The beautiful Aegean town of Alacati blessed the world's fastest racers with an action packed few days of racing at the beginning of the week, followed by a couple of wind less days on hold, leaving those in the lead to endure a nerve racking time before they could finally claim their crowns.

A full fleet of sixty-four professional sailors competed on the crystal clear waters in the men's fleet, and twenty-one fast and furious females in the women's. With a strong Meltemi breeze blowing, both the men and women completed two full rounds of racing on each of the first two days in perfect conditions. During the middle of the week a gentle southerly wind put a halt to proceedings, and on the final few days the Meltemi returned late in the afternoon, but with insufficient force to complete any further eliminations, leaving the four completed rounds to count.

Men

Buzianis Bounces Back

Following a fairly rough ride in Fuerteventura, former world champion Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) was back on form in Turkey with some amazingly consistent results normally reserved exclusively for his team mate, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde)!

Right from the word go Buzianis shot off the line and straight into the leading pack in every single heat. In the first race of the event he appeared to be far more comfortable in the lighter winds and flatter waters of Alacati, and a string of top two results saw him qualify for the winner's final with ease where he dominated despite a star-studded line up.

The second race of the series saw a new format with the top 20 automatically seeded through. The intention being that the less experienced sailors get more chances to race, and the top guys don't have to go through the formalities of the first round. Once again Buzianis sailed well despite the extra number of competitors in the heats and qualified for the winner's final without a glitch. However, plenty of other big players failed to do the same. Of the top five ranked sailors in the world, only two made it through the first mark carnage. Many times world champion, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic), 2009 vice world champion Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra), and flying Frenchman Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) all fell at the first hurdle in the new elimination procedure! This left a fairly clear path for Albeau and Buzianis to take the top two spots in the final, but after a mediocre start, Albeau was left to play catch up allowing Buzianis a straight run for another bullet - the American had finished the first day with the best possible start to the contest.

For the third race in Alacati race director, Juan Antonio Aragon decided to switch back to the tried and tested 8-man heat format due to the short course, and lighter winds that the sailors were experiencing. Buzianis played it fairly safe to ensure he qualified for the winner's final, and Albeau followed suit. When it came to the final however they both hit the water with all guns blazing. Albeau was back on unstoppable form, and surely hungry to seal the deal for his fifth consecutive slalom world title, leaving Buzianis to settle for second.