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wTuesday, June 23, 2009 | |
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PWA Costa Brava Valerie Ghibaudo and Antoine Albeau are crowned as the 2009 Costa Brava Champions, both taking decisive wins to establish their positions at the top of the PWA Slalom World Tour. Round 3 of the PWA World Tour Slalom took place in the beautiful Costa Brava region of Catalunya, Spain.  Race 1 The standard of the womens fleet has risen dramatically and this event saw 16 competitors of the highest level. Even more impressive is the amount of youth in the fleet showing how promising the future looks for womens racing. First round standout was Alice Arutkin (Starboard/North Sails). She blasted into 1st place ahead of World Champion Karin Jaggi (F2/Severne). At just 17 years old she is definitely a hot tip for the future. Unfortunately for her a timing mistake in the final meant she eventually finished 6th. The losers final was won by fired up French woman Morane Demont (Starboard/Severne). Demont had an over-early in the first round, but made no mistakes in the losers final. Celebrating her 16th birthday midweek, she is surely another high hope for the future. Cagla Kubat (Starboard/North Sails) looked very comfortable on the water and took 2nd. A winter in Maui, training with Jimmy Diaz, was clearly paying off. In 3rd position young Turkish hope Lena Erdil (Starboard/The Loft) was fuming. She had been leading an earlier heat when it was cancelled and in the re-run things did not go the same way. Sometimes racing can be very cruel. The final was a more traditional affair with Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou/The Loft) and Karin Jaggi both fighting it out for the top spot. A minor starting error from Karin opened the door for Valerie and she made no mistake taking advantage dominating the race from start to finish. In 3rd place was a surprised Marta Hlavaty (Starboard/MauiSails). More at home on the Olympic RSX board, she used her light wind skills to work through the lulls and move into the final podium position. Race 2 On standby for much of the afternoon, Womens heat one hit the water between the two mens semi finals. In an almost identical repeat of the Race one results, Alice Arutkin shot into the lead off the start, leaving Karin Jaggi trailing hot on her heals. The young French girl extended her lead in the light breeze, winning the heat comfortably. Karin cruised into second and Marta Hlavaty continued her consistent performance in third. Taking the final qualifying spot was Fanny Aubet (JP/NeilPryde) who held off a strong challenge from the flying Turk Lena Erdil. After some days of waiting Valerie Ghibaudo and Antoine Albeau took the Costa Brava Champions title, both celebrating back-to-back victories and cementing their positions at the top of the ranking. When asked how she felt, the answer was typical of the French speed queen. Valerie Ghibaudo: "appy, appy, appy. It is my second win and puts me in a very good position for the overall tour. Last year I did really badly in Costa Brava, so it is nice to come back this year and win." (text & photo: PWA) video reports here! 1st Valerie Ghibaudo (Tabou/The Loft) 2nd Karin Jaggi (F2/Severne) 3rd Marta Hlavaty (Starboard/MauiSails) 4th Sarah Hebert (Starboard/Naish) 5th Lise Vidal (Exocet/North Sails) posted by editors at 6/23/2009 01:20:00 AM |
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