PWA World Windsurfing Tour http://www.pwaworldtour.com The Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) represents excellence in windsurfing. It's current and past members constitute the very best windsurfers in the World. We the PWA are the sailors who represent the sport at the highest level of competition, we strive to improve everyday and make windsurfing better for you, the public. en_GB PWA Worldtour Fri, 24 May 2019 11:07:20 +0200 Fri, 24 May 2019 11:07:20 +0200 TYPO3 EXT:news news-5330 Fri, 24 May 2019 09:00:35 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5330&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=d8831f54553770de0f767f7909685f25 Event Summary: Cousin Questel Completes Clean Sweep While Iachino Bounces Back & a Week of Firsts in Men’s Fleet After a slow start to the week with rain and light winds keeping the contest on hold the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup gradually gathered pace, leading to a frantic final day of racing as Jinha Beach produced some of the best racing conditions of the year, which allowed 3 Men’s and 4 Women’s Slalom Eliminations to be completed, while 5 Women’s Foil Eliminations were also finished over the course of the last 6 days in South Korea to end the Asian leg of the tour on a positive note.

Foil

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) walks away from the Asian leg of the tour with a perfect record after the 27-year-old successfully claimed victory in South Korea, having already won in Japan earlier in the month. Cousin Questel led the Foil from start to finish in Ulsan and finished the event with 3 bullets from a possible 5 while finishing second and third in the other two eliminations. Cousin Questel continues to set the pace and deservedly walks away from Asia with a commanding lead at the top of the overall rankings. 

Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne /Starboard Foil) and Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) proved to be Cousin Questel’s closest rivals and they finished tied on 8.7 points, but it is Alabau M. who could’ve really challenged Cousin Questel, but for a couple of unfortunate pieces of luck. The 2012 Olympic Champion crashed while trying to adjust her harness line while leading one race and hit a clump of seaweed when leading in another, so could’ve been much closer. 

Mortefon, meanwhile, claimed her first foil bullet and will be happy to have secured two foil podium in the two opening events.

Elsewhere, Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne /Starboard Foil) and Helle Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone) complete the top 5 and the aforementioned women have clearly established themselves as the top seeds. 

Slalom

Women’s

Things really couldn’t be going any better for Delphine Cousin Questel at the moment as not only did she complete a Foil clean sweep in Asia, she also completed the double in Slalom as well, which means the 3-time world champion has now won the last 9 racing events (7 Slalom & 2 Foil) in a record which stretches back to November 2017. In South Korea though, Cousin Questel didn’t have things all her own way and had to produce her best performances at the death as the 27-year-old won the last two races to deny Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone).

Delphine Cousin Questel talking after winning back-to-back events in both Foil and Slalom: "I'm super happy to have won the slalom. It wasn't easy waiting and changing between slalom and foil. It was really close with Marion [Mortefon] and it was a really exciting week of racing. Now I'm just happy with how it all worked out. It's just amazing!"

Mortefon staked her claim for the event title with a highly impressive victory in the second elimination to briefly take the lead and despite pushing Cousin Questel all the way in the last two eliminations she couldn’t quite secure the top place on the podium this time around. However, Mortefon has made a brilliant start to the season and after the opening 3 events finds herself in a solid second position.

Twenty-two-year-old Maêlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) produce a late charge in South Korea to secure the final place on the podium. Guilbaud looked out of the running having missed out on the winners’ final in the second race, but bounced back strongly with a 3rd and 4th place to snatch the last place on the podium away from her good friend Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails), who finished 4th overall. Guilbaud has now recorded back-to-back podiums in South Korea having also finished 3rd in 2018.

Lena Erdil’s (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) couldn’t have dreamt for a better start in Jinha after taking the early event lead with her first bullet since returning from injury in the opening race of the week. However, possibly lacking a bit of fitness and racing sharpness, Erdil saw her challenge for the event title capitulate on the final day and eventually finished 5th. Erdil should take plenty of positives from winning her first race so quickly after a serious injury and she’ll be even more of a threat going forward.

Elsewhere, Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui), recovered brilliantly after missing out on the opening winners’ final by qualifying for the top 8 in the remaining 3 eliminations and walks away from South Korea with a 6th place having recorded a 3rd and two 5ths. 

Men’s

Matteo Iachino’s (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) season didn’t get off to the start he would’ve wanted in Marignane, but the 2016 world champion bounced back like a true champion in South Korea to claim his first event victory of the season. The Italian was the only sailor in the entire fleet to qualify for every winners’ final and never finished outside of the top 5 and deservedly walks away with the top spot on the podium. Iachino is now ranked 10th overall.

Matteo Iachino returns to the top of the podium: "Finally! It's been a long couple of weeks, but it feels great. I tried to be in every final here and that is not easy. I'm just gonna take it event by event now. The results are all over the place and there's a lot of guys coming up, so let's just see."

Having qualified for so many winners’ finals over the last couple of seasons, Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) finally tasted victory for the first time with a brilliant performance in the opening race and the Flying Dutchman briefly led the event. However, he saw his hopes of securing a first event victory dashed in the very next race after being eliminated in the semifinals, but quickly put that disappointment behind him to finish 6th in the third and final elimination to earn his second podium on the world tour - 2nd. Vonk is now tied on 19,600 points with Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) at the top of the overall rankings, but it is AA who leads the world title race on countback.

Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) has had to wait quite a while for his first podium on the world tour. The 25-year-old came Agonisingly close in Alacati in 2015 but just missed out after going over early in the last elimination. However, after a long wait Algret finally has his hands on a coveted top 3 finish at the end of the event here in South Korea. Algret’s first podium sees him climb into 6th in the overall ranking.

Having been unlucky with seaweed in the opening elimination, which led to a quarterfinal exit, Antoine Albeau almost completed a miraculous comeback for a place on the podium in Ulsan. The reigning world champion bounced back with a 3rd place in Elimination 2, before clinching his first bullet of the year in the final race of the week. However, it wasn’t quite enough with the 25-time world champion missing out on 3rd place by just 0.2 of a point to Algret. Fourth place here is still enough to send AA into the title race lead for the first time this season heading into Fuerteventura.

Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) was one of the most consistent performers over the last 6 days with the Brazilian never finishing outside the top 16. Isaac also secured a super second place finish in Elimination 2 and walks away from Ulsan with a 5th place while rising to 4th in the overalls.

Elsewhere, Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) claimed his first top 10 finish of the season - 6th - while teammates Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) both bounced back from disappointing results in France by finishing 7th and 8th respectively. 

Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) will be delighted to have earned his first top 10 result on the PWA World Tour - 9th. The former Youth World Champion was able to win two b-finals in South Korea and things could’ve been even better for the 21-year-old had he not made a mistake on the final reach in the quarterfinals of Elimination 3, which allowed Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7) to pip him to the final spot in the top 16. However, that was the only blemish in an otherwise fantastic performance and Westera rises to an all time high - 5th - in the overall world tour rankings.

Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) completed the top 10 in South Korea ahead of Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) in 11th, while Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) had to settle for 12th place here. The previous world tour leader suffered two quarterfinal exits in the opening two races and only managed to salvage a top 12 finish by finishing 3rd in the last elimination. Mortefon drops from 1st to 9th in the overall rankings.

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) is developing the reputation as the comeback kid on the world tour at the moment, with the Bonairean continually fighting his way back from the dead. Vrieswijk recorded two top 16 results - 11th and 12th - and if he can fine tune his starting a little he could realistically threaten the top 10 and beyond going forwards. 

Elsewhere, Taty Frans (FMX Racing / Point-7) paid the ultimate price in the second elimination, which saw the Bonairean disqualified for dangerous sailing in an incident with Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) when blinded by the sun while attempting to round the 3rd mark. Frans had finished second in the opening elimination and could’ve easily let his head drop after that DSQ, but deserves great credit for battling on to eventually qualify for his second winners’ final in 3 races to claim 5th in the third and final race. Frans endured a tough 2018 season but looks like he could be recapturing the kind of form which saw him ranked as high as 6th overall in 2016.

First Bullet 

Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) followed in the footsteps of Jordy Vonk as the Italian earned his first ever bullet on the world tour in Elimination 2 with a highly impressive performance. The Italian is ranked 11th overall after Ulsan.

South Korea produced a real mixed bag of results this week, but what is evident is that the next generation are closing in on their more experienced peers and that the level on the world tour may have just reached an even higher high than ever before as the racing level continues to go through the roof. 

Congratulations to all the winners’ and thanks to the local organisers and volunteers for all of their hard work and help over the last 6 days.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

There’s no rest for the wicked and the world’s best Foilers will now race back from Asia to Europe just in time to compete at the 2019 Catalunya PWA World Cup, which takes place from 28th May until 2nd June - with Costa Brava hosting the second stop on the Men’s Foil PWA World Tour. 

For a full recap from South Korea — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women's Foil

1st Delphine Cousin Questel ( FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women's Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel ( FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Lilou Granier (NC - Starboard / Phantom Sails)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)

Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Men's Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Tristan Algret (GPE - Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
4th Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
6th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)
7th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
8th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Ethan Westera (ARU - Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Enrico Marotti (CRO - JP / NeilPryde)
 

]]> news-5328 Thu, 23 May 2019 12:22:56 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5328&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=0d4430f62ef1dcdaa8394a88694df551 Day 6: Cousin Questel & Iachino Strike on Drama Filled Final Day in South Korea The forecast for the final day of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup looked the lightest day of the week on paper, but it actually produced the best racing conditions of the week with the thermal wind filling in early and being more stable than on Tuesday and Wednesday and left many of the girls reaching for their 6.3s and the Men 7.7s. In total, a further 3 Women’s and 2 Men’s Slalom were completed, while one Foil Elimination was also completed on an action packed final day as Jinha showed its true potential.

Foil

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) led from start to the finish in the final Foil elimination of the week to claim a clear cut victory in the second women’s foil event. At the start of the day she had just a one point advantage over Marion Mortefon ( Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) and two point lead of Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil), but by winning the 4th elimination that allowed Cousin Questel to discard a 3rd place. Eventually, Cousin Questel won by 4.6 points with 3 victories from 5 races. 

Meanwhile, after a disastrous start, Marina Alabau did well to recover into second place and with a little bit more luck the 2012 Olympic Champion could’ve easily been the one to end the week on top of the podium and there is an exciting rivalry developing between herself, Cousin Questel, Mortefon and Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) with the 4 continually battling it out between each other.

Mortefon just misses out on second place on count-back having finished tied on 8.7 points, but still completes the podium ahead of Blanca Alabau in 4th. Meanwhile, Helle Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone) completes the top 5.

Slalom

Women’s

The final day of the women’s slalom saw 3 eliminations completed and the event lead changed hands on several occasions. Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) began the day with as the event leader, but the last day won’t have gone as the 30-year-old planned as she not only lost the event lead, but also her place on the podium. After a 4th place in the second elimination, Erdil then finished 8th and 10th in the next two races as she dropped a couple of late gybes to crash out of contention and eventually finished 5th.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) briefly held the event lead after winning her first elimination of the season in the second race after producing a brilliant gybe to overtake Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), but her event lead was short-lived as the reigning world champion produced her best performances of the week when it mattered most as the 27-year-old claimed back-to-back bullets to extend her winning streak on the world tour.

Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) went slightly under the radar after finishing 9th in the second elimination, but the 22-year-old fought back brilliantly to claim the final place on the podium after recording a 4th and 3rd in the last two races, while denying Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) a place in the top 3.

Men’s

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) started the day at the top of the event rankings after winning his first ever elimination yesterday. However, Vonk saw his bid for a first event victory dwindle away after being eliminated from the second round in the semifinals. However, a 6th in the third and final race steadied the ship and he still walks away from South Korea with his second ever podium - 2nd.

With Vonk missing out in the winners’ final of Elimination 3 that opened the door for vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - and the Italian duly obliged as he finished 5th and 4th in the two eliminations completed today to claim his first event victory of the year. The Italian was the only sailors to qualify for every winners’ final and that consistency paid dividends. 

Tristan Algret has been close to securing a place on the podium before, but has never quite made it a reality, but today that all changed as he pipped Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - who won the third elimination -  to the final place on the podium by just 0.2 of a point after Algret finished 7th in Elimination 3. 

