2010 Catalunya – Costa Brava (Spain) PWA Slalom World Cup - Day 4

by PWA/Paul Griffiths on 12 Jun 2010 2010 Catalunya – Costa Brava (Spain) PWA Slalom World Cup - Day 4 report.

The waiting game continues as the PWA’s elite race force are held on the beautiful Catalunyan beach for another full day.

A promising forecast fooled many from the finest slalom fleet into thinking that the competition would commence on schedule today. However, the weather gods had a completely different plan. By mid morning the clouds had moved in, bringing plenty of rain, which caused a lot of racers to reach for their umbrellas rather than their boards.

Race director Juan Antonio Aragon and his crew made every effort to ensure racing would start at the earliest opportunity, but the wind failed to arrive leaving the sailors on standby for the entire day.

This leaves the event standings the same as yesterday with Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) and Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou, Loft, Mystic) on equal points at the top of the women’s fleet. And, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic) just ahead of Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) in the men’s.

During the long holding period we took the opportunity to chat to the Brit who’s more versatile than a Swiss Army knife, Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra) about his recent results and his hectic life touring the globe.

PWA: It looks like you’re back up to speed here, are you doing anything differently to Korea?
RW: 'Korea was a little bit weird. I didn’t really do enough sailing beforehand because of the chaos caused by the ash cloud over the UK. I was planning on training in France, but it got cut really short, and the time I did spent there wasn’t great. So I suppose I was a little bit unprepared. Usually when I go to an event I have all of my equipment ready well beforehand, and I do plenty of training so that I’m absolutely on top of things. And, that’s exactly how I feel here. In race one I sailed a bit more aggressively than usual, and a couple of people had some bad luck, which worked out well for me. It’s still only early days, but it’s good to come into the event and be in a good position from the word go.'

PWA: You must have a fairly hectic life at the moment what with competing and training in almost every discipline?
RW: 'Yeah it is, but that’s the joy of doing so much. Whatever the weather is doing, I can usually get out on the water on any given day. I haven’t done so much Formula recently, as I’ve been concentrating on waves and slalom. I usually try to do another sport during the same day as well such as tennis, or running, or surfing. But, if I’ve had say a 4-hour session on the water, I don’t stress too much about going to the gym, I’ll just do a light jog or something. With regards to the competitions, everything seems to be coming together well, and there haven’t been any clashes. The only real problem comes with having a personal life, and finding time to go back to Argentina and spend time with my girlfriend. That’s the real struggle.'

PWA: Do you think each extra discipline helps you to perform well in the others?
RW: 'I think it mainly just helps me to be a more complete competitor. It gets me used to the atmosphere surrounding the competitions and helps me to gain more experience at a faster rate.'

PWA: We’ve heard you’re well in to your big wave surfing as well, tell us a little bit about that.
RW: 'I do really love to go surfing in big waves, I’ve ridden Jaws in Maui, but any form of surfing is my greatest passion. That’s what really drives me to do well in windsurfing, so that I can have some time off to go surfing wherever I want in the off season.'

PWA: Finally Ross, which World Title would you like to win the most?
RW: 'Any one of them will do! But, slalom would be the ultimate one I think because to beat guys like Bjorn and Antoine would be a major accomplishment. Winning waves is maybe a little bit unrealistic for me, because I think to be a world champion in that discipline you have to specialize in it completely. You really have to dedicate your time training in the spots around the world where you can improve your sailing for the events, and I just don’t have the time to do that. But, I really enjoy competing in waves, and being able to go out and sail with the top guys like Kauli Seadi (JP, NeilPryde, Mormaii, MFC).'

The organizers remain hopeful that the current forecast will allow for more fast and furious racing to take place here in Catalunya over the final few days so stay tuned to the PWA site.

Men’s Results After Two Races (Race 2 counts despite being incomplete)
1st Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic) 5.2pts
2nd Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 6.5pts
3rd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) 7.5pts
4th Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde)13.5pts
5th Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra) 16.5pts

Women’s Results After Two Races
1st = Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou, Loft, Mystic) 2.7pts
1st = Karin Jaggi (Patrik, Severne) 2.7pts
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) 7pts

www.pwaworldtour.com