C o n t i n e n t s e v e n - B l o g

With tensions mounting on the final day of competition, the ensuing last race of the event would prove to be make or break for Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North) and Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde), who sat just 0.4 of a point apart at the top of the score sheet. For Albeau to rob Dunkerbeck of the event lead, he’d have to place in the top six, and beat Dunkerbeck in the final race. Likewise, for Dunkerbeck to take the event title, he’d have to place higher than Albeau.

In a warm up for the race final, Albeau and Dunkerbeck were pitched against each other in the semi finals. The resulting brawl saw Albeau gain a psychological boost when he crossed the line in second, two places above Dunkerbeck, however it was Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde) that commanded the heat.

Coming down to the wire, the event title now hinged on the critical race final, with the winner quite literally taking all. As the green flag went up, Dunkerbeck seized the early advantage with a perfectly timed start. Off the pace, Albeau ran into problems when he caught a bag around his fin. The resulting drag left him towards the back of the pack, and stuck in dirty wind.

In contrast, Dunkerbeck, who seemed to be thriving under the pressure, screamed ahead of his nearest rival, Peter Volwater (F2, North) in second. By the fourth mark, Dunkerbeck was half a reach ahead, meaning the final straight was a mere formality en route to claiming the event title.

Crossing the finish line, the multiple world champion was greeted with wave upon wave of cheers and applause, as ecstatic fans congratulated the newly crowned event winner.

Albeau had little control over his result, and eventually crossed the finish line in tenth place. The crowd were then treated to a rare spectacle, as two of windsurfing’s most iconic figures congratulated each other on their latest achievements; Dunkerbeck the event winner, and Albeau, whose second overall for the event was enough to crown him the 2008 Slalom 42 World Champion.

The final women’s race of the event would have little baring on the top positions, with Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou, The Loft) and Karin Jaggi (F2, North) already cemented in positions one and two, regardless of the outcome.

Even so, there was pride at stake, and the consummate professionals launched into one last awesome battle for all to enjoy. This time round it would be Jaggi’s day, as she cruised to victory with Gibaudo close behind in second. Much like the men’s result, Ghibaudo was crowned event winner, but Jaggi’s second overall for the event was enough to crown her the 2008 Women’s Slalom World Champion.
Our congratulations go out to the winners, and all those lucky enough to take part in this amazing event.

© PWA/Andrew Buchanan

Event Results Alacati

Men

1st Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North)
2nd Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde)
3rd Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra)
4th Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde)
5th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, MFC, Dakine)

Women

1st Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou, The Loft)
2nd Karin Jaggi (F2, North)
3rd Verena Fauster (F2, Gaastra)
4th Lena Erdil (The Loft)
5th Sarah Hebert (Starboard, Naish)

Overall Standings after 5 events

Men

1st and Slalom Worldchampion 2008 Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde)
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North)
3rd Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, MFC, Dakine)
4th Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra)
5th Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde)

Women after all 3 events

1st and Slalom Worldchampion Karin Jaggi (F2, North)
2nd Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou, The Loft)
3rd Sarah Hebert (Starboard, Naish)
4th Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North)
5th Lee Korzitz (Tabou, Gaastra)

The Terminator returns on judgement day: Bjorn Dunkerbeck sails to victory in race eleven, crowning him the event winner on the final day of competition in Alacati. In the women’s fleet, Valerie Ghibaudo wrapped up the event with a second in race eleven, having already done enough to take the event title.

Bjorn wins the event /© Kerstin Reiger

Handshake /© Kerstin Reiger

Ghibaudo wins the event/© Kerstin Reiger

Today two racing eliminations got done in really difficult windconditions. The wind was gusting in between 12-25 knots and around midday, a race got cancelled because of a massive windshift. The sailors were on sailsizes from 6,7 to 9,0, always changing.
Antoine Albeau could reduce the distance to leading Bjorn Dunkerbeck with a victory in the last race of the day.
Tomorrow will be for sure an interesting last day of racing, with Antoine Albeau and Bjorn Dunkerbeck battling for the event victory. It is the first time this season that on the last day of racing someone else but Antoine is leading the event.

Antoine shows his fist /© Continentseven.com

In the ladies fleet one of the races was won by Jaggi and the other one by Ghibaudo.

Valerie Ghibaudo in front of Karin Jaggi/ © Continentseven.com

After the racing there was a nice beachparty with free Fosters beer with music from “DJ Session”.

