British windsurfer Ross Williams wins PWA World Cup event
by PWA Media on 13 May 2009
Ross Williams in action at PWA World Cup event in Austria John Carter / PWA
http://www.pwaworldtour.com
The first stop on the 2009 PWA men's slalom world tour in windsurfing landed on the shores of Lake Neusiedl, Austria. A 66 man fleet assembled from around the world to compete in the first event to count towards the 2009 PWA Slalom World Champion title. In front of 100,000 strong crowds, the best windsurfers in the world took to the water for the five day event.
Frenchman Antoine Albeau has dominated the men's competition for the last few seasons and with three World Champion titles to his name, was always going to be a big contender to win in Austria.
Day 1 saw Albeau on predictably good form and set the pace for the event by winning all of his heats and sailing to victory in the elimination final. However hot on his heels with some impressive sailing, was British windsurfer Ross Williams who was calm and collected throughout the day and resulted in a second place in the elimination final. At the close of the first day things started to change for the World Champion Albeau, a collision at the start line meant an early departure from Race 2.
On the second day, Lake Neusiedl delivered classic slalom conditions with 15-25 knots of wind.
The elimination final was an Anglo-French battle between Williams and Albeau. Despite Albeau's blistering straight line speed, Williams faultless gybing and tactical negotiation of the race course rewarded him with a convincing victory and the event lead.
Over the remaining days the wind died off and the results from the first few days racing were to determine the event winners. With a fourth place finish in the 2008 World Rankings, Williams was delighted to be handed the event win thanks to a consistent run of results. Albeau showed he can still deliver the goods with a second place and Argentinean Gonzalo Costa Hoevel in third.
Ross Williams 'Since growing up and learning to windsurf, I always looked up to Bjorn (Dunkerbeck - Holland), Kevin Pritchard (USA) and Antoine Albeau (France) - all of those people - and then coming up through the ranks over the years, you know, they've been my peers. Now finally, to get to the end of an event and be the Champion and have those guys behind me, is a great feeling.'
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