With the results varying so greatly here in South Korea there were plenty of changes in the overall standings on the final day. 7 of the sailors ranked in the event top 10 at the start of the day remained in the top 10, but with the second elimination being completed several sailors saw their ranking slip away. Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) is the sailor that lost the most as he dropped from second in the overnight rankings to 29th after his disqualification from the second round. Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails) and Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / Gun Sails) were the other sailors to lose their place in the top 10.

One man’s misfortune Is another man’s gain and in this case, those men are Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde), who climbs into 5th place, Antoine Albeau, who as previously mentioned finished 4th and Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), who claims the final place in the top 10. 

Elsewhere, Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) climbs 4 places into 6th after the Frenchman claimed a brilliant second place in the third elimination, while Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) dropped out of podium contention after a quarterfinal exit in the third race, which saw the Brit drop from 4th to 7th for the event. Meanwhile, Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) falls two places to 8th, while Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) records his first top 10 finish on the world tour in 9th. 

Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) followed in the footsteps of Jordy Vonk as the Italian earned his first ever bullet on the world tour in Elimination 2 with a highly impressive performance, but was then quickly brought back down to earth after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the next race. 

Things may not have gone the way either Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) or Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) would have wanted in South Korea, but both will be pleased to have signed off in a positive manner in the final elimination. Mortefon suffered two quarterfinals exits but then finished 3rd in Elimination 3, while Rutkowski went on to win the b-final - 9th.

We'll be back on Friday with a full look at what the results mean for the overall PWA World Tour rankings.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from South Korea — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.
Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women's Foil

1st Delphine Cousin Questel ( FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women's Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel ( FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Lilou Granier (NC - Starboard / Phantom Sails)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)

Overall Result 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Men's Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Tristan Algret (GPE - Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
4th Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
6th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)
7th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
8th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Ethan Westera (ARU - Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Enrico Marotti (CRO - JP / NeilPryde)

]]> news-5325 Wed, 22 May 2019 14:30:44 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5325&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=118a8e570ea32be71c13c02029cbb5ad Day 5: Jordy Vonk Claims First World Tour Bullet While Lena Erdil Wins First Elimination Since Returning From Injury The first Slalom eliminations of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup were finally completed on the penultimate day in South Korea on a day with possibly huge title race implications for the men’s fleet should things remain as they are, while in the women’s fleet Lena Erdil ((Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) showed she’s ready to challenge for the top spot on the podium again after winning the opening slalom elimination. 

Slalom

Women’s

Lena Erdil showed everyone she’s ready to challenge to top honours again after returning from a lisfranc fracture. The Turk led from start to the finish in the opening women’s elimination to claim her opening bullet of the season and her first since that injury. Erdil looked blisteringly quick throughout and was required to call upon that speed in the second elimination after being taken out by Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) in the semifinals, which left Erdil outside of the qualification places. However, the 30-year-old overtook several rivals to move back into 4th place by the final buoy and is safely into the winners’ final. Erdil has an excellent record here over the last few year’s - winning the event in 2016, while finishing second in the last two years and it looks as though she could add to that victory heading into the final day as the event leader.

However, reigning world champion and current world tour leader, Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), will have other ideas as she looks to extend her winning run which dates back to November 2017. The 3-time world champion finished second in the opening elimination and it wouldn’t take much to see the tides reversed tomorrow. 

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) maintained her strong start to the racing year by securing third place in the opening slalom race ahead of Guilbaud and Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails), who finished 4th and 5th respectively. However, Guilbaud will drop down the rankings slightly after missing out on the winners’ final of elimination 2. 

Having missed out on the opening winners’ final Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails) successfully navigated her way into Heat 4 of the second elimination, while Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui) and Noriko Nishikata (Starboard) also booked their place in the top 8.

Men’s

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) will be sitting on cloud nine after today’s racing after the flying Dutchman claimed his first ever bullet on the PWA World Tour and he was understandably delighted, punching the air in celebration as he crossed the finish line. Vonk has been in many winners’ finals over the last couple of years and today everything clicked Into place as he led from start to finish. Vonk leads the event heading into final day and is safely into the semifinals of Elimination 2. If things were to remain as they are then Vonk would also take control of the title race with many of the other top seeds struggling here.

Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) qualified for just his second winners’ final since that infamous crash in Fuerteventura in 2017 by winning his semifinal heat. The Bonairean endured a tough 2018 with no top 16 results and looked firmly on course to eradicate that record after finishing second in the opening race, while also gaining a confidence boost. However, Frans was then involved in a crash with Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) in the quarterfinals of the second elimination, which resulted in the 35-year-old being disqualified from the round for dangerous sailing. Frans accepted the outcome, but did add that he was blinded by the glaring sunlight as he approaches the mark and simply couldn’t see Reuscher. Frans’ result now rests on what the wind does tomorrow as the second round does not count yet. A further two heats need to be completed in order to validate the result, so Frans could yet hang on to a podium finish or plummet down the rankings.

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) suffered an early exit in Marignane in the opening event of the year, but the Italian bounced back today with a solid third place.

Like Iachino, Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / Gun Sails) and Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui) were all looking to bounce back from disappointing results in France and they all did that in the opening elimination here in South Korea. Williams secured 4th place, while Cousin claimed 5th ahead of Bordes finished 6th, Algret 7th, van der Steen 8th and Questel 10th. However, Cousin, van der Steen and Questel will all be praying for no wind tomorrow after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the second elimination.

Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) continued his solid start to the season thus far by winning the b-final - Heat 13 - to secure 9th place in the opening elimination, while also navigating his way into the top 16 of elimination 2. If things were to remain as they are then Westera would rise to 3rd in the overall world tour rankings after a very consistent start and many of the top seeds faltering. 

While some sailors will be praying for a no wind scenario on the final day, there will also be several sailors praying for wind so that they can improve their result here. Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins), Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails), Andrea Ferin (I-99 / Challenger Sails / AL360), Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) will all be looking to improve their results here after early exits in the opening elimination, while already being in the top 16 of the second round. 

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) had been in tremendous form coming into South Korea having won the last two slalom events and his first foil event. However, the Frenchman has been well off the pace here with two quarterfinal exits and realistically he will be looking to discard this event by the end of the season. As things stand Mortefon would go from world tour leader to 9th.

Elsewhere, Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) produced another superb comeback in Heat 9 as he pipped Alexandre Cousin to the final qualifying place in Heat 9. Cousin looked to be in control as they headed down the last and looked to squeeze Vrieswijk out of it, but in doing so Vrieswijk quite literally sat on Cousin’s board, which slowed the Frenchman down and allowed Vrieswijk to accelerate into the top 16 of elimination 2. 

The forecast for the final day predicts lighter gradient winds than the last couple of days with 9-12 knot southwesterly winds currently expected for the afternoon. With clear skies and the wind remaining in its prevailing southwesterly direction there is definitely a chance of more thermal activity during the afternoon, but there are no guarantees that it will be windy enough to finish the second Slalom eliminations, however, there should definitely be enough for the Women’s Foil Fleet. The sailors will meet for the final time this week at 9am for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start at 10am (GMT+9). 

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from South Korea — 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 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 4 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) 
3rd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) 
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

Current Ranking 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 1 Elimination

1st Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel ( FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails)

Current Ranking 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 1 Elimination

1st Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Taty Frans (NB - Future Fly / Point-7)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins)
6th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Tristan Algret (GPE - Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
8th Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / Gun Sails)
9th Ethan Westera (ARU - Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)

]]> news-5322 Tue, 21 May 2019 13:13:10 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5322&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=37b1942c01e15eb13d7b7df905c83202 Day 4: Cousin Questel Extends Foil Advantage While Men’s Slalom Sees a Multitude of Big Name Casualties in Tricky Conditions Day 4 of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup produced the most racing of the week so far with a further 2 Women’s Foil Eliminations and the opening 9 heats of the Men’s Slalom being completed. However, things were incredibly slow going with those 11 heats taking 6 arduous hours to complete with the wind fluctuating both in strength and direction, which made racing tricky, to say the least. 

Foil

Women’s

Overnight leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) - started the day with a one point advantage over Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL), but after a further two races were completed today the current world tour leader has opened up her advantage to 2.3 points after claiming her second bullet in 4 eliminations and a 3rd.

Marion Mortefon remains Cousin Questel’s closest rival in second place after a second and 3rd place today, but she now has Marina Alabau breathing down her neck - just 1 point behind. For a short time, it looked as though Alabau M. would be leading the event as after winning the third elimination, the 33-year-old held pole position in the fourth race after rounding the upwind mark first. However, Alabau M. crashed on the next reach when trying to adjust her harness line, which saw her drop from first to 4th. That result still allows Alabau. M to discard the 9th place from the first race to improve from 5th to 3rd in the overall rankings, but she will know she could have potentially been at the top of the rankings. Alabau M. Is now just 1 point behind Mortefon in second and has closed to within 2.7 points of Cousin Questel with two days to go.

Meanwhile, Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) and Hella Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone) both fall one place to 4th and 5th respectively. 

After the opening 11 eliminations (7 in Japan and 4 so far in South Korea) the above top 5 women have firmly established themselves as the current top seeds in the Foiling discipline. 

Slalom 

Men’s

The opening two rounds of the Men’s Slalom saw the usual suspects advance with no real upsets. However, in the first 3 quarterfinals that followed there was a multitude of big upsets.

In the opening quarterfinal - Heat 7 - last year’s world No.5 and No.7 - Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) and Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) - as well as current world No.3 - Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) all suffered early exits. However, it will be Toselli and Kördel who will be particularly disappointed to have missed out as they were qualifying in the previous 3 efforts to complete the heat, but missed out in the one that counted. Qualifying from Heat 7 are Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins), Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) and Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7).

In Heat 8 Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) and Bruno Martini (I-99 / Point-7), who finished 7th in Marignane were both disqualified for false starts. After several failed attempts to complete the heat due to big holes in the wind, the second quarterfinal was eventually validated, but there were more big name casualties with reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) -  and current world No.10 - Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) being eliminated. Albeau appeared to be impeded by seaweed on the opening reach meaning the Frenchman lost valuable ground, while Lang also trailed into the first mark and in the light airs it is incredibly difficult to reduce the deficit. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) won the heat ahead of Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / Gun Sails) and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) - all of whom qualify for the top 16.

Heat 9 proved to be the final heat of the day and there was further drama with Andrea Ferin (I-99 / Challenger Sails / AL360) claiming that Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne) had t-boned him at the first mark when in the qualifying positions. However, no action was taken and the result stands. Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) would go on to win the heat ahead of Finian Maynard (FMX Racing), Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who did well to overtake Allen to grab the final qualifying position. However, both Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7) and Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) miss out. 

With the wind continuing to frustrate the racing was eventually called off shortly after 7pm. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 8am (GMT+9) for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 9am onwards. The wind is expected to be slightly stronger on Wednesday, but the strength was never the really the issue today and key point for tomorrow will be the consistency of the wind. On paper though there is the potential for a solid day of racing. 

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from South Korea — 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 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 4 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) 
3rd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) 
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

]]> news-5317 Mon, 20 May 2019 11:26:50 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5317&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=424dd3eec94e0f5adbc1ec28a543b498 Day 3: Delphine Cousin Questel Leads the Way After Opening Foil Eliminations The early skippers’ meeting paid off on Day 3 of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup with the opening Women’s Foil eliminations of the week being completed during the morning. With a small swell running and the wind gusting up to 15 knots, the racing proved to be exciting and dynamic with plenty of overtaking and drama in each of the eliminations completed. 

Foil

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) currently tops the event rankings after the first two eliminations in South Korea. The 27-year-old was leading the first race but dropped her gybe when in the lead, so had to settle for second place in the opener. Cousin Questel then produced a superb gybe to move from third to first in the second elimination and wouldn’t make any more mistakes to secure her first bullet of the event. 

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL), who finished 3rd in Japan, currently sits in second place after the first day of racing. Mortefon took advantage of Cousin Questel’s mistake in the opener to claim her first foil elimination victory, which she then backed up with a 3rd place in the next race. The 27-year-old looked extremely quick upwind and is firmly in contention for the podium again.

After the opening two races - Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) - completes the top 3 after a very solid 3rd and 4th place, but was a little unlucky to see the 3rd elimination cancelled when leading. The Spaniard currently trails Mortefon by 3.3 points and Cousin Questel by 4.3 points.

