Matteo Iachino rises to the top and dedicates victory to the late and great Alberto Menegatti

This year’s Catalunya PWA World Cup proved to be a testing affair for the competitors and also one that required a lot of patience. After wind on the second day the fleet were made to wait until the final day to resume their second meeting of the season and it turned out to be an intriguing battle.

Heading into the final day Arnon Dagan led the event after winning the opening elimination, but the Israeli then made a massive mistake in Race 2 as he was disqualified from the first round for a premature start. Dagan was praying for no wind in order to hang on to what would’ve been his second event victory, and for a time it looked like the wind God’s were going to answer his prayers after an overcast start to the day.

However, as the day progressed the skies began to clear and the trademark sea breeze associated with the Gulf de Roses started to kick in. With the wind arriving competition was resumed and whilst conditions were on the marginal side it was enough to see a further two eliminations complete - three overall. This presented Matteo Iachino with the perfect opportunity to claw himself to the top of the rankings, with the Italian beautifully poised in second place and Dagan out of the picture. To the twenty-five year old's credit he stepped up admirably when it was required to claim an emphatic victory in Race 2 and move into the lead. Iachino then held his nerve in Race 4 - finishing fourth - and with the wind fading the final day drew to a close and it will be a day the Italian maestro will always remember as it was the day he tasted victory on the PWA World Tour for the first time in his career. Based on his latest performance this may be the first of many victories.

Ross Williams maintained his excellent early season form as he backed up his fourth place from Korea with a superb second place in Costa Brava, which sees him move up to joint second in the world overall. The Brit was the only other man - besides Iachino - to qualify for every winners’ final as he demonstrated tremendous top speed in the light winds and perfect jibes to carve his way through the fleet.

After an excellent first race, it looked as though it would be business for usual for Antoine Albeau. However, the reigning world champion then suffered a shock quarterfinal exit in the second elimination to throw the competition wide open. With his years of winning experience, Albeau didn’t panic and claimed 5th place in the final race and with other surprise results throughout the event he still managed to grab the last place on the prestigious podium, whilst more importantly maintaining his place at the top of the overall world rankings.

Pierre Mortefon entered the event as one of the real danger men having finished second in Korea and winning the Defi Wind. The Frenchman won his opening heat in Race 1, but then suffered a disaster as moments before the start of his quarterfinal he encountered a problem with one harness line. Despite valiant efforts, Mortefon couldn’t quite make it through to the quarterfinals and was faced with an uphill challenge. On the final day he did just that - finishing fifth in Race 2 - before blitzing to victory in the final elimination to rally back and finish fourth overall.

Just like last year, the French dominated over half of the places in the top ten. Cyril Moussilmani, last year’s vice-world champion, was just behind Albeau and Mortefon in fifth place, which crucially keeps his title aspirations alive after a less than ideal start in Korea. The same can also be said of Julien Quentel and Cedric Bordes who were also in desperate need of a good result after a disappointing opening event and that’s exactly what they managed to do as they completed the week in 6th and 8th place respectively.

The top ten was completed by Ben Van Der Steen and Adriaan Van Rijsselberghe - with the latter breaking into the world’s top ten for the first time.

Other standout performances include Nicolas Warembourg, who finished in eleventh place, whilst the youthful talents of Nicolas Goyard, Nicolas Prien and Amado Vrieswijk showed there is plenty of promise for the future.

After a manic final day the closing ceremony was held to crown a new King of Costa Brava, whilst closing the curtain on another fantastic six days in Spain. The weather may not have always played ball over the past week, but there was still plenty of tricky and testing racing, which produced some surprise results whilst keeping the title race wide open. The slalom sailors will now have a break until the end of July before resuming battle in Fuerteventura.

The freestyle and slalom fleets have held the limelight so far this year, so next time around it will be the wave sailors turn to take center stage again as they prepare for their first contest of the season in Pozo, Gran Canaria, which runs between July 12th and July 18th. Don’t miss any of the action by tuning into PWA World Tour.com.

Day 6 - A day to remember for Matteo Iachino as Italian maestro tastes victory for first time

An overcast start to the final day of the Catalunya PWA World Cup threw doubt into whether any racing would be completed. However, as the morning progressed the sun started to emerge from behind the clouds and the sea breeze started to slowly kick in and although the wind remained on the marginal side - meaning racing was tough on the sailors - a further two eliminations were completed.

