As expected day three of the PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf proved to be a day of rest for the majority of the fleet as light winds and wall-to-wall sunshine replaced the cold and windy weather. In the evening the opening tow-in qualification was held between 7pm and 8pm as 10 sailors battled it out for the first three qualification places for Sunday’s Final.
Earlier we caught up with a few sailors to gain their thoughts on the event so far:
Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne): “What a ride yesterday morning was! Up at 5.30am, managed to win 9 heats in a row to force a super-final, which brought me to the 2nd place in the double-elimination.#GREATFEELING Congrats to the winner Gollito, Adrien Bosson and of course Taty Frans!”
Kiri Thode (Starboard / GA Sails): “Not a good start for this season Had a big delay with the 2016 boards, so I could not train on them before the event. i had no 2016 board for months, but I received one of my boards just before the event, I was not feeling great on them. Luckily Dieter had an extra 2015 Flare91 which I could borrow, so thanks a lot Dieter Van der Eyken.
In the end I finished 7th in the double elimination and we had some epic conditions which was a great way to celebrate the last PWA event in Podersdorf. The Wind is not looking good for some more competition, so it’s tow-in time. I’ll keep my face up and get training on my new gear so I’ m ready Fuerte.”
Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic): “It feels like all the endless hours and days on the water training in Bonaire during the winter time is paying off for both Amado and myself here in Austria. It’s a good feeling to place 4th and a 2nd for Amado Vrieswijk in the double elimination – oooh yeah!”
Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde): “I finished 9th in the first double elimination which was not really what I was hoping for. Congrats to the winners! There’s still a couple more days to go, so I hope I can improve my result.”
The first tow-in qualification started at 7pm and each sailor was given two runs to show their best move. In the end Jamie Howard (JP / Severne) claimed a somewhat unexpected victory as he landed a perfect triple funnel. Meanwhile, Kiri Thode (Starboard / Tabou / GA Sails) also qualified with a double air funnel, while the final qualifying place went to Rick Jendrusch (JP / Severne), who also landed a triple funnel. Local boy — Max Matissek (Fanatic / North) — will now have to pin his hopes on being the lucky loser (4th placed sailor with highest score).
The forecast looks similar to tomorrow so the skippers’ meeting will be held at 10am once more with a first possible start of 10:30am — if conditions allow. In the likely event of no wind the second tow-in qualification will take place in the evening.