The 2004 PWA Canadian Freestyle World Cup Day 3

The wind has returned with a vengeance here on the penultimate day of the
2004 Canadian Freestyle world Cup with the tail end of hurricane Frances
bringing storms and wild winds to the Madeleine Islands. After an exciting
day of high wind action Daida Moreno (Mistral, North) of Spain was put to
the ultimate test when Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows) fought through the double
elimination and won the first of two thrilling battles. The current world
number one held her nerve and replied with the performance of a champion
and sealed the deal taking the first double elimination victory. Iballa
Moreno (Mistral, North) who was in second after the first single
elimination had to settle for third today, with Junko Nagoshi of Japan
posting a superb performance to clinch fourth. Action continued this
afternoon with a second single elimination but rain squalls caused the
wind to drop before the finals could be completed.

The screaming winds today provided the perfect ammunition for the best
women freestyler’s in the world to raise their game with moves of the
highest level going down in every heat. Competition kicked off this
morning with the closing stages of the first double elimination with the
losers from day one fighting it out for the chance to challenge Daida
Moreno for the first round victory.

Junko Nagoshi of Japan was on red hot from this morning progressing
through heats against Tiffany Ward (Gaastra, Starboard), Nayra Alonso
(Fanatic) and Silvia Alba (JP, Neil Pryde). Nagoshi nailed several speed
loops and vulcans as she took down the opposition but finally met her
match when she came up against Swiss all rounder Karin Jaggi in heat 64.
On the other side of the draw fellow Japanese sailor Motoko Sato delivered
inspired performances against Claudia Vogt and Tanya Emig of Austria but
was also taken down by Jaggi who was on the warpath in her opening heats.

Jaggi continued her winning ways taking down Iballa Moreno (Mistral North)
in heat 65 with her best performance to date nailing one handed and clew
first spocks, willy skippers and a variety of transitions on both tacks.
That just left Daida Moreno the only hurdle between her and a first round
victory, the question was could Jaggi continue the momentum and defeat the
world number one!

The opening final between top seeds saw Daida dropping several key moves
in a heated battle with Jaggi holding her nerve under the pressure and
taking the opening showdown. The second final was a different story with
Daida posting her best performance of the competition to date nailing clew
first spocks, a clean flaka, a one legged forward, a grubby and a willy
skipper 360. Jaggi fought hard, sailing her best in an attempt to claw her
way back into the heat but with the world champion sailing with clinical
precision, it was a tall order that she could not quite manage to
fulfill.

With only a short break to give the girls a breather it was straight into
the second round of competition despite heavy rain making conditions
tricky for both judges and sailors. Junko Nagoshi of Japan continued her
run of excellent form from the morning flying through heats against fellow
Japanese sailor Kana Suzuki and then Silvia Alba (JP, Neil Pryde) before
finally losing to Daida Moreno (Mistral, North) in the semi finals. On the
other side of the ladder Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows) came through her heat
against Nayra Alonso (Fanatic) to face Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North) who
had taken down Colette Guadagnino to earn her place alongside Jaggi in the
semis. In their second head to head of the day, this time it was Iballa
who came out on top after a slick heat that included a powerful flat water
speed loop, smooth spock 540 and slick back wind gibe.

An all Moreno final was a sure bet to provide some fireworks but the wind
started to drop before either the losers final or the winners final could
be held. Racing was eventually abandoned at 5 pm with an early skippers
meeting scheduled for 9 am tomorrow. The forecast is for strong winds
overnight, which should hang around until lunchtime tomorrow. This should
be enough time to complete the second and probably the final double
elimination so be sure to check out the PWA web site for the final
results, news and pictures as the PWA women’s freestyle finals draw to a
dramatic conclusion tomorrow.

RESULTS AFTER ONE DOUBLE ELIMINATION

1. DAIDA MORENO (Mistral, North)
2. KARIN JAGGI (F2, Arrows),
3. IBALLA MORENO (Mistral, North),
4. JUNKO NAGOSHI
5. SILVIA ALBA (JP, Neil Pryde)
5. MOTOKO SATO