Arnon Dagan’s prayers for no wind were not answered on this occasion meaning a second event title will have to wait, but whilst one set of prayers were not answered, the wind God’s responded to a separate set of prayers. At the start of the day Matteo Iachino sat in second place and must’ve been desperate for suitable conditions to give him a shot at a maiden event victory. Thankfully for the Italian, that’s exactly what happened as the wind filled in and he thrived under the pressure to assert himself at the top of the rankings after clinically clinching victory in the second elimination.

At this point, the Italian may have been forgiven for thinking that he had the win in the bag, but with time still left in the day it was soon announced that another elimination would be held. To Iachino’s credit, he responded in the perfect fashion as he effortlessly navigated his way into the winners’ final - seemingly unnerved by the prospect of tasting victory for the first time. Once in the final, the pressure was effectively off, but Iachino may not have been aware of the math securing his place at the top - either way he maintained his professionalism to take home an excellent fourth place. Elimination 4 was started but with the wind becoming more fickle the racing was soon abandoned and the Italian could finally bask in his well deserved glory.

Matteo Iachino reflects on maiden victory and remembers the late and great Alberto Menegatti:

“It’s an unbelievable result - I can’t believe it. The racing itself was tough with the gusty conditions making timing the start difficult. In the final I took advantage of a small jibing mistake by Malte Reuscher and from there I managed to hold onto the lead. Afterwards a new race was announced and my stress levels were super high. I went for it again and everything went well - finishing fourth - on the way back to the beach I was counting and thought that maybe I had a chance of winning, so I couldn't believe it when it was real. It was really nice to win and the whole time I was also thinking about Alberto. I just want to take the opportunity now to thank Alberto because without him I would’ve never believed that I could be where I am right now. Basically it’s thank to him that I am here - he’s the one that made me start to believe that my dream could come true. Thanks, Alby.”

After Race 2 had been completed, Pierre Mortefon sent out a warning signal to the rest of his rivals that he is still a serious contender for the world title. The Frenchman was unlucky in the opening race - suffering a problem with his harness line which resulted in a quarterfinal exit. However, with the bit between his teeth and the determination to keep himself within touching distance of the leading pack - Mortefon dug dip to reel off an emphatic victory in Race 3 over his closest contenders Steve Allen and Alexandre Cousin, who finished second and third respectively.

Ross Williams was the only other sailor to qualify for every winners’ final besides eventual champion Matteo Iachino. The Brit continued his fine early season form from Korea and is now prominently poised in the rankings after a fourth and superb second place overall here in Costa Brava.

Jimmy Diaz enjoyed a fine second elimination as he booked his place in the winners’ final - before demonstrating his textbook jibes to earn 3rd place, which is his best performance of the year thus far in an elimination.

Antoine Albeau escaped from an early exit in Race 2 to battle back in true champion style. The reigning world champion finished the final elimination of the week in 5th place, which when combined with the mixed bag of results from some of the world’s top racers, resulted in Albeau claiming the final place on the prestigious podium, whilst taking a strangle hold at the top of the overall rankings.

The closing ceremony was held at 7 PM and after Matteo Iachino was officially crowned the King of Costa Brava he was given the appropriate christening as his fellow competitors and friends threw him into the swimming pool. The slalom fleet will now return to action at the end of July.

Overall Results Catalunya PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino2nd Ross Williams3rd Antoine Albeau4th Pierre Mortefon5th Cyril Moussilmani6th Julien Quentel7th Alexandre Cousin8th Cedric Bordes9th Ben Van Der Steen10th Adriaan van Rijsselberge

Day 5 - A frustrating day as the wind teases the competitors for the majority of the afternoon

The outlook for the penultimate day of the Catalunya PWA World Cup was much more positive than Friday’s prospects as the golden sunshine returned and by late morning, the wind was already showing signs of picking up. Unfortunately though the wind remained just below the competition threshold for much of the afternoon - teasingly fluctuating between 5 and 12 knots.

After several hours of waiting, the sailors were eventually released at 7:30 PM and attention now turns towards the final day - which on paper looks more promising than today with more south forecast in the gradient wind. Hopefully this will allow the sea breeze to return and provide an exciting climax to the event.