© Continentseven.com

Men:
1. Bjorn Dunkerbeck
2. Antoine Albeau
3. Ross Williams
4. Kevin Pritchard
5. Finian Maynard
6. Pieter Bijl

Women:
1. Valerie Ghibaudo
2. Karin Jaggi
3. Verena Fauster
4. Lena Erdil
5. Sarah Hebert
6. Marta Hlavaty

The fifth day of competition sees Antoine Albeau claw 0.3 of a point back from Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s grip on the event lead. In the women’s fleet, Valerie Ghibaudo further reinforces her event lead with another race win on the penultimate day of competition.

As the ninth race of competition got underway on the event’s penultimate day, it looked like there might be early upset in the ranks when event leader Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North) collided with Marco Begalli (Starboard) in their heat 10 quarter final clash.

Languishing at the back of the fleet, Dunkerbeck had the tall order of reclaiming an entire reach, and overtaking three people to make it into the semi final. Hell bent on qualification and seemingly unstoppable, the multiple World Champion switched into ‘Terminator mode’ and summoned a miraculous comeback to claim fifth place in the heat, enough to qualify and give him a huge psychological boost.

In the first of the race 9 semi finals, Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine, MFC) did little to help his team mate Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra), when he gybed into him, causing the Brit to crash and subsequently miss out on a spot in the race final.

During the intense final heat of the race, Dunkerbeck looked out of the equation when he approached the first mark in ninth position. To his credit, his main rival Albeau fell as he rounded the outside mark, leaving Dunkerbeck free to pass and take sixth position in the race. Albeau was left to contemplate his error in ninth.

Taking the reigns, Cyril Moussilmani (Fanatic, North) seized the opportunity to post his first race win of the event, with Ben Van Der Steen (Exocet, Simmer) claiming second and Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde) claimed his equal best result in third.

In the women’s ninth race, premature starts killed the hopes of Çagla Kubat (Starboard, North) and Morane Demont (Starboard, Severne), leaving Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou, The Loft) free to take her familiar spot at the front of the fleet, and bag her seventh race win. Unsurprisingly, Karin Jaggi (F2, North) occupied the number two spot, a testament to her outstanding consistency while Verena Fauster (F2, Gaastra) was next over the line, reinforcing her overall third position.

In the tenth race, heat two in the men’s elimination didn’t even have to hit the race course, after four of the nine competitors premature started. Falling to a similar fate, Van Der Steen killed his hopes of climbing up the elimination when he went over early in the following round.

The semi finals saw the fall of Pieter Bijl (Fanatic, NeilPryde), when he failed to make the top five in his heat, resulting in him having to fight for positions 11 to 20 in the losers final.

Rolling onto the race final, Albeau returned to the dominant form he’s been enjoying for the best part of the 2008 season. A first place finish bolstered his attack on the event leader, Dunkerbeck, who crossed the finish line in fourth. Continuing his day of form, Moussilmani finished up in second, ahead of Peter Volwater (F2, North) in third.

In the tenth women’s race, Ghibaudo posted a conservative fourth place finish, while rival Jaggi took the opportunity to claim the race win, her third of the event so far. Keeping the Turkish flag flying high, local Lena Erdil (The Loft) crossed the line in second to claim her best result of the event so far, with fellow compatriot, Kubat taking third.

With the final day of competition looming, it’s going to come down to the wire as Dunkerbeck and Albeau battle it out for the event lead on the decisive final day of competition. In the women’s fleet, Ghibaudo has done enough to take the event title as hers, likewise Jaggi in second, leaving the battle for third place open for the chasing pack.
© PWA-Andrew Buchanan

Men:
1. Bjorn Dunkerbeck
2. Antoine Albeau
3. Ross Williams
4. Kevin Pritchard
5. Finian Maynard
6. Pieter Bijl

Women:
1. Valerie Ghibaudo
2. Karin Jaggi
3. Verena Fauster
4. Marta Hlavaty
5. Alice Arutkin

Antoine Albeau wins two out of the day’s three races as he mounts his attack on event leader, Bjorn Dunkerbeck. In the women’s fleet, Valerie Ghibaudo extends her event lead with two more race wins, taking her tally to six wins out of eight races.

