PWA Fuerteventura Slalom
Tag 9: Antoine Albeau – überlegener Fahrer am vorletzten Tag und kurz vor dem Eventsieg!
Am vorletzten Tag des 2015 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam wurde die am Vortag gestartete, siebte Elimination abgeschlossen. Bei erneut schwächerem Wind, es wurden rund 10- 20 Knoten gemessen, konnte heute die achte Wettfahrt beendet werden. Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) gewann sowohl die siebte als auch die achte Elimination und hat im Eventranking nun einen deutlichen Vorsprung gegenüber seinen Konkurrenten. Elimination Seven / Winners’ Final Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Point-7) made the best start in the opening winners’ final of the day, but it was Antoine Albeau who led the way ahead of Antoine Questel (Starboard / GA Sails), Toselli and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) as the fleet gybed around the first mark. AA made no mistakes over the remainder of the course as he took full advantage of Matteo Iachino’s (Fanatic / North) absence to assert himself at the top of the rankings. In the meantime Questel was able to keep Toselli at bay to finish in second place, whilst Ben Van der Steen (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic) out manoeuvred teammate Ross Williams to claim fourth. Elimination Eight / Winners’ Final The second final of the day saw both Pascal Toselli and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / GA Sails) disqualified after both sailors jumped the gun. With two elimination victories in the bag Antoine Albeau continued to apply the pressure and even though Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) made the best start, it was Albeau who led at the first again - just like the in previous winners’ final. Allen held onto second place, with Williams, Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Malte Reuscher (JP / NeilPryde) just behind. Albeau extended his lead over the remainder of the course to claim his third bullet of the event and his lead now is almost unassailable. Meanwhile, Williams was able to overtake Allen for second place, with the Australian finishing in third place ahead of Bordes. Jordy Vonk (Starboard / Point-7) enjoyed a better day today as the Dutchman won both of his opening heats to earn his best result so far at this event - 15th. Whilst the top two places look secured for Albeau and Iachino - barring disaster for either of them tomorrow - the battle for the final place on the heralded podium is incredibly tight. At the moment Ross Williams occupies third but Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North), Ben Van der Steen and Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) are all still in contention with just 0.7 of a point separating Williams from Mortefon and Van der Steen, whilst Frans is also just 2 points away, so there is no room for error for any of them if they want to clinch the final place on the podium. The forecast looks light for tomorrow, but there’s still a chance of wind if Sotavento’s local affect kicks in. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 11am with the action commencing from 11:30am. Don’t miss any of the final day by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.