A strong morning wind and glorious sunshine gave competitors the perfect opportunity to get tuned up and registered in the beautiful Ala?ati bay in preparation for the afternoon of racing ahead. The atmosphere on the beach was fantastic, with a local DJ banging out the tunes and the crowd relaxing on sunbeds.

Race 1 kicked off at 2pm with a 4-gybe downwind slalom course, in 25kts of wind. Most competitors selected sails around the 7.0-8.0 range and boards around 100-110 liters, and the racing was intense from the outset.

Standout performance of the early rounds was local hero Bora Kozanoglu (Starboard/NeilPryde). In the first heat of the day he flew into the lead, holding off Dunkerbeck (Starboard/Severne) for the entire race, winning in front of a cheering home crowd. Having just finished 1^stin the Turkish Championships, he is clearly going well and was unlucky to go over the line early in the quarterfinals.

Other local standout was Enes Yilmazer (JP/NeilPryde) who was sailing well all day. At only 18 years old and already 2 times Youth World Champion, he is clearly one to watch for the future.

First big name to fall was Kevin Pritchard (Starboard/Gaastra/Dakine), who gave it everything, but couldn't quite do enough to make the 4^thplace slot in the quarters with Sylvain Moussilmani (Starboard/Simmer Style) just taking him on the line. Robby Swift (JP/NeilPryde) also missed out on a semi final place after getting pipped to the post by Andrea Rosati (RRD/NeilPryde).

Semis

By the semis the action was roasting. As the crowd watched on, the top 16 battled it out for a place in the final. The highlight of this round was the Dutch showdown between Ben Van Der Steen (Exocet/Simmer Style) and Peter Volwater (F2/MauiSails). Volwater had held the 4^thposition the whole race, but coming down the final reach, speedster Van Der Steen put the pedal to the metal and cut Volwater off at the finish. Poor Volwater had no choice; either miss the finish line, or slow down and come in behind Van Der Steen.

Finals

The loser's final saw Volwater make up for his early error by storming into a powerful lead and taking the victory with relative ease. Cedric Bordes (Tabou/Gaastra), raced brilliantly to finish 2^ndand Alberto Menegatti (Starboard/Simmer Style) took 3^rd.

Today however, the best was definitely saved until last. The final saw battles throughout as everyone jockeyed for positions before the race had even crossed the line. Angulo (Angulo/Maui Sails) blazed into the lead, with Williams (Tabou/Gaastra) nestling in behind. Albeau (JP/NeilPryde) and Maynard (RRD/NeilPryde) seemed to be so carried away fighting each other that they gave valuable space to the rest of the fleet. Dunkerbeck saw his opportunity and pounced, driving over the top of Maynard and leaving him in his wake and moving into 4^th.

Meanwhile at the front of the fleet Angulo looked to have it all sewn up, rounding the final gybe in the lead, with just an easy reach to victory. Williams however had had enough of the follow the leader racing and took a low line down the last reach in a daring move that would pay off massively. Poor Angulo was concentrating so much on those around him that he seemed to miss the Englishmen's run, not spotting the stealth sails until it was too late. Williams crossed the line in first, with Angulo literally a meter behind. Albeau took 3^rdwhilst Dunkerbeck stayed ahead of Maynard in 4^th.