Catalunya PWA World Cup

Day 1: Vrieswijk Silences the Sometimes Stormy Weather to Lead at End of Day 1

The 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup began with a glorious sunny morning as the sailors rigged and registered for the next 6 days of competition. 

During the early afternoon the wind kicked in, but fluctuated greatly in strength and direction throughout - mainly between 5-17 knots - which made racing tricky at times, but even so the first two foil eliminations were completed. However, a thundery squall soon brought proceedings to an end shortly after 5pm as the unsettled weather continues.

Foiling

In South Korea, there were 4 separate winners from the 4 eliminations completed and that trend continued today as each race was claimed by a different sailor - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) and Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde).

Before today Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) had won foil eliminations in both New Caledonia and South Korea - where he missed out on the podium by just 0.7 of a point - but after the opening day here the Bonairean can add another location to his bullet collection as the hugely, multi-talented 22-year-old continues to establish himself in the racing world. Vrieswijk, who has finished the last two seasons as the vice-world champion in freestyle, made a perfect start, as he claimed the opening bullet of the week ahead of Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) after overtaking the German around the final mark. And then cemented his place at the top of the overnight rankings with an excellent second place in race two as he chases a first podium in racing.

However, former Olympic vice-champion - Julien Bontemps - trails Vrieswijk by just one point after making an excellent start to the event himself. The 39-year-old took home 3rd place in the opener before tactically astute decisions in the second race saw him claim the lead at the beginning of the second lap and he then held his nerve to take the bullet and keep Vrieswijk firmly in his crosshairs.

Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) suffered a bit of a mixed bag of results in South Korea - where he finished 13th - but today looked close to back to his best as the German opened his account with a solid second place, before taking home 5th in the next race to occupy 3rd at the close of play. 

Kördel is currently tied on 7 points with Nicolas Goyard (RRD / Point-7) - who finished 3rd in New Caledonia - after 3rd and 4th place finishes today, respectively. 

The current top 4 enjoy a 7 point cushion over their next closest rival as things stand after the top seeds coming into the third foil stop endured a slightly difficult start to the event.

Current Foil PWA World Tour Leader - Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) finds himself in 7th place after 6th and 11th place finishes, while Mateus Isaac - 2nd in in the overall rankings - currently occupies 15th place, while Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) is the highest ranked of the overall top 3 in 5th after 5th and 9th place finishes. There should be plenty more racing to come in Costa Brava, which should give them all a chance to recover, but they will need to start their comebacks fairly soon if they want to make the podium.

The top 10 is currently completed by Italy’s Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - 6th - Israel’s Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) - 8th - Poland’s Maciek Rutkowski (I-99 / Challenger Sails) and Great Britain’s - Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails/ Shamal Sunglasses).

The unsettled weather is expected to continue tomorrow with further showers on the forecast, while the wind is also expected to swing to the east-north-east. However, the forecast certainly offers the possibility of further foiling with moderate 10-13 knots winds predicted. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 9:30am with a first possible start of 10am (GMT+2).

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

Current Ranking 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil

*After Two Eliminations

1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)

2nd Julien Bontemps (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

3rd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails)

4th Nicolas Goyard (FRA - RRD / Point-7)

5th Antoine Albeau (FRA - RRD / NeilPryde)

6th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)

7th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG - Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)

8th Arnon Dagan (ISR - RRD / NeilPryde)

9th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - I-99 / Challenger Sails)

10th Ross Williams (GBR / Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)

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