Dan Ellis (centre) lofts the winner’s trophy

IFCA SLALOM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, HYERES, FRANCE – FINAL DAY
Dan Ellis and Valerie Ghibaudo are the Slalom World Champions 2007

+++ Hyeres (France), October 7th 2007.

After five days the 23rd IFCA Slalom World Championships 2007 in Hyeres
ended today. Dispite not so promising forecasts it was possible to have
spectacular windsurfing competition on all but the last days. Dan Ellis
(GBR-52, Fanatic, Naish Sails) from Great Britain and Valerie Ghibaudo
(FRA-444, Tabou, Loft Sails) from France are the Slalom World Champions
2007.

The level of the top racers of the IFCA Slalom World Championships was very
ballanced which is confirmed by five different winners in the five slalom
eliminations. So in the end the stability was a key factor to win the title.
Dan Ellis had a disappointing start into the regatta but then improved from
race to race to win the final elimination and jump on the top. But he had to
share this position with Bora Kozanoglu (TUR-11, Starboard, Neil Pryde). The
Turkish Slalom Champion presented an excellent performance over the whole
regatta. So in the end both riders ended up with even 6,7 points in the
final result. So the tie break had to decide who is the Slalom World
Champion 2007. To solve the tie the discards are taken into account and
there the British slalom expert wins against Kozanoglu with a seventh place
against a nineth. So perhaps Bora Kozanoglu can be proud of being one of the
closest Vice World Champions in the 23 year long history of the IFCA Class.

Hubert Mokrzyki (POL-25, Tabou, Gaastra) presented an excellent performance
and was leading the event after the second day but then he pushed a little
bit too much and was caught twice being over early. This cost him the title.
Nonetheless he defends the third place with a total of 11,0 points. The
Italian Slalom Champion Andrea Cucchi (ITA-1, Starboard, POINT-7) presented
himself again in excellent form and is only one point behind Mokrzyki with
12,0 points. The Italian hotshot Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456, F2, North
Sails) accumulates 15,7 points and completes the top-5.

In the womens fleet Valerie Ghibaudo from France was the dominating force of
the World Championships in her home waters. She won ten out of twelve slalom
eliminations and rightly deserved the title „IFCA Slalom World Champion
2007“. Verena Fauster (ITA-31, F2, Gaastra) from Italy was satisfyied with
her second place but disappointed about the results in the individual
slaloms. In the end she easily defends the second place The third place on
the podium was won by Marion Raisi (FRA-213, Exocet, Gaastra) who was the
most solid competitor of the other girls in the fleet. 39,2 points ensure a
slight lead in front of the local youngster Fanny Aubet (FRA-808, Fanatic,
Neil Pryde)  and the current Formula Windsurfing European Champion Agnieszka
Pietrasik (POL-19, Starboard, Naish Sails).

The IFCA Class can be proud about its 23rd Slalom World Championship. With
over 70 competitors from 14 different countries it was a major event for the
windsurfing. In the top-6 of the men six different board brands and five
different sail manufacturers are present. Almost the same variety can by
found in the womens fleet. This shows that the IFCA Slalom World
Championships are also an attractive plattform for the windsurfing industry.

The next IFCA Slalom World Championships will be staged in September 2008 in
Portugal.

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The official website of the Euro-Cup series with more information is
www.euro-cup.org. The events are also covered on www.formulawindsurfing.org
and www.internationalwindsurfing.com. Besides the reports and the results
you will also find a live ticker on www.euro-cup.org