17-year-old - Hella Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone) - sailed consistently again, just as she did in Japan, and is currently ranked 4th, while Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil), who finished second in Japan finds herself in 5th place. The former Olympic Champion came in to change equipment just before the first race and couldn’t make it out past the shore break before the start meaning she is currently counting a 9th place. Alabau then bounced back with a second place but will need at least two more races to be completed to have a shot at the event title.

During the afternoon, the skies cleared and the sun made an appearance for the first time this week, but the wind failed to return, after a short flurry of foiling in the morning, and the sailors were released shortly before 6pm.

The good news is that the forecast for the next two days looks extremely promising with clear skies and southwesterly winds of 17-23 knots expected during the afternoon. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am (GMT+9) tomorrow morning with a first possible start of 10am. 

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from South Korea — 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 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 2 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) 
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
4th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)

]]> news-5314 Sun, 19 May 2019 10:28:40 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5314&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=329d8b7da59f4886a9be5cea7fdbf567 Day 2: A Morning Exploring Seoknamsa Temple Followed by an Afternoon Close Call With light winds expected on the morning of Day 2 of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup, the sailors were taken on a tour to explore the Seoknamsa Temple, which is situated around an hour away from Jinha Beach.

Seongnamsa Temple (석남사 울산) means ‘Southern Rock Temple’ because of its southern location in the Gaji Mountain range, was built in 824A.D. by monk Master Master Doui under the reign of King Heondeok with the hopes of preventing the country from foreign invasion.

However, in 1592 the temple was destroyed during the Japanese invasion and wasn’t rebuilt until 1674. Since then the temple has been rebuilt and expanded several times and now consists of 30 buildings with the temple now home to many Buddhist nuns. 

Getting to the temple itself requires a beautiful 1km walk along a pine canopied path, which is considered one of the best walks in the whole of South Korea.

The sailors returned to Jinha Beach at around 1pm and after a couple of hours of light winds and waiting there was soon a flurry of action as the wind kicked in almost out of nowhere. 

The original plan was to start with the Women’s Foil, but with a gnarly shore break and the wind gusting up to 19 knots attentions turned to the Slalom. However, it soon became apparent that racing would be almost impossible with the seaweed wreaking havoc due to the onshore winds. So, after a frenzy of rigging action, the sailors were released at 4:30pm.

The forecast for tomorrow indicates that the wind should swing back to its prevailing southwesterly direction, so the hope is that there will be less seaweed and that the first races of the week will be able to be completed. The latest forecast predicts shows moderate winds during the morning, so with this in mind the skippers’ meeting has been called for 8am (GMT+9) with the action commencing from 9am - if conditions allow. 

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

]]> news-5310 Sat, 18 May 2019 11:00:41 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5310&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=1cd62ce1fc010ba0f3a6434a1214baba Day 1: Registered, Rigged & Ready After a Wet But Not So Windy Opening Day The opening day of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup was expected to be wet and windy, but only one element of the forecast proved to be true and unfortunately, it was the rain rather than the wind that was correct. For a brief period in the late afternoon, the wind did look as though it may kick in with gusts of up to 14 knots, but despite the Women’s Foil fleet being called to committee boat, the wind proved too unstable to race, while the seaweed was also troublesome.

Earlier in the day, the sailors registered for the next 5 days of the contest, which sees 52 men and 15 women lineup for the Slalom, while 9 women will compete in the second ever Women’s Foil event.

Shortly before 1pm, the opening ceremony was held on the beach and despite the poor weather it was well attended by the locals, who thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and fireworks to mark the official start of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup.

The forecast for tomorrow would suggest another lay day with just 5-7 knot easterly winds expected in the afternoon, however, as always you never know. The sailors will meet again at 1pm (GMT+9) tomorrow afternoon for the skippers’ meeting. 

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

]]> news-5306 Fri, 17 May 2019 16:33:04 +0200 Ulsan PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5306&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=cf82bf90dc6b92177edd59c9980fbba3 Event Preview: Next Stop South Korea For Racing Elite After a short hop, skip and a jump from Japan to South Korea the world’s fastest sailors are ready for their next battle of the season as Jinha Beach prepares to host the next stage of the Men’s and Women’s Slalom and Women’s Foil between 18th-24rd May for the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup.

With there not being enough wind to complete any slalom in Japan things remain as they were after the opening event of the year in Marignane, but after a long week of waiting in Yokosuka, the slalom fleet will be pleased to see that the forecast for Jinha Beach looks much more promising.

Situated in the southeast of South Korea, Jinha beach is a thirty-minute drive from Ulsan and has developed the reputation of being the top windsurfing location in the country. With a rich eastern culture, amazing white sand beaches and reliable trade winds, it is easy to see why windsurfers all over South Korea hold this spot in such high esteem. Jinha Beach can often be one of the most testing stops on the world tour with its sometimes gusty winds and seaweed adding an extra dimension to an already demanding test.


Slalom

Women’s

As previously mentioned, no slalom eliminations were completed in Japan meaning reigning world champion and current world tour leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - will still start the third event of the year as the clear favourite. The 3-time world champion made the perfect start in France and is now on a winning run that stretches back to November 2017 and she may prove difficult to stop again - especially after also gaining victory in the first ever women’s foil contest.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) made a solid start in France by claiming second place ahead of Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who is absent from proceedings, and could well prove to be Cousin Questel’s biggest threat again, however, the likes of Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) are also more than capable of challenging for top honours. Erdil, in particular, may offer more of a threat here than in France with a couple of additional weeks training under her belt as she continues her come back from injury.

Elsewhere, Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) could also feature with the Brit winning one elimination here in 2018, while the likes of Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne), Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui) and Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails), Océane Lescadieu (S2Maui), Yuki Sunaga (Loftsails) and Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails) could all feature.

Foil

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) will enter South Korea as the favourite for the second ever women’s foiling world cup after claiming a clear cut victory in Japan last week. The 3-time slalom world champion showed the same devastating form on the foil course as she has done over the last few years on the slalom course and ended the week with a perfect score of 3.5 points after winning 5 out of the 7 eliminations completed.

However, 2012 Olympic Champion - Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) - will be looking to gain revenge and level up the race for the 2019 Women’s PWA Foil World Championship title race. Alabau went toe-to-toe with Cousin Questel in the opening 4 races and will more than likely be the 27-year-olds major rival.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) completed the podium in Japan after performing extremely consistently throughout the week, which saw the French girl only finish outside the top 3 once in 7 eliminations. Mortefon will no doubt be challenging for the podium again and could well go a place or two better here.

Also look out for Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) and Helle Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone), who finished 4th and 5th in Japan.

Slalom

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) will come into South Korea full of confidence after winning his first ever foil event in Japan. The Frenchman is the current world tour lead after pipping Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) to victory in France is on an incredible run with his first victory on the Foil World Tour meaning he has now won the last 3 racing events (2 Slalom victories - 1 Foil). Mortefon is flying high at the moment and will look to maintain that early season momentum as he bids for a maiden world title.

Having changed board sponsor late last winter, any questions about whether Albeau’s board speed would be competitive have been firmly answered in France. AA led the final and showed excellent speed throughout and he’ll once again be in the thick of the action as he eyes world title No.26.

Current vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - will look to bounce back from a disappointing result in France, but with just one race completed in Marignane there’s no reason to panic and you can expect to see a strong showing from the Italian, who claimed the event title here in 2018. 

Some people may have tried to write Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) off after a disappointing 2018 Slalom campaign, but the German clearly never lost faith in his own ability. Kördel bounced back immediately in France by earning his second ever slalom podium - 3rd - and continued his excellent start to the season with a second place in the Foil in Japan. Kördel will now look to maintain that early season momentum.

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) came into 2019 off the back of his best overall result to date - 4th - and the flying Dutchman showed in France that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with again for the coming season after starting the season with a solid 4th place. 

Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) made a bright start in France as he qualified for the final where he finished 5th and he too could be in the running again here in if he’s back to 100%. 

Last year’s world No.5 - Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) - also made a decent start to the season with a 6th place and will be in the mix again.

The top 10 coming into South Korea is currently completed by Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails), Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone),

Elsewhere, Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses), Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins), Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails) and Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) will all look to bounce back from missing out on the top 10 in the opening event of the year.

Other names to look out for include the aspiring young talents of Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails), Basile Jacquin (I-99 Point-7), Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - who finished 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th respectively. 

The forecast looks extremely wet for the opening day of the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup with up to 50mm over rain expected to fall over a 3 hour period around 3pm (GMT+9), so while there is plenty of wind on the forecast it may prove too unstable to provide any racing on Saturday.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from South Korea — 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 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Oda Johanne (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Foil 

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)
6th Quentel Julien (SXM - Patrik / Gun Sails)
7th Bruno Martini (ITA - I-99 / Challenger Sails)
8th Malte Reuscher (GER - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Marco Lang (AUT - Fanatic / Duotone)

]]> news-5304 Wed, 15 May 2019 10:18:42 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5304&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=3f609828fd235121af84b6e9d32fc83d Event Summary: Delphine Cousin Questel & Pierre Mortefon Continue Flying Starts to Season The 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup saw 3 eliminations of Foiling for the Men and 7 eliminations for the women completed in 3-11 knots of wind, which meant that well-timed starts and solid race tactics were needed to succeed, while any mistakes were severely punished. Ultimately, Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) maintain their perfect starts to the season after following up their respective victories in France by securing the top spots on the podium in Japan - meaning they both lead the Men’s & Women’s Foil & Slalom PWA World Tours.

Foil

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) ends the week with a perfect score of 3.5 points to emphatically claim the first ever women’s foil event victory. The 3-time Slalom PWA World Champion recorded 5 victories from the 7 eliminations completed while finishing second in the other two races as she barely put a foot wrong over the course of the 6 days.

Delphine Cousin Questel after winning the first ever Women’s Foil PWA World Cup: “I’m super happy to win the first event. Before coming to Japan I wasn’t 100% sure about the level of all the other girls, so even though I’d already sailed with Marina [Alabau] and Blanca [Alabau] and knew that they had a good level it’s always hard to know where everyone is at after the winter.

Overall I’m very happy about my sailing this week and it’s been very exciting racing for me with a lot of close battles. I like this new discipline - foiling - and now I hope for good racing conditions in South Korea too.”

There was plenty of interest coming into the first ever women’s foil event - particularly with foil specialists - Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) and Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) lining up against the rest of the PWA fleet. However, after a very even first day, which saw Marina Alabau tied on points with Cousin Questel, the 2012 Olympic Champion couldn’t land another telling blow and walks away with second place here.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) sailed extremely consistently throughout to deservedly earn the final place on the podium. Over the 7 eliminations completed Mortefon recorded results of:
2x 2nd
4x 3rd
1x 4th

Meanwhile, Blanca Alabau finishes 4th ahead of 17-year-old Helle Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone).

Men’s 

Coming into the new season - Pierre Mortefon’s (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) - best result in foiling was 6th, however, after a winter of hard work and development the Frenchman records his first victory in this relatively new discipline - meaning that there have now been 5 different winners from the last 5 foil events. Mortefon’s start to the season couldn’t have been any better and he walks away from Japan leading both the Slalom and Foil PWA World Tours heading into South Korea has won the opening Slalom event of the year in Marignane last month.

Pierre Mortefon, who has now won the last 3 racing events on the PWA World Tour - Slalom Sylt 2018, Slalom Marignane, Foiling Japan: “It’s pretty insane to have won the last 3 events - it’s pretty amazing. I wasn’t expecting this - especially in the Foil, but I worked a lot this winter with all my partners on the board, sail and foil and I think we have managed to develop a super good combo that is working well together. 

For the whole week, I’ve just been trying to sail without making things too complicated by not taking too much risk on the start and the reaches etc. Overall I think that paid off and I’m really happy about this. Now leading in Slalom and Foil is going to make things tricky in the next events, but I’m super happy about this!”

Like Mortefon, Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil), has also made a flying start to the season as the German follows up a podium in Marignane with a podium here in Japan with a second place as the current vice-world champion looks to go one better this time around.

Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) finished last year ranked 4th overall and the Frenchman makes an excellent start to the season here with a 3rd place, which means he has now earned back-to-back podiums in the Foil having finished 3rd last year in Sylt also. 

