Day 1 / The 2006 Alacati PWA World Cup

Fresh from the testing conditions of the Fuerteventura Grand Slam, the PWA Slalom fleet descended upon the picturesque location of Alalcati, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Famed for its reliable thermal winds, azure blue waters and luxurious hospitality, Alacati plays host to the third stop on this year's PWA Slalom 42 Tour.

After dominating the first 2 contests of the season, all eyes were Antoine Albeau (F-192, Starboard / NeilPryde) to see if he could maintain his winning streak and take a decisive third event win. Meanwhile, in the women's division, Karin Jaggi (SUI-14 F2 / North Sails) was hoping to consolidate on her Fuerteventra victory to stamp her name firmly on this years title.

Conditions were relatively simple compared to the choppy water and nuclear winds of the Canary Islands, with sailors gliding across the smooth waters, many on sails of 9 square metres or more. The first heats were underway soon after 11 am and there were few surprises as the who's who of racing easily found there way through into the second round.

In the quarter finals, Turkish sailor Icingir Ertugul (TUR-1) delighted the home crowds winning the heat ahead of both Volwater and Buzianis, but in general there were no major upsets and all the expected names made it through to the top 20.

In the first semi final, Buzianis led the pack round the course with Maynard and Ross Williams (GBR-83, Tabou / Gaastra) qualifying easily for the final ahead of Bora Kozanoglu (TUR-11) and Jimmy Diaz (ISV-11, F2 / North Sails). Semi final number 2 was a seemingly easy job for Albeau who cruised round the course with only team-mate Pieter Bijl (NED-0, Fanatic / NeilPryde) for company. Long serving Brazilian, Wilhelm Schurman (BRA-999, Neil Pryde) proved he is still a name to watch, also slipping into the top 10 just ahead of Bjorn Dunkerbeck (E-11, T-1 / North Sails) and Kevin Pritchard (US-3, Starboard / Gaastra).

The losers final was clearly dominated by Ben Van Der Steen (NED-57, Exocet / Naish) who, despite a less than perfect start, gybed into the lead at mark one, narrowly avoiding a huge pile up behind him, that left him unchallenged for the remainder of the course. Ertuglu once again raised cheers from the beach coming in second.

In the final, it was the big dog – Finian Maynard - who streaked off the start first and set a blistering pace to the first mark, hotly pursued by Dunkerbeck and Bijl. Albeau arrived in fifth, trailing behind 2005 champ Micah Buzianis (USA-34, JP / NeilPryde). To make matters worse, Bijl and Dunkerbeck collided at the mark causing chaos for the chasing pack. Capitalising on the confusion, Buzianis and Albeau came through the melee and set about reeling in Maynard.