On Day three of the IFCA Slalom World Championships the forecasts predicted good wind only in the morning. So the skippers meeting was set as early as 7:30 with the first start at 8:00. So the organization and the competitors arrived at the beach of Almanarre when it was still fully dark. But the efforts paid off! Just as planned the competition could be started in perfect slalom conditions. A total of 3 eliminations for the mens fleet and even 7 Slaloms for the womens fleet were sailed today.
The Turkish Slalom Champion Bora Kozanoglu (TUR 11, Starboard, Neil Pryde) was able to win the first final in front of Hubert Mokrzyki (POL 25, Tabou, Gaastra) from Poland. The current IFCA Slalom Master Champion Markus Poltenstein (AUT 30, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from Austria left a brilliant impression also in the overall fleet an scored a third place with The Italian Slalom Champion Andrea Cucchi (ITA 1, Starboard, POINT 7) and Pawel Hlawati (POL 11, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland on his heels.
In the second Slalom Alberto Menegatti (ITA 456, F2, North Sails) from Italy managed to dominate. The French hotshot Florent Renard (FRA 5, JP, Neil Pryde) scored another second place after his success from yesterday. Also Michal Polanowski (POL 16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland was able to confirm his excellent performance from the previous day with a third place in front of the Britsh Slalom expert Dan Ellis (GBR 52, Fanatic, Naish Sails) and Hubert Mokrzycki.
Another Slalom elimination was run in excellent conditions. And with Damien Le Guen (FRA 86, JP, Neil Pryde) we got the fourth winner in the fourth race. This proved the how tight the performance of the competitors of the IFCA Class is at the moment. There are about fifteen riders at the event who have the potential for a podium finish. Dan Ellis proved his consistent performance with a second place in front of Bora Kozanoglu. Alberto Menegatti and Antoine Questel (FRA 99, Tabou Gaastra) completed the top 5.
In the women's fleet Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA 444, Tabou, Loft Sails) continued her domination. With seven bullets out of seven races and a total of 4,9 points she confirmed that she is unbeatable at the moment. The more interesting is the fight for the other podium positions: Verena Fauster (ITA 31, F2, Gaastra) presented a consistent performance and is second with 21,0 points. Marion Raisi (FRA 213, Exocet, Gaastra) is third with 28,2 points while Olivia Piana (FRA 51, Tabou, Neil Pryde) and Ophelie Joly (FRA 64, Fanatic North Sails) have a head to head fight for the fifth position with 30 points each.
After three days of competition and four Slalom eliminations completed Hubert Mokrzyki is leading the IFCA Slalom World Championships due to his consistent performance with 11,0 points. On the second place follows Bora Kozanoglu from Turkey with 12,7 points. He can feel the breath of Dan Ellis on his neck as the British Slalom expert is only 0,3 points behind with 13 points. The two Italians Alberto Menegatti (15,7 points) and Andrea Cucchi (18,0 points) complete the top five.
For tomorrow the forecasts predict western wind in the afternoon. So hopefully we will see more slalom action. The IFCA Slalom World Championships in Hyeres will last until Sunday, October 7th.
