Warsaw Indoor PWA World Cup - Intense day of furious racing

by Chris Yates on 7 Sep 2014 After a full morning and afternoon of competition at the Warsaw Indoor PWA World Cup, to decide which trialists would proceed in the main draw, the main event kicked off at 8pm in front of thousands of fans in Poland’s National Stadium, as indoor windsurfing returned with an emphatic bang.

The slalom sailors took centre stage first on the opening night of competition and after several intense heats Nicolas Akgazciyan (99 International / Point-7 / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins), Andrea Rosati (RRD / NeilPryde), Ben Proffitt (Simmer) and Matteo Iachino (Fanatic / North) were able to navigate their way into the semifinals. Tomorrow will see the top two advance, before a best of three heats final.

Meanwhile, in the women’s division reigning PWA Slalom World Champion - Delphine Cousin (Starboard / Loft Sails) - advanced into the top four alongside Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360), Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Maui Ultra Fins) - who is better known for her freestyling expertise - and local girl Zofia Klepacka (RRD / North).

Nicolas Akgazciyan made a seamless transition from his racing equipment to his freestyle setup as he stole the show in the freestyle. The Frenchman was simply in a league of his this evening as he rotated through a super stylish switch chachoo, a big shaka flaka and an absolutely amazing regular chachoo. Joining Akgazciyan in the final will be Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / MFC), Max Matissek (Fanatic / North) and Rafael de Windt (F2 / Hot Sails Maui), who did brilliantly to qualify, but there were a few shocks too as Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North / MFC) and Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) - who hold eight world titles between them - both missed out on a place in the final. As did Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), who unfortunately couldn’t quite replicate the form he showed in the warmup.

The best was saved until last in the jumping category as Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) stole the show with the final jump of the day, after immediately bettering Ricardo Campello’s fantastic planing pushloop. However, with nothing to lose Martin launched into an absolutely amazing, planing backloop to earn 28 points out of a possible 30. Also advancing into tomorrow’s show are Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), Alex Mussolini (Tabou / GA Sails), Jamie Hancock (Tabou), Andrea Rosati and Ben Proffitt, with the latter two featuring in both the jump and the slalom tomorrow.

Tomorrow will see the conclusion of all three disciplines, across the men’s and women’s fleets - with the women entering the water for the first time for jumping and freestyle. Who do you think will come out on PWA World Tour