuchi. However, Van Broeckhoven then met his match against Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks) in Heat 45a as the Canadian produced a performance mixed with a blend of style and diversity. Just over a point separated the two sailors and crucially the 2011 world champion landed an air bob outside the competition area, which could have made all the difference.

Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) bounced back from a disappointing performance in Fuerteventura by returning to the top ten here. Scheffers is one of the few sailors in the world who has starboard tack paskos in his repertoire and he used them to full effect to defeat teammates Nic Hibdige (Tabou / GA Sails) and Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails).

However, Scheffers then met Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) and the young Belgian edged a tight battle to set up a tie against Soltysiak, which he was also able to win with his powerful approach and height impressing the judges. Caers then ended the hopes of his good friend — Balz Müller —and the pressure is now off the 21 year old as his place on the overall podium is guaranteed, which is Caers’ best result of his career so far. The Belgian will now face Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) in the battle for 4th and 5th — with the winner going on to face Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) in Heat 49.

The winner of Heat 49 will then face Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails / MFC), who must win in order to keep his title chances alive. Otherwise, Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) will officially be the 2016 PWA Freestyle World Champion. If Gollito manages to advance then the 6-time freestyle world champion will have to defeat, Vrieswijk, twice in order to deny the Bonairean.

The forecast for tomorrow looks slightly lighter than today with 17-20 knots on offer, so all fleets will meet at 10am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting — with the action commencing from 10:30am for the waves/freestyle and 11am (GMT+1) for the slalom. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow all of the action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Sylt — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2016 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA Grand Slam — Men’s Freestyle Double Elimination:

1st Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

2nd Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails / MFC)

3rd Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)

4th Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde)

6th Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne)

7th Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks)

7th Matti Fabrizi (Fanatic / NorthSails)

9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

9th Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

9th Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses)

9th Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails)

*to be completed — positions 1st-5th may still change

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