On this the last day of the Azores Formula World Championship, the skippers meeting was held as scheduled but there was little or no wind and a poor forecast.  However, the conditions can change very fast in Praia da Vitoria so the race committee took to the water.

It was a long anxious wait during a long day knowing the time of the last possible starting signal was 17:00 hrs.  The wind was patchy, only around 6 knots.  The race committee monitored the wind every 15 minutes - well at least it gave them something to do - until raising AP over A at 16.00!

So it's congratulations to the podium winners: Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (3rd), Steve Allen (2nd), and 2014 Formula Windsurfing World Champion Ross Williams.   

Many thanks to Carlos Borges and his event committee, a very efficient and friendly group; many thanks also to race director Bruno de Wannemaeker and his race committee who provided the maximum number of races possible over the 5 racing days.  And thanks to all the competitors for their sporting participation in very challenging conditions.

"It seemed quite difficult to link all the shifts up the course and you could think you were on a winner only to see someone on the other side who was 500m behind you at the bottom mark crossing you upwind by miles on an even better lift." Sean O'Brien 

Everyone was looking forward to the official dinner, closing ceremony and prize giving later in the evening.

FINAL RESULTS

Formula Windsurfing.org 

Event Facebook page

Sean O'Brien reports from Azores

Photos by Eric Bellande

photos from some of the race crew in the boats HERE, HERE and HERE

Event YouTube channel