Pegasus Airlines PWA World Cup 2010 Alacati, Turkey Day Five.
The waiting game continues as the Meltemi failed to return with any force, leaving the PWA’s elite racers sheltering in the shade on another glorious day in Alacati.
A day of changeable weather patterns caused chaos amongst the world’s best slalom sailors today. They awoke to a light Meltemi breeze, but by the time they’d eaten their breakfast a stronger southerly sea breeze had pushed in, putting the contest on hold yet again.
After a couple of hours on standby the Meltemi fought back, and with gusts of 14kts, caused those sailors in the early heats to frantically rig in time for the start. Unfortunately, the wind was simply playing games with everyone, and just as the start sequence was about to begin, huge holes appeared in the course with lulls as low as 3kts. Race director, Juan Antonio Aragon and his crew made every effort to get the racing underway throughout the afternoon, but the wind failed to cooperate.
The 2009 world champion and current tour leader, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) is just a day away from securing the 2010 world title. As it stands, if Albeau can maintain his position in second, or even overtake his team mate and current event leader, Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) then he will have done enough to take the 2010 title without actually having to step on his board in Sylt.
If however, Albeau falls out of the top two here in Alacati then the title will go right to the wire in Sylt, and will all depend on where his nearest rival – one of the undisputed legends of windsurfing – Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic) finishes there. This event is almost bound to be Dunkerbeck’s discard now, but if he wins in Sylt he could still beat Albeau and claim the title. Although, for that to happen Albeau has to finish third or worse both here and in Sylt!
There’s a similar situation in the women’s fleet too, with former world champion, Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) battling with the 2009 world champion, Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou, Loft, Mystic). Jaggi is currently lying in second place here, but if she overtakes the current event leader, Arrighetti then she too could secure the 2010 world title with an event to spare.
However, if Arrighetti can stay ahead of Jaggi here then she will have a shot at the title in Almanarre at the beginning of September. Even if Jaggi and Arrighetti were tied on points, whoever wins the last event would take the title.
There are a huge number of ifs in these calculations, and you have to remember that all of it can change in an instant. But, we could still potentially see two world champions walking away from Alacati!
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