Final Results…
11 foil races!!! What a week they had!!
Only 1 elimination in the Slalom… but I like it as it mixes it up a bit!!
and check the Winner… retirement might have a wait a little longer! haha
Day 5 video
Day 4 video
Day 3 video
Day 2 Video:
Day 1 Video:
The final day of the 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup started in bleak fashion with overcast skies and light rain making the likelihood of racing seem unlikely. However, as the day progressed the sun started to slowly burn through the thick layer of cloud and racing was underway by 1:30pm.
Foiling showed its worth again on the final day with the wind remaining between 5-12 knots, so while it wouldn’t have been possible to run any slalom, a further two eliminations of foiling were completed – meaning Costa Brava walks away with a 100% wind record for 2018.
Slalom
Finian Maynard (I-99) endured a short, but nervous wait on the final day, but any nerves and tension were soon relieved with the slalom being officially called off during the mid afternoon – allowing Maynard to revel In a first event victory since 2012 – which is fitting in his final full season on tour.
Maynard didn’t put a foot wrong during this event, in a display that saw him win every heat he sailed to steal the headlines and roll back the years. The 43-year-old led from start to finish in the Winners’ Final to deservedly earn the taste of victory again.
All members of the top 3 coming into Costa Brava – Matteo Iachino, Antoine Albeau and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) – failed to qualify for the Winners’ Final for the first time this season, but even so Iachino holds onto the title race lead after winning the B-Final ahead of Albeau and Mortefon to claim 9th place.
Albeau remains second in the overalls but is now tied on points with fellow Frenchman – Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails) – who records his best result of the season so far after claiming 2nd. That result sees him leapfrog Mortefon into 3rd and Toselli is now firmly in the title hunt after building upon a 5th and a 6th in Japan and South Korea.
Meanwhile, Mortefon falls one place to 4th and now trails Toselli by 400 points. Mortefon, who is normally so dependable crashed a rare gybe during the semifinals when battling for 4th place and some say that that dent in his armour may have come from trying to mix both foiling and slalom… when you take into account that the other members of the Top 3 – Iachino and Albeau – both also missed out on the top 8 there may be some merit to that speculation.
Flying Dutchman – Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) – remains 5th in the overall rankings and is now the only sailor left on the tour to have qualified for every Winners’ Final this season. The 25-year-old remains well on course to break into the overall top 10 for the first time, while the same is true of Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), who records his 2nd top 4 in 3 events to move up to 6th place in the overalls.
Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) continues to recover from a slow start to the season in Japan – where only one elimination was completed – finishing 7th – by claiming 10th in South Korea and 5th here. A result which sees him climb 3 places to 7th in the overalls.
Meanwhile, Malte Reuscher (Fanatic / NorthSails) breaks into the current overall top 10 after qualifying for his first Winners’ Final since Denmark last year.
The overall top 10 is completed by Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) heading into Portugal.
Elsewhere, with many of the top seeds faltering, 2014 vice-world champion – Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / Severne) – rediscovered somewhere close to his best form to claim a podium place for the first time since Korea 2016. Moussilmani jumps to 11th in the overalls.
Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) backs up a career best in South Korea – 4th – with another top 10 in Costa Brava – 8th – to continue to climb the rankings. The Brazilian is now 15th after 3 events – before the aforementioned Moussilmani, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde), Amado Vrieswijk and Maciek Rutkowski (I-99 / Challenger Sails) in the quest for the top 10.
Foil
Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) started the event in blistering fashion as he notched up two bullets and a 2nd, 3rd and 4th from the opening 5 races to take control of the event in the early stages. However, Vrieswijk then had to endure a horrid couple of races, which saw him lose the event lead to Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails) after damaging his foil, but the Bonairean remained cool, when perhaps could’ve collapsed, to record a further bullet and two top 3 finishes from the remaining 4 places to deservedly clinch the No.1 spot. Vrieswijk is undoubtedly one of the best overall windsurfers in the world and victory in Costa Brava sees him claim victory in a second discipline at only 22-years-old – adding to previous success in Freestyle – making him one of the hottest properties in windsurfing right now. The possibilities seem almost endless for Vrieswijk, who just missed out on the Winners’ Final in the Slalom before taking home 12th place. Vrieswijk will also take part in the waves this season. Victory here sees Vrieswijk rise to 3rd overall in the foil rankings.
Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) has been using his Formula background to full effect so far this season and the German called upon past experience again over the last 6 days to claim his second foil podium in 3 events – this time finishing 2nd overall – his best result ever on the world tour. Kördel atoned for his error on Day 5 by winning the last Foil Elimination of the week to sign off in style as before now the German has never won an elimination on the world tour.
Meanwhile, vice-Olympic champion – Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde) – records his first podium after recovering brilliantly from a mid-event slump. The Frenchman earned also earned his first bullet in Elimination 2 before adding another in Elimination 7 – after which he never finished outside the top 5.
Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) rises to 2nd in the overalls after a 4th here – in a result that sees AA finish one place ahead of Nicolas Goyard, who suffered a meltdown and had to settle for 5th in the end having led the event after 7 eliminations. When leading the event the best result Goyard could record from there on was an 8th as he seemingly cracked under the pressure.
Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) retains the overall lead – despite missing out on the top two for the first time this season finishing in 6th.
The top ten in Costa Brava is completed by Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde), Steve Allen (Patrik / Severne), who showed the longer and more Formula-like courses suit him, after winning Elimination 10, and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) – who finish 7th-10th.
That concludes an action packed 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup, which has seen racing on every single day. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the organisers and locals for their efforts in making this fantastic event continue as the PWA has a rich history with Costa Brava and hopes to continue it in the years going forward.
Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?
The events continue to come thick and fast for the Men’s Slalom Fleet as they will be in action again in just a few days time – as will the Women’s Slalom and Freestyle Fleets. The next stop on the tour will see the world’s fastest sailors and the best female contortionists frantically travel to Portugal for the Viana PWA World Cup (13th-20th June).
Result 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup – Men’s Slalom
1st Finian Maynard (KV – I-99)
2nd Pascal Toselli (FRA – JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins)
3rd Cyril Moussilmani (FRA – RRD / Severne)
4th Tristan Algret (GPE – Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
5th Julien Quentel (SXM – Patrik / Avanti)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED – Fanatic / NorthSails)
7th Malte Reuscher (GER – Fanatic / NorthSails)
8th Mateus Isaac (BRA – JP / NeilPryde)
9th Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
10th Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
Result 2018 Catalunya PWA World Cup – Men’s Foil
1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB – JP / Severne)
2nd Sebastian Kördel (GER – Starboard / GA Sails)
3rd Julien Bontemps (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
4th Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
5th Nicolas Goyard (FRA – Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG – Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
7th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)
8th Sebastian Kornum (DEN – JP / NeilPryde)
9th Steve Allen (AUS – Patrik / Severne)
10th Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
Current Overall Ranking – Men’s Slalom
*After 3 Events
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Pascal Toselli (FRA – JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins)
4th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)
5th Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails)
6th Tristan Algret (GPE – Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
7th Julien Quentel (SXM – Patrik / Avanti)
8th Malte Reuscher (GER – Fanatic / NorthSails)
9th Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
Current Overall Ranking – Men’s Foil
*After 3 Events
1st Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG – Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB – JP / Severne)
4th Sebastian Kördel (GER – Starboard / GA Sails)
5th Julien Bontemps (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
6th Mateus Isaac (BRA – JP / NeilPryde)
7th Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins)
8th Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)
10th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)
