The first day of the Lancelin Ocean Classic saw some spectacular windsurfing conditions ideal for the Wave competition with winds of 15 knots and 3m swell. [more]During the heats the top riders landed big stalled Forwards, Backloops and Pushloops as well as some spectacular wave riding. Tenerife resident Adam Lewis from the UK landed 2 amazing double Forward loops. The crowd on the beach and the judges got excited!
In the Elite division Ben Severne did some superb wave sailing to beat Peter Volwater in the semi final and went onto face Ben Proffitt in the final. It was a very close heat, but Ben Severne took home the Macquire trophy at the presentations on Saturday 12 January.
Dan Engdahl just beat Jonah Desforges in the Masters final, James McCarthy Price beat Peter Tomsett to be the Open champion. In the ladies final we saw two very experienced PWA sailors. Karin Jaggi, who lives most of the year at Margereth River beat world class freestyler and wavesailor Laure Treboux, who spends most of the winter in Australia.
More than 100 sailors arrived at ledge point from 8am on Saturday 12 January for the Lancelin Ocean Classic marathon. Jet Ski West put on a an entertaining demonstration for the crowds of people waiting to see some of the world’s best windsurfers take to the water.
Sailors were preparing to use big sails on the course when in standard Lancelin Ocean Classic style, at midday, the winds came in SSW and built up to 24 knots just before the race. The elites were the first released and Peter Volwater, who won in 2012, got off to a great start with one of the smallest sails a 6.9 m.
In the end it was a really close race between Peter Volwater, Steve Allen, Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Gunnar Asmussen and Jesper throughout the whole course. All 5 are competing on thePWA and were fighting for the topspots this time.
The winds were picking up which the sailors were not expecting. Even coming towards the finish line it was one of the closest races we have seen in a while. After a gruelling 25 minutes the winners crossed the line with Steve Allen in 1st place in 24 minutes 48 seconds, Peter Volwater in 2nd place in 25 minutes and Bjorn Dunkerbeck in 3rd place in 25 minutes 30 seconds. 4th was German Gunner Asmussen and 5th was Jesper Orth. In between Steve and Jesper were 75 seconds in the end.
Karin Jaggi was again women’s champion completing the course in 29 minutes 40 seconds, 4 minutes 52 seconds behind the winner. In 2nd place was Justyna Sniady in 38 minutes 18 seconds followed by June Hill in 42 minutes 58 seconds. It’s great to see Justyna competing again. 6 months ago she was not able to walk. And now she finished a windsurfing marathon on the open sea!! Congrats Justyna and congrats to Karin winning the long distance event. In total just three ladies prticipated in the marathon and 93 men completed the long distance race.
In the Male Open, David Vitale took first place in 31minutes 20 seconds followed very closely by Jake Dallimore in 31 minutes 26 seconds and in 3rd place was Aaron Gavin in 31 minutes 54 seconds.
In the Masters competition Matt Langer came in first in 28 minutes 35 seconds, followed by Peter Crommelin in 31 minutes 21 seconds and Adam Passmore was a close 3rd in 31 minutes 54 seconds
In the Grand Masters, John Grulich took first place in 32 minutes 53 seconds, followed by Craig Mann in 35 minutes 13 seconds and Tom Radis followed closely behind in 35 minutes 30 seconds.
After a long day on the beautiful WA coast the legendary after party was enjoyed by competitors, sponsors and spectators alike. We have enjoyed some of the best of WA weather and had a very exciting 3 days!
Check out the full results of the marathon here
Full Report and pics published here: http://www.continentseven.com/2013/01/13/lancelin-ocean-classic-2013-event-report/
