PWA – Costa Brava – 2017 – Final Day

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Published on May 28, 2017 by Windsurfing.TV

May 28, 2017 created by Chris Yates

Day 6: Albeau Assumes Control of Title Race

The final day of the 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup saw another windy day as the breeze filled in early to provide more excellent racing conditions. By the end of the day 8 results have been gained for the slalom with Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) dominating proceedings to claim an clear cut victory over Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins), who was his closest contender.

Slalom

Antoine Albeau was in imperious form yesterday, which put him in a commanding position heading into the final day – and even before the completion of the 6th race,AA basically had the event victory sewn up as only two other sailors from top 10 of the overnight rankings qualified for the winners’ final – (Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) and Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) – and from there he asserted his dominance even more as he claimed a 3rd bullet in Elimination 6, before placing second in Race 7 to build an unassailable lead. Albeau – who is now 44-years-old – shows no signs of slowing down as he schooled his younger rivals on how to dominate an event. In his interview, Albeau, sounded extremely confident and it would be no surprise to see him add to his 23-world-titles come the and of the season after this performance.

Pierre Mortefon suffered a surprising second round exit in Elimination 6, which saw the vice-world champion drop from 3rd to 6th on the final day, but the 27-year-old responded in perfect fashion by going on to win the 7th Race, which slingshotted the Frenchman back into second place, which is ultimately where Mortefon finishes the event – he was leading the winners final in the 8th race as well, but the wind shut down before it could be completed and his result wouldn’t have changed.

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Sunglasses) looked to be in a jubilant mood when it was revealed that he had snatched the final place on the podium from the grasp of Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins) – after enduring a somewhat difficult week. The reigning world champion has battled through this week to still earn a creditable 3rd place, but he doesn’t look to have that same blistering pace which he possessed last year. However, the Italian now has 7 weeks before Fuerteventura in which to try and figure things out and he’s still prominently placed after winning one elimination.

Pascal Toselli will be devastated to have missed out on the podium – having been in the top 3 until the final race. The Frenchman has enjoyed an couple of days racing, but ultimately Toselli misses out on the podium by an agonising point.

Last year’s world No.3 – Ross Williams – ends the third event of the year in a solid 5th place with the Brit showing his usual consistency, which saw him finish outside the top 10 on just two occasions out of the 8 races completed.

Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) – won the opening elimination in convincing fashion, but the Israeli competes the week in 6th place. Dagan was unlucky yesterday that a broken mast saw him leave to settle for a 30.5 in Elimination 4 – and although the result was discarded you have to feel that it may have affected his mentality heading into the final day.

Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins) rises one place to 7th from the overnight ranking, while Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7) falls two places to 8th – after a couple of premature stats on the final day.

Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) discards one of this results from today to complete the top 10.

Movers and Shakers

Marco Lang (Fanatic / NorthSails) completed a superb comeback on the final day to deservedly earn his place in the overall top 10. The Austria suffered a mixture his fair share of bad luck, but battled through to finish in the top 10 – with a 10th place being his worst result in the last 4 races completed – with the 31-year-olds best effort coming in the opening race of the day when he finished with a fantastic 3rd place.

Taty Frans (Starboards / GA Sails / Mystic) escapes with a 12th place from Costa Brava after a disastrous couple of elimination’s, but the Bonairean would’ve been almost guaranteed a place in the top 10 had he not been too busy smiling at the camera, when leading the quarterfinal of Elimination 6, which saw him catapult over the handlebars.

Having finished in the top 10 in a single elimination for the first time ever – Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) – went a few places better today as he qualified for his maiden winners’ final in which he finished 7th – which sees the Bonairean finish 13th overall in Costa Brava

At 6:30pm the closing ceremony as the winners’ were deservedly presented with third trophies in front of the crowd.

Result 2017 Catalunya PWA World Cup – Men’s Slalom

1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)

2nd Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)

3rd Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

4th Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / LoftSails / Chopper Fins)

5th Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

6th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)

7th Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins)

8th Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7)

9th Marco Lang (Fanatic / NorthSails)

10th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)