Cousin is one of the sailors who could’ve majorly benefitted from the completion of the 4th elimination, but unfortunately the wind on the final day didn’t quite play ball. The sailor that will be most disappointed about not gaining the discard though is Thomas Goyard (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils), who won elimination 2 and 3, but was counting a 32nd from the first race after a premature start. The Frenchman looked in the kind of form needed to also win Elimination 4 having won the semifinal, even after falling at one of the gybes, but pays the ultimate price for that mistake in the opening race and has to settle for 10th place.

Fellow RSX man Kiran Badloe (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) will also be left to rue his false start in Elimination 3, which saw him lose the event lead and drop to 12th place. 

Denmark’s Sebastian Kornum starts the season with his best result since September 2017 - 4th - while the top ten is completed by Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils), who won one elimination - 5th - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - 6th - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foil) - 7th - Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 8th - and Nicolas Prien (JP / NeilPryde) in 9th. 

Four of last year’s overall top 10 miss out on a place in the top 10 at the event of the season - most notably reigning world champion - Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil), who finishes in a lowly 17th, while last year’s world No.3 - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - also misses out as do Julian Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui / Starboard Foil).

Unfortunately, this time around it was not possible to gain a result in either the Men’s or Women’s Slalom.

The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the organisers, local staff, volunteers and all the locals for all of their hard work and amazing hospitality - we look forward to returning in 2020.

For a recap of all the developments from Japan — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just a few days time we’ll be coming to you live from South Korea for the 2019 Ulsan PWA World Cup which runs between 18th-23rd May and will see the next installment of the Men’s and Women’s Slalom as well as the second stage of the Women’s Foil. 

Result 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (NOR - Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
2nd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
7th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foil)
8th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Nicolas Prien (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Thomas Goyard (FRA - FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

]]> news-5301 Tue, 14 May 2019 11:21:01 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5301&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=1dbbac2dfd42cc2b32228229e47c7525 Day 5: All Hopes Pinned on Final Day After Promising Forecast Fails to Materialise - Plus Interview with Vice-World Champion Sebastian Kördel For the majority of the week the forecast has suggested that Tuesday would produce the best racing conditions of the event, unfortunately though, that’s not how things panned out with heavy rain squalls playing havoc with the wind, and ultimately, it was not possible to complete any racing on the penultimate day of the 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup.

We caught up with current Foiling Vice-World Champion - Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil) - who sits in 2nd place tied on 11 points with event leader - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) - we asked him how disappointing it was to have no racing on the most promising day according to the forecast: “It’s very disappointing as I really wanted to show that it was not a one hit wonder in France to be in the podium in Slalom. 

It’s disappointing that the wind didn’t come through, but on the other hand we just have to take what we can get and not lose our minds over the situation. You just have to accept it."

We also asked Kördel about what he thought about the racing so far this week as the Foiling here in Japan has arguably seen the lightest conditions we have ever raced in - the German had this to say: “It’s obviously been very light, but it’s been good and tight racing for me. I enjoyed the racing factor in it - it’s been tight all the time and been a solid fight throughout constantly trying to edge out just that little bit more to edge in front of people - I was overtaking people on the reaches, which I enjoyed a lot - just passing people feels great. 

But on the other hand I had this feeling that if we had just 2 or 3 knots more then it would’ve been really fun and you are not suffocating all the time.”

When asked about how happy he is with his own performance so far this week, Kördel said: “I think I’ve done well in a tough foiling fleet - especially when you consider the light winds and all the RSX guys who are competing here - they obviously have quite an advantage with the body type they have for these conditions. When the wind is this light it’s even more important to be light, so I make my equipment as light as possible. I have a special custom boom which is just 2.8kg compared to my Slalom boom which is 4.7kg.” 

Last year must have been quite disappointing for you slalom-wise - how pleasing was it for you to earn a podium in France?

“It was the ******* best (laughing). I can tell you know I had some difficult talks with my sponsors after that year because I was doing so well in Foiling - almost becoming world champion - but then completely blowing it in the Slalom, so there were some contradictory views on how my career would develop over the next few years, but I’m happy that I stood my ground and told them that I am doing what I’m doing. It just the best feeling ever to come back like this when someone is doubting you and make the podium. That felt pretty good!”

Thanks, Basti. Good luck heading into the final day.

All hopes are now pinned on tomorrow, which offers 8-12 knot south-southeast winds and much clearer skies, which could yet still allow further racing to be completed. The sailors will meet again for a final time tomorrow morning at 8:30am (GMT+8) with the action commencing from 9:30am onwards. 

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Japan — 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 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 6 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (DEN - Fanatic / Duotone)

Current Ranking 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil
*After 3 Eliminations

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
2nd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
7th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foil)
8th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Nicolas Prien (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Thomas Goyard (FRA - FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

]]> news-5298 Mon, 13 May 2019 11:24:09 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5298&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=182fa147fcff655892c60985a50ea2ad Day 4: Delphine Cousin Questel Completes Superb Hat-trick to Extend Foil Lead While Pierre Mortefon Manoeuvres into Lead Despite Injury After patiently waiting for the majority of the day the wind finally filled in just enough - 4-10 knots - for a short flurry of foiling in the late afternoon allowing a further 2 eliminations in the Women’s Foil and 1 elimination in the Men’s Foil to be completed. However, some sailors were happier than others with several sailors bemoaning the conditions. 

Foil

Women’s

Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) extended her lead at the top of the rankings after producing an impressive display this afternoon, which saw the 27-year-old secure back-to-back bullets on Day 4 meaning she has now won the last 3 eliminations. Cousin Questel holds a 2.6 point advantage over Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) in second place with two days to go.

Marina Alabau was level on points with Cousin Questel at the start of play, but she couldn’t quite match her French rival today as she lost valuable ground in the race to be crowned the champion of the first ever Women’s Foil event. Alabau finished 3rd in Elimination 5 before battling with Cousin Questel all the way to the line in Elimination 6, however, she couldn’t gain the upper hand.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) enjoyed another solid day with a 2nd and a 3rd, which sees her cement her place in 3rd over Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) in 4th - who was disqualified for a premature start in Elimination 6 - and Helle Oppedal (Fanatic / Duotone), who remains in 5th. Mortefon now has a 6 point cushion heading into the last two days.

Men’s

The day began in less than ideal circumstances for Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) after the Frenchman suffered a bad cut to his foot, which required medical attention. However, Mortefon was able to sail through the pain and now leads the current Foil event rankings after the previous leader - Kiran Badloe (Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foil) - was disqualified for a premature start, while Mortefon secured 5th place in Elimination 3 to take pole position. Badloe, meanwhile, drops to 12th place.

Current vice-world champion - Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil) - recorded his best result of the week in Elimination 3 - 2nd - which sees the German rise two places into second place and he is now firmly in contention for the opening event title of the year - tied on 11 points with Mortefon.

Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) also gains two places after the completion of the latest race and the 30-year-old is just two points behind Mortefon and Kördel in 3rd.

Denmark’s Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) is the biggest mover of the day within the overall top 10 as he rises from 7th to 4th, but is faced with a 12 point deficit to break into the top 3. 

Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils) falls two places to 5th at the end of Day 4 after recording his worst result of the week so far - 19th. However, he could be quickly back in contention for the podium, and the event, once the discard comes into play (after Elimination 4)  as he already holds one victory and a 6th.

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) remains in 6th place at the close of play, while Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foils) climbs one spot to 7th. 

Elsewhere, Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) climbs into 8th place from 10th, while Germany’s Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) breaks into the top 10 for the first time this week after an excellent 4th place today.

The Danger Man

The man that everyone else will have to watch though is Thomas Goyard (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils). The 27-year-old is in 10th place at the moment but now has back-to-back bullets after another hugely impressive victory today. Goyard is in control of his own destiny if a 4th race is completed as he would then have the opportunity to discard a 32nd from the opening race - when he was disqualified for a false start. The Frenchman looks confident, extremely quick and tactically on point, so you wouldn't bet against Goyard holding a perfect score by the end of the next race. 

With the wind then dropping back the racing was called off for the day shortly before 5pm and the sailors will meet again tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting at 8am (GMT+8) with a first possible start at 9am. Tuesday offers the best forecast of the week with 14-17 knots on offer, so we are hopeful of a solid day of racing. Make sure you don’t miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Japan — 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 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 6 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (DEN - Fanatic / Duotone)

Current Ranking 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil
*After 3 Eliminations

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
2nd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
7th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foil)
8th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Nicolas Prien (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Thomas Goyard (FRA - FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)

]]> news-5295 Sun, 12 May 2019 11:55:54 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5295&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=685478c0f431bbe1f3c610352ca6e956 Day 3: Lay Day as Wind Remains Light Throughout First thing this morning things looked quite promising with a moderate onshore breeze on offer, however, shortly after the skippers’ meeting the wind began to deteriorate an it never really showed much sign of filling back in on the third day of the Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup despite a swing back to the south during the afternoon.

Shortly after the competition was called off for the day several sailors headed out for a free sail on their foils, and while that was possible, it was clearly evident that conditions were a long way from being able to race.

Looking Ahead

The forecast for Monday looks quite similar to Saturday’s forecast, which allowed 2 Men’s and 4 Women’s Foil Eliminations to be completed, with the gradient wind expected to return to the south-southeast, which should hopefully allow the local thermal effect to kick in again.

Looking slightly further ahead the current forecast for Tuesday offers the hope of producing conditions suitable for the Slalom fleet with the latest model offering moderate to fresh breezes between 12-23 knots from the south-southeast.

The fleets will meet again at 10am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 11am (GMT+8) onwards - if conditions allow.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Japan — 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 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 4 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (DEN - Fanatic / Duotone)

Current Ranking 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil
*After 2 Eliminations

1st Kiran Badloe (NED - Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foil)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
3rd Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foils)
5th Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
7th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
8th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foils)
9th William Huppert (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
10th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)

]]> news-5293 Sat, 11 May 2019 11:25:08 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5293&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=be4e5778a5f211abc360f5b889381ecd Day 2: Delphine Cousin Questel & Kiran Badloe Lead Overnight Foil Rankings After First Races of Season A slight improvement to the overnight forecast meant that the racing action began on Day 2 of the Yokosuka PWA World Cup as the Foil fleets took centre stage during the afternoon. The wind remained light throughout at just 3-10 knots - pushing the lower limit possibilities of foiling - making well-timed starts and lay lines imperative for sucess, while being on the lighter side of the weight spectrum today was certainly no disadvantage.

Foil

Women’s

There was plenty of interest in the first ever Women’s Foil races on the PWA World Tour to see who the early frontrunners would be. After the first four eliminations - meaning one discard comes into play - reigning slalom world champion - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil) - heads up the overnight rankings after winning the first and last eliminations of the day, while backing those bullets up with two second places. 

However, while Cousin Questel may lead the overnight rankings on count-back there is nothing separating her and Marina Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil), who recorded identical results meaning the two women are tied on 3.4 points. Alabau is a former Olympic Champion and it now looks like she will lock horns with the 3-time slalom world champion over the remainder of the event.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) currently occupies 3rd place after three 3rd places and a 4th, but for a while it looked as though the 27-year-old was going to secure second place in the second elimination, but she fell at the final gybe to allow Cousin Questel to claim 2nd. Mortefon holds a 2 point advantage over 22-year-old Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) - who finished the day her best result yet - 3rd. 17-year-old Helle Oppedal is then a further 3 points back in 5th place.

Men’s

There is a new name at the top of the overnight rankings in the men’s division with debutant - Kiran Badloe (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foils) - currently leading the way after a 4th and 2nd place in the opening two races. The 25-year-old is no stranger to racing though as he is currently campaigning for a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

However, there is almost nothing separating the current top 3. Current slalom world tour leader - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) - enjoyed his best day to date on the foil, which saw the Frenchman secure two solid second places and is tied on 6 points with Badloe, while Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils) is just a further 0.7 of a point behind in 3rd. Goyard secured the opening bullet of the year, which he followed up with a 6th place in Elimination 2.

Current vice-world champion - Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foils) - made a steady start to proceedings with a 4th and 5th place and sits in 4th place at the end of the day.

Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils), who finished 3rd overall last season, is also firmly in contention after the opening two eliminations with the Frenchman recording a second and 8th place.

