Antoine Albeau wins the first FormulaWindsurfing GP in Rhodes

Finale Furioso at the FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix in Ialisos/Rhodes (Greece)! Also on the last day the Greek island provided again perfect FormulaWindsurfing conditions for the best windsurfers of the World. Two final races were sailed today in wind speeds of 15 to 19 knots. Like all the days before the wind was blowing perfectly sideshore which enabled the race director Bruno de Wannemaker to set up a course directly at the beach. So the thousands of spectators and the media representatives could easily follow the competitions. Before the finish the racers had to follow a short slalom course with gates and the finish line directly at the beach.

Antoine Albeau (F-192, AHD, Neil Pryde) won the first race today and confirmed his victory at the FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix already one race before the end of the event. Wojtek Brzozowski (POL-10, Starboard, Neil Pryde) had the same points as Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic) after race#13 yesterday. Now he got second in this race and was able to move away from Steve and fixed his second place in this event. Steve Allen was unlucky as his equipment broke and he wasn’t able to complete the race. Brian Rögild (DEN-173, Starboard, Gaastra) was third and passed Arnon Dagan (ISR-1, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from Israel. But both were still so close together that the decision for place 4 was postponed for the final race.

The the next and final race of the event was a final triumph for Wojtek Brzozowski (POL-10, Starboard, Neil Pryde). He dominated this race with a lead of over 500 metres in front of Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic). Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) came back strong after a disappointing day yesterday and got third in the final race. Arnon Dagan (ISR-1, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) managed to beat Brian Rögild (DEN-173, Starboard, Gaastra) his opponent for the fourth place in the event but to catch him he had to finish at least three places ahead of Brian. The German FW Champion Helge Wilkens (G-63, AHD, Gaastra) had his best day at the event and scored a 7th and a 5th place.

After 15 races with 4 discards Antoine Albeau (F-192, AHD, Neil Pryde) wonin the first FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix. He has won eight out of the 15 races and dominated the event with a total of 14,6 points confirming his victory already one race before the end of the event. Wojtek Brzozowski (POL-10, Starboard, Neil Pryde) got second with 4 victories and 19,8 points. He had a great finish and won three out of the last four races. Steve Allen (AUS-0, Fanatic) from Australia presented a strong performance over the whole event and won three races but was a little bit unlucky in the end when his equipment broke in race#14 which made it impossible for him to react on Wojteks attack. So the Australian got 3rd with 24,1 points. Only this three competitors have been able to win races in the FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix Rhodes.

But the competition was exciting until the end as many competitors were still fighting for positions. The most spectacular fight took place between Brian Rögild (DEN-173, Starboard, Gaastra) and Arnon Dagan (ISR-1, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) with the better outcome for Brian who got 4th (57 points) with Arnon on his heals (59 points)

The best Greeks had an head to head fight with Zois Theocharis (GRE-100) on place 20 followed by Ioanis-Markos Fantis (GRE-7) on his heals. The third Greece is John Papaspirou (GRE-71).

The FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix in Ialisos / Rhodes was one of the best Racing events ever. 15 races were sailed in perfect FW conditions with very variable wind speeds from light wind races at the minimum of 7 knots to high wind competitions in almost 30 knots. Greece presented itself as a perfect base for Formula and the Greek people were fabulous hosts for the competitors who arrived from all over the World. The organizer Achilleas E. Tzimas and the Rhodes Windsurfing Academy are thanking the competitors, the race organization and all the partners who helped to realize this event. Everybody is already looking forward to the next year when the best windsurfers will return again for the FormulaWindsurfing Grand Prix.