First double elimination completed in Alacati

First day of the EFPT Alacati King of the Bay and one double elimination was already completed. Wind conditions were varying from 4.7 to 5.7 sails and Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) came out on top again in the late evening final.

Yesterday most riders registered in the Shaka surf bar. This morning registration was still open from 9-10h. The wind was blowing already from the early morning hours, skippers meeting was held at 11.00h and 12.00h straight away the first heat was on the water. It was a bit gusty side onshore conditions at noon time, so it was hard to make the right sail choice. Heat #7 with Adrian Beholz (F2) against Teo Bathrelos (JP/North) and Yarden Meir (Fanatic/Simmer) against Vladimir Yakovlev (JP/NeilPryde) had to be canceled because the wind dropped. Competition was on standby then for an hour till the wind direction shifted to sideshore and increased enough to continue with the single elimination. In the second round of the single Stam Promponas (Fanatic/North) kicked out Edvan Souza de Pedro (RRD/Simmer) from Brazil. Phil Soltysiak (Starboard) was on form today in the single, showing some impressive runs. He eliminated Danilo Mendez Da Silva (Fanatic/North), team collegue Nico Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun) and also Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North) to qualify for the winners final. On the other side of the ladder it was Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) working his way through to the final over Andraz Zan (RRD), Sassa Teixeira (RRD/RRD) and Davy Scheffers. Also in the winners final it was Steven who set the mark and took first place of the single in front of Phil. Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North) won the final for 3^rd place and left Davy Scheffers in 4^th position.

After finishing the single an hour break was scheduled and the first heat of the double elimination was underway at 16.45h. In Heat #29 it came to a Brazilian battle with Da Silva (Fanatic/North), Teixeira (RRD/RRD) and Souza de Pedro (RRD/Simmer) in the same heat and Niklas Strahlen (RRD/Simmer) from Sweden joining to complete the quartett. Strahlen and Teixeira advanced to the next heat together with Andraz Zan (RRD) and Nico Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun). It were Nico and Niklas who left the others in 7^th position and went on to battle it out against each other. It was good wind in the late afternoon and both sailors were on small sails like 4.7 showing a lot of nice powerful moves, but in the end it was Nico Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun) who gave a better overall impression and advanced to face Davy Scheffers. This heat was also a close one, both guys going for it with Konos, Culo, Bob, Burner and some combinations. Davy sailed probably one of his best heats and also Nico was racking up points on the score sheet. This time it was Scheffers who impressed the judges more and went on to meet Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North). In the evening the wind got a bit more gusty and the riders took bigger sails to keep planning in between, but when a gust came they were pretty powered up. It was a repetition of the small final from the single and again Andre did a good solid heat and won against Davy. After this one Pako was up against Phil Soltysiak (Starboard) and wanted to take revenge from his loss against Phil in the single elimination. Paskowski was performing well and showed a big variety of moves like Chachoo, switch manoevers and high Shakas on the way out. Phil from Canada was also performing well but could not match Andres run this time and had to settle in 3^rd position. The final was up between Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) and Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North) in the evening hours. Steven had to wait all the double elimination and seemed not to be warmed up. He crashed a couple of his moves led the way for Andre who put a good run on the water to win. So both sailors had to go one more time to decide the winner of this double elimination in the super final. It was already after 19.00h in the evening when the green flag went up. This time Andre seemed a bit tired already and did not perform as consistent as usual. He crashed often while Steven landed most of his difficult moves. It was a solid run from Van Broeckhoven (F2) which made him win this super final and also the first double elimination in the evening hours.

After competing all afternoon and evening the riders finally put away their sails and went to eat and have a beer. It has been good action on the first event day here in Alacati and the forecast looks promising for some more tomorrow. So skippers meeting is scheduled for 9.00h to start into the next single already in the morning.

Result first double elimination:

1	Van Broeckhoven	B-72
2	Paskowski	G-2
3	Soltysiak	CAN-9
4	Scheffers	H-311
5	Akgazciyan	F-400
6	Strahlen	S-4444
7	Teixeira	BRA-64
	Zan	SLO-98
9	Souza de Pedro	BRA-250
	Da Silva	BRA-83
	Promponas	GRE-393
	Beholz	G-888
13	Athanasiou	GRE-9
	Meir	ISR-91
	Sude	SLO-89
	Petrisie	NB-50
17	Tetsis	GRE-212
	Gavriel	ISR-111
	Kovarik	CZ-23
	Yakovlev	RUS-99
	Bathrelos	GRE-281