– Steve Allen takes the victory –
– Fanatic beats Starboard in the Boards Manufacturers Ranking-
– Neil Pryde dominated the Sail Manufacturers Ranking –

Cascais / Lisbon (Portugal), June 8th 2003. The last day of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup
Cascais / Lisbon (Portugal) didn’t bring conditions for any official races. So
the result from the second day with seven races and two discards is also the final
result.

The Fanatic top rider Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) stepped on the
top of the podium at the Windsurfing Euro-Cup in Cascais. The Euro-Cup Champion
of 2002 was enthusiastic about his first victory in the 2003 season. The Australian
was able to win two races and scored two second places. In the end he had a total
of 9,4 points which gives him a clear lead in front of the new star in the Starboard
team Michal Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) on the second place. The
Polish youngster was able to win the final race and present a consistent performance
over the whole regatta. In the end he had 14,7 points giving him a 2-point lead
in front of Fanatics "wild animal" Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic, Neil
Pryde) with 16,7 points. The Dutch windsurfing maniac was able to win one race
and finished three times on the third place.

On the fourth place followed the "baby" in the Starboard team Alberto
Menegatti (ITA-456, Satrboard, YES Sails, 22,0 points). The top racer of YES Sails
confirmed the strong impression from the last Euro-Cup event in Cagliari/Sardinia
and underlined the intention to step out of the shadow of his mentor and Italian
Champion Andrea Cucchi. He was getting stronger and stronger over the regatta
and a victory in one race was only prevented by a rope in the water which made
him make a spectacular catapult. The fifth position was won by Aleks Grynis (POL-86,
Starboard, Neil Pryde, 24,7 points) who was also able to win one race and recovered
strongly after a terrible start into the regatta.

In the Boards Manufacturers Ranking we saw an exciting head to head fight between
Fanatic and Starboard. After two Starboard victories at the last two events Fanatic
was able to triumph this time. But it was super tight between the two global players
in the racing scene. In the end Fanatic won with 353 points provided by Steve
Allen, Pieter Bijl and Ben van der Steen (NED-57, Fanatic, Neil Pryde). Only one
point behind is Starboard with a total of 352 points won by Michal Polanowski,
Alberto Menegatti and Aleks Grynis. The third position was won by F2 whose efforts
in the Euro-Cup pay of now. Their new "baby" Devon Boulon (ISV-1, F2,
Windwing) was the top scorer with a ninth place in the strong fleet.

In the Sails Manufacturers Ranking we saw again a domination of Neil Pryde. 7
out of the top-10 racers are using Neil Pryde sails. Only YES sails was able to
break into the top-5 Neil Pryde phalanx with their racer Alberto Menegatti. The
maximum of 357 points from Steve Allen, Michal Polanowski and Pieter Bijl granted
Neil Pryde a comfortable lead ahead of Gaastra with 331 points. Gaastra is still
suffering from a significant lack of top racers using their sails. Their "strongest
weapon" Ross Williams (GBR-83, Starboard, Gaastra) was only able to get eighth
after a strong second place after the first day. The other Gaastra top racers
were not able to save the score for their brand. The third position was won by
YES sails who are establishing themselves more and more as one of the top brands
for competitive sails.

The Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cascais/Lisbon (Portugal) was another jewel in the crown
for the most important windsurfing racing series of the world. The competitors
enjoyed the unique atmosphere at the most western area of the European continent
and the perfect hospitality of the Portuguese people. A spectacular show was presented
for the media and the spectators. Thousands of people followed the competition
online. Mostly over the official EC Website www.euro-cup.org and the FW Class
Website www.formulawindsurfing.org. But many other pages covered the event additionally.
Several international Magazines will report over the Windsurfing Euro-Cup event
in Cascais/Lisbon.

You can find more information, results, pictures etc. and follow the competitions
online on the official Website of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup www.euro-cup.org and
on the FW Class Website www.formulawindsurfing.org .