IFCA SLALOM WORLDS, ALACATI, TURKEY

Finian Maynard takes the lead at the Jim Beam IFCA Slalom Worlds in Alacati
 
+++ Kiel / Alacati (TURKEY), August 1st 2006.

The Jim Beam IFCA Slalom World Championships in Alacati (Turkey) had a
perfect kick off today. In perfect Slalom conditions not less the two full
eliminations for the men and three for women youth and master were run.
Finian Maynard (KV-11, F2, Neil Pryde) was the man of the day and won both
races. On his heals he has Antoine Albeau (FRA-192, Starboard, Neil Pryde)
and Kevin Pritchard (US-3, Starboard, Maui Sails). In the women Fleet
Allison Shreeve (AUS-911, F2, Neil Pryde) also presented a dominating start
with two victories in three races. The same superior performance was shown
by Massimo Masserini (ITA-7) in the Masters fleet and Pascal Somers (BEL-7)
in the Youth Fleet.

The first final brought a thrilling fight between Finian Maynard and Antoine
Albeau. Both racers were fighting over the whole course. At the last mark
Finian was slightly ahead. Antoine took a full risk and headed leeward for
free wind. First the move seemed to pay of as he won ground on his opponent.
But he was forced to head upward for the finish again which cost him some
speed. At the finish it was breathtakingly close between the two slalom
giants. But Finian managed to defend his lead and won in front of Antoine
and the current IFCA Slalom World Champion Micah Buzianis (USA-34, JP, Neil
Pryde). Björn Dunkerbeck (AND-11, T1, North Sails) followed in the fourth
position with Ross Williams (GBR-83, Tabou, Gaastra) and Kevin Pritchard on
his heals. Supported by the chears of the Turkish spectators Bora Konzaglu
(TUR-11) won a seventh place in front of Wilhelm Schurmann (BRA-999,
Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Brasil and Jimmy Diaz (ISV-11, F2, North Sails)
from the US Virgin Islands. The final was completed by Pieter Bijl (NED-0,
Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from the Netherlands.

In the second final everybody was again expecting a fight between Finian and
Antoine. But this time Finian had a perfect start enabling him to control
the fleet. After a bad start Antoine had to fight his way through the
opponents. This opened the door for another racer: Kevin Pritchard presented
a perfect performance granting him the second place in front of Antoine
Albeau and Ross Williams. Steve Allen (AUS-0, Tabou, Gaastra) presented a
strong performance again with a fifth place ahead of Micah Buzianis and
Ertugrul Icingir (TUR-1), the second Turkish hotshot. Sylvain Moussilmani
(FRA-73) showed his skills with an eighth place in front of Pieter Bijl and
Arnon Dagan (ISR-1, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from Israel.

After two races Finian Maynard is leading with the optimum of 1.40 points.
On the second place follows Antoine Albeau with 5.00 points in front of
Kevin Pritchard with 8.00 points. Micah Buzianis and Ross Williams are
fighting head to head with 9.00 points on positions four and five. Björn
Dunkerbeck finds himself on a disappointing sixth place with 18.00 points
currently tied with Steve Allen. The Turkish fans can be proud about the
excellent performance of their hero Ertugrul Icingir who is currently eighth
with 19.00 points and on even points with Pieter Bijl. Jimmy Diaz completes
the top-10 after the first day with 20.00 points.

In the womens fleet last years Alacati winner Allison Shreeve only had one
weak moment in elimination two when she missed the start. But after
domination the two other races so far she finds herself save in the first
position with the optimum of 1.40 points. On her heals is Verena Fauster
(ITA-31, F2, Gaastra) who is scoring with a first and a second summing up
2.70 points. Sarah Hebert (FRA-61, Starboard, Naish Sails) surprised the
experts as she managed to defeat Karin Jaggi (SUI-14, F2, North Sails), the
current IFCA Slalom World Champion. The top-5 are completed by Christine
Johnston (GBR-93, Starboard, Tushingham) who won the Formula Windsurfing
World Championships 2003 in Germany just returned to the Funboard scene
after concentrating on the new Olympic format RS-X for some time.

Massimo Masserini is leading the masters fleet with 1.40 points after two
victories and a third. But he has Francesco d¹Urso (ITA-26) on his heals who
sums up 2.70 points with one victory and a second. The top-3 are completed
by Leonid Judin (SRB-1) with 5.00 points. Among the Youth Pascal Somers
(BEL-7) is presenting himself in excellent shape with two elimination
victories and the optimum of 1.40 points. On his heals he has the two
Turkish hotshots Emirhan Kolburan (TUR-235) with 3.70 points and Enes
Yylmazer (TUR-2) with 4.00 points.

For tomorrow the forcasts predict again excellent slalom conditions for the
Bay of Alacati. So we can expect more races which will significantly change
the results as we will get the first discard for the mens fleet. This will
enable some unlucky racers to get rid of their worst result. The Jim Beam
IFCA Slalom World Championships will last until Saturday, August 5th.

+++++

The official website of the event is www.surfnsound.org