Catalunya PWA World Cup

Day 2: Albeau Hits Back to Level up Foil Rankings

For a long time it looked as though no result would be gained for either the slalom or foil fleets on day two of the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup after the opening foil race was discarded after a protest by Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), after several sailors were obstructed by a sand bank when trying to set up for a deeper lay line to the upwind mark.

The plan after the initial attempt failed was to move immediately into another elimination, but at this point, the wind backed off to just 2-5 knots. 

Usually, once the wind drops during the afternoon in Costa Brava, it doesn’t return, but today was one of those rare occasions where it did with the breeze increasing again to 4-10 knots - so the foil fleet were summoned to the water once again, which allowed a further two eliminations to be completed.

Antoine Albeau seemed to benefit the most from the additional knot or two on offer as he reversed the rankings over Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) today to claim two bullets from the two races completed. 

The initial impression suggests that Albeau may need a touch more wind than yesterday, as in the slightly stronger winds in Japan he also dominated proceedings, while Questel again gained the upper hand in the slightly lighter airs. The two sailors are now tied on 3.4 points - after the discard - and they hold a significant advantage over Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) in third with a 6.6 point margin - meaning that even after two days of competition it could already, realistically, be a two horse race for the foil title. 

Kornum will be disappointed that the triangle course from the first elimination was cancelled as in the opening semifinal he destroyed the rest of the field to win Heat 1 by over a reach long advantage, but he’s still on course for another podium finish. 

Behind the Dane in the current rankings are Brazilian Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 4th - Pole Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) - 5th - and Argentine Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), who is the days biggest mover as he rises from 10th to 6th after recording 3rd and 4th place finishes.

The forecast for tomorrow looks similar today with the wind again predicted to increase during the afternoon from the southeast - so hopefully the sea breeze properly kicks in. Stay up to date with all of the latest developments from Costa Brava by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.

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Current Ranking Foil Exhibition Catalunya PWA World Cup -
*After 4 Races - 1 Discard

=1st Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)
=1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)
4th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)
5th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)  
6th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
7th Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde)
8th Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7)
9th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)
10th William Huppert (Fanatic / NorthSails)

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