MAYNARD BECOMES THE KING OF FUERTEVENTURA
The final day of the slalom looked as though we would see another day of classic Fuerteventura conditions, as the morning started in much the same fashion as yesterday. However after an eleven O’clock start, which allowed three heats to be completed, the wind unexpectedly disappeared. On several occasions the wind did threaten to return but it was never for a prolonged period meaning that the sailors endured a frustrating day on standby with no more heats being completed. Shortly before 4pm the sailors were released for the final time, which means that Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) is crowned the King of Fuerteventura after a simply brilliant performance yesterday. Maynard won two eliminations and finished third in the other yesterday to claim his place at the top of the podium ahead of Ben Van Der Steen and Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde). The event site was still surrounded by a vibrant atmosphere as the crowds poured into the event tent to see the closing ceremony of the men’s slalom, as well as the live music and dancing.
At the end of the day we caught up with yesterday’s winner and the overall event winner, Finian Maynard, to see how his week has been:
PWA : Not only did yesterday represent your first elimination victories of the year, but you’ve now won the whole event. How are you feeling?
Finian Maynard : “It feels wonderful, especially after having such a tough year up to now, which has been well documented. I’m just ecstatic.”
PWA : How would you try and sum this week up?
Finian Maynard : “I’d say that this week has been a bit strange. But the racing we had was good, especially yesterday which enabled racing of the highest quality and probably the best racing of the year. I personally wanted to do another three rounds today because I had such a great time yesterday but it is what it is and overall it was a great event. We still managed to run enough eliminations for a discard and now I am really looking forward to Turkey.”
Overall Results of Men’s Slalom – PWA Fuerteventura
1st Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti)
2nd Ben Van Der Steen
3rd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck
5th Cyril Moussilmani
6th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
