2015 PWA World Tour – Albeau and Offringa reign supreme

by ISAF on 7 May 2015 2015 PWA World Tour – Antoine Albeau (RRD/NeilPryde) and Sarah Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde) reign supreme as Jinha Beach delivers the goods and then some.

After four days of waiting, the thermal winds finally came through, allowing for not just one, but two completed eliminations for both the men and the women. When the smoke cleared, it was the Frenchman and the Aruban who came out ahead, but closely followed by the rest of the pack.

At the strike of noon, the race crew's wind meters hit sufficient values to call the first sailors to the starting line. Dead set on getting a result after the first four windless days, no time was wasted to get the competition underway. For a moment, it looked like it was going to be a long day as the first two heats were both cancelled twice due to an insufficient wind. But not much later, the wind evened out and it would turn out to become a completely different kind of long day.

Men's first elimination

Up until heat number four of the men's first elimination, it was pretty much business as usual without any major upsets or surprises. But then 2014 Vice World Champion Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard/Severne) collided with Andrea Cucchi (Point-7) at the very last mark of his heat and went down, preventing him from advancing into the next round. It then wasn't until the quarterfinals when another big contender saw his chances of first elimination gold shatter, as Ben Van Der Steen (Tabou/GA Sails) had to settle for seventh place in his quarterfinal.

The semifinals got underway in properly windy conditions and saw the usual suspects do their jobs, with Arnon Dagan (RRD/NeilPryde), Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic/North Sails), Julien Quentel (RRD/NeilPryde), Steve Allen (Starboard/Severne), Antoine Albeau (RRD/Neil Pryde), Ross Williams (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic), Pascal Toselli (99 NoveNove/Point-7), Alexandre Cousin (Patrik/Loft Sails/Mystic) and Antoine Questel (Starboard/GA Sails) securing their spots in the first final of the day.

But just as the crowds had gathered on the beach to witness the clash of the slalom titans, disaster seemed to strike. Twice in a row, the men's winners final got cancelled due to lack of wind at the first mark. But it's third time lucky as they say, and the third time around the wind did indeed hold and it was game on. Right from the start it was all or nothing for the riders as first Dagan and Quentel and then Williams nearly lost control in a gust right at the starting line. All three managed to recover and screamed down to the first mark together with the rest of the pack. Toselli reached it first, followed closely by Mortefon, Albeau and Cousin.

As the first four riders blasted off from the mark, the remaining four got caught in a wind hole for a brief moment. The world held its breath in fear for a third cancellation, but this time the flag stayed down. On the way to the second buoy, Mortefon overtook Toselli, putting himself firmly in the lead. Toselli then had to watch Albeau slip past him into second place. But the worst for Toselli had yet to come as he went down at the last mark, taking Cousin down with him. Steve Allen took advantage and moved into third, followed by Toselli who had to settle for fourth. But the well-deserved victory went to Pierre Mortefon, taking his first elimination with Albeau coming in second.

The losers final went to Josh Angulo (Angulo/Gun Sails) thanks to a strong performance. Second place was for Antoine Questel (Starboard/GA Sails) and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard/Point-7) claimed third.


Women's first elimination

In the women's fleet, two big names unexpectedly crashed out in the first round as both 2014 world champ Delphine Cousin (Starboard/Gun Sails) and 2014 third place Valérie Ghibaudo (Tabou/GA Sails) failed to proceed into the final. Those who did make it were Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde/Maui Ultra Fins/Mystic), Lena Erdil (Patrik/Point-7/Mystic/AL360), Esther de Geus (99 NoveNove/Point-7), Ayako Suzuki (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic), Sayaka Iwai (RRD/MauiSails), Fulya Ünlü (Starboard/Severne), María Andrés (Fanatic/Gun Sails/Mystic/AL360), Annika Valkna (Loft Sails), Haruna Furusawa (Starboard/Point-7/Mystic) and Océane Lescadieu (Starboard/Loft Sails).

It was Unlu who took the lead right from the start and held on to it all the way to the finish line. Her compatriot Erdil chased her in second with Offringa not far behind. But the PWA Youth World Champion wouldn't have any of it and consolidated her lead with every mark she rounded to impressively win her first elimination, ahead of Erdil and Offringa.

