 extends his remarkable record in Fuerteventura - winning every year here since 2006 except 2012 - with one of his most dominant performances in recent years as the 24-time world champion won all 4 eliminations completed. You have to go back to Alacati in 2012 for the last time someone won 4 consecutive eliminations and that man was Albeau again - which perhaps shows you how great of a feat that it is to have repeated it. Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) was the most recent sailor to have come close to doing the same when he won the opening 3 races during the 2016 Sylt PWA Grand Slam, before finishing 2nd in the 4th elimination. Victory here sees Albeau level things up with Matteo Iachino on 40,700 points with one event to go, but the Italian still leads the title race having recorded better results in 3 out of the 5 events, but ultimately it looks like it will come down to a straight fight between the two heavyweights in the final battle of the season in Sylt, Germany, 28th September - 7th October. Iachino, qualified for every Winners’ Final, but a bit of bad luck and one mistake on the opening day saw him have to settle for a 4th and an 8th. The 2016 world champion then bounced back with two solid seconds but couldn’t deny Albeau, but he should be happy enough leaving with a second place here given Albeau’s killer record. For the 4th time this season - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) - completes the podium to cement his place on the overall podium, in a result which means the ‘Big Top 3’ have also completed the top 3 in 4 out of the 5 events this season. The title probably looks out of the question for Mortefon this season unless Albeau and Iachino both have shockers in Sylt, but he’s been right at top of his game again over the last 5 days with a 2nd, 3rd and 2x 4th’s from 4 eliminations. Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) remains in 4th in the overall rankings but discards the result here in Fuerteventura after finishing outside the top 10 for the first time this season. Toselli’s result here combined with Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) recording his best ever result in Fuerte - 4th - and also his best result of the season sees the Flying Dutchman close to within 100 points of the Frenchman, while Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) is just a further 100 points back in 6th overall after also finishing 6th here. Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) remains 7th in the overall rankings after recording his best result of the season - 5th. The Brit recovered well from a quarterfinal exit in the first race with an 11th, 5th and then a 3rd, but the wind then ran out of steam to give him a shot of recording a 4th podium finish in a row here. Meanwhile, Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / Severne) and Finian Maynard (I-99) move into the overall top 10 after 8th and 10th place finishes respectively, while Mateus Isaac’s (JP / NeilPryde) 12th place is enough to see the Brazilian keep his spot the overall top 10 - 10th. Elsewhere, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) records his first top 10 finish - 7th - since the opening event of the year, while Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) follows up his first top 10 of the season in Portugal with a 9th place here - showing the form that he showed last year, while Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins) also earns his best result of the season - 11th. Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) also deserves a mention. The 20-year-old suffered a potentially career-threatening injury here this time last year, but showed he’s back somewhere close to his best by claiming 13th place here - qualifying for the top 16 in 3 out of the 4 races completed.)
We have a Winner… and a pretty dominant one at that!!!
Check out the event wrap up/Highlights for the slalom!
The World title race is on a knife edge… Sylt should be pretty tense!!!
FYI: We have a Big Freestyle film coming soon and a Day in the life of a PWA Racer…. as we follow Jordy Vonk for a day!
PWA report: Slalom
Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) extends his remarkable record in Fuerteventura – winning every year here since 2006 except 2012 – with one of his most dominant performances in recent years as the 24-time world champion won all 4 eliminations completed.
You have to go back to Alacati in 2012 for the last time someone won 4 consecutive eliminations and that man was Albeau again – which perhaps shows you how great of a feat that it is to have repeated it.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) was the most recent sailor to have come close to doing the same when he won the opening 3 races during the 2016 Sylt PWA Grand Slam, before finishing 2nd in the 4th elimination.
Victory here sees Albeau level things up with Matteo Iachino on 40,700 points with one event to go, but the Italian still leads the title race having recorded better results in 3 out of the 5 events, but ultimately it looks like it will come down to a straight fight between the two heavyweights in the final battle of the season in Sylt, Germany, 28th September – 7th October.
Iachino, qualified for every Winners’ Final, but a bit of bad luck and one mistake on the opening day saw him have to settle for a 4th and an 8th. The 2016 world champion then bounced back with two solid seconds but couldn’t deny Albeau, but he should be happy enough leaving with a second place here given Albeau’s killer record. For the 4th time this season – Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) – completes the podium to cement his place on the overall podium, in a result which means the ‘Big Top 3’ have also completed the top 3 in 4 out of the 5 events this season.
The title probably looks out of the question for Mortefon this season unless Albeau and Iachino both have shockers in Sylt, but he’s been right at top of his game again over the last 5 days with a 2nd, 3rd and 2x 4th’s from 4 eliminations. Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) remains in 4th in the overall rankings but discards the result here in Fuerteventura after finishing outside the top 10 for the first time this season.
Toselli’s result here combined with Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) recording his best ever result in Fuerte – 4th – and also his best result of the season sees the Flying Dutchman close to within 100 points of the Frenchman, while Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) is just a further 100 points back in 6th overall after also finishing 6th here.
Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) remains 7th in the overall rankings after recording his best result of the season – 5th. The Brit recovered well from a quarterfinal exit in the first race with an 11th, 5th and then a 3rd, but the wind then ran out of steam to give him a shot of recording a 4th podium finish in a row here. Meanwhile, Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / Severne) and Finian Maynard (I-99) move into the overall top 10 after 8th and 10th place finishes respectively, while Mateus Isaac’s (JP / NeilPryde) 12th place is enough to see the Brazilian keep his spot the overall top 10 – 10th.
Elsewhere, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) records his first top 10 finish – 7th – since the opening event of the year, while Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) follows up his first top 10 of the season in Portugal with a 9th place here – showing the form that he showed last year, while Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins) also earns his best result of the season – 11th. Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) also deserves a mention. The 20-year-old suffered a potentially career-threatening injury here this time last year, but showed he’s back somewhere close to his best by claiming 13th place here – qualifying for the top 16 in 3 out of the 4 races completed.
