PWA Sylt World Cup - Angulo storms to the top on day 5

by Chris Yates on 3 Oct 2013 Day five of the GP Joule PWA Sylt World Cup saw the wind return as a further two slalom eliminations were completed in chilly, but beautiful weather. The offshore winds made for tricky racing in 7-15 knots of breeze, but there were still some exhilarating battles over the course of the day. Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) continued his fantastic form this week as the secured another bullet and a second place to move to the top of the event rankings, whilst Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) hit back in race four with his first race victory of the event

Josh Angulo timed his start to perfection in the opening winners’ final of the day as he crossed the start line in first place. Angulo then built on his brilliant start as he held the lead ahead of Alberto Menegatti, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Kasper Larsen (Starboard / Loft Sails), whilst Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) and Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) collided with each other, but both sailors did well to stay upright. Over the remainder of the course Angulo showed blistering speed and perfect gybes - which he pumped out of - to storm to his second victory of the week. Behind him Quentel once again demonstrated that he is one of the quickest sailors on the tour as he fought his way into second place, with Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Dagan completing the top four, leaving Menegatti to settle for fifth place.

Elsewhere in race three there were several upsets in the opening round - the first of which came in heat three as Jordy Vonk (Patrik / Loft Sails) - who was ninth at the beginning of the day - narrowly missed out on a place in the quarterfinals after finishing in fifth place, whilst Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) was also knocked out. Heat four was eventually completed at the fifth attempt - after a combination of a false start and the wind dropping on several occasions - but in the end Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails) both took earlier than planned exits, whilst Chris Pressler (Starboard / Severne) did well to clinch the final qualifying place. The drama wasn’t finished there either as Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) also failed to escape from heat five, before Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) was disqualified for sailing in the wrong heat - heat seven when he was supposed to be in heat eight.

Further drama ensued in the opening semifinal as Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) crashed into Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails) on the exit of the third gybe - at the time both sailors were qualifying for a place in the winners’ final, but neither qualified after the collision - instead Julien Quentel and Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti) benefited as they finished in third and fourth place respectively.

Josh Angulo made another blistering start to the second winners’ final of the day as he once again crossed the line in first place, however this time around he couldn’t quite hold his lead into the first mark as Alberto Menegatti came flying down the opening reach to take the lead ahead of Angulo, Steven Allen and Antoine Albeau. With clean wind and acres of clear water ahead of him, Menegatti extended his lead over the chasing pack to claim his first victory of the week, which moves him up to fourth place overall for the event. In the meantime Angulo cemented his place at the top of the rankings after finishing in second place with Albeau and Julien Quentel finishing third and fourth respectively.

Just as in race three there were further upsets in the first round of elimination four - firstly Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) failed to qualify from heat one. The Frenchman entered the first gybe in the lead, but after struggling to get back onto the place he ended up finishing in seventh place. Jordy Vonk, meanwhile, suffered his second first round exit of the day in heat two, whilst Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) was also knocked out in heat three after catapulting and finishing in fifth place. Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) was the final upset in the opening round as he finished heat eight in sixth place.

The forecast for tomorrow is predicting strong winds, with gusts of up to 29 knots being predicted. With this in mind it looks as though the freestyle sailors will take center stage for the first time this week, depending how the conditions materialize, whilst there is still the potential for some high wind slalom as well. The skippers’ meeting for the freestyle and slalom fleets will be held at 10am with the action commencing at 10:30am, whilst the wave sailors will meet at 1pm.

Results After Four Eliminations - Men’s Slalom

1st Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails)
2nd Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
4th Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)
5th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
6th Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne)
7th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails)
8th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
9th Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic)
10th Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger / PWA World Windsurf World Cup