A spectacular event came to an end with the price giving held directly at the beach in front of the Pro Center Chris Schill. From August 1st until August 5th, the best speed pilots fought hard in the strong thermal wind, which Karpathos is notorious for. Finian Maynard (BVI) and Valerie Ghibaudo (FRA) are the speed world champions 2009.
After 7 rounds of speedsailing action, giving two discards for the fleet from all over the world, Karpathos proved another time to be the perfect venue for high wind windsurfing.
Finian Maynard proved from the first moment that he is back and took the lead from the beginning on. 50 riders from 16 nations competed for the title of the Speed World Champion 2009.
A big surprise was Dirk Jan Knol (NED), winning one round with the events top speed of 41.17 knots.
In second place overall came last year’s world champion Antoine Albeau (FRA), with one victory and two second places ahead of Anders Bringdal (SWE, who also scored constant top five places). Bjorn Dunkerbeck (SUI) finished the event as fourth.
In the women’s fleet it was a "one women show" for Valerie Ghibaudo, with 8 (!) consecutive victories throughout the week. Clearly in second also Marion Raisi (FRA) with 8 second places. The battle for place three was close then between Marie-Paule Geldhof (BEL) and Birgit Hoefer (GER), with the better end for the Belgium newcomer.
Link
Official website of the Speed:World:Cup: www.speedworldcup.com
