Catalunya PWA World Cup
Costa Brava maintained it’s 100% racing record during the 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup as a further two and a half eliminations of foiling were completed over the duration of the afternoon as the wind fluctuated with the passing clouds.
Today saw plenty of drama and at the close of play Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) is now prominently placed to deny Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) the top spot, while last year’s foil exhibition champion - Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - and current world tour leader - Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) both continued to climb the rankings.
Foil
Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) reduced Amado Vrieswijk’s overnight lead to just 2 points after recording back-to-back bullets by winning Elimination 5 ahead of Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), which saw the Frenchman leapfrog Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) into second place after the German finished outside the top 5 for the first time this week - 16th.
Things then went from good to even better for Goyard, and from bad to worse for Vrieswijk in Elimination 6 after the Bonairean hit the engine on the start boat as the fleet crossed the start line. Vrieswijk continued to complete the course, but could only limp to a 23rd place with his foil badly damaged, while Goyard continued his excellent form by recording a solid second.
Having trailed Vrieswijk by 4.4 points overnight the twenty-two-year-old has breezed his way into contention by the end of Day 3 with both sailors now tied on 10.4 points and Vrieswijk only holds the lead on count back at the halfway stage.
Things then looked as though they may go from bad to worse for Vrieswijk with the 22-year-old facing a race against time to make the opening race of Elimination 7 as he scrambled for a new foil. Thanks to a little help from some friends Vrieswijk arrived just in time and safely advanced into the final and the title race is now poised on a knife edge with Goyard also successfully into the final.
As previously mentioned Kördel drops one place to 3rd after a 16th place in race 5 before recovering slightly with a 6th in the next. Kördel still holds a 4 point advantage over Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), but the Frenchman continues to make eye-catching progress after another fine day which saw him record 2nd and 4th place finishes, respectively. And if he continues in the same rich vein of form he could leapfrog Kördel into 3rd with the second discard to come into play after the completion of the Elimination 7 Final.
Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) remains in 5th place after another hit and miss day. 14th in the opening race of the day followed by a 3rd. Meanwhile, Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde) falls a further two places to 6th after finishing 6th and 11th today.
Having dropped out of the top 10 yesterday, current world No.1 - Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) - looked back to his best today as he opened with a 3rd before storming to his first bullet of the event, which sees him rise 5 spots to 7th from 12th. The event title is probably all but gone here, but it’s certainly still not out of the question for the Argentine to come back and snatch the final place on the podium.
The top 10 is currently completed by Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses), who endured his worst day of the event so far - 8th - Maciek Rutkowski (I-99 / Challenger Sails) remains 9th, while Australia’s Steve Allen (Patrik / Avanti) breaks into the top 10 at the expense of Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde).
The forecast for tomorrow shows almost no wind for the morning, but it is then expected to swing back to the south/south-southwest during the afternoon and early evening, which should see more racing. It will just depend whether that results in more foiling or if it becomes windy enough for the first slalom races of the week. With this in mind, the skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+2) onwards.
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Current Ranking 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Foil
*After Six Eliminations
1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
2nd Nicolas Goyard (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Sebastian Kördel (GER - Starboard / GA Sails)
4th Antoine Questel (FRA - Starboard / S2Maui)
5th Antoine Albeau (FRA - RRD / NeilPryde)
6th Julien Bontemps (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
7th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG - Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
8th Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
9th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - I-99 / Challenger Sails)
10th Steve Allen (AUS - Patrik / Severne)