Starting the day with victory in race six, Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde) sent event leader, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (T1, North) a clear message of his intentions for the remainder of the event. Dunkerbeck could only reply with second position in the losers final after failing to qualify for the final the previous day.

Grabbing the remaining podium positions in the race six final were Arnon Dagan (Fanatic, Gaastra) in second, and Robby Swift (JP, NeilPryde) in third. Swift commented, ‘That was one of the best races of my life, I kept it together and managed to hold off Finian to take third. I’m really happy with that result!’

In the women’s race six final, Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou, The Loft) made an uncharacteristic error when she fell gybing, leaving the door wide open for Karin Jaggi (F2, North) to take the victory, accompanied by Verena Fauster (F2, Gaastra) in second and Marta Hlavaty (MauiSails) in third. Ghibaudo had to make do with last, but luckily she can discard the result thanks to an impressively consistent string of top-notch results.

Moving on to race seven, Ben Van Der Steen (Exocet, Simmer) didn’t help his cause with a premature start in his quarterfinal heat. He was joined by fellow false starters Julien Quentel (Starboard, NeilPryde) and Alberto Menegatti (Starboard).

In the semi finals, local Bora Kozanoglu (Starboard) gave the crowd something to cheer about when he beat Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, MFC, Dakine) to the finish line to take victory. The pair took their places in the race final alongside the likes of Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde) and Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde) who came first and second respectively in the second semi final.

The race final saw Dunkerbeck reply to Albeau’s previous race win with a victory of his own, far ahead of Albeau and Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra) who were battling it out for second. Solid racing from Williams saw him hold off the reigning World Champion to be rewarded with second place, leaving Albeau to take third.

The men’s losers final was won by Josh Angulo (MauiSails, Dakine), who had to hold off advances from Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Exocet, NeilPryde) and Cyril Moussilmani (Fanatic, North) to secure the win.

In the women’s race seven clash, Ghibaudo showed that her mishap in race six was only a flash in the pan when she sailed to a convincing victory ahead of her long time rival Jaggi. Chasing the pair down was local Lena Erdil (The Loft), who sailed her best heat yet to post an impressive third place finish.

In the women’s losers final, Annika Gillgren (Severne) settled into her usual position at the front of the fleet to take eleventh place overall for race seven.

The final race of the day got underway in a gusty 12-18 knot wind. With the sailors tired from the two previous races, and conditions getting evermore testing, race eight was going to be a true test of the sailors tactical knowledge and competition stamina.

Rising to the challenge, local speedster Bora Kozanoglu (Starboard) dialed into the fluky wind to win his first two heats, and then advance from his semi final to bag a spot in the final. Also showing form, Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North) and Angulo dominated their semi finals to advance into the final.

When crunch time came, Albeau, Dunkerbeck and Williams shot down the first reach. Progressing around mark three, Albeau sank his teeth in, giving him clean air at the front of the pack. Needing no prompting, he motored to his second win of the day, further closing the gap between him and event leader Dunkerbeck. Not far behind, Dunkerbeck capped off another successful day in second, and Williams ended his best day yet in third.

The women’s final race followed a predictable path thanks to Ghibaudo’s outstanding consistency. She claimed her sixth race win, with Jaggi looking hungry, but unable to overtake in second. Sixteen-year-old Alice Arutkin (Starboard, North) claimed the final podium position, adding to her solid run of results.

As it stands, Dunkerbeck clings onto the event lead just 0.7 points ahead of Albeau, and Williams sits in third, 10.2 points behind Albeau.

In the women’s fleet, Ghibaudo stands five points clear of her nearest rival, Jaggi, with Fauster sitting seven points behind Jaggi in third.

Quote of the day

“If you don’t qualify from your heats, you won’t make the final.” (Britain’s Dan Ellis at his philosophical best).
© PWA/Andrew Buchanan

After a hard racing day the riders got a ride from the organizer back to the hotel….They must have been really tired, because the hotel is in walking distance…;-)

Dan Ellis, Robby Swift+girlfriend, Mat Pearch, Ross Williams in the back of the pick up /© continentseven.com

© continentseven.com

Overall standing

Men:
1. Bjorn Dunkerbeck
2. Antoine Albeau
3. Kevin Pritchard
4. Finian Maynard
5. Ross Williams
6. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

Women:
1. Valerie Ghibaudo
2. Karin Jaggi
3. Marta Hlavaty
4. Alice Arutkin
5. Sarah Hebert