Antoine Albeau and Valerie Ghibaudo are crowned as the 2009 Costa Brava Champions as a tortuous last day saw nerves tested and tension right down to the wire.

The final day of the 2009 PWA Costa Brava World Cup summarized the frustrating week of waiting. With a solid forecast, all hope was for one last blast of action to cap off the event with some late drama. All the ingredients were in place for a grand finale, but as the wind filled in high-level cloud moved into town, shutting down the breeze, and leaving the likes of Ross Williams (Tabou/Gaastra) teetering on the edge of breakdown.

Williams stared the day, sitting in the nasty position of having everything to lose and nothing to gain. Competition could only mean one thing for the English high flyer: Having already lost his semi final heat the previous day, one more completed heat would have seen him drop from 2nd to 8th. Fortunately for Ross, despite numerous attempts to finish the second round, race director Juan Antonio Aragon eventually was forced to call it a day.  Ross Williams: “It has been a very stressful 12 hours, but it feels amazing now it is all over. In the morning I thought we would be racing and had dealt with it in my mind, but as the day went on and the chance of no action increased, it was really hard. The last hour of waiting was absolute torture!”

Antoine Albeau (JP/NeilPryde) looked cool, calm and collected while he waited for the last call. By winning the event, he made it back-to-back victories, staking an early claim on the overall tour trophy. As always he remained as philosophical as ever:  Antoine Albeau “It was hard for everyone. In that sort of racing it is so easy to make mistakes. Looking back, I am really happy to have won that first round!”

Australian race specialist Steve Allen (no sponsors) finished off the men’s podium line up with an impressive performance, making a clear statement towards the windsurf industry bosses. Allen was ecstatic with his result, but also disappointed that race 2 didn’t reach a conclusion. Steve Allen: “I feel fantastic, but slightly disappointed that they didn’t finish the 2nd race. Without even hitting the water I would have move up to 2nd if they could have finished the other semi final.  I was really happy with my speed in the light winds. Let’s see how it goes in the stronger stuff at the Canaries events”

Valerie Ghibaudo took the honours in the women’s fleet, with an inspiring start to her season. Like Antoine, back-to-back victories puts her in a powerful position for the end of year ranking. When asked how she felt, the answer was typical of the French speed queen.
Valerie Ghibaudo “’appy, ‘appy, ‘appy. It’s my second win and puts me in a very good position for the overall tour. Last year I did really badly in Costa Brava, so it’s nice to come back this year and win.”

World Champ Karin Jaggi (F2/Severne) saw her world title chances take a massive blow. With two 1st places for Valerie, Karin will need to pull out all the stops to get ahead.
“I am a bit disappointed. We only had one race and I made a small mistake at the start of the final. My equipment was feeling very fast, but with only one race there was no chance of a come back. Now it is going to be really hard for the overall. Valerie has to really mess up, but 2nd is not too bad.”

Marta Hlavaty (Starboard/MauiSails) stood proud at the prize giving, celebrating her premier PWA podium position. She was clearly happy to make the podium:
Marta Hlavaty “I am a little bit surprised for sure, but I came to the event much more tuned up and ready this year. My gear and my training were better and I felt really confident on the water.”

The closing ceremony ended with an element of fun when competitors were awarded their own local ‘porons’ of wine. Ross Williams earned himself the “sailor of day” award for coping with the days stress and downing his measure in one swoop. For a full list of results, an updated photo gallery and much more check out www.pwaworldtour.com 

Final Event results
Men:
1st Antoine Albeau (JP/NeilPryde)
2nd Ross Williams (Tabou/Gaastra)
3rd Steve Allen
4th Micah Buzianis (JP/NeilPryde)
5th Jimmy Diaz (Starboard/North Sails)
6th Finian Maynard (RRD/NeilPryde)
7th Peter Volwater (F2/MauiSails)
8th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard/Severne)
9th Robby Swift (JP/NeilPryde)
10th Sylvain Moussilmani (Starboard/Simmer Style)
 
Women:
1st Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou/The Loft)
2nd Karin Jaggi (F2/Severne)
3rd Marta Hlavaty (Starboard/MauiSails)
4th Sarah Hebert (Starboard/Naish)
5th Lise Vidal (Exocet/North Sails)
 
Current overall standings
Men (after 3 events)
1st Antoine Albeau (JP/NeilPryde)
2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard/Severne)
3rd Finian Maynard (RRD/NeilPryde)
4th Ross Williams (Tabou/Gaastra)
5th Jimmy Diaz (Starboard/North Sails)
6th Gonzalo Costa Heovel (Exocet/MauiSails)
7th Peter Volwater (F2/MauiSails)
8th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard/Gaastra/Dakine)
9th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard/North Sails)
10th Patrik Diethelm (F2/North Sails)
 
Women (after 2 events)
1st Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou/The Loft)
2nd Karin Jaggi (F2/Severne)
3rd Sarah Hebert (Starboard/Naish)
4th Alice Arutkin (Starboard/North Sails)
5th Ayako Suzuki (Starboard/Gaastra)