Arnon Dagan will be waiting on tenter hooks as he sits in a precarious lead with one day to go. The Israeli made the perfect start to the event by winning the first race, but then made a big mistake in the second elimination as he was disqualified from the first round for a premature start. If the wind fails to materialize then Dagan will claim his second ever event victory - after success in Sylt last year. However, on the other hand if the wind does arrive then it is likely he will miss out with the possibility of acquiring a discard looking unlikely.

Waiting in the wings though is Matteo Iachino who currently occupies second place and would have a great chance of challenging for a maiden event win if the final day does produce the goods. Of course the Italian will face stern competition though with reigning world champion Antoine Albeau breathing down his neck in third place.

Some of the biggest names in the world of slalom will also be praying for wind to give them a chance to improve their ranking both here and overall after some shock results in Korea where just two eliminations could be completed. A poor result here could potentially cost the likes of Cyril Moussilmani, Ben Van Der Steen and Julien Quentel a shot at the title for 2015 due to the fact they can only discard one event.

The skippers’ meeting tomorrow will be held at 10:30 AM with the action commencing from 11 AM. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to stay up to date with all the latest from the event.

Day 4 - A promising forecast for the weekend after a rainy day

Day Four saw the usual wall-to-wall sunshine replaced by menacing black clouds and heavy rain, which kept the sailors off the racing course for second day in a row. By the evening the sun did start to re-emerge but with no sign of the wind increasing the fleet were released at 5 PM and attention now turns towards the weekend, which should see the return of the wind.

With the majority of the sailors seeking cover from the rain we grabbed a few quick words in between showers with Pierre Mortefon and Cyril Moussilmani:

Pierre Mortefon took an earlier than anticipated exit from the first race, but there is an explanation behind it:

“Ten seconds before the start of the quarterfinals I had a problem with my harness line on port tack. Anyway, I took the start with my broken harness line and managed to make it to the first mark in third place, but after the third buoy my arms were burned out and I missed out on the qualifying places. It’s not a great result, but hopefully the thermal wind arrives for the weekend and we get chance to gain a discard - that would be perfect for me.”

Cyril Moussilmani looking to kick on after finishing 11th in the opening elimination:

“On the first day of racing I managed to make it into the losers’ final - finishing 3rd behind Josh [Angulo] and Julien [Quentel]. The forecast looks better for the weekend so we expect some wind and hopefully we can have some good, quality races.”

The forecast for the weekend looks promising and with a bit of luck there should be wind over the two remaining days. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30 AM tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11 AM. Don’t miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.

Day 3 - A recap of day two with Arnon Dagan as cloud stops play

After a foggy start to day three in Costa Brava it always looked as though it would be an uphill battle for the racing to resume. Unfortunately that’s the way the day panned out as the weather remained hazy - stopping the clockwork like sea breeze from kicking in. With the sailors playing the waiting game today we caught up with Arnon Dagan, who currently sits at the top of the rankings, but experienced a real high followed by a real low within the space of a couple of hours during yesterday’s racing.

PWA: What was going through your head after winning the first elimination yesterday?

AD: “I thought to myself that I shouldn’t be too high. I was thinking I’ve won finals before, but there’s a long way to go so it’s not a big deal and try and treat it like nothing. When I crossed the line though I couldn’t help celebrating it just came out in the moment. Yesterday was a good fight - dragging all the equipment to the beach, I’ve also just traveled in from Maui - so it was just a release for me.”

PWA: How did you feel when you knew that you’d gone over early in the first round of the next race?

AD: “Surprisingly it didn’t feel as bad as if I hadn’t won the other race. I tried to do the same thing as when I won, you know, not going to high and not going to low, but the high was a high and the low… well that was a low. Now I just need to move on from it because there is nothing I can do about it now. I would have felt much worse about it in the earlier days. It was way, way, way better than the mistake I made in Sylt in 2014. With this one I was like, well okay you’re an idiot - how many years can you compete and still do things likes this, but like I said earlier there’s nothing I can do about it now except smile.”

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

The forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today, so it will be a case of wait and see. The skippers’ meeting for tomorrow will be held at 10 AM with the action commencing from 10:30 AM - if conditions allow. Stay up to date with all of the latest developments by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com.

