Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) followed up his strong start to the season in Korea - second place - with a fantastic victory in Costa Brava. The reigning world champion showed brilliant speed combined with unrivaled consistency to deservedly claim his place at the top of the podium. The big Frenchman now leads the world tour for the first time this season and based on the form he showed in Costa Brava, it looks as though it's going to be an extremely tough job for anyone to displace him.
After his first victory of the season we managed to have a quick catch up with Albeau - Read the interview below.
PWA: Firstly, congratulations again on your victory in Costa Brava, you have made a very strong start to the season with your victory and second place finish in Korea, you must be really happy with how you are sailing?
AA: "Yes very happy, I was already fine with the second place in Korea because the conditions were difficult there, but to win in CB is just perfect, I won two eliminations and then managed to follow that up with a third and fourth place, so overall it was very good."
PWA: Who do you think your biggest rivals are for the remainder of the season?
AA: "It is hard to know, Bjorn [Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz)] can come back for sure, Julien [Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)] seems to be strong, Alberto [Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)] is fast and of course Matteo [Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360)] is doing very well, so it is hard to say who will be there fighting with me for the win."
PWA: In Costa Brava two young sailors finished on the podium - alongside you - do you think this is good for the sport and why?
AA: "I just say, Julien [Quentel] is really strong, he and I are training together since a long time, Matteo [Iachino] demonstrated that he can be on the podium at the end of the season for sure - after his first ever podium finish on the PWA World Tour, after a hugely impressive display."
PWA: With the new 7 knot minimum there were some surprise early exits for many of the top sailors, but despite being one of the biggest on the tour you were able to consistently show excellent speed and come out on top, do you think there's any particular reason for this? And what do you think about the new rule?
AA: "We might change the rule back to the old one for the rest of the season, but now with this new rule, it means that we can go in lighter wind and people are actually fighting to get back onto the plane after the gybe."
PWA: Finally, how will you be preparing for the next event in Turkey?
AA: "My next event will be the FW Worlds in Croatia, and then Turkey, I keep sailing and enjoy my life."
PWA: Thanks Antoine and we wish you the best of luck in Croatia and for Turkey.
If you haven't already then be sure to follow Antoine Albeau on his dedicated Facebook page here.
Hamilton Island, QLD
Windsurfing - Boards
