Hvide Sande PWA World Cup: Sarah e Antoine!

Ultimo giorno di gara e ultimo slalom per uomini e donne!
Vento leggero, ma i colpi di scena non sono di certo mancati, almeno tra le donne!
Sarah si giocava tappa e titolo… ma ha sbagliato percorso in semifinale ed è stata squalificata insieme ad altre concorrenti.
A quel punto tutto era in mano a Delphine Cousin Questel che se avesse vinto lo slalom, avrebbe, in un colpo solo, negato vittoria di tappa e titolo alla Offringa, almeno fino alla tappa finale in Nuova Caledonia!
La Cousin, partita benissimo nella finale, si è invece data la cosidetta zappa sui piedi: è caduta in boa, non è riuscita a ripartire subito ed è stata infilata da 4 concorrenti.
Morale… ultimo slalom alla Mortefon, tappa ed ennesimo titolo mondiale slalom a Sarah-Quita Offringa!
Tra gli uomini Albeau, visto il vento leggero arrivato a pomeriggio inoltrato e l’impossibilità di fare altre gare, nell’ultimo slalom ha tirato il fiato, Matteo ne ha subito approfittato per vincere il suo terzo tabellone di tappa che non è bastato per riprendere la testa della classifica.
Morale… Antoine vince 4 slalom in questa tappa e si aggiudica il terzo su quattro eventi slalom sin qui disputati, Matteo vince tre slalom di tappa, ha scartato un 4° e un 7° come peggiore risultato, ma deve accontentarsi del 2° posto finale.
Ross Williams nonostante chiuda l’ultimo slalom 3° dietro ad Arnon Dagan 2°, riesce a tenere l’israeliano giù dal podio!
Pierre Moterfon chiude la top five degli uomini in Danimarca.
Con due eventi ancora da disputare, Sylt e Nuova Caledonia… corsa al titolo più avvincente che mai!
Detto di Matteo, secondo… gli altri nostri ragazzi si sono difesi: discreto 20° e 21° posto generale per Martini e Rosati.
Malte è 26°, Cucchi 36°, l’infortunato Ferin 38°, Locrini 45° e Scagliola 50°.

Foto PWA/Carter

Result 2017 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup: Women’s Slalom
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails)
4th Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360)
5th Maëlle Guilbaud (Starboard / Loft Sails)

Result 2017 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup: Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Sunglasses)
3rd Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde)
5th Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins)
6th Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui)
9th Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins)
10th Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde)

Offringa survives major final day scare to be crowned World Champion while Albeau extends lead…

Highlights Day 5 – Hvide Sande PWA World Cup

Major drama unfolded on the final day of the 2017 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup as the women’s event and world title race saw the pendulum swung back and forth in the favour of Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui). Meanwhile, Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) earned his 3rd event title out of the 4 events completed so far to extend his lead at the top of the overall rankings.

Antoine Albeau & Sarah-Quita Offringa

Women’s
You couldn’t have written the script for the final day here in Denmark as the last women’s race of the week took several dramatic twists and turns – meaning Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) endured an emotional rollercoaster.
Offringa was involved in the opening semifinal and everything looked to be going just fine with the reigning world champion holding a comfortable lead and looking as though she was easily going to qualify for the winners’ final. However, it soon became apparent that Offringa, and all of the other girls, had sailed the wrong course as they crossed the finish line in the wrong direction, which led to all 12 girls being disqualified from the heat.

Sarah-Quita Offringa in the semifinal

This swung the door wide open for Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui), who had reduced Offringa’s lead to less than a point after yesterday’s brilliant performance where she won both eliminations.
Cousin Questel would still need to win the final race in order to deny Offringa the event and world title – while forcing the title race into the season finale in New Caledonia, but the 26-year-old couldn’t have wished for a better opportunity to deny Offringa as only 5 women lined up for the winners’ final.

Delphine Cousin Questel

For Offringa, the tension was unbearable and she chose not to watch as she thought she had blown her chances of wrapping up the event and world title, but she didn’t know about what was unfolding behind her… Cousin Questel raced into an expected lead as they approached the first mark and it looked as though she was going to snatch the event title and rain on Offringa’s parade. However, as the former 2-time world champion rounded the opening buoy she dropped into the water and with the light winds she struggled to recover, which let Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails) to sneak through a take the lead. Meanwhile, Cousin Questel went from 1st to 5th as she watched her world title dreams drift away for another year.

Delphine Cousin Questel

A Rare Mistake
Offringa returned to the beach and still didn’t know if she was the event and world champion. In her head she still doubted the outcome of the result and needed to be reassured that a rare mistake on her behalf had not been punished – before being overcome with emotion – a mix of relief and happiness at being crowned the Women’s PWA Slalom World Champion for the 4th time in her spectacular career- which is her 14th overall world title.

All smiles in the end for Sarah-Quita Offringa

Marion Mortefon went on to win the 7th Elimination and with Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360) missing out on the winners final – under the same circumstances as Offringa – the 25-year-old earns her second podium of the season, while dislodging Erdil from the top 3 for the first time in 2017.

Marion Mortefon

Men’s
With the wind not kicking in until after 2pm the men already eliminated from Elimination 7 were released for the event meaning only one further race was completed, which meant that Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) had already wrapped up the without even going on the water today after a run of 4 consecutive bullets.

Antoine Albeau & Family

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Sunglasses) won the last elimination of the event, which was his 4th victory of the week, but it wasn’t quite enough to defeat Albeau as he missed out by just 0.3 of a point, which keeps him in second place in the overall rankings with two events to go.

Matteo Iachino

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Sunglasses) and Arnon Dagan were embroiled in a battle for 3rd and 4th place on the final day. The Brit held the advantage meaning Dagan would need to finish in the top 2 and Williams finish 4th or worse. The two entered the first mark in close proximity with Dagan forcing Williams wide which saw the Israeli secure a solid second place, but unfortunately for Dagan, Williams finished 3rd meaning he earns his second podium of the year – with Dagan finishing 4th.

Ross Williams and Arnon Dagan

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) and Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) remain in 5th and 6th place, while Maciek Rutkowski (Tabou / GA Sails) rises to 7th to earn his best ever result on the world tour. The Pole needed a slice of luck in the final race, which saw Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) drop his final gybe as Rutkowski secured 4th – before going on to finish 5th in the winners’ final. Rutkowski sailed solidly all week and deserves his just reward!

Maciek Rutkowski

Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) remains in 8th with Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Chopper Fins) and Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) completing the top 10.

Tristan Algret

The prize giving was held shortly afterwards and the men’s slalom fleet will meet again in Sylt, Germany in a couple of weeks time for their penultimate battle of the season, while the women will fight it out one more time this year in New Caledonia at the end of November – together with the men.