Nicolas Goyard wasn’t the only Goyard to secure a bullet today as his brother Thomas Goyard (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) claimed a clear cut victory in Elimination 2, which lifts the 27-year-old into 6th place after a 13th in the opening race.

Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) was one of the 4 sailors to win an event last year and he is currently the highest ranked sailor out of those 4 in 7th place after a 10th and 6th. Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foils) is next in 9th place, followed by Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) in 11th, while reigning event and world champion Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foils) is down in 27th place. The Argentine's efforts weren't helped by Thomas Goyard, who badly impeded Costa Hoevel just before the start of the first final causing Costa Hoevel to miss the start line and effectively end his chances.

The top ten is currently completed by Denmark’s Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) in 8th and William Huppert (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) - 10th.

The gradient wind is expected to be slightly stronger tomorrow at 10-14 knots, but it is expected to swing to the south from the east, so we will have to wait and see what effect that has on the local thermal. The sailors will meet again at 9:30am (GMT+8) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30am onwards. 

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Japan — 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 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Women’s Foil
*After 4 Eliminations

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foil)
2nd Marina Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
4th Blanca Alabau (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Helle Oppedal (DEN)

Current Ranking 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil
*After 2 Eliminations

1st Kiran Badloe (NED - Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foils)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
3rd Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foils)
5th Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Thomas Goyard (FRA - FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne / Starboard Foil)
8th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foils)
10th William Huppert (FRA / Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)

]]> news-5290 Fri, 10 May 2019 09:59:47 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5290&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=8480e50776e019e0d18086cebd540a9b Day 1: Defending Event & Slalom World Champions Antoine Albeau & Delphine Cousin Questel on Returning to Japan After Light Wind First Day Sunny skies and light winds greeted competitors on the opening day of the 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup and while it conditions weren’t quite suitable to compete the majority of the Men’s & Women’s Foil fleets did make it out on to the water during the afternoon. In total 57 men and 12 women have registered for the Foil contest, while there is a full men’s fleet for the Slalom and 22 women.

In between a bit of testing we were able to catchup with defending event and Slalom World Champions - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foils) and Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde):

Delphine Cousin Questel won the event here in 2018 and has now won the last 5 world tour events: “I’m feeling great coming in into Japan after making a bright start in Marignane. We only completed one race there, so it was difficult to really see where the other girls are at for this year. 

The 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup is also the first event where the Women’s fleet will also compete in Foiling and with regard to how she’s feeling about Foiling the 27-year-old said: “I think it might be difficult to have my focus on foiling as well as slalom, but my main focus definitely remains more on the slalom as I’d really love to win a 4th world title.

I have been foiling for the last two or three years now and over the winter I had some good training sessions, but unfortunately most of us received our new foil equipment pretty late, so it’s difficult to feel 100% in tune with the new stuff. I’m pretty curious to see the result in the foiling and to sail in my first foil race.”

When asked about what she’s expecting from the foiling, Cousin Questel said: “I’m not too sure because for example there is the Alabau sisters - Marina & Blanca - who are purely foiling, so its going to be interesting to see. I’m think my slalom competence and experience can help me while foiling, so let’s just see.”

Defending event champion Antoine Albeau: “It feels good to be back. It’s always a pleasure to come back to Japan because the hospitality of the people is amazing. When I arrived in the airport I was alone, but then I had 9 people come and help me so I didn’t even have to carry one bag, which is just perfect!

The weather forecast wasn’t looking so good to begin with, but now it looks a bit more promising to be able to compete in both Foil & Slalom. I think we will be able to complete a lot of foiling and maybe 2 or 3 rounds of slalom - of course the best would to be able to complete 4 slalom, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

I arrived two days before the event and sailed both days in foil and slalom and it was good. I’m feeling pretty confident with my gear so I just don’t want to make any mistakes or go over early.” 

During the close season Albeau changed board sponsor and made a seamless transition by securing a second place in Marignane - when asked about whether he had any worries before the start of the year the 25-time world champion added: “I knew I had some speed, but during the whole winter I was only sailing with Mateus [Isaac] and then he went to Tenerife, so he had more reference about how quick he was going compared to me… I had no reference really, but it turned out well. It’s also not just a case of being the fastest guy to win a final, you need to be the best overall… best start, gybe well etc.

Second was a good start and I feel confident. I’m now interested to see how I fair in really light wind slalom with 9.4m or something. I think between Japan and Korea we will have a lot of action.”

When asked about Foiling Albeau went on to say: “I think it’s going to be difficult because we are going to race in lighter and lighter winds and that makes it a problem for me to get planing. As soon as I’m planing I’m fine, but once I need to tack and gybe it becomes extremely difficult for me as I’m one of the heaviest guys at 99kg. I know I can go fast, but on a small course it’s going to be harder for me to do well. I’ll just try to do my best.”

The forecast for Saturday looks quite similar to today, but hopefully the local thermal will be slightly stronger tomorrow and allow the racing to begin. The sailors will meet again at 10am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start at 11am. 

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

]]> news-5287 Thu, 09 May 2019 10:26:36 +0200 Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5287&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=741c48af5a0ba156936b5b1b9562cea5 Event Preview: World’s Best Racers Ready to Battle it Out in Japan The world’s best racers have made their annual voyage to Asia as they prepare for the 3rd edition of the Fly! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup, which takes place between 10th-15th May. Tsukuihama Beach will host the second stop on the PWA Slalom World Tour for both the Men’s and Women’s fleets, while also racing the curtain on the Foil World Tour for 2019.

Tsukuihama Beach, Yokosuka City, is situated approximately 80km southwest of Japan’s capital Tokyo. Yokosuka blends city life with the sea, while also being a Naval Port. Yokosuka occupies most of the Miura Peninsula and is bordered by the mouth of Tokyo Bay to the east and Sagami Bay on the west, which provides a beautiful backdrop. As Tsukuihama Beach is almost completely protected it can provide great flat water racing conditions. As well as its maritime connections Yokosuka is also famous for it’s locally grown produce and there is even a tourist farm where you can pick your own strawberries, sweet potatoes or tangerines depending on the time of year.

Slalom

Women’s

Reigning world champion and current world tour leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - will start the second event of the year as the clear favourite. The 3-time world champion made the perfect start in France and is now on a winning run that stretches back to November 2017 and she may prove difficult to stop again.

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) made a solid start in France by claiming second place ahead of Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) could well be Cousin Questel’s biggest threat again, however, the likes of Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) are also more than capable of challenging for top honours. Erdil, in particular, may offer more of a threat here than in France with a couple of additional weeks training under her belt as she continues her come back from injury.

In With a Chance

Elsewhere, the likes of Esther de Geus (Fanatic / Duotone), Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails) could be in contention, while an army of local girls will be hoping to make their mark on home waters with the most likely players being Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails) and Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui).

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) comes into Japan with the current world tour lead after pipping Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) to victory in France. That victory means that Mortefon has now won back-to-back events for the first time in his career and the 29-year-old will look to maintain that early season momentum as he searches for a maiden world title.

Having changed board sponsor late last winter, any questions about whether Albeau’s board speed would be competitive have been firmly answered in France. AA led the final and showed excellent speed throughout and he’ll once again be in the thick of the action as he eyes world title No.26. Albeau is also the defending event champion.

Current vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - will look to bounce back from a disappointing result in France, but with just one race completed in Marignane there’s no reason to panic and you can expect to see a strong showing from the Italian here.

Some people may have tried to write Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) off after a disappointing 2018 Slalom campaign, but the German clearly never lost faith in his own ability. Kördel bounced back immediately in France by earning his second ever slalom podium - 3rd - and he will now look to build upon a great start to the season.

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) came into 2019 off the back of his best overall result to date - 4th - and the flying Dutchman showed in France that he’ll be a force to be reckoned with again for the coming season after starting the season with a solid 4th place. 

Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) made a bright start in France as he qualified for the final where he finished 5th and he too could be in the running again here in Japan. 

Last year’s world No.5 - Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) - also made a decent start to the season with a 6th place and the man from Saint Maarten will have fond memories from Japan having won the event here in 2017. 

The top 10 coming into Japan is currently completed by Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails), Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone), who will be happy to be back to seemingly full fitness after being hampered by a mystery virus last year.

Elsewhere, Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses), Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins), Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails) and Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) will all look to bounce back from missing out on the top 10 in the opening event of the year.

Other names to look out for include the aspiring young talents of Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails), Basile Jacquin (I-99 Point-7), Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) and Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - who finished 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th respectively. 

Foiling

Women’s

The 2019 Fly! ANA Yokosuka World Cup will also go down in history as it will be the first event to host Women’s Foiling. It is going to be very interesting to see who stands out as the top sailor in Foiling as with no previous world cup events there is little to go on. You would expect to see the usual suspects - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui / Starboard Foils), Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) and Lena Erdil, but it will be interesting to see if that’s how it pans out!

Men’s

As the reigning world champion - Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foils) - will probably start the event as the narrow favourite, however, there would not be much between himself, Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foils), who finished the season level on points - 30,300 points. 

On paper next in line would be Antoine Albeau and Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils), who finished 3rd and 4th last year - but also tied on 30,100 points. 

As last season showed though Foiling is currently incredibly difficult to predict with there being 4 separate winners from the 4 events completed in 2018 - world champion Costa Hoevel won here last year, while Brazilian Mateus Isaac won in South Korea, Amado Vrieswijk in Costa Brava and finally Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses / Starboard Foils) claimed a decisive victory in Sylt to finish the year and as previous event winners’ they are also heavily in contention. 

With another winter of development under their foil wings, it will be interesting to see who gains the early advantage in this year’s title race.

The forecast currently looks quite light for the opening few days of the event meaning that the Foiling may take centre stage, while later it the week there is the promise of stronger winds for the slalom. Make sure you stay tuned into www.pwaworldtour.com between the 10th-15th May.

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

Schedule For Opening Day (All Times GMT+8)

Registration 10-11am 
Skippers’ Meeting - 1:30pm 
First Possible Start - 2:30pm

]]> news-5285 Wed, 08 May 2019 12:43:45 +0200 Future Fly Boards https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5285&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=674cacdab60ac67fbe207ea3d8ba422b Arnon Dagan Discusses New Venture - Future Fly Boards - Read our interview with the flying camel now After several years of heading up the Racing Research & Development Team for the RRD, world class racer Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) parted ways last year and has started his own new exciting venture under the flag of Future Fly Boards. The Israeli has just over two decades of experience competing at the highest level, so is perfectly equipped to know how to produce the fastest and best boards possible. We recently caught up with Arnon, who is preparing to compete on the Asian leg of the tour in Japan and South Korea over the next couple of weeks, for an interview to find out more about Future Fly Boards. 

Hi Arnon, firstly can you tell us a little bit more about Future Fly? The philosophy and idea behind the company?

"FF is born out of a passionate desire to share the happiness and lifestyle the sport of windsurfing offers with the world.

One of our first targets is to help young and adult sailors alike to achieve their dreams by offering a set of benefits and plans which has not yet been tried in the windsurfing market before us. 

Our main mission: Make top quality boards that rival any competition. Whether it be for aspiring athletes or pro-competitors worldwide, we have it covered. We are dedicated to the development of the sport and that free feeling of flying on the water, which is why we will only stand for making the best, top quality and perfectly constructed boards to ever have hit the water."

You obviously have a wealth of experience when it comes to both racing at the highest level and heading up the R&D for several other brands - why did you decide now to setup your own brand?

"I decided to set up my own brand because I feel I’m able to use my lifetime knowledge and offer something better for the sport. Better construction, better colours and ultimately better quality. I believe people, who are paying so much money, should be receiving a perfect product. Apart from this windsurfing is free and I'm a free person at heart. I want to use FF to share the amazing happiness I get from this sport and to support new young competitors and sailors, in general, to get into the sport." 

Will you just be producing Slalom/Foil boards or will you also be developing a line for Freeride, Wave, Freestyle?

"The final target is to do it all but only if it is the best. At the moment I’m sure we can produce the best racing products so we start from there. Then over time, we will slowly extend our line every year focusing on perfecting each and every board." 

Where and when will Future Fly boards be available for the public to buy?

We started with a program called the 100flayers using our pre-order web site www.ff-boards.com and all our boards were sold out with in 3 weeks. We will keep selling online and also work with key distributors worldwide. We have bases in Japan, Korea, Israel, Holland and Germany already and we are growing every day. Our new website will be coming out soon. 

