Dopo l’acqua piatta e il vento forte, ma rafficato, nel quinto giorno di gara Sylt ha offerto un menù diverso a base di vento leggero e cioppo “Noly Style” che ha messo abbastanza a dura prova gli atleti in gara. In ogni modo con la giornata di ieri altri due slalom sono stati portati e la classifica generale dopo quattro tabelloni comincia a delinearsi chiaramente: un incredibile Angulo, dopo un inizio stentato (30°), con due primi ed un secondo si è messo a capo della banda e pare intenzionato a vincere la tappa. Alle sue spalle il giovane Quentel motorizzato RRD vanta uno score di tutto rispetto (6°, 2°, 2°, 4°)  e si permette di guardare dal secondo gradino del podio virtuale il suo più famoso compagno di team, le roi Albeau che insegue al terzo posto (3°, 6°, 3° 3°), al quarto posto, ma in crescendo visto che ha vinto il quarto e per ora ultimo slalom della tappa il nostro Alberto Menegatti! Alberto che se vuole avere qualche chances di insidiare almeno Quentel, per il titolo di vicecampione del mondo 2013, deve a tutti i costi ingranare la quarta negli slalom di oggi che potrebbero essere caratterizzati dal ventone!
Per la cronaca la giornata di ieri ha portato buone nuove per il resto del Team Italia… se Matteo negli ultimi due slalom ha tirato un po’ il fiato fermandosi sempre al 18° posto, ma limitando i danni in classifica generale deve mantiene la decima posizione, Rosati ha ingranato una marcia in più centrato due finali perdenti che gli sono valse il 15° posto nel terzo slalom e ancora meglio il quarto dove ha chiuso al 12° (4° nella finale perdenti)! Anche Malte si ci mette di impegno e centra un 11° posto nel terzo slalom che gli vale il 28° posto in classifica generale davanti a Andrea Ferin non troppo a suo agio nelle condizioni di ieri, dopo le buone prestazioni nei primi due slalom.
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Results After Four Eliminations - Men’s Slalom
1st Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails)
2nd Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
4th Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)
5th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
6th Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne)
7th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails)
8th Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails)
9th Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic)
10th Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger / AL360)

Day 5: The perfect day for Angulo as he storms to the top of the event rankings
The fifth day of the GP Joule PWA Sylt World Cup saw the wind return as a further two slalom eliminations were completed in chilly, but beautiful weather. The offshore winds made for tricky racing in 7-15 knots of breeze, but there were still some exhilarating battles over the course of the day. Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) continued his fantastic form this week as the secured another bullet and a second place to move to the top of the event rankings, whilst Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) hit back in race four with his first race victory of the event.
Men’s Slalom - Elimination Three - Winners’ Final
Josh Angulo timed his start to perfection in the opening winners’ final of the day as he crossed the start line in first place. Angulo then built on his brilliant start as he held the lead ahead of Alberto Menegatti, Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Kasper Larsen (Starboard / Loft Sails), whilst Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) and Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) collided with each other, but both sailors did well to stay upright. Over the remainder of the course Angulo showed blistering speed and perfect gybes - which he pumped out of - to storm to his second victory of the week. Behind him Quentel once again demonstrated that he is one of the quickest sailors on the tour as he fought his way into second place, with Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Dagan completing the top four, leaving Menegatti to settle for fifth place.
Elsewhere in race three there were several upsets in the opening round - the first of which came in heat three as Jordy Vonk (Patrik / Loft Sails) - who was ninth at the beginning of the day - narrowly missed out on a place in the quarterfinals after finishing in fifth place, whilst Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) was also knocked out. Heat four was eventually completed at the fifth attempt - after a combination of a false start and the wind dropping on several occasions - but in the end Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails) both took earlier than planned exits, whilst Chris Pressler (Starboard / Severne) did well to clinch the final qualifying place. The drama wasn’t finished there either as Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) also failed to escape from heat five, before Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) was disqualified for sailing in the wrong heat - heat seven when he was supposed to be in heat eight.
Further drama ensued in the opening semifinal as Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) crashed into Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails) on the exit of the third gybe - at the time both sailors were qualifying for a place in the winners’ final, but neither qualified after the collision - instead Julien Quentel and Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti) benefitted as they finished in third and fourth place respectively.
Elimination Four - Winners’ Final
Josh Angulo made another blistering start to the second winners’ final of the day as he once again crossed the line in first place, however this time around he couldn’t quite hold his lead into the first mark as Alberto Menegatti came flying down the opening reach to take the lead ahead of Angulo, Steven Allen and Antoine Albeau. With clean wind and acres of clear water ahead of him, Menegatti extended his lead over the chasing pack to claim his first victory of the week, which moves him up to fourth place overall for the event. In the meantime Angulo cemented his place at the top of the rankings after finishing in second place with Albeau and Julien Quentel finishing third and fourth respectively.
Just as in race three there were further upsets in the first round of elimination four - firstly Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) failed to qualify from heat one. The Frenchman entered the first gybe in the lead, but after struggling to get back onto the place he ended up finishing in seventh place. Jordy Vonk, meanwhile, suffered his second first round exit of the day in heat two, whilst Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) was also knocked out in heat three after catapulting and finishing in fifth place. Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) was the final upset in the opening round as he finished heat eight in sixth place.
The forecast for tomorrow is predicting strong winds, with gusts of up to 29 knots being predicted. With this in mind it looks as though the freestyle sailors will take center stage for the first time this week, depending how the conditions materialize, whilst there is still the potential for some high wind slalom as well. The skippers’ meeting for the freestyle and slalom fleets will be held at 10am with the action commencing at 10:30am, whilst the wave sailors will meet at 1pm. Don’t miss any of the explosive and radical action by tuning into the PWA live stream at www.pwaworldtour.com.