Ulsan PWA World Cup
Day 3 of the 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup may have only seen the Men’s Finals of Elimination 4 and the Women’s 6th Elimination completed, but even in just those short few heats their was plenty of drama and talking points. At the end of Day 3 Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) is on the verge of winning the event after claiming her 3rd win of the week, while Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) has extended his lead over Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) at the top of the men’s rankings after securing his second bullet in 4 races.
Slalom
Women’s
There was more drama in the Women’s sixth elimination Winners’ Final. Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) started by the boat and flew down the opening reach and smartly sailed deep to cover Delphine Cousin Questel, which worked perfectly as she rounded the opening mark in first place ahead of the event leader.
All looked to be going well with Erdil continuing to show excellent pace out in front as she aimed to reduce Cousin Questel’s advantage at the top of the rankings. However, disaster soon struck again for the Turk as when she entered the third gybe she hit a massive piece of chop, which sent her off balance and despite trying to desperately salvage the situation she ended up in the water and was left powerless as Cousin Questel swooped into the lead and notched up her 3rd bullet of the week, which should all but seal the event victory here in South Korea for the 26-year-old.
Cousin Questel’s latest victory, combined with Erdil having to settle for 6th place in the final, means that the two-time world champion now holds a massive 8.6 point advantage over Erdil at the top of the rankings. That’s not to say that things can’t change again with a second discard to come after Elimination 7, but given the fact that Cousin Questel has finished outside of the top 2, just once in 6 races, it doesn’t seem likely.
Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails), who won her first elimination on the world tour yesterday, continued her excellent recent form to secure 3rd place in today’s final, which sees her retain 3rd place in the current rankings and is now just 2 points behind Erdil in 2nd.
However, last year’s World No.3 - Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) - is now within striking distance after recording her best result of the week in Elimination 6, which saw the 26-year-old claim 2nd place. That means Mortefon is now just 0.3 of a point behind Guilbaud in the battle for the final place on the podium, while she is only 2.3 points behind Erdil.
Esther de Geus (Fanatic / NorthSails) missed out on the winners’ final for the first time this week after she jumped the gun in Heat 2 to be disqualified alongside Océane Lescadieu (NeilPryde) and Miki Yamabe. De Geus remains 5th in the current rankings though after instantly discarding the result having been so consistent so far, while also recording her best result in a single race yesterday - when finishing 2nd in Elimination 3.
Men’s
The interest in the 4th Men’s Winners’ Final was largely in who would be leading the event after its completion out of current leader - Matteo Iachino - and current world tour leader - Antoine Albeau, but as the fleet entered the opening mark neither of the top 2 were leading. Albeau found himself at the back of the pack after being impeded by seaweed, while Iachino remained in contention.
Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) looked as though he would lead around the first, but Maciek Rutkowski (I-99 / Challenger Sails) produced a great, tight inside gybe to grab the lead. The Pole then started to power away from the rest of the chasing pack as he headed into the third, but would come a cropper before reaching the buoy in what would become the biggest talking point of the day.
Rutkowski was out on his own and looked to be in a dream situation with a first victory on the world tour beckoning, but the Pole then either hit something in the water or caught the nose on a piece of deadly chop, which sent him flying, and left his race winning dreams in tatters. With Albeau and Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) also suffering weed around their fins, at some stage during the final, this caused some sailors to question whether the result should stand and whether the conditions were suitable for racing. The result stands. Rutkowski may rue his luck, but should still find a way to take away the positives as he clearly has the pace to cause some serious problems this season - he rises to 12th after finishing 7th
With Rutkowski in the water, but thankfully uninjured, Iachino would come through to pick up the pieces to claim his second bullet in 4 races, which sees the Italian open up a two-point lead over Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), who battled back to finish 4th.
Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) remains in 3rd place after another extremely consistent performance - 5th - which means the Frenchman now holds counting results of 3rd, 4th and 5th.
Mover of the Day
Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) started the day in 8th place, but rises all the way into 4th after enjoying another great day. The Brazilian earned his best result ever in Elimination 2 yesterday - 3rd - but went one better today as he avoided the carnage to earn second place and with the discard coming into play he was able to drop a quarterfinal exit - 26.5 points - from the opening race. The 24-year-old is now just 2 points behind Mortefon as he chases a first ever podium.
Isaac jumps into 4th at the expense of Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails), who slips one place to 5th after he was disqualified from the Winners’ Final for a premature start. The flying Dutchman is still in contention for the podium though as he is only 1 point behind Isaac and 3 behind teammate - Mortefon.
Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) also falls one place to 6th with the Frenchman missing out on the Winners’ Final for only the second time this week, but he produced an assured performance to win Heat 13 and claim 9th place for the elimination.
Fellow Frenchman - Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) - recorded his best result of the event so far this week - 3rd - which sees the 33-year-old gain two place as he rises to 7th in the event rankings. Bordes has bounced back well from a disappointing start in Japan where only 1 elimination was completed.
Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) falls to 8th place after missing out on the top 16 for the first time this season in Elimination 4, but teammate Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) breaks into the top 10 - 9th - after finishing 2nd in Heat 13 - 10th for the elimination.
Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) currently completes the top 10 on countback as he is tied on 34 points with Basile Jacquin (RRD / Point-7), who is chasing a first top 10 finish.
Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) will be left lamenting his luck in Heat 13 after the Bonairean hit seaweed at the third mark when holding second place, which would’ve earned him 10th place for the elimination. Instead, Vrieswijk had to settle for 6th (14th for the elimination), but what will hurt is that 21-year-old would now be 4 points better off and would sit on 32 points, which would have seen him break into the current top 10 at the expense of Quentel.
Elsewhere, 18-year-old Martin Möller Hovda (Starboard / Severne) will be very happy with his days work after reaching the top 16 in an elimination for the first time. The Norwegian eventually finished in a superb 12th place.
The forecast for tomorrow looks lighter still, which could see the focus shift to the foiling, if the seaweed doesn’t wreak havoc again. WindGuru currently predicts winds of 9-13 knots, so the sailors will meet again at 9am with the action commencing from 10am (GMT+9) onwards.
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Current Ranking 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After Six Eliminations
1st Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
2nd Lena Erdil (TUR - Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA - Patrik / Loftsails)
4th Marion Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / NorthSails)
5th Esther de Geus (NED - Fanatic / NorthSails)
Current Ranking 2018 Ulsan PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After Four Eliminations
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)
4th Mateus Isaac (BRA - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / NorthSails)
6th Pascal Toselli (FRA - JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins)
7th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
9th Ingmar Daldorf (NED - Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Julien Quentel (SXM - Patrik / Avanti)