Day 4: Antoine Albeau strikes back after an amazing day in Fuerteventura

The wind returned with a vengeance on Day 4 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam hosted by René Egli, as winds of 25 to 35 knots howled across Sotavento to produce the most exhilarating racing of the year. Antoine Albeau was on fire today as he claimed two victories out of the three eliminations completed to storm to the top of the event rankings, whilst Ben van der Steen clinched his first victory of the week in Race 4.

Elimination IV - Winners’ Final

The first winners’ final of the day started under dramatic circumstances as both Arnon Dagan and Finian Maynard jumped the gun to be disqualified. Upon the restart, Josh Angulo made the best start of the fleet, but a flying Ben van der Steen had burst into the lead by the opening mark. The Dutchman maintained his blistering pace to extend his lead over the remainder of the course and he was soon celebrating his first bullet of the week. Behind him, Pierre Mortefon turned on the afterburners on the final straight to beat Angulo to second place, whilst Pascal Toselli completed the Top 4 after managing to overtake Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and Taty Frans.

Earlier in Elimination 4, Heat 12 saw a photo finish as Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, Ross Williams and Julien Quentel all battled for the final two qualifying positions. At the penultimate jibe it looked as though Quentel and Williams were comfortably advancing, but a rampaging Costa Hoevel soon put his name into the equation. As the trio raced down the final straight, there was just a few meters between them as they crossed the finish line and unfortunately Quentel was the man to miss out on the semifinals.

Elimination V - Winners’ Final

The second winners’ final also need two attempts to be completed after Josh Angulo mistimed his start to be disqualified from Heat 16. Reigning PWA World Champion Antoine Albeau sailed the perfect heat as he led from start to finish to clinch his first victory of the event, but more importantly also saw the big Frenchman move to the top of the leader board by half a point over Pascal Toselli. Ben van der Steen was able to back up his earlier success with a solid second place ahead of Julien Quentel and Cyril Moussilmani, who finished in third and fourth respectively.

Today was clearly Bruno Martini’s lucky day. The Italian suffered a broken mast just a few minutes before his opening heat, but still managed to advance after Kasper Larsen, Damien Le Guen and Aron Etmon all jumped the gun to give Martini, Josh Angulo, Bjorn Dunkerbeck and Cedric Bordes byes into the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Matteo Iachino made an incredible recovery in Heat 10 as he battled his way back from 7th place at the opening jibe to clinch fourth place after a photo finish with Antoine Questel.

Elimination VI

The door was thrown wide open for Antoine Albeau in the 6th race as both Pascal Toselli and Ben van der Steen failed to qualify for the winners’ final. Prior to this, the duo were sat in second and third place, only half a point and a point behind Albeau, respectively. Albeau actually looked as though he too would be taking an early exit after dropping his opening jibe in the quarterfinals, but remarkably managed to claw his way back from seventh place at the first mark to fourth by the penultimate jibe after showing incredible straight line speed and text book jibes.

Elimination VI - Winners’ Final

Antoine Albeau consolidated his place at the top of the event rankings in the last winners final of the day. However, it wasn’t plain sailing for Albeau as he entered the first jibe in 4th place behind Julien Quentel, who flew down the opening straight to obtain the lead ahead of Micah Buzianis and Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Albeau stepped on the gas though and broke into the lead by the second mark, a position he wouldn’t relinquish, which now gives him a comfortable lead at the top. Behind him there was plenty of drama as Buzianis was taken out by Ludovic Jossin at the third, allowing Pierre Mortefon and Ross Williams to move up to the third and fourth with Quentel claiming his best result so far - second.

The seventh elimination was started, but the wind became more inconsistent during the early evening meaning only the first 5 heats could be completed. With the wind showing no signs of improving the sailors were released at twenty past six after an incredible day of racing. The forecast predicts further wind for tomorrow, but slightly lighter than today. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10 AM tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30 AM. Don't miss any of the incredible action by tuning into PWA World Tour where you'll be able to follow the event as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

Results after Elimination 6 - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam:

1st Antoine Albeau2nd Pascal Toselli3rd Pierre Mortefon4th Ben Van Der Steen5th Cyril Moussilmani

Day 3: Pascal Toselli claims his second bullet as he heads to the top of the rankings

The wind returned on Day 3 of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, hosted by René Egli, as winds of 14 to 24 knots provided some of the best racing conditions of the year, allowing the third elimination to be completed. Pascal Toselli struck again to claim his second bullet of the week, which sees the Frenchman rise to the top of the event rankings.