Day 2 - Arnon Dagan strikes first in Costa Brava after a day of surprise results and tough racing

Day two of the Catalunya PWA World Cup saw a bright and sunny start to proceedings, which gave the whole event site a much more positive outlook about today’s chances of wind, after yesterday’s more unsettled weather. With the normal weather system restored it wasn’t long before the sea breeze started to kick which allowed racing to be underway before 2 PM. Conditions proved to be tricky and unforgiving with the lighter winds meaning that any mistake was severely punished. At the end day two Arnon Dagan leads the way after clinching victory, but it was a day of two halves for the Israeli as he went from winning race one to exiting the second elimination in the first round.

Men's Elimination 1 - Winners’ Final

The first winners’ final of the week was completed at the second time of asking after both Micah Buzianis and Ross Williams jumped the gun. Upon the restart it was Arnon Dagan that was able to break into an early lead as he rounded the opening mark ahead of Matteo Iachino, Antoine Albeau and Nicolas Warembourg. The Israeli executed a textbook jibe at the second to further extend his lead and from here he wouldn’t be caught as he claimed the first bullet of the week in emphatic style, whilst the remainder of the top four stayed the same.

Upsets

The first race also saw plenty of upsets as several big names fell early. Andrea Cucchi, Maciek Rutkowski, Tristan Algret, Finian Maynard, Taty Frans and Pascal Toselli all fell in the first round. Elsewhere in the opening round, Pablo Ania and Amado Vrieswijk did well to advance into the quarterfinals as did Ethan Westera, who also managed to go one better by qualifying for the semifinals.

The upsets continued with Gonzalo Costa Hoevel being disqualified alongside Sebastian Kornum in Heat 9 for premature starts, before Pierre Mortefon also took a shock early exit in the quarterfinals, whilst Ben van der Steen also suffered the same fate after just missing out in fifth place. Marco Lang looked as though he was going to safely advance into the semifinals - and maintain his excellent early season form - but he dropped his third jibe meaning the Austrian missed out.

Men's Elimination 2

The opening round of the second elimination was also completed before the wind became to light and patchy for the competition to continue. However, just like the opening race there has already been a number of upsets, but the biggest without doubt came in Heat 8 as Arnon Dagan, who won so convincingly in Elimination 1, crossed the start line early to be disqualified.

With the conditions deteriorating in the early evening the sailors were released at 6:20 PM and they will meet again tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM for the skippers’ meeting. The first possible start for tomorrow will be 11 AM. The forecast for tomorrow doesn’t look too dissimilar to today so hopefully we will see more racing tomorrow. As always you’ll be able to follow everything as it happens by tuning into PWA World Tour.com!

Day 1 - The slalom fleet are rigged and ready for action after a quiet first day

The opening day of the 2015 Catalunya PWA World Cup saw a quiet start to proceedings as the usual sunny weather associated with the clockwork like sea breezes, was replaced by heavy cloud cover and for a short time thunder and lighting.

The registration process was completed between 9:30 AM and 11 AM as the elite of the slalom world signed up ready for their second battle of the year, but they will have to wait until tomorrow for the chance to resume the fight on the race course.

With plenty of downtime today we caught up with a few of the sailors to find out what music they like to listen to before sailing and how they get into the zone before the green flag goes up.

Andrea Rosati: “Actually I personally don’t like to listen to music before racing. I just try and stay as relaxed as possible and make sure I have all the little bits prepared, so I don’t have to be rushing around at the last minute if I need something.”

The Bonaire and Curacao Crew with Taty Frans, Amado Vrieswijk, Ethan Westera and Aron Etmon: “Eat rice with chicken! Listen to some music like Drake or something similar.”

Kurosh Kiani: “Music wise it would be all sorts of weird stuff! Haha! I used to always listen to music before going out to race because I thought that would get me pumped up, but eventually I realized that wasn’t what really gets me going, what really gets me going is to be prepared before I go out on the water. Prepared can be just small things like having all of my gear on the beach ready to go, having tools ready if I need to change a fin or something, or just having a simple thing like an energy drink. I’ve found out that that gives me a calmness to go out and race - also I’ll often think about the different scenarios which might happen in the race and that sometimes gets me pumped up, particularly if it’s fighting someone at a mark or something similar.”

