Round 3 of the PWA World Tour Slalom took place in the beautiful Costa Brava region of Catalunya, Spain. Set on the Ballena Alegre Camping resort inside the Bay of Roses, it was a slalom sailing paradise ready to test the world's best, men and women slalom racers.

Action began instantly as the thermal sea breeze kick started the event on day one. Two heats were held on a giant four-gybe slalom course. The huge reaches leading to spectacular speed battles as sailors topped 30kts, a real test of strength and equipment.

From the outset it looked like all the major players meant business, with all the top seeds advancing easily into the quarter finals along with un-seeded standout "sailor of the day" Damien Le Guen (JP/NeilPryde) of France.

Day 2 continued where Day 1 had left off. Another huge course meant drag racing reaches, as once again the top seeds moved to the next round, proving that they had earned their rightful places in the PWA rankings.

Quarterfinals

At this point the competition started to heat up with the standard jumping through the roof. The difficult light and gusty winds meant any mistakes were cruelly punished.

Kevin Pritchard (Starboard/Gaastra/Dakine) was the first big name to fall when his outhaul rope exploded, leaving his title hopes floating in the Mediterranean. Number 3 seed Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Exocet/MauiSails) also exited at the quarter finals. A crucial over early put him out of the running before the race had even started.

All the sailors on the staring grid in the semi finals had the ability to win a final, but only the top 4 qualifiers would even be given the opportunity. First to fall was Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard/Severne). Winning all his previous heats he made a poor decision to change fins, losing power and failing to advance.

Semi final 2 saw an on-fire Peter Volwater (F2/MauiSails) lead off the start. The powerful Antoine Albeau (JP/NeilPryde) had a point to prove and reeled him in, taking the win and giving everyone a clear indication of his intentions.

The finals

Dunkerbeck made no mistakes in the losers' final, asserting his authority on the pack with a masterful display. Patrik Diethelm (F2/North Sails) followed on his tail taking second by a comfortable margin, ahead of Josh Angulo (Angulo/MauiSails) in 3rd.

The much anticipated winner's final saw a thrilling conclusion to Race 1. Off the start it was Steve Allen that took control and arrived at the first gybe in first place by half a board length. Right on his tail were Micah Buzianis (JP/NeilPryde) and Antoine Albeau - both attacking for that number one slot. Antoine muscled his way through the gybe, exiting in a dominant position. Meanwhile as the three fought to hold their ranking, Ross Williams (Tabou/Gaastra) capitalised on the battle, sailing high, keeping out of trouble and then moved into attack position on the outside gybe approach. Antoine held onto first, Williams moved into 2nd and Allen just about held off Buzianis out and out challenge to take 3rd.