STIMOROL ENGADINWIND – FINAL DAY

Steve Allen dominates the Engadinwind.com in Silvaplana
 
+++ Silvaplana, St. Moritz (Switzerland), August 12th 2007.

On the final day of the Engadinwind.com in Silvaplana the famous Maloja wind
finally arrived. In a perfect schedule the organization was able to run the
marathon race and additionally two more races for the Windsurfing Euro-Cup.
Steve Allen (AUS-0, Tabou, Gaastra), the current Formula Windsurfing World
Champion from Australia confirmed his exceptional performance and dominated
all the races.

At 12:15 just as planned the famous Marathon Race was started in its 30th
edition. In the beginning the wind was quite light but the conditions
improved during the race. ‘Danish Dynamite’ Jesper Vesterström (DEN-111,
Starboard, Neil Pryde) had the best start into the race and was leading the
fleet after the first lap in front of Nicolas Warenbourg (FRA-531) from
France and Wilhelm Schurmann (BRA-999, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Brasil.
But two riders got stronger and stronger during the race and worked their
way through the fleet: Steve Allen took the lead on the second upwind and
the Argentinean Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3, F2, Neil Pryde) was able to
move up to the second position after a thrilling fight with Wilhelm
Schurmann. Unluckily Gonzalo Costa Hoevels mast broke at the last upwind
mark after four and a half of five rounds which forced him to give up the
race. So in the end Steve Allen was able to win the Marathon Race with a
finish time of 59:00 minutes with a 2-minute-lead on the second placed
Jesper Vesterström. Wilhelm Schurmann managed to get third in front of the
current RS-X Vice World Champion Przemek Miarczynski (POL-126, F2, Gaastra)
and Kasper Juul Larsen (DEN-288, Starboard, Neil Pryde).

As the conditions got better the organization decided to continue with
Euro-Cup Formula Racing. In the next race Steve Allen had to fight again for
the lead. This time the Brasilian Youngster Gabriel Browne (BRA-5, F2, North
Sails) was leading after the first lap. But on the second upwind Allen was
dominating and led the race on the second downwind. He scored an
unchallenged victory in front of Gonzalo Costa Hoevel. The Argentinean had
recovered from his bad luck with the mast in the marathon race and proved
that he is one of the best Formula Windsurfing Racers at the moment with his
second place. Browne managed to defend his third position against his team
mate and mentor Wilhelm Schurman. Przemek Miarczynski confirmed his
performance with another top-5 finish.

The wind continued to increase and got more stable. More and more
competitors started to change to smaller sails. So another final race was
sailed to achieve a discard for the riders. This time the Italian youngster
Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456, F2, North Sails) put up a challenge and led the
race after the first lap. But again Steve Allen was able to strike back. In
the end he completed his triumph by winning the final race as well. Alberto
Menegatti defended his second against Gonzalo Costa Hoevel. Gabriel Browne
got fourth in front of Jesper Vesterström.

In the final results Steve Allen can present a flawless score of 3.00
points. Jesper Vesterström presented an impressive performance and is safe
second with 8.00 points. Wilhelm Schurmann ensures his place on the podium
with 10.00 points. Przemek ³Pont² Miarczynski confirmed that he is not only
strong on the Olympic board RS-X where he is the current Vice-Worldchampion,
but also in the Formula Windsurfing Class. In the end he is fourth with
13.00 points. The top five are completed by Ross Williams (GBR-83, Tabou,
Gaastra), the European Formula Windsurfing Champion 2006 with 18.00 points.

The Windsurfing Euro-Cup Silvaplana was a huge success! Although the wind
teased the competitors and the organisation for two days the final day were
a more then fair revenge. Besides the competition a great program with
exhibitions, shows, interviews, music and parties ensured a great
entertainment. Competitors and spectators experienced some great days in the
beautiful Engadin. So everybody is already looking forward to the
Engadinwind 2008!