Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, day 1

Primo giorno di gare a Fuerteventura e iniziamo alla grande con un splendido primo posto nella classifica provvisoria dopo due tabelloni di Matteo Iachino (Fanatic, North Sails, LSD Fins).
Andrea Ferin e Max Brunetti ci aggiornano dal campo gara.

Matteo Iachino in testa!

Andrea Ferin (RRD, Challenger Sails):
Finalmente siamo tornati a Fuerteventura!!! Dopo un anno di pausa dallo slalom si torna nel mitico spot del tour slalom, il più ventoso! Putroppo non siamo stati fortunatissimi oggi, il vento si è alzato un po’ tardi verso le 15:40, e si è stabilizzato sui 13/25 nodi quindi tavole medie e vele da 8,7 a 7,0. Parlando dei risultati degli italiani, Matteo Iachino ha riconfermato la sua costanza con un 4° e un 3° nei due tabelloni di oggi! Ha amministrato bene le qualifiche cercando di rischiare il meno possibile per non compromettersi con errorini banali e poi ha dato il tutto per tutto nelle finali, bravo! Per quanto riguarda gli altri, Malte secondo degli italiani al 21° posto, si dimostra bello veloce con la sua 7,8 chs e 114 xfire, purtroppo cade in una batteria dei quarti in cui poteva qualificarsi. Andrea Cucchi 24° , molto veloce ma con qualche problema in strambata. Rosati al 28° posto, ha regatato bene, molto agressivo nel percorso, paga solo qualche buco di vento e una partenza anticipata veramente di pochissimo ai quarti. Poi io al 34° posto mi sono sentito molto determinato in gara ma ho avuto una prima heat con quattro pezzi da 90 molto difficile e ho finito 5°, poi nel secondo tabellone una heat media con alcune delle giovani promesse francesi e Matteo dove sono passato ma la heat seguente è stata molto combattuta ed il vento era molto rafficato, ho sofferto in po’ la 7,8 contro gli altri con cui mi giocavo 5/6/7/8 che avevano le 7,0. Poi Max Brunetti, paga un po’ lo stress alla prima heat dove fa’ subito anticipato, e poi nel secondo riprende le redini e fa un buon 6° agli ottavi davanti comunque a Marco Lang Aut 66 che e’ uno da top 25 volendo!
That’s it for today! Domani saremo operativi dalla spiaggia alle 10:3 . Seguite lo streaming live sul sito del pwa!

Andrea Ferin. @Jose Pina

Max Brunetti (RRD, Challenger Sails):
Con la giornata odierna abbiamo aperto le danze alledizione 2014 del PWA a Fuerteventura. Il vento non è mancato circa 2025 kts, sono stati completati due tabelloni nei quali abbiamo potuto vedere un super Matteo  Iacchino con un 4° e 3° posto si è infatti aggiudicato la classifica  provvisoria, Malte Reuscher in 21°posizione e Andrea Ferin al 34° posto. Per me la gara oggi non è iniziata con il piede giusto infatti al primo tabellone sono stato squalificato agli ottavi per partenza anticipata, nel secondo sono partito molto bene ma durante lo svolgimento della heat non sono riuscito a difendermi adeguatamente e coperto da un concorrente ho perso velocità concludendo solo 7° quindi fuori dai quarti di finale. Per chi non lo sapesse le heat sono da 810 concorrenti e passano solo i primi 4 di ogni batteria al turno successivo fino ad arrivare alle finali vincenti (1-8) e perdenti (8-18). Per domani le previsioni sembrano buone, tifiamo tutti per il nostro Matteo e speriamo di migliorare le nostre prestazioni!

