– Fanatic beats Starboard in the Boards Manufacturers Ranking–
– Neil Pryde dominated the Sail Manufacturers Ranking –
Cascais / Lisbon (Portugal), June 8th 2003. The last day of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cascais / Lisbon (Portugal) didn’t bring conditions for any official races. So the result from the second day with seven races and two discards is also the final result.
The Fanatic top rider Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) stepped on the top of the podium. The Euro-Cup Champion of 2002 was enthusiastic about his first victory in the 2003 season. The Australian was able to win two races and scored two second places. In the end he had a total of 9,4 points which gives him a clear lead in front of the new star in the Starboard team Michal Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde) on the second place. The Polish youngster was able to win the final race and present a consistent performance over the whole regatta. In the end he had 14,7 points giving him a 2-point lead in front of Fanatics “wild animal” Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde). The Dutch windsurfing maniac was able to win one race and finished three times on the third place.
On the fourth place followed the “baby” in the Starboard team Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456, Satrboard, YES Sails). The top racer of YES Sails confirmed the strong impression from the last Euro-Cup event in Cagliari/Sardinia and underlined the intention to step out of the shadow of his mentor and Italian Champion Andrea Cucchi. He was getting stronger and stronger over the regatta and a victory in one race was only prevented by a rope in the water which made him make a spectacular catapult. The fifth position was won by Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) who was also able to win one race and by that recovered after a terrible start into the regatta.
In the Boards Manufacturers Ranking we saw an exciting head to head fight between Fanatic and Starboard. After two Starboard victories at the last two events Fanatic was able to triumph this time. But it was super tight between the two global players in the racing scene. In the end Fanatic won with 353 points provided by Steve Allen, Pieter Bijl and Ben van der Steen (NED-57, Fanatic, Neil Pryde). Only one point behind is Starboard with a total of 352 points won by Michal Polanowski, Alberto Menegatti and Aleks Grynis. The third position was won by F2 whose efforts in the Euro-Cup pay of now. Their new “baby” Devon Boulon (ISV-1, F2, Windwing) was the top scorer with a ninth place in the strong fleet.
In the Sails Manufacturers Ranking we saw again a domination of Neil Pryde. 7 out of the top-10 racers are using Neil Pryde sails. Only YES sails was able to break into the top-5 Neil Pryde phalanx with their top racer Alberto Menegatti. The maximum of 357 points from Steve Allen, Michal Polanowski and Pieter Bijl granted Neil Pryde a comfortable lead ahead of Gaastra with 331 points. Gaastra is still suffering from a significant lack of top racers using their sails. Their “strongest weapon” Ross Williams (GBR-83, Starboard, Gaastra) was only able to get eighth after a strong second place after the first day. The other Gaastra top racers were not able to save the score for their brand. The third position was won by YES sails who are establishing themselves more and more as one of the top brands for competitive sails.
The Windsurfing Euro-Cup Cascais/Lisbon (Portugal) was another jewel in the crown for the most important windsurfing racing series of the world. The competitors enjoyed the unique atmosphere at the most western point of the European continent and the perfect hospitality of the Portuguese people. A spectacular show was presented for the media and the spectators. Thousands of people followed the competition online. Mostly over the official EC Website www.euro-cup.org and the FW Class Website www.formulawindsurfing.org. But many other pages covered the event additionally. Several international Magazines will report over the Windsurfing Euro-Cup event in Cascais/Lisbon.
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 .
