– The racers are granted a day of rest –

– No races on the third day at the EC Cascais –

– Steve Allen is still in the lead –

Cascais / Lisbon (Portugal), June 7th 2003. After the two days with hard racings the competitors were granted a day of rest at the Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cascais/Lisbon (Portugal). In the morning the wind was blowing quite strong but it was shifty and inconsistent. The race committee hoped that the wind would get better in the afternoon and decided to wait for suitable conditions. Unfortunately things developed different: The wind dropped and died completely. So in the end no races were sailed on the third day of the EC Cascais.

But most of the competitors were happy about the break that was granted to them by the weather. They had three hard races back to back yesterday and even four races on the day before. Additionally many of them arrived in a hardcore roadtrip from the last event in Cagliari/Sardina without a chance to recover. They used the time to relax, repair their gear and enjoy the perfect weather with nice sunshine and blue sky that provided the necessary ingredients for a nice beach day in Cascais.

Now everybody is focussed on the final day tomorrow as the final decision is postponed. After seven races with two discards Fanatic rider Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) is still leading the Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cascais/Lisbon (Portugal) with a total of 9,4 points. On his heals he has the Polish Starboard hot shot Michal Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) with 14,7 points and Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from the Fanatic team with 16,7 points. The YES Sails top racers Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456, Starboard, YES Sails) moved up to the fourth place with 22,0 points followed by Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland.

Even more interesting is the fight for the victory in the Manufacturers ranking between Fanatic and Starboard. At the EC Cascais Fanatic is leading with a total of 353 points provided by Steve Allen, Pieter Bijl and Ben van der Steen (NED-57, Fanatic, Neil Pryde). Only one place behind is Starboard with a total of 352 points won by Michal Polanowski, Alberto Menegatti and Aleks Grynis. If Fanatic would manage to win the EC Cascais they will have equal points with Starboard. By tie break rules they will regain the lead the annual EC ranking list. The fight for glory is fully on.

For the final day we hope for more exciting racing action at the Euro-Cup Cascais/Lisbon. We expect a maximum of another four or five final races that can change the results significantly. The skippers meeting is set for 11:00. The first possible start is scheduled for 12:00.

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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Phone: +49 (0) 431 / 971 98 98

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Internet: www.choppywater.de , www.windsurfcup.de , www.euro-cup.org