Speed World Cup: French Cup Day 2+3
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:22 pm
Day 2
Epic conditions today in Port St. Louis, with three legs held in 30-40 knots of wind the race committee tested all skills of the riders, technical as well as physical.
Alex Caizergues was the man of the day, with three bullets clearly in the lead now. In the womens fleet, Charlotte Consorti has also a perfect score with 4 out of 5 victories.
Skippersmeeting was held at 9:00 and the first start scheduled for 10:15 hours. Alex took the lead from the very beginning, only challenged Sebastien Cattelan. Manu Taub showed his skills with a third place. The overall leader from yesterday, Rolf van der Vlugt, finished only 6th. Charlotte Consorti dominated the first round ahead of Sjoukje Bredenkamp again, Katja Roose in third.
After an hour break, the second round of the day was started, with a little less wind but better angle. Caizergues won again ahead of 2006 world champion Christophe Prin-Guenon. Rolf van der Vlugt in third again, defending his overall position. This race was really exciting, as the lead changed several times and one top speed was bettered by another. In the end, Alex Caizergues closely missed the 40 knots mark with a stunning 39.62 knots run, "Catman" Cattelan also hit 39 knots, Prin-Guenon and van der Vlugt close behind. The ladies round was this time won by Sjoukje Bredenkamp, also with the event top speed of 34.47 knots.
Round three saw challenging conditions, with the wind dropping a little bit and shifting, but still a good race with speeds around 37-38 knots. Alex took his third bullet of the day, van der Vlugt in second and Jerome Bila with some very good runs in third. Same picture on the womens side, Consorti ahead of Bredenkamp, who missed the first minutes of the race with the best winds, and Katja Roose.
The forecast for tomorrow looks even better, we expect gusts up to 100 km/h, so it looks like another epic day again.
You can follow the race LIVE at http://www.speedworldcup.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Pictures are available in the Press Lounge for download.
Day 3
What an incredible day: 60 knots of wind, amazing speeds, upside-down timing caravan. We have rarely seen such a windy race day during competition - an experience that not many can share. Alexandre Caizergues and Charlotte Consorti, both from France, are still dominating the PKRA Speed:World:Cup in Port St. Louis.
The day started calm, not very windy, and the skippersmeeting was scheduled for 9:30, due to the official function yesterday evening. Just in time for the start at 11:00 hours the wind picked up, and there was more to come. Already the first speeds showed the potential of Plage Napoleon, which has now proven to be one of the fastest natural speedsailing spots in the world.
Alex Caizergues set the mark of the day with a stunning 43.09 knots run, Sebastien Cattelan, Rolf van der Vlugt and Christophe Prin-Guenon hit this magical mark as well. In up to 50 knots of wind not many riders made the way up to the starting mark, but for those competing it was a magical experience. Sjoukje Bredenkamp was leading the ladies competition for a long time, but only a few minutes before the end of the leg Charlotte Consorti snatched victory with respectable 34.5 knots.
After a longer break the second leg of the day was started at 14:30. The wind gusted 60 knots in the meantime, flying water and sand everywhere.
The speeds were not so impressive as in the first leg, as the water was really rough now and most runs ended up in bad crashes.
Everything went well so far for dominating Alexandre Caizergues, until the timing caravan fell over in a heavy gust and the race had to be stopped for a few minutes.
After reopening the course, Rolf van der Vlugt set the run of this leg with a personal best speed of 42.35 knots, Charlotte Consorti directly behind him with 36.39 knots, taking the lead in the womens top speed ranking.
In the overall ranking, Alexandre Caizergues is clearly in the lead with a perfect score of 3.5 points after 7 legs and 2 discards, followed by dutch Rolf van der Vlugt and Sebastien Cattelan.
Same picture at the womens side, perfect score for Charlotte Consorti, Sjouke Bredenkamp (RSA) and Katja Roose (NED) clearly behind.
The Speed:World:Cup contiunes until Sunday 6th, the event is broadcasted live on the internet via http://www.speedworldcup.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Full Results can be found in the events section, and pictures in the press lounge.
