Mondial du Vent PWA World Cup

Day 5: Kiri Thode strikes late to steal victory from the claws of Tonky Frans in Tow-in Final

The wind took a break on the penultimate day of the Mondial du Vent PWA World Cup after two fantastic days of freestyle, however there was more explosive action as the Tow-in Final took place just before 4pm - with the top twelve sailors battling it out for the €2,000 prize money.

Tow-in Final

The Tow-in Final turned out to be the Bonaire show as the prestigious top three places all went to Bonairean’s as they demonstrated their unique island style and flow. It looked for all the world that it would be Tonky Frans (Tabou / GA Sails) taking home top honours after he stomped an amazing double burner on his final run to earn 28.5 points out of a possible thirty - bettering his first run of 28 points for an air funnel into burner. However, a certain Kiri Thode (Starboard / GA Sails) had other things in mind and he found his form just in the nick of time to produce an almost perfect air funnel into burner of his own, which earned an incredible 29.5 points. With only Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North / MFC) and France’s very own Julien Mas (JP / Avanti) left to go, it wasn’t long until Thode was celebrating victory. Completing the podium was Bjorn Saragoza, who recovered from the disappointment of his early exit in the double elimination, to land a super stylish triple funnel, which the crowd loved - 27.5 points - meaning Gollito had to settle for fourth place this time around.

We also quickly caught up with Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) after his great performance yesterday in the double elimination:

“I’m super stoked with my 4th place in the double, really happy with how I sailed today and managed to improve heat-by-heat! I was really tired by the end and couldn't really put up a fight against Kiri crashing almost all my moves on the inside, but still really happy with my best result so far ever in a double elimination.”

“I actually prefer the conditions to be more like the day we had in the single elimination, rather than perfect flat. I think I do well when the conditions get more challenging.”

Tomorrow looks as though the prize giving will be the major event of the day with the wind forecast not looking too promising for more wind at this stage. With this in mind the skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am. Don’t miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com - here you’ll be able to follow the action as it happens via the PWA live ticker.

Results Tow-in Final

1st Kiri Thode (Starboard / GA Sails)

2nd Tonky Frans (Tabou / GA Sails)

3rd Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails Maui)

4th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North / MFC)

5th Julien Mas (JP / Avanti)

6th Adam Sims (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg)

7th Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / North / Maui Ultra Fins)

8th Mattia Fabrizi (Fanatic / North)

9th Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails)

10th Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Point-7 / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins)

11th Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde)

12th Hugo Sousa (RRD / RRD / Maui Ultra Fins)

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