Ulsan PWA World Cup

Event Summary: A Week to Remember as Jinha Beach Provides a Diverse Blend

The last 6 days at Jinha Beach have seen some amazing racing in both the slalom and foil disciplines with a wide range of conditions testing the sailor's abilities. In the end, Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) maintains her perfect start to the season, while Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) returns to the top of the podium for the first time since 2016. In the foil, there’s a new name at the top of the event rankings with Brazil’s Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) earning his first victory on the world tour.

Slalom

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) claimed a decisive victory in South Korea after earning 3 bullets from the 6 eliminations completed to take the top spot on the podium by a massive 8.6 points as no one got close to her. Victory here puts Cousin Questel on the cusp of winning a third world title and after recording back-to-back victories in Asia that means she has now won the last 3 world cups events, so it’s very hard to see her missing out on the title in Portugal.

Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) did well to recover from a disastrous start which saw the Turk disqualified in the semifinals of the opening race after a premature start. However, despite then rallying with a win and two 2nd places in the next 3 races the 29-year-old saw her event, and possibly world title hopes derailed as she made too many uncharacteristic mistakes. Still, Erdil holds a solid second place in the overall rankings after also finishing second in Japan.

Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) bounced back in style from a slightly disappointing 8th place in  Japan as the 21-year-old won her first race on the world tour in Elimination 5, which helped her to earn her first podium finish. The 2017 Youth PWA Slalom World Champion rises to 4th in the overall rankings and holds every chance of cracking the prestigious overall podium.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) came into the event chasing her 4th consecutive podium but agonisingly missed out by just 0.3 of a point. 4th place in South Korea keeps her 3rd in the overalls.

Mortefon’s teammate - Esther de Geus (Fanatic / NorthSails) - has made a consistent start to the season with 5th and 6th place finishes, which keeps her on course to break into the world’s overall top 5 with one event to go.

Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / NorthSails) started the event with a bang as she claimed an impressive victory in the opening race - her first on the world tour in just her 3rd event - but then the wheels came off slightly as the Brit dropped to 6th overall. The 20-year-old has shown she has the speed and ability to win races and if she can just some extra consistency she could transform into a title challenger over the next few years. 

Men’s 

In the event preview we mentioned that it would be hard to look past the event winner coming from either reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) - vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses - or last year’s world No.3 - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) with the big top 3 winning 15 of the last 17 events… well you can now make that 16 of the last 18…

Matteo Iachino was the member of the big top 3 to claim the No.1 spot as the Italian returned to the top of the podium for the first time since his world title winning season in 2016. And victory here sees the 28-year-old take the slenderest of leads in the bid for the 2018 PWA Slalom World Championship. Iachino performed impeccably over the last week - recording two bullets, a second and a third and holds every chance of earning a second world title.

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) lost out to Iachino by just 2 points in the end and AA also recorded a further two bullets here, which means he has now won 3 of the 5 races completed this season. Albeau made an uncharacteristic mistake in the second race as he dropped his second gybe, which left him to settle for 8th place in the final when well places, while seaweed scuppered his chances in Elimination 4. Albeau looks set to have an excellent chance of fighting for a 25th world title.

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Choppers Fins) made it 3 podiums from the last 3 events as the Frenchman secured the final place on the podium again. That leaves Mortefon 300 points behind Iachino and Albeau, so if he wants to win the title this season he may have to win the event in Portugal. 

Brazil’s Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) will be absolutely delighted with how the last week worked out as the 24-year-old not only continually beat his best performance in single races but also earned his best results to date after finishing 4th in the slalom and winning the foiling on the final day. 

Besides the big top 3 - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) - is the only other sailor to have qualified for every winners’ final so far this season. The flying Dutchman missed out on countback in his quest to break into the overall top 10 last season but has made a tremendous start to the year, which sees the 24-year-old deservedly hold 5th place in the overall rankings after two events.

Meanwhile, Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins), rises to 4th in the overalls after backing up a 5th place in Japan with 6th here. The Frenchman has shown brilliant consistency - only missing out on two winners’ finals and when he has not finished outside the top 10 yet. Toselli has been in the mix for the top spots over the last few seasons and looks set to be right up there again.

Fellow Frenchman - Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) - bounced back from a disappointing start in Japan by returning to the top 10 - 7th - in Ulsan, while teammate Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) finished close behind in 8th, which sees the Brit rise to 6th in the overall rankings. 

Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) has come close to recording individual top 10 results over the last two seasons, but he finally cracked it in South Korea as the 27-year-old walks away with 9th place, while Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) completes the overall top 10.

Elsewhere, Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) remains in the overall top 10 after a 15th place in Korea. While Maciek Rutkowski (I-99 / Challenger Sails) occupies 8th place, but will probably still be replaying the moment that the dream of winning an elimination turned into a nightmare as the Pole hit something in the water when holding a significant lead heading into the 3rd mark. Rutkowski should find a way to take away the positives though as he is clearly extremely quick this season and should be in contention again

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) hangs on to a place in the overall top 10 - joint 9th with Daldorf - after finishing 19th as last year’s top seeds endured different fortunes over the last 6 days. 

Foil

Heading into the 4th elimination there was all to play for with the discard to come and almost any of the top 9 sailors at that time had a legitimate chance of winning. 

Brazil’s Mateus Isaac took the early lead in the foiling after winning the opening elimination in style, but he soon plummeted down the rankings after finishing 23rd in the next race. However, to the 24-year-olds credit he didn’t let this unsettle him and gave himself every chance heading into the final race after recording a 5th place finish in Elimination 3.

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) held the event lead heading into the final race, but was basically level on points with Isaac with both sailors holding a win and a 5th place before the discard. A top 4 finish for either sailor would guarantee one of them the victory, with whoever beating who taking the event win, however, should they miss out on the top 4 then Costa Hoevel would be right back in contention.

In the final race of the event, Costa Hoevel did everything in his power to record back-to-back event victories as he finished with a clinical bullet, but in the end the Argentine would have to settle for 2nd place, which keeps him firmly at the top of the world rankings after two events. The current world tour leader may be slightly frustrated though as seaweed in the opening race just before the start limited him to a 14th place and in the end there was only 1 point between himself and eventual winner - Mateus Isaac.

Isaac will be rightfully delighted with his efforts over the last week, which has seen the Brazilian earn his best result yet in the slalom - 4th - while 4th place in the final foil race today saw him secure the top spot on the podium for the first time in his career. A superb victory here sees Isaac rise to 2nd in the overall foil rankings after a 6th place in Japan and he looks like a sailor truly in form and one who has made significant progress over the winter. 

Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins) was the only member of the top 5 not to win a race, but the young Frenchman’s consistency, which included two 2nd places over the 4 races, earned him a deserved podium finish - 3rd - while denying Albeau and Vrieswijk a place on the podium by just 0.7 of a point. 

During the opening two events Vrieswijk has shown that he has all the potential to win races and it won’t be long before he earns his first podium in either foiling or slalom. This time around the Bonairean walks away with 4th. 

Albeau was angered not only to miss out on the event title, but also the podium after hitting a piece of rope on the second lap of the final, which resulted in an 8th place. If AA had have finished just one place higher he would have secured 3rd, but even so he maintains his place on the overall foil podium.

That concludes what must be one of the best Ulsan PWA World Cups since it began 10 or 11 years again with Jinha Beach providing a superb blend of conditions to truly test the best sailors in the world’s mettle and skills. The PWA would like the extend to the organisers and local people.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

The events continue to come thick and fast for the men’s slalom fleet as they will be back in action for their third battle of the season, in just over a weeks time, with the 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup, which takes place between the 5th-10th June.

Result 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)

2nd Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)

3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)

4th Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / NorthSails)

5th Esther de Geus (NED - Fanatic / NorthSails)

Result 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Men's Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)

2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - RRD / NeilPryde)

3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

4th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde) 

5th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / NorthSails)

6th Pascal Toselli (FRA - JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins)

7th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)

8th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)

9th Ingmar Daldorf (NED - Tabou / GA Sails)

10th Julien Quentel (SXM - Patrik / Avanti)

 

Result 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Foil

1st Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde) 

2nd Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG / Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA / Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins)

4th Amado Vrieswijk (NB / JP / Severne)

5th Antoine Albeau (FRA - RRD / NeilPryde)

6th Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

7th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)

8th Arnon Dagan (ISR / RRD / NeilPryde)

9th Maciek Rutkowski (POL / I-99 / Challenger Sails)

10th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)

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