Antoine Albeau
(1st Pozo/1st Fuerte)

Many thought that with slalom returning to Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s backyard, we would once again see the form of the old ‘terminator’. It soon became apparent this was not the case, as Antoine Albeau took that mantle and smoked everyone in almost every race. Some onlookers went as far as saying that he was just ‘toying’ with some of the pack. Antoine completely dominated Pozo and then went on to win convincingly in Fuerte.

This is the only race that Antoine didn’t win in Pozo. Watch Kevin lead from start to finish and Antoine fall at the first mark!

Kevin Pritchard
(3rd Pozo/4th Fuerte)

Kevin Pritchard was the last overall PWA World Slalom Champion and he did this with the help of The Team. Those days are gone but Kevin is still mighty quick on a slalom board. He was incredibly consistent this summer and had it not been for a certain Frenchman, he would now be leading the overall series. The windy & choppy conditions of Pozo really suited him and he was the sailor that won the only race Antoine didn’t! In Fuerte he was never out of the top 6 but he didn’t get the race wins he needed to make the podium in Fuerte.

Finian Maynard
(8th Pozo/2nd Fuerte)

Maynards main strengths in the slalom were his good starts and placing at the first gybe mark. A lot of sailors sat back behind him as he creates such a huge wake. He is also very consistent at the gybe and always seemed to have a slight edge on everyone (apart from Antoine) with his speed. However in Pozo he just couldn't get in tune with the chop leading to his 8th.

See Micah’s blistering speed off the startline, down the first reach and rounding the gybe mark in first.

Micah Buzianis
(6th Pozo/3rd Fuerte)

He was last year’s Racing World Champion along with Dunkerbeck on his F2/North kit. But now he’s on JP/Neil Pryde and has spent a lot of time training on the new JP board. Micah never really stopped doing slalom when the competition stopped on the PWA Tour. He was often spotted training off Maui and always competing in the local slalom events.

Taty Frans
(21st Pozo/25th Fuerte)

This is Taty Frans’s first year at slalom and the first time racing at international level. He came into it with two sails, one super x board and little preparation. Whilst his overall position and is down to his lack of experience, his natural talent, good speed and probably the best gybes of the whole fleet saw him pull off some very good results including two ninth places. That is very impressive when you consider the competition and he was doing it on a super x board.

Dioni Guadagnino
(DNC Pozo/21st Fuerte)

Dioni Guadagnino is now quite a big lad! He started off specialising in freestyle, but has now moved across to wave and slalom. His aim is to become an all-rounder and is hopeful that there will once again be an overall title. However, his sponsors Mistral don’t have an all out slalom board, so with a Mistral Screamer SL (the light one), some good fins and some borrowed Pryde sails (Neil Pryde did not have any race sails left for him) he set about making a pretty good impression on the slalom scene. He got to one final in Fuerte, but was too eager and went over early on the start, so we never saw what he was fully made of. He has potential!

Pieter Bijl
(8th Fuerte)

Pieter Bijl has been heavily involved in the development of the Fanatic Falcon slalom boards and also the Pryde RS:6 slalom sails. He is not of the largest of builds, but on a couple of days in Fuerte he was the fastest on the water by quite a margin winning one final way ahead of Albeau, Buzianis and Dunkerbeck. But with results ranging from 26th to 1st place he needs to work on consistency.

Here Pieter cuts inside Finian at the gybe mark to take the lead.

Cyril Moussilmani
(7th Pozo/6th Fuerte)

Cyril Moussilmani showed good form and staying consistency throughout the series. With his performances in the waves (currently 12th), his third in the speed event, Cyril is another contender for an overall title if the PWA ever brings it back!

Bjorn Dunkerbeck
(2nd Pozo/5th Fuerte)

Dunkerbeck led the event in Fuerte for the first two days. As long as he could plane out of the lighter inside gybe he was usually winning the race. A few mistakes later, some slower starts and the lighter first gybe really did not help his cause. He never showed the speed domination that used to see him tear through the pack. The others have caught up and overtaken, but at 37 he also seems to be taking it easier (during the day at least!).

Here are two clips of Valerie leading Karin through a gybe and down a reach.

Karin Jaggi
(1st Fuerte)
Valerie Ghibaudo
(2nd Fuerte)

Karin & Valerie completely dominated the racing in Fuerteventura. Throughout the course they were in a complete class of their own, as their superior overall windsurfing ability made good work of the harsh conditions. Karin was slightly quicker, winning 10 out of the 15 races. Valerie won the other five whilst Karin came second – you get the picture!