The French tour is over
It was predicted, there was no wind this morning, at least not enough to continue the competition. All day long the riders were able to clean and pack their equipment and get ready for the closing ceremony tonight.
No t enough wind at the final day at Saint Malo (Pic: Eric Bellande).
The closing ceremony took place in the presence of local elected officials, volunteers from the Surfschool of Saint-Malo, members of the FFA and Didier Flame, representative of the French Sailing Federation.
After three events this year at La Torche in April, Almanarre in September and Saint-Malo in November – Delphine Cousin and Antoine Questel are both French champions in the Slalom discipline after a great season for both on the French circuit on the PWA World Tour. Delphine finished in 4th on the PWA tour and Antoine in 14th overall. He almost won the PWA tourstop at Jinha Beach, South Korea this year. Congratulations to both of them!
“I was youth champion of France a few years ago, but never as a man. For me it is very satisfying and the result of hard work. It’s been a while since I ran after this title!” Antoine Questel commented his victory
Delphine made it on top of the ladies tour for the first time in her career, too. She is at the age of 22 and will have a great future at all the racing circuits.
Not enough wind in the bay of St.Malo on the final day (Pic: Eric Bellande).
In the Wave discipline there was only one valid result from the event at La Torche. Astrid Muldoon and Jules Denel took the titles as they won the event there.
“I am very happy with my victory. We were unlucky with the conditions here at Saint-Malo. But overall, we had a beautiful Classic Tour and we were able to present windsurfing to the masses. And we were able to prove that the sport does not die! It´s more the opposite at the moment… “ Jules Denel about his victory.
Jules scored big at the PWA tour, finished the PWA event at Sylt in 7th place and overall in 14th. He definitely made a big step forward throughout the season and will fight for top 10 rankings in 2013. Astrid participated in Pozo only, as she works full time, but finished in 6th there, what´s an excellent result. Congrats to Astrid and Jules!
Watch an excellent clip from the wavecompetition at St.Malo produced by Stéphane Debuire. The conditions did not last long enough to complete the single elimination.
These are the top 3 ranked sailors in the Slalom discipline from the final event at Saint Malo:
Slalom Ladies
1.Delphine Cousin
2.Fanny Aubet
3.Alizée de Sousa
Slalom Men
1.Julien Quentel
2.Pierre Mortefon
3.Antoine Questel
Next year the French Funboard tour will progress. The Wavesailing and Slalom events will be separated during all events. In the end there will be a big common final with both disciplines at La Torche in autumn 2013.
This gives the organizers the chance to choose the best event locations for each discipline.
Watch a video from day 5, when the wind was too light and the waves too small to run any competitions at St.Malo.
