Zoo Station Bol, Croatia, PWA World Tour **
One last elimination was completed on the final day of the 2022 Zoo Station Bol, Croatia, PWA World Tour, to conclude what has been another brilliant week in beautiful Bol.
Women's
Sara Wennekes (Future Fly / Severne Sails) performed brilliantly all week and ends the event counting 5 first places and a second from the 8 eliminations completed. The Dutch girl deservedly defends her event title from last year after another highly efficient display of sailing.
Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) proved to be Wennekes’ closest challenger, but she couldn’t prevent Wennekes from claiming a clearcut victory. Mortefon performed consistently all week - only finishing outside the top 3 twice in 8 eliminations.
Heading into the final day just two points separated Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foil) and Helle Oppedal (Starboard / Severne Sails) in the battle for the final place on the podium. Alabau held third place at the start of the day, but Oppedal was able to overturn that deficit after claiming a superb second place in the last elimination of the event, which saw Oppedal pip Alabau to the final place on the podium by just a single point.
Men’s
It proved to be a week of firsts for Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde), who earlier in the event had claimed his first bullet on the world tour. The Italian led coming into the final day and didn’t show any signs of nerves as he signed off the event in style by claiming his second bullet of the week in Elimination 8, which guaranteed him his first victory on the world tour.
Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils) did well to recover from a disappointing start to the event and eventually fought back into second place after a strong finish to the event, which saw the Frenchman win two of the last four races. Mortefon finishes just a point behind Martini after a tough battle.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foil) demonstrated an unbelievable level of consistency over the last 5 days and the Italian is the only sailor in the fleet who can boast a record of qualifying for every Winners’ Final. Iachino did not finish outside the top 5 in any of the 8 eliminations completed, which earns him the final place on the podium ahead of Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) and Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils).
18-year-old Johan Soe (FMX Racing / Point-7) claims a hugely impressive 7th place and the young Dane looks set for a very bright racing future.
The top 10 is completed by Basile Jacquin (FMX Racing / Point-7), Mateus Isaac (Severne / Severne Sails) and Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails).
That concludes another great week in beautiful Bol with racing on every single day of the event. Congratulations once again to all the winners and a huge thanks to the organisers and volunteers for making the event possible.
Where's Next on the PWA World Tour?
In just a couple of days time the 2022 Gran Canaria PWA World Cup will begin in Pozo Izquierdo as the best wave sailors in the world prepare to compete in Pozo for the first time in 3 years. It promises to be an action packed show with some of the biggest jumps in the world and crazy wave manoeuvers. Don't miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com between 9th-17th July - here you'll be able to follow the action as it happens via the PWA live stream.
Result Zoo Station Bol PWA World Cup Croatia - Women’s Slalom
1st Sara Wennekes (NED | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
3rd Helle Oppedal (NOR | Starboard / Severne Sails)
Result Zoo Station Bol PWA World Cup Croatia - Men’s Slalom
1st Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Phantom Foils)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Starboard Foil)
4th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Amado Vrieswijk (BON | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
6th Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
7th Johan Soe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)
8th Basile Jacquin (FRA | FMX Racing / Point-7 / Phantom Sails)
9th Mateus Isaac (BRA | Severne / Severne Sails)
10th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)