Day three of the 2012 PWA Ulsan Korea World Cup, began with a lot of promise as the wind swung cross-shore during the morning. However, despite the wind building at around 2:30pm, it never consistently met the 7-knot threshold required for the competition to begin. As a result, sailors either chilled on the beach or took the opportunity to gain some additional time on the water in the patchy wind.
With a considerable amount of down time today, we took the opportunity to catch up with the winners of yesterday’s eliminations; Bora Kozanoglu and Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic).
PWA: How are you feeling after winning the first elimination?
Kozanoglu: 'I feel great and super excited as this was my second win in a final. I’m also very pleased with the performance of my equipment (Starboard and Severne), as the boards and sails work really well. I’m not sponsored but I am grateful to the brands. Yesterday I felt my tactics were really good in the gusty wind, both with the starts and on the course. I hope in the next eliminations I can keep my consistency and perform well in the finals again.'
PWA: How were you feeling when you came round the final mark and you knew you had sea grass around your fin?
Kozanoglu: ' It was so scary, if it happened at the beginning of the race then I would have tried to jump and clear the fin, but at the last buoy I couldn’t risk it, especially with Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) breathing down my neck. I just tried to sail as upwind as possible because this was the shortest line to the finish. I was lucky not to fall on the gybe, but from there I made it and that’s the main thing.'
PWA: What are your thoughts after your victory yesterday?
Arrighetti: 'In Reggio Calabria, my first heat went poorly and the conditions were not great for racing in my opinion, but I managed to win the second elimination to come back and finish third. I’m really happy with my start in Korea and with my equipment. My shoulder feels better than last year and I don’t notice it when I’m sailing. Now I will stay 100% focused for rest of the event as we are not finished yet, today we had no wind but there’s still plenty of time for more racing and for the result to change.'
The forecast for tomorrow has improved and it now offers the potential for more racing to commence in the afternoon. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30 tomorrow morning. The first possible start shall be at 11am.
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