Thanks, Arnon. All the best with your new venture and good luck in Japan and South Korea.

You can find out more about Future Fly via their website @ https://www.ff-boards.com/ and also via their Social Media Channels:

Facebook: @futureflyboards
Instagram: @futureflyboards

Photo Credit: Yellow Flag & Lorenzo Mittiga

]]> news-5283 Wed, 08 May 2019 11:51:06 +0200 PWA Slalom Qualification https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5283&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=e236e6edf2a96d153915411ac6994236 Zoo Station Bol Set to Host First PWA Slalom Qualifier Between 8th-13th July Are you an aspiring slalom sailor, but not sure you are quite ready to battle it out with the absolute best in the world yet? That’s where the PWA Slalom Qualifying Series comes in as we aim to merge the gap between National to International contests and make the transition as seamless as possible. Up and coming slalom sailors will have to earn their stripes on the Qualifying Series in order to qualify for a place on the World Tour the following year. Zoo Station Bol, Croatia, will be the first destination to host a PWA Slalom Qualifier between 8th-13th July and we recently caught up with the owner Tony Bulić to find a bit more about Bol.
 
Hi Toni, can you tell us a bit more about why you wanted to become the first host of a PWA Slalom Qualifier?
 
“Back in 2004, Zoo Station hosted a PWA Freestyle Qualifier. Ever since then, it has always been our wish to get back on the PWA Tour and welcome the best of the best. In the last 10 years, Zoo Station organised several high level international events visited by many top level riders, including [Pierre] Mortefon, [Finian] Maynard, local boys [Enrico] Marotti and Croatian Olympic windsurfer [Luka] Mratović, [Maciek] Rutkowski, [Bruno] Martini, [Damien] Arnoux… PWA is the natural step forward to a higher level of racing.”
 
When will the Qualifier be held? And who can enter?
 
“The event is scheduled for 8th-13th July. There will be 5 categories (for both men’s & women’s) - overall, U20, U17, U15, U13. Everyone can enter, however, bear in mind that the number of competitors per each category is limited to 64.”
 
Can you tell us a little bit more about Bol and the usual conditions to expect at that time of year?
 
“Bol is a small beautiful seaside town on the island Brač in Dalmatia, the central part of the Croatian coast. It is most known, besides being one of the few places in Croatia with constant thermal winds, by the beautiful beach the Golden Horn, shaped like an arrow whose top changes directions in line with the direction of the wind.
 
During the entire summer, when the weather is sunny and stable, Bol is blessed by a thermal wind called Maestral, blowing every day around 15 to 20 knots side-shore between approximately 1PM and 6PM."
 
Anything else you’d like to add?
 
"Maybe just that we are really looking forward to hosting this event and welcome all the amazing riders out there. Bol is an amazing place to windsurf and, if you haven't been here yet, we are sure you will love it. 
If you have any questions or need any help or advice with travel or accommodation, please feel free to contact us - https://zoo-station.com/"
 
Thanks, Toni. All the best with the event!
 
Chairman of the PWA Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / Duotone): “We are very happy to announce the PWA Qualifying event in Croatia as a first step in creating a proper qualifying series into our racing system.  Following our strategy in creating a qualifying system for all our disciplines, we are eager to move away from a wild card system into a proper qualifying series where the top sailors will receive guaranteed entry into PWA events the following year.  We also feel strongly that our sport needs a much wider base and together with the PWA youth events, we hope to do our part in helping the younger generations with proper stepping stones into the top levels of professional competition.

We welcome Croatia into this first important step and look forward to a great event off the coast of this beautiful country.”
 
If you are interested in hosting a PWA Slalom Qualifier you can contact the PWA: info@no-spam-pleasepwaworldtour.com

Details of how to enter the first PWA Slalom Qualifier will be released soon.

]]> news-5281 Mon, 06 May 2019 04:59:36 +0200 LOKEFOIL https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5281&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=0e6438c7f85078b2f3981560d3e53f4d PWA Proud to Announce LokeFoil as New Sponsor With the next stage of the 2019 racing circuit just 4 days away now seems the appropriate time to announce LokeFoil as a proud new sponsor of the PWA. The FLY! ANA Yokosuka PWA World Cup will host the first men’s and women’s Foil stop on the 2019 tour as well as the second Slalom event. We recently caught up with team rider William Huppert (Fanatic / Duotone / LokeFoil) to find out more about LokeFoil:

Hi William, firstly can you tell us a little bit more about Loke Foil? When it was created and the philosophy and idea behind the company?

Lokefoil is born in 2015 , the founder are Kevin Festock and Loig Peigne. It’s based in France. Everything is made in France in our factory in Saint Malo. From engineering to the mould and so, the foil are made by the Lokefoil factory.The goal of Lokefoil is to make high quality carbon foils which are suitable for all levels of riders - from beginners to world cup performances. We are always taking on board imprtant feedback directly from our customers and then further refining and developing the foils. 

Why did you decide now to setup your own brand?

Actually this is not my own brand, the brand has been setup by Kevin and Loig but I was their first employee and the first rider. They started by producing some foils in their garage since 2008, at this time it was really the beginning and the foil didn't work so well, but then in around 2015 they started to have a product which was really good and easy for everyone. So they decided to stop their actual work and setup the brand.

What range of Foils do you produce? Is it purely high end racing or you also offer entry level foils etc?

We produce only carbon foils from beginner to advance riders and world cup level racing foils.

Where are Loke Foils available for the public to buy?

You can order foils on our online shop, or by our dealer shop, or you can visit us at the factory in Saint Malo, France !

Anything else you’d like to add about Loke Foil?

Lokefoil is a company that is very close to its employees, team riders and customers 
Our vision is not to produce thousand of foils but to be always lead innovation, and have fun by always testing new designs!

Thanks, William. Good luck in Japan and South Korea.

 

]]> news-5279 Thu, 02 May 2019 03:15:34 +0200 Same Same But Different https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5279&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=48ccb5895a7b4ff3016b96b24bdd9d44 Two Different Disciplines, Two Podiums, Oda Brødholt on a Great Start to the Season Oda Brødholt’s (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) hard work over the winter clearly paid off with the Norwegian earning two podiums in the first two events on the 2019 calendar. Back-to-back podiums are impressive in themselves, however, Brødholt’s feat is made all the more impressive given the fact that she achieved them across two different disciplines. Firstly by completing the podium in Bonaire and then earning her first top 3 finish in Slalom at the Marignane PWA World Cup. After such a great start to the year we recently caught up with Oda for an interview, which you can read below:

Hi Oda, congrats on a great start to the season. How happy are you to have won two podiums in two different disciplines to start the year?

Hello PWA! That was two wild weeks! And it’s been a cool journey! First of all, I’m happy I made it to France in time after Bonaire. I had 10 hours to repack from freestyle to slalom gear and get back to the airport. Was definitely a challenge when my bags (with half of my slalom gear) did not show up in Norway from Bonaire. Luckily they came with a plane 3 hours later and I could wait at the airport, get my bags, drive home, do an emergency re-pack and make it back to the airport again. I made it!

Most people would kind of expect you to make the podium in Freestyle, but maybe not so much in the Slalom - what were your expectations heading into France?

In Bonaire, I wanted to challenge for higher than 3rd if we got stronger wind. In one of the heats when I was powered up on 4.8 I sailed my dream heat, but when I was competing on my biggest gear in all the other heats I was happy with 3rd here. It felt good to sail consistently. All the girls, and especially Maaike [Huvermann], Arrianne [Aukes] and Sarah [Quita Offringa] were totally ripping. Women’s freestyle level has never looked better:) The «light wind double pop sliding queen’s» Maaike and Sarah inspired me to the roof, and what a final and super final they put up!

 I went home from Bonaire with a feeling that I had «done» what people would expect anyway, but when I came home from France with a 3rd place in slalom I think I have never received so many congratulations as then. Probably because no one would expect it! 

It was not so easy, as we were always ready to sail, as the wind suddenly came, but then dropped again. We definitely worked hard to get one elimination done. Most of the heats were re-sailed a couple of times. I took it as training and enjoyed my time on the water. I took every opportunity to go out and windsurf to make the switch from freestyle to racing mode easier. I was also surfing on a good mental Caribbean vibe and stayed positive the whole week. And I loved the racing. Takes me back to handball times in a similar way...

On Bonaire, I was mainly freestyling to prepare for the freestyle world cup, but I never skipped a slalom session if I had the opportunity. I got some good slalom sessions in between loads of freestyle! I started to sail with the local riders on Bonaire who are really ripping in slalom. Later on, Sarah-Quita arrived and we trained slalom together as well as CrossFit and freestyle.

Going into France it was hard to expect how I would perform. I did not think much about that. I knew most of the slalom girls had way more course training than me, so I told my self to not make it too complicated, just make sure I have a good start and be in the moment. My speed is my best skill, and in the gybes, my tactics were to commit and look for the best entry and exit. When I won the semi-final I told myself to go all in for the final. It was now or never! Compared to freestyle, slalom is easier in a way, you have mainly 3 things to do perfect (of course a lot of other things, but you get far with these three): good start, speed and gybes. In freestyle, you can plan to do a hard move, but already mess it up if you duck your sail wrong, and that’s even before you have started to do the trick. In a freestyle contest you need to land 8 moves in 8 minutes to do well. So I told myself if I can do the freestyle part I should be able to handle these 3 slalom points well. It helped me to have that mindset and keep things simple and trust my setup. It was also important to stay calm when we competed far outside without a chance to change gear. Sailing under or overpowered was part of the game. I just had to deal with it as I did not have a caddy on the water with another setup.

Both in your speech in France and also on Social Media you thank Sarah-Quita for her help with your slalom - what aspects do you think she was most able to help you with?

-No doubt that Sarah has been a great help. When we had our first slalom session together we started with going as fast as possible. She would be in front and I was working really hard to keep up. Something felt wrong. That session we kept on tuning my gear compared to hers. Sarah is an underestimated tuner in both freestyle and slalom. When she goes into tuning mode I know she is on a mission! And it helped me a lot to learn some of her tuning secrets :) - (I’m happy she promised that she will join the slalom world cup in Denmark! She was really missed in France!)

The gear felt really good after some adjustments. Every run after this I would be like: «Sarah you are not going as fast as you can now!?» And she would say, «yes I do». I was still in doubt, until she said she was telling the truth and pinky-swear it! All the sessions we had were gold! Just to be able to keep up a little bit with Sarah gave me confidence as she is a great, great racer.

Most of all we just have so much fun on and off the water. It’s good to have a partner in crime who are into the same things as you. Gangsterdrives, massive pillow fights, hardcore wrestling, CrossFit and planning and making the 2nd episode of «Lovely Holiday» was pure fun. Let’s not forget to mention all the daily jokes! I was laughing so much these weeks I stopped doing situps for core training...

You aren’t competing in Japan and South Korea… what will you be doing between now and your next event and where will your next event be?

I have many windsurfing clinics in Norway planned for May. Also for some companies in Norway. I also have some cool stuff planned with my sponsors in Norway that I will take part in. So I will mainly be doing that and I plan to go on short trips (driving or flying) based on a good forecast to windsurf. It is also a great time to sail in Norway in spring. My next event will be Pozo, wave. I hope to go there a few times on a forecast soon to improve my port tack jumping! And then Fuerteventura! I’m also dreaming of the first road trip to Varberg in Sweden. Can’t wait for a session there!

Thanks, Oda. See you back on the tour soon!

You can stay up to date with all of Oda Brødholt’s latest news and adventures via her Social Media Channels:

Facebook: @OdaJohanneWindsurfing
Instagram: @odajohanne_windsurfing
 

]]> news-5277 Wed, 01 May 2019 06:00:56 +0200 JOY https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5277&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=e5272efe9a48b8aff8a422e094967c0b Free Flowing Wave Riding Masterclass with Loïck Lesauvage Loïck Lesauvage (Goya Windsurfing / Shamal Windsurfing) finds plenty of joy from windsurfing and the 19-year-old is back with another new edit filmed in France, which sees him give an onshore wave riding masterclass filled with free flowing turns.

