Zoo Station PWA Slalom Croatia

The 2020 Zoo Station Croatia PWA Slalom World Tour proved a massive success with Bol producing 5 days racing out of a possible 6. Over the course of the last 6 days 12 Men’s Eliminations, 13 Women’s Slalom Eliminations & 6 Women’s Foil Eliminations were able to be completed in solid conditions, while just returning to the racecourse represents a major step in the right direction after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Women’s

Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) was the clear standout sailor of the week in the Women’s fleet as the 22-year-old reeled off 13 consecutive bullets to claim a landslide victory in the Slalom, whilst she also produced an excellent comeback on the foil to claim the Foil event title. Gibson had trailed Alice Read (Patrik / Severne) by 0.7 of a point, but a victory in the last elimination of the week saw her pip Read to the title - with Read only managing to finish 3rd and eventually losing out by the same margin. 

The Women’s Slalom podium is completed by Palma Cargo and Alice Read, while the Women’s Foil podium is completed by Read and Adéla Rašková.

Men’s

With no wind on the final day, that means that Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) walks away from the opening event of the year with a first victory on the world tour. As a one-star event, the points gained here won’t count towards the world title, but Rutkowski will be delighted to have carried his excellent form from last year into the new season. The Pole finishes the event with an impressive record of 7 victories from 12, whilst only finishing outside the top 3 to cap a dominant performance. 

The homegrown talent of - Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) - couldn’t quite find a way to overpower Rutkowski, so the Croat doesn’t walk away from his home event with the top spot, but he still claimed a solid second place, just ahead of Italy’s Bruno Martini (Future Fly / Challenger Sails / Starboard Foil), who completes the podium. Marotti and Martini were both able to win several eliminations each (3 for Marotti & 2 for Martini), but a few costly errors ultimately cost them a shot at the title. 

The top 5 is completed by last year’s PWA Youth Slalom World Champion - Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7) - and Luka Mratovic (Fanatic / Duotone / Starboard Foil).

That concludes the first event of the 2020 PWA World Tour and we hope you enjoyed the return to action - congratulations to all the winners. A huge thanks to all the sponsors and everyone who helped out with the event - without you it wouldn’t be possible!

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