PWA Pegasus Airlines World Cup day 2 upsets and bullets

by PWA on 10 Aug 2011 The PWA Pegasus Airlines World Cup has now completed its second day of competition which witnessed Bjorn Dunkerbeck stamp down his authority in Alacati with two more bullets. Another positive note on the day was for Karin Jaggi who sailed two faultless finals to secure her place in the lead.

Golden sunshine beamed down onto the event site and combined with a gentle breeze providing the perfect conditions for an extremely relaxing morning for the second day of competition in Alacati. The sailors spent their time chilling out to the tunes from the main stage, in between tweaking their equipment for the races ahead.

By the time the clock struck two, the wind had built up to around ten knots, allowing the sailors to plane around comfortably on their largest equipment and the races to go ahead.

The race crew picked up the action from where they had left off yesterday, at men’s heat number nine of elimination two. Fluctuating wind throughout the elimination led to a fairly stop start affair, ensuring the sailors had to maintain their concentration for long periods of time and tactics were essential on the racecourse.

Men’s Elimination 2: After two attempts to start heat number nine it was eventually underway on the third, the sailors flew down the opening reach; however the extended starting period had obviously had an adverse effect on the mind-sets of Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North) and Ross Williams (Gaastra / Tabou) as they both suffered from poor starts and they were unable to recover qualifying positions in the lighter winds.

The upsets continued throughout the round, Arnon Dagan (Tabou / Gaastra) lost out early on due to a premature start, as did Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer). Reigning world champion, Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) suffered his second major blow of the competition; after a slow start he went down at the first mark, and was unable to catch the fleet for the remainder of the race, causing his overall score to plummet.

Finian Maynard (RRD) continued to wow the crowds in the semi-finals and the remainder of the afternoon. Maynard’s precise timing on the start-lines, blistering speed down the straights and his faultless cornering allowed him to retain his second place in the competition.

The second semi-final saw the former world champion, Micah Buzianis (JP /NeilPryde) cross the start-line early. However he quickly redeemed himself in the losers’ final with an incredible display of speed, fending off Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North) and Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde), to earn ninth place in the elimination.

Winners’ final: Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / DunkerbeckEyewear) and Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft /Mystic) hit the start-line at full speed putting them ahead of the fleet on the first leg.

By the first gybe Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Gaastra) had worked his way in-between the pair and Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) was in fourth. The top four held control all the way to the fourth mark, when disaster struck for Van Der Steen and he lost control of his equipment, allowing Allen to slip into third and Antoine Questel (Loft) to finish in fourth. Dunkerbeck cruised over the finish line claiming his second win in Alacati.

Men’s Elimination 3: The breeze really kicked in for the third elimination, clean wind gusting up to fifteen knots provided plenty of power for the sailors to plough through the opening round of heats in quick succession, however they weren’t without their upsets.

Big names, Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails) and Buzianis missed out on qualifying positions due to exceptional sailing from Benoit Moussilmani and Damien Le Guen (Exocet). The pair both finished in fifth place, marking their early exits from the elimination.

Costa Hoevel and Allen were the standout sailors of the elimination as both sailors cruised through their heats with ease, challenging for the top spots with every opportunity to finish in fifth and seventh place in the winners’ final.

Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North) shone through his heats to earn his first entrance into the winners’ final in Alacati, where he was able to secure a fourth place finish.

The semi-finals brought another shock for Albeau as he was forced to slam on the brakes at the start-line to prevent him from going over- early. Whilst Albeau was at a standstill the rest of the fleet were able to pull away from him and Albeau had to settle for a place in the losers’ final. A super-fast Bora Kozanoglu (NeilPryde / JP) stole the show in the loser’s final with Albeau coming in second.

Winners’ final: Maynard opened up the winners’ final with a perfectly timed start; however Dunkerbeck’s straight line speed saw him sail into first place by the first mark, with Cyril Moussilmani and Dagan in third and fourth. Two swift gybes later and Dunkerbeck controlled the fleet, with Maynard in hot pursuit in second place. Rapid Van Der Steen had made his way into third place by the fourth mark with his amazing board speed down the straights, knocking Cyril down into fourth. The current tour leader Dunkerbeck claimed his third consecutive win in Alacati, putting him in a great position to claim the 2011 world title.

Women’s Elimination 2: Women’s heat one kicked off with Fanny Aubet (JP / NeilPryde) dominating the start, providing her with the advantage straight away, followed by super consistent Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North). The pair held their positions the whole way around the course to guarantee their places in the winners’ final.

Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic) were the standout sailors from heat two. The pair launched off the start-line to secure a significant lead in front of the rest of the fleet.

The losers’ final witnessed a stellar performance from new girl to the tour Jo Wright. Wright nailed her start and fended off the fleet the whole way around the course. As much as Turkish sailors, Burce Vardarli and Unlu Fulya (Starboard / North) tried there was no catching up with Wright.

Winners’ Final: Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360) was first off the start-line; however Jaggi came from behind with amazing pace to make it to the mark first. The pair dueled down the second leg with Offringa following. Jaggi and Erdil went around the second mark with ease but unfortunately for Offringa she went down and she was unable to recover her position. By the fourth mark Jaggi held a huge lead on the fleet to claim her first race in Alacati.

Women’s Elimination 3: Erdil nailed her second start of the day to open up heat one, but once again she was beaten to the mark this time by Cagla Kubat (Starboard / North). Kubat charged around the course to claim her place in the winners’ final.

After a great start from Jaggi she led the fleet however Offringa was back on form and she barged her way into first place. Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) sailed a slick heat earning a third place finish and a place in the final.

Winner’s final: Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) was the one to watch in the women’s winners’ final. Arrighetti stormed down the first, second and third leg in the lead with Jaggi, Arutkin and Erdil following behind. Jaggi chose her moment and went for the overtake at the final mark however a small mistake saw her go down, however Jaggi was determined to take her second win of the day and quickly caught up with Arrighetti overtaking her on the final leg, putting her into the event leading position.

After a particularly eventful afternoon on the water the sailors were released for the day at 6:30pm. The action will continue tomorrow morning, kicking off with the skippers’ meeting at 11am, with the first start to racing at 11:30am.

Results: Men’s Fleet (after three eliminations)

1st Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / DunkerbeckEyewear)
2nd Finian Maynard (RRD)
3rd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft /Mystic)
4th Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North)
5th Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne)
6th Antoine Questel (Loft)
7th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North)
8th Bora Kozanoglu (JP / NeilPryde)
9th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
10th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North)

Women’s Fleet (after three eliminations)

1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
2nd Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)
4th Lise Vidal (Exocet / North)
5th Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North)
6th Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
7th Marion Mortefon (AL360)
8th Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
9th Jo Wright
10th Cagla Kubat (Starboard / North)

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