Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cagliari/Sardinia (Italy)
Cagliari/Sardinia (Italy), May 28th 2003. One day to go for the kick off of the third Windsurfing Euro-Cup of the season 2003. The most important windsurfing racing series is visiting the city of Cagliari in the south of Sardinia. After the first two events in Porto Santo / Madeira (Portugal) and Malcesine / Lake Garda (Italy) the best windsurfers of the World will challenge each other in the warm Mediteranean Sea in the Bay of Poetto Beach / Cagliari. 65 competitors have pre registered for the Beach Contest 2003. Not only men but also the best women of the World will come to Sardinia as the regatta is also counting for the Formula Windsurfing Women Cup.
One of the favourites is Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) who is leading the Euro-Cup Ranking after Malcesine. The Australian has just won the European Championships and seems to be in perfect shape now. The winner of the Euro-Cup 2002 will be challenged by his opponent Wojtek Brzozowski (POL-10, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland. Wojtek has won the Euro-Cup 2001 and was second last year. Now he is hungry for revenge and fully powered up which he demonstrated when he was dominating the last Euro-Cup in Malcesine.
But Steve Allen will be also challenged by his own team mates from the Fanatic team: The Israeli Arnon Dagan (ISR-1, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) had a brilliant start into the season with a 2nd and a 7th place. At the moment the racing expert is on the second place in the EC ranking list and hopes to repeat his victory from last year when he was able to win the event in Cagliari. Also hot are Ben van der Steen (NED-57, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) and Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde).
But Starboard is also playing a dominant role in the Euro-Cup. Starboard riders have won the first two events of the series and now they are sending their top racers to Cagliari. Danish Dynamite Brian Roegild (DEN-173, Starboard, Gaastra) has presented a very consistent performance so far and can be found on place three of the annual EC ranking at the moment. Now he hopes to move up to the top of the podium. Additionally Starboard sends its Italian hero and third of the event in Malcesine Andrea Cucchi (ITA-1, Starboard, Neil Pryde) and their Polish hotshots Michal Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) and Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde).
F2 has now fully joined the fight for the triumph in the manufacturers ranking and has strengthened their Racing team. Their top rider Ramses Landman (NED-72, F2, Neil Pryde) is now joined by Devon Boulon (ISV-1, F2, Windwing). The talent from the Virgin Islands is one of the favourites for the steps on the podium. Step by step the brand hopes to move to the top and they claim to have some “secret weapons” to be lauched later in the season!
In the manufacturers ranking sails Neil Pryde has scored two bullets so far and is again clear favourite in Sardinia. But on the following positions it is really interesting: Gaastra suffers from a lack of strong racers using their sails which makes it difficult for the brand to show the potential of their sails. North Sails was coming back strong this year and managed to score a second place in Malcesine. But most interesting will be the look on YES Sails as Sardinia is their backyard. They have moved with their whole company to the island and have a strong base of competitors in Italy.
In the womens fleet we will see all the top girls of the World: First of all the current FW World Champion Dorota Staszewska (POL-1, Starboard, Gaastra). She is the top favourite for the event in Sardinia but she has shown some weaknesses at the Europeans and she will be challenged by the current number two in the FW Women Cup, Christine Becker (GER-215, Starboard, Gun Sails). The German girl had a great come back after a one year break from racing and is getting faster from race to race. Two weeks ago she got FW European Vice-Champion. But also the Italian hero Verena Fauster (ITA-32, Starboard, Gaastra), Margit Germany (AUT-88, Starboard, Gaastra) from Austria and Christine Johnston from Great Britain hope to score in Sardinia.
The first start is scheduled for Thursday. We are looking forward to three great days of Racing action!
You can find more information, results, pictures etc. and follow the competitions online on the official Website of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup www.euro-cup.org and on the FW Class Website www.formulawindsurfing.org .
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