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| day [02] - race
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| September, 22nd 2003
Antoine Albeau (Neil Pryde, AHD) of France has stormed into the lead in the men’s racing after taking three out of four bullets on the opening race day here at the Labello, Sylt, PWA, 2003 Grand Slam. The 31 year old racer finished the day in pole position ahead of British sailor Ross Williams (Gaastra, Starboard) in second, Ben Van der Steen (Fanatic, Neil Pryde) of Holland third and Brian Rogild (Gaastra, Starboard) representing Denmark in fourth. With winds increasing and bright sunshine throughout the day, it was the turn of the racers to draw huge crowds down to the waters edge here in Sylt this afternoon.
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| The opening two races this morning were held in 12-15 knot winds on an upwind, downwind course with the finish line right on the beach. Albeau dominated both races reveling in the choppy conditions and leading the pack by a considerable margin in both races. The French all rounder led the first race of the day from start to finish with Steve Allen (Neil Pryde, Fanatic) of Australia picking up second and current number one ranked PWA racer Micah Buzianis (Mistral, North) blistering across the line in third. World number two Wojtek Brzozowski (Starboard, Neil Pryde) had a bad start in the opening race and subsequently retired. In race number two, Albeau continued his winning ways finishing well ahead of British racer Ross Williams (Gaastra, Starboard) in second and Sam Ireland (Starboard, Neil Pryde) of Canada in third. Wojtek Brzozowski had been right on the pace holding second place but sailed too close into the beach on the last upwind and hit the rocks in the shore break. The mistake cost him dearly and he dropped back to 18th after spending valuable time in the water recovering from his crash.
This afternoon saw the winds pick up from the south to 18-22 knots and a downwind leg was introduced at the end of the course to make for some exciting action right in front of the crowds. In the third race, Wojtek Brzozowski (Neil Pryde, Starboard) found form and dominated ahead of Ben Van Der Steen and Ross Williams with Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic, Neil Pryde) of Argentina picking up fourth. Antoine Albeau suffered after colliding with Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra) on the start line, retired from the race and was later disqualified. In the final race of the day Albeau hit back with another sizzling performance and took his third bullet ahead of Wojtek Brzozowski, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and Ben Van Der Steen. Race four saw Ross Williams and Steve Allen come to blows on the start line with the incident resulting in a protest from both sailors.
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|  | | | Antoine wins | |
Last year’s winner here in Sylt, Kevin Pritchard had a bad opening day on the race course after taking only one top ten finish and finishing the day back in twelfth position overall.
The forecast for tomorrow is calling for winds from the northwest blowing around 25 knots so it is likely that we will most likely be returning to wave discipline. Skippers meeting for the 16 remaining wave sailors in the men’s single elimination has been brought forward to 9 a.m. with the first possible start at 9.30. The current top three ranked sailors, Vidar Jensen (North), Jonas Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde) are all on standby to compete not only for the event victory here in Germany but also for the prestigious 2003 PWA overall wave title.
ANTOINE ALBEAU
I had a good day but in the third race I had a collision on the start and could not finish. I won all the races I started so that is good. I was on an 11m for the first two races and then changed down to 9.8m in the afternoon. The wind was really strong in the last race, in the last race it was a bit tricky because it was so gusty on the inside. I did not have very good starts today but overtook a lot of guys during the races. I was going very fast downwind but my upwind performance was very good as well. In the last race I caught Gonzalo on the last upwind. It was a great day of racing I am very happy!
KEVIN PRITCHARD
It didn’t start off too good and it didn’t finish that well either. I did not have a good day. I just have to put that one behind me and get back on it tomorrow.
MICAH BUZIANIS
The first two races were not too bad but the two afternoon races were brutal. It wasn’t too windy but it was close to the edge and super gusty. It was blowing really offshore so there were some really strong gusts coming into the beach. I am not really happy with my performance today; they were my conditions so I am a little bit frustrated. I was on a 10.9m in the first race and then a 10m in the last one. I think we might have a day off because the wind is supposed to nuke it tomorrow.
ROSS WILLIAMS
I was in the lead until the last race but had a collision on the start line and finished way back down the fleet. I was really pleased with my performance today, my 11.5 is working really well, it is a powerhouse!
MEN’S RACE RESULTS AFTER FOUR RACES (ONE DISGARD)
1. Antoine Albeau (Ahd, Neil Pryde)
2. Ross Williams (Starboard, Gaastra)
3. Brian Rogild (Starboard, Gaastra)
4. Ben Van Der Steen (Fanatic, Neil Pryde)
5. Micah Buzianis (Mistral, North)
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Autor: pwa, Pix: Carter | |
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