You can see Loïck Lesauvage’s latest aptly named edit ‘JOY’ @ vimeo.com/332951695

]]> news-5275 Tue, 30 Apr 2019 07:38:02 +0200 Home #2 https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5275&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=199d96b1d9394f473ac2e5f5b9c53317 Antoine Albert Freestyling Over the Stunning Tropical Waters of New Caledonia Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) is lucky enough to call the tropical paradise of New Caledonia home, which boasts the largest lagoon the world - spanning 44,000km - and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006.

Albert was training at home for the opening event of the season in Bonaire where the 25-year-old finished in joint 17th place - after a narrow loss to Nic Hibdige (Tabou / GA Sails) in the double elimination.

Antoine Albert: “Two sessions at home filmed just before leaving to Bonaire.
Gear: Goya 5.1 Bounce and Goya 99L Air
Filmed by EyeFlyPacific (Eric Manoukian / Gill Chabaud)
Music: Way Back Home - Brieuc Albert
Localisation: Nouméa, New-Caledonia”

You can see Antoine Albert’s latest Freestyle installment @ vimeo.com/331640491

]]> news-5273 Mon, 29 Apr 2019 03:02:30 +0200 "PAS DE PLATFORM" / ADRIEN BOSSON / 2019 https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5273&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=f51fd202af8418b675f7bf47ea5c013d Adrien Bosson Adding a Splash of Colour to this Black & White Edit with an Array of Explosive Freestyle Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) finished the opening event of the year in Bonaire in joint 7th place alongside Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) - the Frenchman was on a comeback through the double elimination and was only stopped by eventual winner - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne).

If you take Vrieswijk’s top scores out of the equation then Bosson posted the next highest scoring heat with 176.9 points, but he was just unlucky to meet Vrieswijk.

Bosson spent part of his winter in Cape Town, South Africa, and Olli Stauffacher has just edited a new clip of the 27-year-old sailing in Brandvlei and it’s packed with radical action from the current vice-world champion.

You can see Adrien Bosson flying over Brandvlei @ youtu.be/_gLuSW30C0Y

]]> news-5271 Fri, 26 Apr 2019 13:01:00 +0200 20 Questions https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5271&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=eed75f9b3202b2b0ebaddf1efd026d76 With Current World No.8 Nimet Tulumen Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails) combines being a Data Scientist with competing on the Women’s PWA Slalom World Tour. The 30-year-old has spent plenty of time training in el Medano, Tenerife, over the last winter and those hours of training paid off in the season opener in Marignane with the Turk qualifying for the winners’ final from a 29 woman strong field to eventual finish 8th - which equals her best result since 2017 in South Korea. We recently caught up with Nimet to be the latest candidate in our 20 Questions feature:

1. Why are you so passionate about windsurfing?

Windsurfing is the moment that you stay alone with yourself and the nature, I appreciate that a lot.

2. What quality do you like most in other people?

Everyone has different qualities that makes them unique from others. I always like to discover and find all these various qualities. 

3. What annoys or frustrates you the most?

Uncertainty.

4. What do you most like in yourself?

That I try to be positive and energetic all the time with myself and the people around me. 

5. What has been your best moment on tour?

Every competition has its best moments - hard to choose just one =) 

6. What has been your worst moment on tour?

Airport check in.

7. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you have given yourself when your career started?

Just enjoy every moment of sailing and racing. 

8. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Do what you do the best, and outsource the rest - Peter F. Drucker 

9. What would be your perfect day?

One of the summer days in Alaçatı 

10. Do you have any superstitions?

No 

11. Which living person do you most admire?

Every passionate, hard working and happy person.

12. What is your greatest fear? 

Never reveal your weakness to anyone ;)

13. What is your most treasured possession?

My knowledge. 

14. If you weren’t a professional windsurfer, what would you like to be?

My real job is Data Scientist which I am doing it right now. 

15. Where is the best place you’ve been?

Turkish Aegean Cost 

16. Where would you most like to go to that you haven’t been to yet?

Peru, planning to go soon 

17. Who would you most like to have as a dinner guest, dead or alive?

Grigoriy Perelman

18. First App you open in the morning?

Gmail and Google Calendar 

19. Most visited website?

Every month it is changing. Right now Windguru for El Medano and Heroku Cloud Application Platform.

20. A phrase you live by?

One of the happiest moments in your life is when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.

Thanks, Nimet. See you in a couple of week in Japan.

You can stay up to date with all of Nimet Tulumen’s latest news and adventures via her Instagram: @nimettulu

]]> news-5269 Thu, 25 Apr 2019 17:54:57 +0200 That’s How We Live II | Cape Town https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5269&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=cf01a2cbe25f967a0d76905b636e4685 Alex Grand-Guillot Gearing Up For 2019 Wave Season in Cape Town Alex Grand-Guillot (Fanatic / Duotone) is one of the aspiring young wave sailors competing on the PWA World Tour and is clearly driven to make his name in the windsurfing world… follow his journey through this winter which saw the 21-year-old return to Cape Town.

Intro: “Cape town is one of the best destinations for windsurfers. Alex has been training here this winter to prepare for his third season on the PWA Wave circuit.”

You can see ‘That’s How We Live II’ @ youtu.be/HtipGv4Ieyg

]]> news-5267 Wed, 24 Apr 2019 21:02:55 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5267&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=c230a792a7512718527925662fd2e664 Event Summary: A Tricky Week of Waiting Finally Sees Delphine Cousin & Pierre Mortefon Take Early Season Title Race Leads The 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup proved to be a true test of patience and mental resolve for the world’s best sailors as they were forced to wait much of the week for the wind to finally play ball. Conditions remained tricky throughout with light winds in the early part of the week meaning that even the smallest of mistakes were punished, while on the final day fluctuating winds meant that having a caddy was crucial for success and even then selecting the correct gear was somewhat fortuitous. There were certainly a few doubts about whether a result would be gained heading into the final day, but thankfully the wind finally funnelled through to allow one elimination in the men’s and women’s fleets to be completed!

Slalom

Women’s

Reigning world champion - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - made absolutely no mistakes in the opening event of the year as the 27-year-old won every heat during the one elimination completed in Marignane. Cousin Questel has now won the last 5 world tour events and looks as though she will be tough to beat after making such a confident and impressive start.

Fellow local girl - Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) - was Cousin Questel’s closest challenger and last year’s world No.3 begins the season with an excellent 2nd place - equalling her best result since 2015 in Alacati. Second place here represents a great platform to build upon heading into the Asia leg of the tour in May.

There was a new face completing the podium in the opening event of the season with Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) earning her first top 3 result in the Slalom. The Norwegian, who earned a podium place in Bonaire the week before in Freestyle, is developing into one of the best all round female sailors in the world. However, we won’t see her on the race course until September now as she won’t be racing in either Japan or South Korea.

Former Youth PWA Slalom World Champion - Maélle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) - made a solid start to the season with a 4th place and the 22-year-old will probably have a podium finish in her sights heading into Asia - especially Brødholt missing from the next two events.

Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), who is only just back on the water after suffering a lisfranc fracture last summer made a decent start with a 5th place in Marignane. The 30-year-old did well to make the winners’ final as she showed a tremendous turn of pace to overtake Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne) in the semi-finals to secure the last qualifying place. Erdil also made a bright start to the final, but perhaps is just lacking that extra bit of fitness and sharpness to battle for the podium just yet.

The top 10 was completed by Esther de Geus (Fanatic / Duotone), Lilou Granier (Starboard / Phantom Sails), Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails), who equals her best result since 2017 - 8th - Océane Lescadieu (S2Maui) and Fulya Ünlü.

Men’s

In a preseason interview - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) - who has finished in the overall top 3 for the last 5 seasons, made no secret of the fact that he wishes to finally get his hands on the biggest trophy of them all and he made the perfect start to the season by claiming the top spot on the podium in Marignane. Victory here means that Mortefon has won back-to-back events for the first time in his career and must be confident heading into Asia.

Having made a late change of board sponsor to JP Australia - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - will be delighted to know that he is set to be competitive again in terms of board speed as he bids for a 26th world title. AA led the final, but with the wind increasing, he couldn’t hang onto the lead on his 8.6m. However, second place represents an excellent start and you can expect to see him heavily involved in this season title race again.

Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) broke into the overall top ten for the first time in his career in 2017, but then endured a torrid time in 2018 with just one top 10 finish leaving him in a lowly 23rd by the end of the year. However, the German bounced back in style during the season opener here with Kördel earning his second Slalom podium of his career in France - 3rd. The 28-year-old was obviously delighted with the result and will no doubt gain a big confidence boost heading into Japan and South Korea.

Last year’s world No.4 - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - makes a solid start to the new season with a 4th place here. The flying Dutchman looked comfortable through the sole elimination completed and looks as though he will be a major player again this year.

Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) can be proud of finishing 5th in France in his first event on his own boards. The 44-year-old was set to retire last year, but will now compete on the majority of the 2019 circuit with his new venture underway. Maynard made the best start to the winners’ final, but like Albeau, he was on too bigger gear to challenge for the podium. The board speed is clearly there though for Maynard to challenge for the top places.

Meanwhile, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) claimed 6th place ahead of Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails), who starts the season with his best result since 2016 - 7th - while Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) finished 8th - which is also his best result since 2016.

Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) produced a brilliant last gybe in the b-final to claim 9th place, while Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) will be pleased to start the season with an excellent 10th place and is seemingly, finally back to full fitness. 

The tricky conditions did see several of the top seeds fall early in France and the most notable name was that of vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - who was knocked out in the quarterfinals. Last year’s world No.6 and No.7 - Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) and Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails) also suffered the same fate and all 3 sailors will be looking to hit back quickly in Asia to get their seasons up and running.

The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the organisers and their team for all of their efforts and hospitality over the last 6 days - it wasn’t always easy with the wind testing everyone’s patience, but eventually, things ended happily!

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In a couple of weeks time, the world’s fastest sailors will be action again as they ready themselves for the Asian leg of the tour - firstly for the Fly! ANA PWA World Cup (10th-15th May) followed by the Ulsan PWA World Cup (18th-23rd May).

You can recap all the information from Marignane — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images, and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.


Result 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup - Women's Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Esther de Geus (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Lilou Granier (FRA - Starboard / Phantom Sails)
8th Nimet Tulumen (TUR - Tabou / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup - Men's Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Sebastian Koerdel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)
6th Quentel Julien (SXM - Patrik / Gun Sails)
7th Bruno Martini (ITA - I-99 / Challenger Sails)
8th Malte Reuscher (GER - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Marco Lang (AUT - Fanatic / Duotone)

]]> news-5265 Mon, 22 Apr 2019 19:27:28 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5265&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=9cee142a1a61424f703992efa677d85c Day 6: An Intense Final Day Sees Local Heroes Delphine Cousin Questel & Pierre Mortefon Crowned Champions The final day of the 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup provided another stern test of the crew and sailors patience, but eventually, their perseverance was rewarded as results were crucially gained in both the men’s and women’s fleets after a long day on the water. In fact with the wind being so inconsistent, it took 6 painstaking hours to complete just 8 heats. The end result will prove hugely popular with the home crowd thought with local heroes Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) taking the top spot on the podium in the first event of the year - giving them the early season title race lead heading into Asia.

Slalom

Women’s

Reigning world champion - Delphine Cousin Questel - led from start to finish in the winners’ final as she made the perfect start to the season. The 3-time world champion didn’t put a foot wrong during the event and deservedly walks away as the champion, which means she extends her winning run to 5 consecutive events and she could prove a hard woman to stop based on that performance.

Delphine Cousin Questel: “It was super difficult conditions with the wind being so gusty. I was either overpowered or underpowered. It was hard to be on the right gear. Just before the final, I switched equipment to 7.7m from 7.9 and I made a good start by the pin. I led into the first mark and then I just aimed to control it from the front. I’m super happy to win the first event of the season, it’s been a long and stressful week. It’s always hard to compete at an event with just one race, but it is what it is, I think we were extremely unlucky as every time I’ve been here it’s been super windy. I’m happy for the organizer that we managed to get results in the end and thanks to Delphine for making the event happen.”

Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) chased home Cousin Questel, but couldn’t land a telling blow, however, the 27-year-old will still be delighted to have equalled her best result since Turkey 2015 - 2nd - and is prominently placed going forwards.