Epic conditions today in Port St. Louis, with three legs held in 30-40 knots of wind the race committee tested all skills of the riders, technical as well as physical.
Alex Caizergues was the man of the day, with three bullets clearly in the lead now. In the womens fleet, Charlotte Consorti has also a perfect score with 4 out of 5 victories.
Skippersmeeting was held at 9:00 and the first start scheduled for 10:15 hours. Alex took the lead from the very beginning, only challenged Sebastien Cattelan. Manu Taub showed his skills with a third place. The overall leader from yesterday, Rolf van der Vlugt, finished only 6th. Charlotte Consorti dominated the first round ahead of Sjoukje Bredenkamp again, Katja Roose in third.
After an hour break, the second round of the day was started, with a little less wind but better angle. Caizergues won again ahead of 2006 world champion Christophe Prin-Guenon. Rolf van der Vlugt in third again, defending his overall position. This race was really exciting, as the lead changed several times and one top speed was bettered by another. In the end, Alex Caizergues closely missed the 40 knots mark with a stunning 39.62 knots run, "Catman" Cattelan also hit 39 knots, Prin-Guenon and van der Vlugt close behind. The ladies round was this time won by Sjoukje Bredenkamp, also with the event top speed of 34.47 knots.
Round three saw challenging conditions, with the wind dropping a little bit and shifting, but still a good race with speeds around 37-38 knots. Alex took his third bullet of the day, van der Vlugt in second and Jerome Bila with some very good runs in third. Same picture on the womens side, Consorti ahead of Bredenkamp, who missed the first minutes of the race with the best winds, and Katja Roose.
The forecast for tomorrow looks even better, we expect gusts up to 100 km/h, so it looks like another epic day again.
You can follow the race LIVE at http://www.speedworldcup.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.
Pictures are available in the Press Lounge for download.
Day 3
What an incredible day: 60 knots of wind, amazing speeds, upside-down timing caravan. We have rarely seen such a windy race day during competition - an experience that not many can share. Alexandre Caizergues and Charlotte Consorti, both from France, are still dominating the PKRA Speed:World:Cup in Port St. Louis.
The day started calm, not very windy, and the skippersmeeting was scheduled for 9:30, due to the official function yesterday evening. Just in time for the start at 11:00 hours the wind picked up, and there was more to come. Already the first speeds showed the potential of Plage Napoleon, which has now proven to be one of the fastest natural speedsailing spots in the world.
Alex Caizergues set the mark of the day with a stunning 43.09 knots run, Sebastien Cattelan, Rolf van der Vlugt and Christophe Prin-Guenon hit this magical mark as well. In up to 50 knots of wind not many riders made the way up to the starting mark, but for those competing it was a magical experience. Sjoukje Bredenkamp was leading the ladies competition for a long time, but only a few minutes before the end of the leg Charlotte Consorti snatched victory with respectable 34.5 knots.
After a longer break the second leg of the day was started at 14:30. The wind gusted 60 knots in the meantime, flying water and sand everywhere.
The speeds were not so impressive as in the first leg, as the water was really rough now and most runs ended up in bad crashes.
Everything went well so far for dominating Alexandre Caizergues, until the timing caravan fell over in a heavy gust and the race had to be stopped for a few minutes.
After reopening the course, Rolf van der Vlugt set the run of this leg with a personal best speed of 42.35 knots, Charlotte Consorti directly behind him with 36.39 knots, taking the lead in the womens top speed ranking.
In the overall ranking, Alexandre Caizergues is clearly in the lead with a perfect score of 3.5 points after 7 legs and 2 discards, followed by dutch Rolf van der Vlugt and Sebastien Cattelan.
Same picture at the womens side, perfect score for Charlotte Consorti, Sjouke Bredenkamp (RSA) and Katja Roose (NED) clearly behind.
The Speed:World:Cup contiunes until Sunday 6th, the event is broadcasted live on the internet via http://www.speedworldcup.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Full Results can be found in the events section, and pictures in the press lounge.