Elimination III - Winners’ Final

Micah Buzianis made the perfect start in the winners’ final as he crossed the line in first place, however the American wasn’t able to hold onto his lead for long as Pascal Toselli moved into the top spot by the first mark as he continued to look blisteringly quick. The Frenchman, who claimed his first ever elimination victory on Friday, soon added another victory to his name as he stayed cool, calm and collected to secure bullet number two, which means Toselli is now the current event leader with two days to go. Behind him, Buzianis claimed second place followed by Antoine Albeau - who had to slow down just before the start line to avoid going over early - and Cyril Moussilmani, who did brilliantly to overtake his brother Sylvain Moussilmani at the final mark.

Elsewhere in Race 3 Gonzalo Costa Hoevel suffered a first round exit. The Argentinian was neck and neck with Jimmy Diaz as they approached the start line, but slammed on the brakes to avoid going over early. Unfortunately for Costa Hoevel the start was timed to perfection and he was unable to claw his way back into the top four. In Heat 5, eighteen year old Benjamin Augé, who is making his debut on the PWA World Tour, did brilliantly to book his place in the quarterfinals as he finished fourth behind Finian Maynard, Antoine Questel and Ben van der Steen.

Elimination IV

The fourth race was started, but will have to be completed tomorrow after the wind became too gusty to continue racing. There is now just one heat remaining to be sailed of the first round, so Heat 8 will be the first heat on the water tomorrow. In the opening round, John Skye, who is also making his debut appearance in the slalom, was visibly delighted to qualify for the next round for the first time as clinched the final qualifying position in Heat 6. Meanwhile, Pieter Bijl missed out on a place in the quarterfinals. The Dutchman occupied fourth place in Heat 2, but dropped his second jibe allowing sixteen year old Ethan Westera to progress into the next round for the second time this week.

The forecast for tomorrow promises to provide further brilliant racing conditions as the slalom heads towards its climax. Will Toselli be able to hold onto his lead? Find out by tuning into PWA World Tour where you'll be able to follow the event as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

If you’d like to know more about Fuerteventura or are interested in a windsurfing holiday then be sure to visit René Egli. René Egli is a world class windsurfing center, which opened an amazing new station in April, stocked with all the latest toys you could possibly desire.

Results after Elimination Three Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam:

1st Pascal Toselli2nd Antoine Albeau3rd Matteo Iachino4th Cyril Moussilmani5th Steve Allen

Day 2: Teasing conditions as the wind machine takes a break

The second day of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam hosted by René Egli, saw a pause in the action as the wind teased the competitors for much of the day. At 12 PM it looked as though we would see another afternoon of racing, but unfortunately a thick layer of cloud soon disrupted the wind, despite the breeze threatening to return in the early evening, suitable conditions never quite materialized. Having been on hold for the entire day, the sailors were eventually released at 5:30 PM.

With plenty of down time throughout the day we caught up with our current event leader Matteo Iachino:

PWA: What setup were you on yesterday and how was yesterday for you?

MI: “I was on my Fanatic Falcon 110 and my North Warp 7.8m². It was really good. The course was nice with a long first reach like usual in Fuerte, followed by a short tight second leg. It was quite tough to come out of the first jibe in a good position, which made for some challenging racing because you needed to point higher straight away and quick acceleration was crucial.”

PWA: As the current event leader, do you feel like that puts more pressure on you?

MI: “Erm... at the moment I’m feeling super happy, I know it’s still only the beginning of the event. Today we had no wind, but it likes like from tomorrow onwards the wind is going to blow again, so there will be plenty more racing. I have a bit of pressure, but I’m already happy to be in this position so I think I only have something to win and nothing to lose.”

PWA: How did you prepare for the season over the winter?

MI: “I spent the winter in Tenerife, from November to mid March. There I was doing lots of testing because I changed sponsors over the winter, so I needed to test my new boards and sails, which I was really happy with. I was also training with Mark Hosegood like many of the other guys on the PWA World Tour and I think that helped me a lot. After Tenerife, I went to Maui for the first time, which was amazing, to test the new equipment for next year, as well as training with my teammates Marco Lang and Pierre Mortefon and many of the NeilPryde guys.”

PWA: As well as slalom, you are also into surfing?

MI: “Yeah, I really love it, I have done it for many years with my friends in the North of Italy. In the winter time we get proper swells. I think it’s good training as well as being a lot of fun.”

