After many years of absence, the EFPT returned to the beautiful island of Sardinia in Italy. Eight years ago the event in the North of Sardinia went down in history with conditions that demanded everything from the riders offering light winds up to howling storms.
Day 1 – EFPT Sardinia
Today was the first day of the EFPT event at the windsurf center “Culuccia” at Porto Liscia. 19 riders – 8 of them are from Italy – registered for the third tour stop of the EFPT and battle for 10.000€ during the upcoming days. The wind picked up around midday and at 2.30 pm it was windy enought to kick off the comeptition. The riders were powered up on their 4.8m’s – 5.2m’s and the heats had a duration of 8 minutes with the best 3 moves counting on each tack.
Tonky Frans spins around at Porto Liscia (Photo: Maurizio Mameli/EFPT)
TOP 8
The big names are still in and qualified for the top 8. Tour leader Tonky Frans had a close battle with Rossel Bertoldo. Mattia Fabrizi won against Francesco Cappuzzo with the high score of the day. Steven van Broeckhoven and Antony Ruenes advanced to the top 8, too. Swiss Loick Spicher confirmed his great form and defeated Julien Mas. Unfortunately none of the four riders from Israel made it into the top 8. The only German Julien Wiemar is still in. The top seeded Italians Riccardo Marca and Giovanni Passani made it into the top 8, too.
Riccardo Marca with a solid performance on day 1 (Photo: EFPT/Maurizio Mameli)
Just before the quarter final, the wind dropped again. The competitors were kept on stand-by until 8.00pm when race director Tom Hartmann called it a day. The wind forecast isn’t too promising for the remaining 4 days of the event, but there is a chance to get some wind tomorrow and to complete the single elimination. The riders will have an early skippers meeting. Our fingers are crossed.
The single elimination ladder after day 1
Single elimination ladder day1
Tonky Frans vs Rossel Bertoldo
Francesco Cappuzzo vs Mattia Fabrizi
