The Monsoon
Madness came to a conclusion today on Balok Beach in Kuantan,
Malaysia. Winning his first AWT event at his first attempt
was Britain’s Dan Ellis. Coming in second was Thailand’s
Bo Ruamsap while in third was Andrew Foo from Singapore. After
a stellar performance Britain’s Lucy Horwood finished
in fourth place as the top lady.
At the start of the day Dan Ellis had
looked to be in pole position but he’s a big man at over 100kg and as he himself
said “if winds stay light, then the lighter Thais and
Singaporeans might have an advantage over me. I’ve got
to get my bulk around that course....”. But wind speeds
stayed constant and moderate at over 15 knots and Race Director
Klaus Michel set a downwind slalom course.
In the first race of the day the fleet
was a little surprised to see Master (over 40 years) George
Warren show great board speed to reach the first mark by
a clear margin. But gradually Warren’s lead was reeled in and Ellis took back the lead
ahead of Ruamsap and Korean ace Lee Jae Cheol. Said Ruamsap “its
difficult out there. The sea is big and the conditions present
their own challenge – but somehow I’ve got to get
ahead of Dan (Ellis). I have to make my move now or it will
be too late”.
And so it was into the second downwind
slalom race of the day ~ and this was Ruamsap’s chance with Ellis having
a poor start. But others were faster to exploit Ellis’ mistake
with Korea’s Lee and Singapore’s Wang Yew Pang
relegating Ruamsap to a third place.
With wind speeds dropping slightly there was time for just
one more slalom and Ellis was looking secure in first place
with the other podium places still open. Off the line it was
Ruamsap and Ellis together and they squared off all the way
to the first mark. Only on the final mark did Ellis open up
a bit of light between himself and the hungry Thai. This is
what Ruamsap needed and a second place behind Ellis clinched
second overall.
So after a total of six races, each
windsurfer was able to discard their worst two results. This
left Ellis a clear winner ahead of a happy Ruamsap with Singapore’s Andrew Foo
in third. Lucy Horwood comfortably won the ladies division
and finished fourth overall – an awesome performance.
In the Master’s division George Warren proved that his “first
to the mark” was no “flash in the pan” as
he stayed consistent to win the division ahead of local favourite
Leo Leow and Singapore’s Robert Theseira.
In the Carbinha Kiting competition Swiss competitor Sacha
Biederman stayed strong to remain in the lead and finished
ahead of Daniel Leow and (his father) Leo Leow.
Early tomorrow much of the fleet will
step aboard coaches for the journey south to Singapore. From
where they will step aboard ferries for the Indonesian island
of Bintan and the next event on the Tour – the Mana
Mana Amslam.
(courtesy of www.asianwindsurfingtour.com)
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