Fifteen knots of wind and blazing sun provided the perfect conditions for the opening day of competition in Alacati. The enormous sixty-three man and nineteen women slalom fleet spent the morning registering and preparing their equipment for an action packed week on the water.

Once the formalities were complete, the race crew wasted no time in sending the sailors out onto the turquoise sea to battle through the first elimination and opening round of the men's second elimination.

The current tour leaders Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / DunkerbeckEyewear) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic) were on fine form, charging their way through their heats to secure first place in the winners' final and an early advantage over their opponents.

Men's Elimination 1

A smooth set of heats saw the big names of the series quickly advance into the second round, alongside super-charged Emirhan Kolburan (JP / NeilPryde), Fred Morin (Starboard / NeilPryde) and local legend Bora Kozanoglu (JP / NeilPryde). Kozanoglu sailed an incredible set of heats and continued with his winning streak all the way through the elimination to earn him a position in the winners' final.

Superb racing from Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic), Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun / Dakine), Finian Maynard (RRD) and Dunkerbeck allowed them to claim first places in the second round and continue with their paths through the elimination.

The semi-finals brought with it a dramatic twist, Angulo was first to lose out on a place in the winners' final as he went over early. Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) was next to follow, Albeau was caught by a hole in the wind at mark three, causing him to drop off the plane allowing the rest of the fleet to fly past. Desperate to rectify the situation Albeau quickly picked up speed and tried to undercut the pack, however he was unable to control the corner and he went down rendering him unable to complete the race.

The upsets continued into the second semi-finals when Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / North) failed to qualify for the winners' final as did speedster Ludovic Jossin (Loft). After a tough start Dunkerbeck wowed the crowd with an incredible display of speed as he unleashed everything down the third leg seeing him move from sixth into third position.

Winners' Final

With a number of the major contenders out of the way Dunkerbeck was free to speed his way through the winners' final without any attacks from the rest of the fleet. Dunkerbeck took control from the start-line enabling him to build up a whole legs lead on the rest of the pack by the time he hit the finish-line. The real battles came further down the pack; Finian Maynard and Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) managed to fend off rapid racer, Van Der Steen and super-consistent Micah Buzianis (JP / NeilPryde) to claim their places on the podium.