Cousin redeemed herself by winning the loser's final, ahead of Marion Mortefon (Patrik/Gun Sails) and Cagla Kubat (Starboard/Severne).

Men's second elimination

When two days ago we would have been happy to just complete a single elimination, the conditions today were simply too good to call it a day after just one. And so without delay the second elimination got underway. First big name to drop of the list was Van der Steen. The winner of last year's closing event hit the proverbial wall in the quarterfinals, followed by Dagan in the semis together with first elimination winner Mortefon and Toselli.

The second elimination finalists were Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard/Severne), Ross Williams (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic), Marco Lang (Fanatic/North Sails), Josh Angulo (Angulo/Gun Sails), Antoine Albeau (RRD/Neil Pryde), Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard/Point-7), Matteo Iachino (Fanatic/North Sails) and Jordy Vonk (Starboard/Point-7). Right from the horn, Iachino took the lead, followed by Lang and Vonk. Albeau and Williams were quite far down in the field after the first mark. At the second mark, the pressure got the best of Lang who crashed and saw Angulo slip into second place. Iachino kept his cool and with it the lead rounding the third mark and on his way to the final mark. Angulo still in second and Vonk in third. But at the last mark, the young Dutchman slipped up and fell and had to watch the entire fleet fly by. Nothing Iachino was too worried about as he clinched the second elimination ahead of Angulo and Costa Hoevel.

In the loser's final it was Mortefon who won his second final of the day, albeit the loser's one. Second and third were for Toselli and Dagan respectively.


Women's second elimination

In the women's fleet, the marquee players did what they had to do to claim their ticket to the winners final. Making it through were Lena Erdil (Patrik/Point-7/Mystic/AL360), Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde/Maui Ultra Fins/Mystic), Delphine Cousin (Starboard/Gun Sails), Esther de Geus (99 NoveNove/Point-7), Mio Anayama (Starboard/NeilPryde), Fulya Ünlü (Starboard/Severne), María Andrés (Fanatic/Gun Sails/Mystic/AL360), Cagla Kubat (Starboard/Severne), Marion Mortefon (Patrik/Gun Sails) and Ayako Suzuki (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic). It was Offringa who had the best start, arriving at the first mark in the lead. Erdil and Unlu were chasing her down, completing the same top three that won the first elimination final. The three top women never gave up their podium places, meaning the top slot for the women is tied as both Offringa and Unlu have got a first and a third and Erdil two second spots. The rule to break such a tie is to award victory to the sailor who won the last elimination, which in this case, was Sarah Quita Offringa.

In the loser's final, it was Marion Dusart (Patrik/Gun Sails/Flymount) who took first place, followed by Océane Lescadieu (Starboard/Loft Sails) in second and Nimet Tulumen (KA Sails) in third.

With two eliminations for both the men and the women in the bag, the top 10 rankings at the moment are as follows:

Men
1. Antoine Albeau (RRD/Neil Pryde)
2. Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic/North Sails)
3. Josh Angulo (Angulo/Gun Sails)
4. Ross Williams (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic)
5. Pascal Toselli (99 NoveNove/Point-7)
6. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard/Point-7)
7. Matteo Iachino (Fanatic/North Sails)
8. Arnon Dagan (RRD/NeilPryde)
9. Marco Lang (Fanatic/North Sails)
10. Steve Allen (Starboard/Severne)

Women
1. Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard/NeilPryde/Maui Ultra Fins/Mystic)
2. Fulya Ünlü (Starboard/Severne)
3. Lena Erdil (Patrik/Point-7/Mystic/AL360)
4. María Andrés (Fanatic/Gun Sails/Mystic/AL360)
5. Ayako Suzuki (Tabou/GA Sails/Mystic)
6. Esther de Geus (99 NoveNove/Point-7)
7. Cagla Kubat (Starboard/Severne)
8. Marion Mortefon (Patrik/Gun Sails)
9. Delphine Cousin (Starboard/Gun Sails)
10. Océane Lescadieu (Starboard/Loft Sails)

There's a good chance we'll get another day of wind tomorrow, so it's still all up for grabs here at the 2015 Ulsan PWA World Cup. Check the action in the image gallery and the highlight video later today and join us again tomorrow morning for the final day of the first slalom stop on the 2015 PWA world tour.