Oda Johanne Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) has been tipped as a slightly dark horse for the last couple of seasons and those fruitions came to life today as the Norwegian, who finished 3rd in the Freestyle in Bonaire, claims her first Slalom podium here in Marignane after producing a fantastic performance to hold off both Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) and Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), who finish 4th and 5th respectively. We’ll take a look at the full results on Wednesday in the event summary.

Men’s 

Stick or Twist

Before the final, the sailors were presented with a gamble to either stick with what they had or gamble on the wind picking up as per the forecast. For those sailors who stuck - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) and Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) - sticking on their big gear didn’t pay off as they became overpowered during the final with the wind picking up greatly. However, for Pierre Mortefon and Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails), their gamble was rewarded with victory and a 3rd place with their greater control proving pivotal in the fight for the finish line.

Mortefon and Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) enjoyed a great fight in the winners’ final, which could finally be completed at the third time of asking. On the first attempt, Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails) was disqualified for a premature start, while Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) suffered the same fate on the next attempt with the sailors pushing the start knowing that this was the final to decide the overall event rankings. 

It was Albeau who led around the first mark - a position from which he is rarely caught. However, with the wind picking up just before the start of the final AA was overpowered on his 8.6m, which presented Mortefon, who changed down just before the start of the final to 7.7m and medium board, with an opportunity to pounce and the two-time vice-world champion did just that as he produced a brilliant second gybe to move into the lead, which is one he wouldn’t relinquish as the 29-year-old powered away over the remainder of the course to make the perfect start to the season. 

Pierre Mortefon: "I'm so, so happy. It's been a long week and a long day so it has not been easy to deal with the conditions. The PWA crew have done an amazing job - they made the right decisions at the right times. They pushed and we managed to get the result. It's a perfect start to the season with a victory in France - it can't get much better!”

Albeau played it relatively safe over the rest of the course to make sure he didn’t jeopardise his second place, which is a solid start to the season, particularly after changing board sponsor late in the close season. However, now he knows he is competitive again he will be once again be pumped up for another title challenge as he bids for World title No.25.

The podium here in Marignane is completed by Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) with the German sailing brilliantly in the tricky conditions to earn his best Slalom result since September 2016. Kördel endured a tough season last year and will be delighted to have made such a positive start to the year. 

Last year’s World No.4 - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - starts the season with a solid 4th place here in France, while Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) claims 5th ahead of Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) - 6th - Bruno Martini - 7th - and Malte Reuscher - 8th. As with the women’s we’ll take a full look at the results in the event summary on Tuesday.

After a long hard day on the water the winners were then presented in front of the crowd at 6pm during the closing ceremony!

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

Result 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup - Women's Slalom

1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Esther de Geus (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Lilou Granier (FRA - Starboard / Phantom Sails)
8th Nimet Tulumen (TUR - Tabou / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup - Men's Slalom

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Sebastian Koerdel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)
6th Quentel Julien (SXM - Patrik / Gun Sails)
7th Bruno Martini (ITA - I-99 / Challenger Sails)
8th Malte Reuscher (GER - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Marco Lang (AUT - Fanatic / Duotone)

]]> news-5262 Sun, 21 Apr 2019 18:45:49 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5262&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=5bec5f8b19e13389e07d2406d8dd4380 Day 5: All Eggs in One Basket After Light Wind Easter Sunday + Interview with Bruno Martini The waiting game continued on the penultimate day of the 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup as the light winds continued. A squall shortly after 1:45pm caused a flurry of action on the beach with the wind quickly picking up to 30 knots, but unfortunately the wind did not stick around for long.

During the afternoon Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), Adam Sims (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) and Diony Guadagnino (AHD / Loftsails) put on a tow-in Freestyle show to entertain the crowds.

During the afternoon we caught up with Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails), who booked his place in the semi-finals yesterday after winning his quarterfinal ahead of Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails), Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) and Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde).

Hi Bruno, how was your winter training? 

“My training was really good. I spent 2 months in Tenerife where the training level was really high. We trained in both flat and choppy water and I feel like I improved a lot. I feel better and confident on my equipment - no matter whether it’s light or really strong wind."

Yesterday you won your quarterfinal - how happy were you with your performance?

"I’m really happy about that actually because it’s the beginning of the season and it’s nice to start in a good way being in the semifinals. The conditions were tricky, so it was not easy to race yesterday and it’s easy to get a bad result in one second, but on the flip side  you can gain a really good result also."

There's been a lot of waiting around for wind this week - how do you stay relaxed, but also focused for racing?

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot when I was training and the problem is not gybing, starting or racing, but it’s actually about how I can use less energy at events and be able to stay focused when I need to. Now, I’m just trying to switch off my mind at certain times, relax and joke around a bit with some friends. I try to trust in the hours of training of put in and know that I am prepared to race. I just focus on myself and not what the others are doing. Then when the call is made that we are going to race I just try and switch my mind back on and focus on the job at hand.”

There's only one day left of the contest - you must be praying for wind now with a top 16 spot guaranteed in the first elimination?

“Yeah, this is a good question… personally I really hope that we can finish this elimination. I feel really good and feel like I can make it into the final and record a great result. On the other hand I know that this is only one elimination over one week and some guys will say that this doesn’t really count, but everything counts and we’ll see at the end of the season where I am. This is a marathon, not a sprint!”

Do you have an aim for the season?

“Not really, I just want to sail to the best of my ability and then we’ll see how it works out.”

Thanks, Bruno.

All the eggs are now in one basket with Monday offering the final roll of the dice to gain a result. The latest forecast models offer a chance to race late in the afternoon, but the wind is once again forecast to be offshore, which is the same as we’ve had for the whole week thus far. Hopefully, this time around it fills in. The sailors will meet for the skippers’ meeting at 8:30am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 9:30am (GMT+2) - onwards.

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

]]> news-5259 Sat, 20 Apr 2019 19:31:12 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5259&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=92a04324a3f1c7bc4ec7a614e35e3511 Day 4: The Conclusion of Opening Eliminations Edge Closer with Two More Heats Complete The wind teased the competitors for much of Day 4, but unfortunately despite several hours of effort only a further two heats were able to be completed in the men’s first elimination. There were short periods of wind, but with the breeze continuing to blow offshore the wind remained very patchy, which made racing tricky to say the least.

Slalom

Men’s

During the morning the 3rd men’s quarterfinal - Heat 11 - was completed at the third time of asking, having been cancelled for the first time on Day 2. Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Valentin Brault (Simmer / Simmer Sails / Chopper Fins) were then disqualified from the rerun after jumping the gun, which left only 6 sailors vying for the top 4 positions. Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) looked confident as he led from start to finish to book his place in the semifinal, while he was joined by Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails), Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who produced an excellent gybe at the first to leapfrog Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), while Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) grabbed the final qualifying place. The Dane did well to overtake Questel heading to the third buoy and with the Frenchman under pressure he dropped his gybe allowing Kornum plenty of breathing room over the remainder of the course.

It was also a case of third time lucky for Heat 12. Andrea Rosati (RRD / RRD Sails) and Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) both had to slam on the breaks before the start to avoid going over early and that left Rosati with no way back. However, Isaac produced a brilliant comeback as he secured 4th place after Damian Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails) clipped Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) at the first gybe, which cost the Israeli a place in the next round. Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) claimed a clear cut victory to book his place in the top 16 as did Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) and reigning world champion - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde).

The wind then dropped again and despite waiting until 7pm it never returned. Tomorrow morning offers the chance of moderate offshore winds again, so the sailors will meet again at 8:30am for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 9:30am (GMT+2) onwards - if conditions allow.

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

]]> news-5257 Fri, 19 Apr 2019 19:11:15 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5257&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=fa3b439756d0b9ac239005d48848fa0e Day 3: A Lay Day With Winds Remaining Marginal Throughout There were two contrasting forecasts for the third day of the 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup and unfortunately the model predicting less wind was the correct one. On several occasions the wind did appear as though it would kick in, but those periods of wind proved too brief to allow any further racing to be completed.

While the wind remained light several sailors sneaked out on to the water for a bit of testing, while visitors to the event were able to bask in the warm sunshine.

There were two contrasting forecasts for the third day of the 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup and unfortunately the model predicting less wind was the correct one. On several occasions the wind did appear as though it would kick in, but those periods of wind proved too brief to allow any further racing to be completed.

While the wind remained light several sailors sneaked out on to the water for a bit of testing, while visitors to the event were able to bask in the warm sunshine.

Looking Ahead

Saturday looks as though the wind will remain light, however, the forecasts for the prior days haven’t materialised so anything could still happen. On a more positive note both Sunday and Monday now offer potential for wind.

The sailors remained on hold until 6:30pm, but with the wind showing no signs of improvement they were released for the day. The men’s and women’s fleet will meet again at 10am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 11am (GMT+2) onwards - if conditions allow.

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

]]> news-5253 Thu, 18 Apr 2019 19:42:15 +0200 Marignane PWA World Cup https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_news_pi1%5Bnews%5D=5253&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=01f2f22ada369c2953a11a49b656772b Day 2: A Tricky First Day of Racing Produces Plenty of Talking Points & a Few Notable Upsets The second day of the 2019 Marignane PWA World Cup saw the opening eliminations of the season begin, but it was anything but plain sailing with marginal winds, fluctuating between 7-17 knots, making equipment selection and racing in general quite tough. While there may have only been a couple of hours of racing today there were plenty of upsets and talking points by the end of the afternoon…

Slalom

Women’s

After a couple of hours of racing the first round of the women’s opening elimination was completed and all of the top seeds survived unscathed to book their place in the semifinals. 

In fact, with Mio Anayama (Starboard / S2Maui), who finished 9th overall last year, absent here in France, Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) was the only member of last year’s top 10, 6th overall in 2018, who failed to progress into the semifinals. The Brit was prominently placed in Heat 10 but dropped her opening gybe to miss out. 

Reigning world champion - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), cruised through her opening heat, while vice-world champion - Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins), who is making her first appearance since breaking her foot last summer, also made a winning return in Heat 2. Meanwhile, last year’s world No.3 - Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) - also made no mistakes in the opening heat of the day to progress.

Men’s

In the men’s opening elimination only the first 10 heats were completed before the wind shut down for the day, but during the course of those 10 heats, there were a number of upsets and talking points.

In the first quarterfinal there was drama at the first mark as Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) appeared to sail directly into Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), ending both of their hopes there and then. Elsewhere, last year’s world No.6 Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Windsurfing) was also eliminated in 5th place as Finian Maynard (FMX Racing), 20-year-old Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7), Gunnar Asmussen (Starboard / Severne) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) all progressed into the semifinals. 

There was further drama on the run up to the start of the second quarterfinal - Heat 10 - as Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) was involved in an altercation with Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails), which resulted in the Frenchman falling and missing the entire heat. However, despite Toselli’s protests of dangerous sailing against Kördel, ultimately it was deemed a racing incident that required no further action and to rub further salt into the wound, Kördel would go on to qualify in 3rd place behind Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone), while 4th place was secured by Malte Reuscher (Tabou / GA Sails).

Lang, meanwhile, who was making his first appearance since being forced to retire early last year in Fuerteventura made a winning return, despite breaking his elbow in the buildup to the event. The Austrian won both his second round heat and the quarterfinal to progress into the top 16 and looks as though he could be back to his best, and more importantly full fitness, after a long battle with a mystery virus.

Heat 10 also involved vice-world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - who suffered a shock quarterfinal exit in the opening elimination of the year. The Italian rarely complains about racing situations, but was clearly disgruntled that the second quarterfinal was allowed to stand as the 2016 world champion felt that the wind had dropped below the minimum threshold - Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) and Andrea Ferin (I-99 / Challenger Sails / AL360), who missed out in 5th and 6th respectively, were also of the same opinion.

The third quarterfinal did begin, but was cancelled shortly after the first gybe with the wind dropping. The sailors then remained on hold until 6:30pm, but with the wind showing no signs of improving they were released for the day. 

There are contrasting forecasts for tomorrow with the latest WindGuru model predicting moderate to strong east-south-east to southeasterly winds for much of the day, while Windy forecasts only light to moderate winds - we will find out which one is correct tomorrow, but hopefully, it is the former. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am tomorrow morning with the racing commencing from 10am (GMT+2) - depending on the conditions.

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

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