Andrea Cucchi wins the EC Cagliari / Sardinia

Triumph for Starboard and Neil Pryde

The final day brought perfect racing conditions
to the bay of Poetto Beach. The competitors of the EC Cagliari were able to
do additional three races to achieve one discard which gives every competitor
the chance to drop his worst result in the ranking.

The first race of the day was started in light winds. Italian hero Andrea Cucchi
(ITA-1, Starboard, Neil Pryde) dominated this race just from the start. On his
heals he had the “baby” of the Fanatic team the Dutch youngster Roy
van Koolwijk (NED-97, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) and his youngster from the Starboard
team Michal Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland. On the fourth
position followed Wojtek Brzozowski (POL-10, Starboard, Neil Pryde) in front
of Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde).

The wind picked up to 13 knots and Andrea Cucchi was also able to win the second
race today. Fanatic rider Ben van der Steen (NED-57, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) had
a great comeback after the lightwind races before with a second place in front
of his Fanatic team mate Roy van Koolwijk, Michael Polanowski and Fanatic top
rider Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde).

In the last race Michal Polanowski scored a bullet with a great victory. On
his heals he had Andrea Cuchi and Steve Allen who was happy to come back to
his normal performance after a disappointing start. Roy van Koolwijk was able
to finish fourth in front of Wojtek Brzozowski.

In the women’s fleet everything was quite clear: in all the three races
of the day Dorota Staszewska (POL-1, Starboard, Gaastra) from Poland was able
to win in front of Verena Fauster (ITA-31, Starboard, Gaastra) from Italy and
Margit Germany (AUT-88, Starboard, Gaastra) from Austria.

After four races with one discard Italy’s number one Andrea Cucchi was
able to win the Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cagliari/Sardinia. He has won two races
and scored a second and a third. This adds up to a total of 4 points which gives
him a clear lead ahead of Michal Polanowski who scored one victory, one third
place and a fourth giving him 8 points. Only one point behind we can find Roy
van Koolwijk. The Dutch Fanatic rider celebrates his best result so far. The
big favourite Wojtek Brzozowski from Poland dropped down to the fourth position
with 11 points while Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) was happy
with his fifth position (15 points).

In the women’s fleet the favourite Dorota Staszewska took advantage out
of the absence of her main opponents Christine Becker, Christine Johnston and
Lucy Horwood and managed to score four bullets in four races giving her a total
of 3 points. So she is clear ahead of Verena Fauster who is second with 6 points
and Margit Germany with 9 points.

In the manufacturers ranking boards Starboard was able to win with points from
Andrea Cucchi (120), Michal Polanowski (119) and Wojtek Brzozowski (117). With
a total of 356 points Starboard is slightly ahead of Fanatic who scored with
Roy van Koolwijk (118), Ben van der Steen (115) and Steve Allen (114) giving
them 347 points. The third place was won by F2 with points from their new teamrider
Devon Boulon (ISV-1, F2, Windwing, 111 points), Giuseppe Pugliese (ITA-445,
F2, Gaastra , 99 points) and Davide Beverino (ITA-89, F2, Gaastra, 98 points)
which added up to 308 points.

In the manufacturers ranking sails Neil Pryde continued its dominance with
all the top seven riders using their sails! They are scoring with Andrea Cucchi
(120), Michal Polanowski (119) and Roy van Koolwijk (118) and achieve the maximum
of 357 points. Gaastra is still suffering from its lack of top level competitors
and scores with Ross Williams (GBR-83, Starboard, Gaastra, 112 points), Natale
Francesco (ITA-417, Fanatic, Gaastra, 109 points) and David McInnes (NZL-67,
Fanatic, Gaastra, 106 points) and has a total of 327 points. YES Sails was able
to deliver a strong impression in their home base and scored with their youngster
Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456, Starboard, YES Sails, 113 points) who was able to
win the first race, sail designer Peter Munzlinger (ITA-200, Starboard, YES
Sails, 91 points) and Mauro Covre (ITA-8, Starboard, YES Sails, 88 points).
This resulted in the total of 292 points.

The Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cagliari/Sardinia was again a big success for the
most important windsurfing racing series of the world. The competitors enjoyed
the incredible Mediteranean atmosphere and the perfect hospitality of the people
from Sardinia. Many have extended their trip for some holyday and brought their
friends to share the experience with them. 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 Cagliari/Sardinia.

The next Windsurfing Euro-Cup will take place in Cascais/Lisbon in the coming
week from June 5th to June 8th. Then the action will take place on the Atlantic
Ocean in the direct neighbourhood of the capital of Portugal in front of the
famous Casino of Estoril.

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.