Fuerteventura The Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam, hosted by René Egli, started in explosive fashion as the racing started promptly this afternoon, allowing the opening two eliminations to be completed. The first blood of the day went to Pascal Toselli (Starboard / Point-7), before Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) claimed his first bullet of the season in the second race. However, at the end of the first day Italy’s Matteo Iachino (Fanatic / North) sits proudly at the top of the rankings as the current event leader after backing up his fourth place finish with a solid third. Matteo Iachino leads the way Elimination One Winners’ Final Race one was completed in fourteen to twenty-two knots as Pascal Toselli produced a fantastic display to claim his first ever elimination victory. The Frenchman has been on the cusp of victory a couple of times this season and today he was able to slot all the pieces of the puzzle together to make the perfect start to the event. Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne) made the best start to the final, but by the first mark Toselli had burst into the lead – a position he would not relinquish. Behind him reigning world champion Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) made a solid start to the week as he clinched second place ahead of Cyril Moussilmani and Matteo Iachino. Meanwhile, Sebastian Kördel (GA Sails), did brilliantly on his last gybe to manoeuvre himself from last place into fifth. Pascal Toselli claims his first ever bullet The first round saw several shocks as the big names fell early. In the opening heat of the day Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / MFC) failed to advance. The Bonairean lead into the first mark but crucially dropped his gybe, a mistake he was unable to recover from. In heat four Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) became to latest name to fall after narrowly missing out in fifth place to Denmark’s Kasper Larsen (Starboard / Loft Sails), whilst Pieter Bijl (Angulo / Gun Sails) also suffered an early exit after jumping the gun. Meanwhile, in heat seven and eight respectively Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) failed to advance. However, several sailors did well to advance from tough opening heats. Firstly, sixteen year old Ethan Westera (Starboard / GA Sails) booked his place in the quarterfinals before Marco Lang (Fanatic / North) and Enes Yilmazer (Starboard / Severne) both escaped from heat two. Micah Buzianis Elimination Two  Winners’ Final The second winners’ final of the day started under dramatic circumstances as Antoine Albeau was disqualified after crossing the start line early. Upon the restart Josh Angulo timed his start to perfection, but Australia’s Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) held the lead as the fleet headed into the first gybe. However, by the exit Angulo had managed to take the lead ahead Allen, Pierre Mortefon and Matteo Iachino. Angulo extended his advantage by the third and it wasn’t long before he was claiming his first bullet of the season, whilst Mortefon made a great recovery after his first round exit in the first race to finish second followed by Iachino and Allen, who claimed third and fourth respectively. Josh Angulo on top Heat three saw two sailors cross the start line early, resulting in disqualification – Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7), who qualified for the losers’ final in the opening race and unfortunately sixteen year old Aron Etmon (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear), who is making his debut on the PWA World Tour and is the youngest competitor in the fleet. This left the door open for twenty-two year old Martim Montiero (Angulo / Gun Sails), who successfully booked his place in the quarterfinals along with Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails), Benoit Moussilmani (Simmer) and Malte Reuscher (RRD / Challenger / AL360). Heat seven saw Amado Vrieswijk (Starboard / Severne) – who is better known for his freestyling expertise – negotiate his way into his first quarterfinal as he clinched the final qualifying position. Amado Vriewsijk advances into the quarterfinals After advancing into the quarterfinals in race one – Enes Yilmazer – went one better in elimination two as he navigated his way into the semifinals, before just missing out on a place in the winners’ final after finishing sixth in heat thirteen. Enes Yilmazer holds off John Skye The second semifinal saw three sailors disqualified for jumping the gun – Sebastian Kordel, Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) and Pascal Toselli, who will be very disappointed having won the opening round. With just five sailors remaining each one of them pushed themselves to the limit for a place in the winners’ final. Unfortunately Micah Buzianis was the man to miss out after dropping his second gybe when trying to desperately pass Steve Allen. Ross Williams Tomorrow’s forecast predicts lighter winds for tomorrow, but with Sotavento’s local affects you can never be 100% about what will happen. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30am. Don’t miss any of the incredible action over the next nine days by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com where you’ll be able to follow the event live via the PWA live stream and live ticker.