2002 Fuerteventura Grand Prix Freestyle Day 2

Staring out of the window from the Hotel overlooking the spot the sailors all thought that the wind was not as good as usual down at Sotavento beach but we were… WRONG.

Staring out of the window from the Hotel overlooking the spot the sailors all thought that the wind was not as good as usual down at Sotavento beach but we were… WRONG.
What a day! A little lighter though than yesterday but perfect for Freestyle action.
As Brian Talma the Irie man from Barbados put it: "Different day different conditions which is good. This place is definitely one of the top spots of the PWA tour. The organization and set up are brilliant. I also think that 4 days of competition is the right duration. And what we saw today was tremendous Freestyle action" and than he adds again his famous word: "action!"
And there was plenty of it!

Ladies first today again and no surprises:
The final of the ladies showed the same faces as yesterday but the sailing was even better.
Colette Guadagnino (JP/Neil Pryde) Freestyle World Champion 2001 told us she was delighted because some of the male riders congratulated her for her good sailing. "That never happened before" she adds and "I pulled out a Grubby a Spock, loops and an Aerial Duck Jibe and am happy about my performance I ended up second today, "it is very hard to beat Daida, she is ripping".
Daida Ruano Moreno (Mistral/North Sails) adds another win and is now comfortably leading the women’s fleet in this event.

Results Day 2
1. Daida Ruano Moreno (Mistral/North Sails)
2. Colette Guadagnino (JP/Neil Pryde)
3. Karin Jaggi (F2/Arrows)
4. Tanja Emig (RRD)
5. Ann Kathrin Stevens (Mistral/North Sails)

Provisional results after 2 eliminations:
1. Daida Ruano Moreno (Mistral/North Sails)
2. ex aequo: Colette Guadagnino (JP/Neil Pryde) and Karin Jaggi (F2/Arrows)
4. Tanja Emig (RRD)


The event of the men saw a strong come back of the French riders World Champion Antoine Albeau (AHD/Neil Pryde) and Julien Taboulet (JP/Neil Pryde) who defeated top ranked sailor Nik Baker (Mistral/North Sails) and Bonaire kid Tonki Frans (AHD/Gaastra). He was only stopped by young English man Robbie Swift (JP/Neil Pryde) who sailed confidently with extreme power.
The quarter finals were packed with action and the heat between Dutch rider Remko de Weerd (AHD/Gaastra) and Kauli Seadi (Naish/Naish) was the highest scoring heat of the day.
A difficult task for the judges and it was the young Brazilian who went through in a tight decision and after that couldn’t even be stopped by Robbie Swift (JP/Neil Pryde) in the semi finals on his way to the final.
The other quarter final had a very interesting constellation:
Yesterday’s winner Ricardo Campello (JP/Neil Pryde) against the winner of the PWA Freestyle competition in Gran Canaria Matt Pritchard (AHD/Gaastra) and two times World Champion Josh Stone (USA 6) against reigning Freestyle World Champion Antoine Albeau (AHD/Neil Pryde). Gusty and quite tricky conditions there and it was Ricardo Campello and the French power sailor Antoine Albeau who went through to the semi finals.
The action was astonishing and it was again Ricardo who answered the most difficult moves with an even more unbelievable one. Antoine for example pulled out a perfect Swayze (jumped upwind 360) and the seventeen year old kid from Venezuela with Brazilian origins answered with the same move but one handed.
He moved into the winners final to compete against his friend Kauli Seadi (Naish/Naish).
They both sailed unbelievably well and gave no favours to each other.
Here goes the summary of the 5 minutes Heat: K. Grubby/R: Grubby 540/K: Willy Skipper 540/R: Ponch planning/K: Ponch planning/R: one handed Front loop/K: clew first Spock/R: front loop coming in/K: clew first willy skipper lollipop/R: Spock/R: clew first Willy Skipper/K: front loop/R: goes down on a Grubby/K: goes down/R: Spock/K: Spock/ R: front loop/K: goes down in a Grubby/R: body Drag/K: Wymaroo/R: Wymaroo/K: Clew first switch stance 540!!! (MOVE OF THE DAY)/ R: goes down on a Swayze/ R: clew first spock.
Their comment after the final: "We are always sailing and travelling together and we were so happy that we moved both into the final that it didn’t really matter who won.
And then Ricardo adds with a smile: "I let him win" and Kauli replies with a laugh.

Results day 2
1. Kauli Seadi (Naish/Naish)
2. Ricardo Campello (JP/Neil Pryde)
3. Robbie Swift (JP/Neil Pryde)
4. Antoine Albeau (AHD/Neil Pryde)

Provisional results after 2 eliminations

1. Ricardo Campello (JP/Neil Pryde)
2. Vidar Jensen (Drops/North Sails) ex aequo: Robbie Swift (JP/Neil Pryde)
4. Antoine Albeau (AHD/Neil Pryde) ex aequo John Skye (F2/Arrows)

Stay tuned for more…

TODAY'S RESULTS - FREESTYLE MEN</B> <BR>TODAY'S RESULTS -FREESTYLE WOMEN</B> <BR> <BR>
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