The PWA Lanzarote Freestyle and Super X Grand Slam Day 7
Swift continues to hold on to number 1 despite solid challenges from
Albeau and Pritchards.
Another calm morning greeted competitors and crew here in Lanzarote today.
The beach at Costa Teguise was bathed in hot sunshine with beautifully
clear skies first thing this morning, with just a gentle onshore breeze.
As sailors congregated for the 10 o’clock skippers meeting the wind had
swung side shore and begun to slowly pickup.
Shortly after lunch, the thermal breeze strengthened substantially and as
the race committee began to set a course, sailors took to the water to
test their equipment and get in some vital last minute practice. Race 5
would start at 14.45.
The first heat saw Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde) and Antoine Albeau (AHD,
Neil Pryde) safely through to the semi finals along with Brazilian Kauli
Seadi (AHD, Naish). Heat 2 rounded the course with Nik Baker (Mistral,
North) and Peter Volwater (Arrows) clearly dominating and also taking
their place in the top 16.
By the time heats 3 and 4 were completed Matt (Gaastra) and Kevin
Pritchard (Starboard Gaastra) had joined the other front runners along
with Cyril Moussilmani (Fanatic) to keep the pressure firmly on Swift at
the top.
The conditions, which had blown solidly through the first 4 heats, now
started to look a little less consistent, but still the big guns were
firing. Baker found himself sailing back to the beach early having been a
bit too eager at the start shooting off prematurely. Swift sailed home
clean in the first semi final ahead of Diony Guadagnino (Neil Pryde),
Volwater and Albeau who did just enough to qualify for the final in
fourth. The second semi read Pritchard, Pritchard, Vidar Jensen (North),
Moussilmani, again placing all true contenders in the 8 man final.
Half way through the losers final, the blue and white checked abandonment
flag clearly signaled what everyone watching could already see – that the
wind had dropped. All eight sailors were wallowing around the second
gibing mark. After one more attempt to start, it was clear that conditions
had worsened yet further and it was decided to cancel for the day.
With the finals still to complete, race 5 has not had much impact on the
top sailors. Swift and Matt Pritchard are still separated only by a tie
break for the first place and all sailors in the top 5 have a realistic
chance to do some serious damage, with a possible further 4 races left to
run tomorrow
Swift continues to hold on to number 1 despite solid challenges from
Albeau and Pritchards.
Another calm morning greeted competitors and crew here in Lanzarote today.
The beach at Costa Teguise was bathed in hot sunshine with beautifully
clear skies first thing this morning, with just a gentle onshore breeze.
As sailors congregated for the 10 o’clock skippers meeting the wind had
swung side shore and begun to slowly pickup.
Shortly after lunch, the thermal breeze strengthened substantially and as
the race committee began to set a course, sailors took to the water to
test their equipment and get in some vital last minute practice. Race 5
would start at 14.45.
The first heat saw Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde) and Antoine Albeau (AHD,
Neil Pryde) safely through to the semi finals along with Brazilian Kauli
Seadi (AHD, Naish). Heat 2 rounded the course with Nik Baker (Mistral,
North) and Peter Volwater (Arrows) clearly dominating and also taking
their place in the top 16.
By the time heats 3 and 4 were completed Matt (Gaastra) and Kevin
Pritchard (Starboard Gaastra) had joined the other front runners along
with Cyril Moussilmani (Fanatic) to keep the pressure firmly on Swift at
the top.
The conditions, which had blown solidly through the first 4 heats, now
started to look a little less consistent, but still the big guns were
firing. Baker found himself sailing back to the beach early having been a
bit too eager at the start shooting off prematurely. Swift sailed home
clean in the first semi final ahead of Diony Guadagnino (Neil Pryde),
Volwater and Albeau who did just enough to qualify for the final in
fourth. The second semi read Pritchard, Pritchard, Vidar Jensen (North),
Moussilmani, again placing all true contenders in the 8 man final.
Half way through the losers final, the blue and white checked abandonment
flag clearly signaled what everyone watching could already see – that the
wind had dropped. All eight sailors were wallowing around the second
gibing mark. After one more attempt to start, it was clear that conditions
had worsened yet further and it was decided to cancel for the day.
With the finals still to complete, race 5 has not had much impact on the
top sailors. Swift and Matt Pritchard are still separated only by a tie
break for the first place and all sailors in the top 5 have a realistic
chance to do some serious damage, with a possible further 4 races left to
run tomorrow
