| Sylvain Moussilmani wins the decisive first race of the PWA Sylt 2008 |
| Tuesday, 30 September 2008 09:35 |
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Launching into action on competition’s third day, the slalom fleet dueled with the infamous Sylt shore break to pick up race one where it had been left off the previous day. Warning up the weather beaten German crowds, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (North Sails) drew first blood after sailing to victory in the opening heat, then the subsequent semi-final, granting him right of passage into the race final. In his wake, Dagan crossed the finish line in second, and Dunkerbeck held off persistent attack from Williams to claim third. The remainder of the afternoon saw four heats of race two completed before the wind became too light to continue with competition. While the sailors were on hold, we asked slalom racer, Dan Ellis (Fanatic, MauiSails) to try and describe what it’s like to compete in the unpredictable North Sea conditions. DE: “These are the most frustrating and difficult conditions, because the whole day you’re on edge waiting, and waiting. You just have to try and be ready at all times. It really plays on your mind, as you can’t fully relax when you’re on hold, then when your heat comes, you’re just preying they’ll be enough wind to get it done. It’s such a mental battle, the whole day you’re on standby, and then you have to be able to turn it on for 4 or 5 minutes at any given time. There’s no opportunity to build up any momentum like in other events where the heats are back-to-back, and you can start to find your rhythm.” A solid forecast for day four of competition has meant the race committee have brought forward the skippers meeting times by one hour. The racers have their skippers meeting at 9.30am, and the wave/freestylers have theirs at 10.00am tomorrow morning.
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