GREEK FORMULA WINDSURFING GRAND PRIX, DAY 3
Double victory for Steve Allen, Albeau still leads overall…
+++ Ialisos/Rhodes 13/06/02. In the beginning the third day of the
FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix in Ialisos / Rhodes (Greece) seemed to get a
perfect day for tourists and not for the windsurfers. It was hot and sunny
but unfortunately not wind. But in the afternoon the promise of the
organizer Achilleas Tzimas came true: a nice thermical breeze picked up and
provided lightwind racing conditions of about 10 knots. This time the
course was even more spectacular then yesterday. At the end of each race
the competitors had to pass a slalom course with two gates close to the
beach. It was easy follow the races and the spectators on the beach could
almost touch the competitors when they passed the gates after the first
round and for the finish.
Two races were sailed while the sun slowly moved down. And the spectators
on the beach enjoyed the perfect atmosphere of drinking a "sun-downer"
while looking at the best windsurfers of the world fighting on the perfect
blue water. Today was the day of Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic). He scored
two bullets winning both races today. He had a perfect setup for the light
wind conditions. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3, Starboard, Neilpryde) also
proved to be a light wind expert with a second and a fifth place. But
Wojtek Brozowski showed that he is not only strong in high wind conditions
but a perfect overall windsurfer with a 5th and a 2nd. Today was also a
great day for Michael Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Gaastra). He scored a
3rd and a 6th place. The Polish success today was completed by Aleks Grynis
(POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) with a 4th and a 3rd.
After nine races Antoine Albeau is still leading with 6,2 points in front
of Wojtek Brzozowski (15,7 points). But Steve Allen has moved really close
with 16,4 points. He is still on the third position but he only has to wait
for a mistake of Wojtek to move in the second place. It seems as if only
one of this three is able to win the FW Grand Prix in Rhodes as there is a
big gap between them and the field which is lead by Ross Williams (GBR-83,
AHD, Gaastra, 42 points).
Ioanis-Markos Fantis (GRE-7, Starboard, Neil Pryde) is the best Greece
competitor on place 18 (121 points) followed by Zois Theocharis (GRE-100,
place 20, 123 points) and Haris Dimopoulos (GRE-123, place 27, 174 points).
If the wind god will be with the windsurfers again the racers will go for
more races tomorrow. The first start is scheduled for 12:30 and it is the
intention of the race director to run four races. The maximum number of
races is 15 so the results can change in the next days. The Formula
Windsurfing Grand Prix Ialisos/Rhodes will continue until Saturday, June
15th. +++
You can find more infos and pictures about the event on the following
websites: www.rwa.gr (live video), www.windsurfing-office.com and
www.formulawindsurfing.org . At 23:30 a report about the FW GP will be
broadcasted on ALPHA Digital TV.
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2002 PWA Freestyle Qualifier Costa Brava Day 3
We are still on hold here at the 2002 Catalunya PWA Freestyle Qualifier
Thursday June 13, 2002
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We are still on hold here at the 2002 Catalunya PWA Freestyle Qualifier. A
promising thermal breeze filled in this afternoon but unfortunately never
reached the strength required to allow any official competition. The wind
was enough to attract the likes of Josh Stone (Neil Pryde, JP), Jonas
Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic) Eric Girard (Starboard) and Raimondo Gasperini
(Fanatic) to the water and despite the marginal conditions there were still
plenty of hot action going down.
The world cup flavor continued here in Spain today when a challenge was
issued by English sailors and race crew to play France at football.
Refereed by Vidar Jensen (North) the game kicked off at 11am and soon
became a heated confrontation. John Skye (F2, Arrows) opened up the score
sheet but much to the dismay of his team he put the ball into his own goal.
Baptiste Gossein (JP, Neil Pryde) scored Frances second goal shortly after
half time after English goalkeeper Chris Audsley (Mistral, North) fumbled
an easy save. The French went three nil up midway through the second half
after Bruno Andre (AHD, Gaastra) had passed through to Yann Sune (Fanatic,
Arrows) who blasted the ball into the back of the net. The English side
made a late comeback with two goals from young Andy Funnel (F2, Arrows) but
time ran out and the scoreline finished up 3-2 to the French. The only
consolation for the Brits is the fact their national team are still in the
world cup and France are out.
The forecast is looking extremely promising here in Costa Brava with big
winds forecast for Saturday. The sailors are fired up for a big showdown
and it looks like we are in for a spectacular climax to the week.
JOSH STONE (NEIL PRYDE, JP)
"We still have three more days so I am confident that we will get a result.
I just heard that there could be strong winds at the weekend so I am
rigging up my small sails just in case!"