Sebastien Kördel: “I personally don’t usually listen to music before racing, the thing that I like to do before the start in an important race - if it’s not too cold - is to one minute before the start drop into the water for a waterstart so I can feel the pressure of the water and cool me down. I also find that that helps me with nerves so I don’t feel so nervous before the race. Also dropping into the water before the start makes you a little bit heavier so you can go a bit quicker! Haha!”

Marco Lang: “Pfff... that’s pretty hard, to be honest I just try to go out on the water and have fun and try and stay relaxed.”

The forecast for tomorrow looks as though it holds some promise for racing, so with a bit of luck the first elimination will get underway. The skippers’ meeting for tomorrow has been called for 10 AM with the action commencing from 10:30 AM - if conditions allow. Make sure you tune into the PWA World Tour to stay up to date with all the latest action from Costa Brava.

Event Preview - Slalom elite armed and ready for battle round two in Costa Brava

A little more than a month has past since the opening slalom event of the year in Ulsan, South Korea, which means it’s time for the second battle of the season in Costa Brava, Spain - which will once again play host to the world’s fastest sailors between the 9th-14th June.

The picturesque town of Sant Pere Pescador is located 150 km to the north-east of Barcelona and is blessed with twelve kilometers of jaw dropping white sand beaches and the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The Gulf de Roses has become a world renowned destination due to its clockwork like sea breezes, which frequently grace Costa Brava with their presence during the summer months. However, whilst offering an astonishing backdrop, the Pyrenees Mountain’s can also transform Costa Brava into a white knuckled assault course - when the ferocious Tramontana wind whistles down the mountain range in excess of thirty knots - ready to test the mettle of any world class sailor. Either way we are guaranteed to see more exhilarating, close-quarters racing.

Ones to Watch

Antoine Albeau made the perfect start to his title defense by claiming victory in South Korea. Although he may not have won one of the two eliminations completed in Korea he again showed the level of consistency that is required to come out on top by qualifying for both winners’ finals. The reigning world champion has an excellent record in Costa Brava with three wins and two podium finishes over the past five seasons and you’d expect him to be there or thereabouts come the end of the event and he’s definitely the man everyone will be looking to beat.

Pierre Mortefon has emerged as a genuine title contender and it all started this time last year in Costa Brava when the Frenchman captured his first PWA podium finish. Since then, the 25 year old hasn’t looked back and he has made a great start to 2015 - claiming second place in Korea - where he won the opening elimination. Mortefon has also enjoyed major success away from the PWA by winning the Defi Wind in May, so confidence will be sky high and he’ll be a real threat over the course of the week.

After claiming his first podium finish since 2011 - Josh Angulo - will enter the second event of the season full of confidence. The man from Cabo Verde has already spoken about the fact that his latest result has given him even more motivation for the remainder of the year and he’ll be even more dangerous in Costa Brava. Angulo has been on the cusp of some big results in the past and this extra motivation and drive could mean it’s his time to shine.

Ross Williams made an excellent start to the season as he claimed fourth place in South Korea - only missing out on the prestigious podium on count-back. The Brit is regarded as one of the best overall sailors in the world and you’d expect him to build upon his promising start to the season.

Having changed sail sponsors during the winter, Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel proved that he has made a seamless transition to his new equipment as he took home 6th place in Korea, whilst Italian Matteo Iachino continues to impress having achieved another Top 10 finish - both will be hoping to feature in the Top 10 again.

Arnon Dagan and Steve Allen finished 8th and 10th respectively in Korea and will be as dangerous as ever in Costa Brava with both men being extremely quick in light winds, which occur frequently here.

South Korea produced some shock results, but you’d expect the likes of vice-world champion Cyril Moussilmani, Ben van der Steen, Julien Quentel, Tristan Algret, Cedric Bordes and Finian Maynard to all bounce back with a vengeance and push for a return to the Top 10 at a minimum.

Taty Frans, who finished 9th overall in 2014, will also be making his first appearance of the year on the slalom scene having been absent from South Korea due to competing in Austria. The Bonairean is incredibly quick and is one of the most technical sailors, so you can expect to see him diving down the inside of his rivals as he cranks some textbook jibes.

The next six days promise to be action packed with more high octane, adrenaline fueled racing. As always you’ll be able to follow the action as it happens by tuning into PWA World Tour.com from the 9th to the 14th of June.

The skippers' meeting on the opening day will be at 12 PM - with the first possible start at 1 PM.

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