left well has vibrated this Monday for the first time after 14 years with races of Slalom up to 80 km/hnow, in which more than 35 have competed riders between the male and female category. At dawn, the beach with the least intensity of waves, the bay of Gran Canaria has become the perfect racing field for this discipline in which the rider that arrives before, after zigzagging through beacons. “The conditions for the Slalom have been so good that we have done five rounds in the women’s category and three in the men’s, provisionally led by the Sevillian Blanca Alabau and the Croatian Enrico Marotyou, who used the foil instead of the traditional board with a keel,” declared Luis Escribano, judge of judges.
Initially they have come out into the water los 28 windsurfistas from the male category, a fleet led by Marotti, who managed to come first in all the heats played during the first and second rounds and maintaining a third place at the end of the third round (0.7, 0.7, 3.0), leading the standings for the moment with 4.4 points . “It was good and it was a lot of fun, I managed to focus and avoid failures. I don’t care so much about the result, I just want to give everything, give my best”, commented Marotti, who thanked the organization for making the event possible. “Thank you for hosting us in the paradise of surf, one of the spots with the toughest conditions in the world where we can demonstrate our skills”, added the rider Croatian.
Following closely behind Marotti is the current leader of the ranking world class, the Polish Maciek Rutkowski, who also managed to cross the finish line in first place during the first heats, but was disqualified during the final of the first round. Even so, the winner of the first PWA Slalom event held in Italy managed to keep second place in the final of the second and third rounds (8.0, 2.0, 2.0). Another name that is positioned in third place on the provisional Slalom podium is that of the German, Nicolas Prien. It should be noted that all riders from the podium used the foil during all sleeves.
In the women’s category, the Spanish Blanca Alabau has surprised during the races of her class, despite not having started well in the first round, she achieved two first places, although quite tight in the final against the Aruban Sarah-Quita Offringa. Additionally, she took second and third place in the following races. “It has been a long day, with very good conditions. The level is very high, but my intention is to enter the top 5. I hope to be first overall here in Gran Canaria and thus advance to first place in the ranking worldwide,” said the rider Sevillana, who used foil from the start.
Next to the rider Spanish, Aruban Sarah-Quita Offringa also excelled during the races held, holding a provisional second place ahead of French Justine Lemeteyer.
¿Windsurf con quilla o windsurf foil to win in slalom?
One of the most interesting novelties of the Slalom races in Pozo Izquierdo has been the possibility of choosing to compete with boards with a traditional keel or with windsurf foil, a strategic decision during the first races, especially when the intensity of the wind has dropped. “Today the best option was the foil, especially during the last legs, since we have dropped to about 25 knots”, explained Francky Roguet, the competition’s protest manager.
In his opinion, the show carries a risk, and not everyone chooses the foil when the wind is very strong, “you have to control very well if you go out with the foil, today was the first time we have it here in Pozo, so it has been like a laboratory where we can test it”, added Roguet. During this first day of competition in Slalom, only 30% of the riders chose to compete with foil, although most of the podium positions are occupied by precisely the windsurfistas who competed all the sleeves with the foil. It is expected to continue with Slalom this Tuesday and Wednesday until the absolute winners.
2023-07-03 19:38:12
#Spain #Croatia #lead #Slalom #races #Pozo #Izquierdo