PWA: Thanks, Matteo and good luck for the rest of the event.

The forecast for tomorrow looks good, so we should see the return of more frantic slalom on the water. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10 AM tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30 AM. Don't miss any of the incredible action over the next nine days by tuning into PWA World Tour where you'll be able to follow the event live via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

Day 1: First blood to Toselli and Angulo, but Iachino leads the way

The Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, hosted by René Egli, started in explosive fashion as the racing started promptly this afternoon, allowing the opening two eliminations to be completed. The first blood of the day went to Pascal Toselli, before Josh Angulo claimed his first bullet of the season in the second race. However, at the end of the first day, Italy’s Matteo Iachino sits proudly at the top of the rankings as the current event leader after backing up his fourth place finish with a solid third.

Elimination I - Winners’ Final

Race 1 was completed in 14 to 22 knots as Pascal Toselli produced a fantastic display to claim his first ever elimination victory. The Frenchman has been on the cusp of victory a couple of times this season and today he was able to slot all the pieces of the puzzle together to make the perfect start to the event. Cyril Moussilmani made the best start to the final, but by the first mark, Toselli had burst into the lead - a position he would not relinquish. Behind him reigning world champion Antoine Albeau made a solid start to the week as he clinched second place ahead of Cyril Moussilmani and Matteo Iachino. Meanwhile, Sebastian Kördel, did brilliantly on his last jibe to maneuver himself from last place into 5th.

The first round saw several shocks as the big names fell early. In the opening heat of the day Taty Frans failed to advance. The Bonairean lead into the first mark but crucially dropped his jibe, a mistake he was unable to recover from. In Heat 4, Pierre Mortefon became to latest name to fall after narrowly missing out in 5th place to Denmark’s Kasper Larsen, whilst Pieter Bijl also suffered an early exit after jumping the gun. Meanwhile, in Heat 7 and 8 respectively Micah Buzianis and Cedric Bordes failed to advance. However, several sailors did well to advance from tough opening heats. Firstly, sixteen year old Ethan Westera booked his place in the quarterfinals before Marco Lang and Enes Yilmazer both escaped from Heat 2.

Elimination II - Winners’ Final

The second winners’ final of the day started under dramatic circumstances as Antoine Albeau was disqualified after crossing the start line early. Upon the restart, Josh Angulo timed his start to perfection, but Australia’s Steve Allen held the lead as the fleet headed into the first jibe. However, by the exit, Angulo had managed to take the lead ahead Allen, Pierre Mortefon and Matteo Iachino. Angulo extended his advantage by the third and it wasn’t long before he was claiming his first bullet of the season, whilst Mortefon made a great recovery after his first round exit in the first race to finish in 2nd followed by Iachino and Allen, who claimed third and fourth respectively.

Heat 3 saw two sailors cross the start line early, resulting in disqualification - Maciek Rutkowski, who qualified for the losers’ final in the opening race and unfortunately sixteen year old Aron Etmon, who is making his debut on the PWA World Tour and is the youngest competitor in the fleet. This left the door open for twenty-two year old Martim Montiero, who successfully booked his place in the quarterfinals along with Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, Benoit Moussilmani and Malte Reuscher. In Heat 7, Amado Vrieswijk - who is better known for his freestyling expertise - negotiate his way into his first quarterfinal as he clinched the final qualifying position.

After advancing into the quarterfinals in Race 1 - Enes Yilmazer - went one better in Elimination 2 as he navigated his way into the semifinals, before just missing out on a place in the winners’ final after finishing sixth in Heat 13. The second semifinal saw three sailors disqualified for jumping the gun - Sebastian Kordel, Ross Williams and Pascal Toselli, who will be very disappointed having won the opening round. With just five sailors remaining, each one of them pushed themselves to the limit for a place in the winners’ final. Unfortunately Micah Buzianis was the man to miss out after dropping his second jibe when trying to desperately pass Steve Allen.

Tomorrow’s forecast predicts lighter winds for tomorrow, but with Sotavento’s local affects you can never be 100% about what will happen. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10 AM tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30 AM. Don't miss any of the incredible action over the next nine days by tuning to PWA World Tour where you'll be able to follow the event live via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

Results after Elimination Two Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam:

1st Matteo Iachino2nd Antoine Albeau3rd Pascal Toselli4th Cyril Moussilmani5th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

- Text and pictures are courtesy of John Carter / PWA World Tour -