Day three of the Fly! ANA PWA World Cup began with barely a breath of wind with Tsukuihama Beach seemingly stuck in the middle of a volatile low-pressure weather system. Over the duration of the morning and early afternoon the torrential rain continued to pour, on what was generally a miserable day, but at around 2:30pm the forecast wind began to arrive to offer a glimmer of hope.
Racing started soon after, but conditions remained extremely tricky with gusty and shifty winds once again playing havoc at times. However, by the end of the third day, a result has been gained for the women’s fleet, while only the top 16 men remain standing in the men’s – a position which echoes memories of the recent event in South Korea.
Women’s
Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) produced another dominant performance as she led from start to finish – just as she did in South Korea – to claim her second bullet of the season in as many races. The 25-year-old has made the perfect start to her title defence and if she continues this rich vein of form it is extremely difficult to see anyone stopping her from claiming a hat-trick of world titles.
After missing out on the winners’ final in South Korea, due to a snapped outhaul – Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) – knew it was imperative to make a quick start here if she wanted to get her season back on track, and that’s exactly what the former two-time world champion managed to do as she hit back with a solid second place in the opening race of the week.
Meanwhile, Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360) continued her sharp start to the season as she secured third place ahead of Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / LoftSails) and Esther de Geus (JP / Point-7).
Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails), who started the season with a third place, was unhappy to miss out on the winners’ final, but she regained her composure to win the losers’ final ahead of fellow compatriot Marion Dusart(Patrik / Gun Sails) and Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins).
Men’s
In the men’s draw there were plenty of changes in comparison to Korea as Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails), Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic), Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / NorthSails) all missed out on a place in the winners’ final this time around.
Today also saw a mixture of fortune. In Heat 5 – Nicolas Warembourg (JP / NeilPryde) – was on the unfortunate side of luck, as when the Frenchman was qualifying for the quarterfinals, he was impeded by weed around his fin, which cost him dearly as Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Josh Angulo (Angulo / S2Maui), Benjamin Augé (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) and Andrea Rosati (RRD / LoftSails) all qualified – with the real tale being that Rosati, who would’ve otherwise missed out, then going on to qualify for the winners’ final.
Vice-world champion – Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) – produced a great piece of work late on in Heat 10 as he fought back to snatch the final qualifying place into the semifinals from Maciek Rutkowski. After a slightly slow start, Mortefon then recaptured the form expected of him as he went on to win his semifinal to comfortably qualify for the winners’ final.
In the first semifinal – Josh Angulo and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) – were both disqualified for premature starts, while Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / GunSails) was fortunate that his premature start was overturned due to the wind being deemed unsuitable in the run up to the next start. The 42-year-old has lost 10 kilos over the winter and he’s already starting to see the fruits of his labour after booking his place in the winners’ final as he, Mortefon, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) and Rosati all advanced from Heat 13.
There was further drama in Heat 14, which almost proved to be the Heat of Doom again, with several efforts being needed to successfully complete the heat.
On once occasion, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde), looked to be comfortably qualifying for the final, until getting caught out by the weed as he rounded the third buoy, which caused him to go over the handlebars and allow his rivals to overtake. Luckily for AA a wind shift on the last reach meant that several sailors were unable to finish the course and a resail was called for, which was extremely harsh on Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde), who had sailed fantastically to secure third place – and a spot in the final – only to see his hard work undone through no fault of his own.
Upon the resail Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) produced a brilliant performance to win the heat ahead of reigning world champion – Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Windsurfing / Sunglasses) – and Albeau, while there was an amazing cat and mouse battle for the remaining spot in the final between Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) and Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), which the man from Saint Maarten eventually won.
The winners’ final was started on a couple of times, but unfortunately, on both occasions, it had to be cancelled due to the wind dropping below 7 knots. With the light quickly fading and the boats needing to return to harbour the competition was officially called off at 6:15pm.
The forecast for tomorrow shows the possibility of some marginal wind in the morning with northerly winds of 12-19 knots currently being predicted. With this in mind, the skippers’ meeting has been called for 7:30am with the action commencing from 8am (GMT+9) – if conditions allow.
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin (Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360)
4th Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / LoftSails)
5th Esther de Geus (JP / Point-7)
6th Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Point-7 / Mystic)
7th Çağla Kubat (Starboard / Point-7)
8th Ayako Suzuki (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic)
9th Fujiko Onishi (99NoveNove / Point-7)
10th Mio Anayama (Starboard / MauiSails)
