Antoine and Enrico strong in NC

Photos: PWA / John Carter

Great performance from Antoine Albeau F-192 and Enrico Marotti CRO-41
at the PWA Slalom event in New Caledonia –
The Bureau Vallée Dream Cup, 18th-23rd November

Antoine Albeau

In 2019, the great French man continues his series to finish on the podium of the PWA Slalom discipline. FRA-192 ended the season with mixed feelings: One bad event result (sick) cost too many points to stay in the race for the title. Nevertheless, Antoine is still happy to make the overall podium –> 3rd!

Enrico Marotti

achieved his best PWA results this year: It was common knowledge from various Slalom Champion titles (National, IFCA) that CRO-401 is super fast. And now – with his most consistent performance ever – Enrico managed to put together a series of consecutive top results  –> #9th!

JP @ PWA Slalom – New Caledonia

#3 – Antoine Albeau FRA-192
#4 – Enrico Marotti CRO-401
#15 – Mateus Isaac BRA-767
#18 – Pascal Toselli F-916

JP @ PWA Slalom 2019

#3 – Antoine Albeau FRA-192
#9 – Enrico Marotti CRO-401
#12 – Mateus Isaac BRA-767
#16 – Pascal Toselli F-916
#21 – Sebastian Kornum DEN-24
#32 – Amado Vrieswijk NB-20

ANTOINE ALBEAU  F-192 reports:

“The event in New Caledonia was good for me. The wind was blowing consistently and we managed to do 11 slalom eliminations. Until the last day I was almost ready to win but then I missed the 2 last finals. That made me finished 3rd at this event which is really good because with Pierre and Matteo, we were very close, only separated by a few points.

Overall, 2019 was a good season and I’m really happy to be super competitive with a 2nd place in France, 4th in Korea where I missed the podium out of nothing, a beautiful 1st place in an epic Fuerteventura event.
My weak moment of the season is my terrible result in Denmark: it was a great event and the wind was blowing strong but I could not manage to get a good place. It didn’t run smoothly and on top of all, I got sick in the middle of the event. I finished 12th there, and thus I lost too many points in the overall ranking. So, when New Caledonia came, I was too far behind to still be able to fight for 1st place.
In the end, I was supper confident in my gear, as I was fast and competitive this year again. I could show that I am still there and still strong !“

Enrico Marotti CRO-401 reports:

“New Caledonia is amazing place for windsurfing. Warm, windy and with super nice people! It is really a pleasure to compete in places like this one. I arrived 5 days before the event so I can beat the jet leg easier and begin the competition fresh. Before the event I spent three out of four days on the water and finished the final fine-tuning of all my gear from 7.0 to 9.4. I felt comfortable and event could start!

First two days there was no wind but last four days were full-on action and we managed to finish 11 eliminations which is more than on any other PWA slalom event this year. We were sailing on gear from 9.4 to 7.0, using JP 85 and JP 71 board. Sailing in so many different conditions in one event was great, as always.
NeilPryde/JP is a really good all-round combination, the gear works well in all conditions and the more the wind strength and conditions vary, the better is for our team.

After 11 eliminations I finished 4th. An amazing result for me and I was super happy and stoked about that. I proved I can sail on a top level and–most important–I proved myself and my coach that we are on a right track with our work. Not only in New Caledonia but throughout the entire season. I just have to keep working hard, stay humble and enjoy every training. Winning two eliminations in New Caledonia and one in Denmark gets me three bullets in 2019. Only Antoine, Pierre and Matteo had more.

I am very grateful to people in New Caledonia for making this event happen. Those are perfect slalom conditions and I am looking forward to compete there again. Now I have few more days of rest and then the preparations for new season 2020.
See you on the water!”