Antoine Albeau wins the first Slalom Elimination in front of Matteo Iachino and Cyril Moussilmani. The local thermal effect kicked in on the second day, which brought nice winds ranging from 7-14 knots.
PICTURES DAY 2
Words by PWA/Chris Yates
Winners’ Final
With the current tour leader – Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) – surprisingly missing from the winners’ final – due to gybing around the wrong mark in heat twelve – Antoine Albeau was presented with the opportunity to take control of the title race, and the Big Frenchman duly obliged as he seized the early initiative by claiming the first victory of the week. Albeau didn’t have it all his own way though as it was Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) who crossed the start line in first place. The young Pole’s lead didn’t last long, however, as Albeau, Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360), Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) and Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde) all came surging past him to complete the top four at the first mark. Over the remainder of the course Albeau sailed brilliantly to open up a substantial lead over his closest rival Iachino, and after safely navigating the final mark he was left to enjoy the final reach before crossing the finish line. The top four remained unchanged, meaning that Iachino finished in second followed by Cyril Moussilmani and Bijl in third and fourth respectively.
A Moment of Madness
The incident that everyone has been talking about today involved Britain’s Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) and the current tour leader Alberto Menegatti. The duo were both involved in the final quarterfinal and looked as though they were both comfortably going to qualify for the semifinals as they held first and second place respectively. However, as the pair headed down the second reach Williams initiated his gybe much too early and rounded the wrong mark, unfortunately – from Menegatti’s perspective at least – the Italian also followed Williams around the same mark to leave everyone on the beach and on the water in disbelief at what they were watching – none more so than the head of Point-7 Andrea Cucchi (Patrik / Point-7), who benefitted from both Williams’ and Menegatti’s disqualifications to qualify for the next round, even though he probably would’ve probably preferred to see his main man advance. Also benefitting from the pairs mistake was Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) who eventually went on to book his place in the winners’ final, whilst Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) and Pascal Toselli (Tabou / Point-7) qualified for heat fourteen as well.
Menegatti will now be praying for more wind in order to bring a discard into play, however if that doesn’t happen then today’s trivial mistake could prove to be one of the defining moments of the season – which could ultimately cost the twenty-eight year old a maiden world championship title.
The second elimination began shortly after three o’clock and the opening five heats were completed before the wind started to deteriorate, which eventually drew the day to a close at 17:15.
