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Fetched: March 29th, 2009, 9:14am CEST
From the 5th to the 11th April, the Windsurfjournal.com team will be in the house at the Mondial du Vent on the magnificent beach at Leucate-La Franqui bringing you live coverage of this season-opening major European event, including not only the first round of the Euro Cup but the only European round of the celebrated Naish Speed Party !Results as they happen, the latest hot news, all the ups and downs of the competitions, we’ll be bringing you it all just as if you were there on the south of France sand !!!Windsurfjournal.com will be hosting its own Leucate party on Saturday 8th and promises you plenty of other pleasant surprises throughout the Mondial du Vent week…
Take our advice, stay on-line !
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Fetched: October 6th, 2008, 5:50am CEST
Kauli Seadi slashes a path through to the wave elimination final, securing him his second consecutive Wave World Title on the penultimate day of competition in Sylt.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 9" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: October 6th, 2008, 5:50am CEST
Return of the king: Antoine Albeau executes his first race win with machine like precision in typically volatile Sylt conditions.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 8" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: October 6th, 2008, 5:50am CEST
Subject to WSSRC ratification, Sebastien Cattelan (FRA) has finally broken the magical 50 knots barrier, the holy gral of speed sailing in Lüderitz Friday. Accompanied by several high 49 knots runs from himself, Alexandre Caizergues and Jerome Bila (all France) he was the only sailor finally getting to 50.26 knots. Special attendance was paid to the required water depth, and the organizer in cooperation with the WSSRC commissioner present clearly ensured that the rule was strictly applied.
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Down here at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France, we’re keeping a careful eye on the record attempt at the Luderitz Speed Challenge that started on September 15th in Namibia…Still on standby, the Masters of Speed team has just decided to wait til the 13th October, the official closing date for the Luderitz Speed Challenge before making any kind of decision on what to do at the canal.If the record still stands at 49.84 knots at the end of the Namibia event, the canal at Saintes could well open its doors in early 2009 to try and break the 50 knot mark before the kitesurfers can do it…But if the kitesurfers do manage to beat 50 knots before then, the decision will probably be to close the canal definitively and never organise another speed record attempt there again…Let’s hope that this somewhat extreme position will still allow for those three windsurfing speed giants, Antoine Albeau, Finian Maynard and Bjorn Dunkerbeck, at least one more crack at it and a chance to see them in action once again !
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Josh Angulo’s Wednesday win in Sylt in the second Slalom 42 round was a noteworthy enough event for his sponsor Maui Sails to want to tell everyone all about it !!!Proof of the quality of his sailing on this video shot by the Maui Sails team during the final race, featuring some great over-enthusiastic commentary from Angulo’s mucker Phil McGain, from in front of and behind the camera…Some great footage that shows exactly how difficult the conditions were, with these top pro windsurfers nailing some superb jibes on 7.0 m2 sails in more than 30 knots of wind !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
When he won the second round of Slalom 42 racing over in Sylt, Josh Angulo showed that he is as talented a slalomer as we knew he was a waverider. CV-1 tells Windsurfjournal.com all about it !“This Wednesday was a big personal challenge, requiring my head and body to work in perfect harmony with water conditions that were difficult to say the least…I had great support all through the day from my mate Phil McGain, helping me with my rig tuning and other things, specially just before going out for the final.But I always felt as though I could do it, that I could win, so I went for it full-on !”
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Having recently set up home in the south of France, Anders Bringdal has found himself much closer to another important windsurf person living nearby, in the shape of shaper Marco Copello !The two know each other very well and this summer Copello shaped a couple of new speed boards for Bringdal, one at 42cm wide, the other 50cm, all this to help his mate compete at the speed event in Sotavento on Fuerteventura in the Canaries…For the time being that’s where the project stays, some prototypes for Bringdal, but there’s obviously every chance that S-10 will be back on the blower to Copello regarding some future developments…
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
During August, Italian windsurfer Federico La Croce had the opportunity to visit the island of Masirah in Oman, Middle East, to sail the spot at Khasiit…Only known by a handful of riders, it’s a spot that’s drawing more and more windsurfers to it because of its metronomically regular wind and superb waves that give you the smoothest of take-offs…And to help you visualise the spot, what better than a great video like this one showing the superb conditions that put you in mind of Baja California in Mexico…
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Like lots of other manufacturers this year, Starboard have released a range of twinzer boards, the Evil Twin series, available in 74 and 80 litre versions.With just the two boards in their range this year, you could be fooled into thinking that Starboard were just dipping their toe in the market before extending their range, but that would be to reckon without mastermind Svein Rasmussen, who has just announced a doubling of the range with two new models this autumn at 70 and 87 litres !
Still very compact in outline, the Evil Twin 70 (225x55cm) and 87 (233.5x60.5cm) will be available in Wood and Wood Carbon options, and should be available in the shops as from November…
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Fetched: October 3rd, 2008, 9:32pm CEST
Josh Angulo steals the show on competitions's fifth day, winning the second round of racing, and claiming his first ever elimination victory. The crowd were also treated to the start of the wave single elimination, which saw seven heats completed in testing onshore conditions.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 6" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
In May, Starboard lobbed a brick in the pond with their proposal for a Formula One Design as a new option for the Olympic Games in London in 2012… On "official demonstration" during most of the year’s big international competitions by their "in-house" Olympic sailor Allison Shreeve, Starboard has positioned itself as the main competition with the current RS:X board, and while the final decision rests with the ISAF at their November meeting, there seems little chance of them dropping the current board after just one Games…Strengthened by a successful Olympics and 4 years of running the Olympic class, NeilPryde have published their own arguments in the shape of a file to be sent to the ISAF and to be available in the public domain.No less than 59 pages of interesting and persuasive arguments, tracing the history of the RS:X board, its development and expansion throughout the world in the last few years, with more than 2000 boards now sold worldwide and almost double that of rigs !
Download the presentation RS:X Beyond 2008 (Pdf)
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
We spoke about this at the beginning of the year, that after several years of using the Slalom 42 formula, 4 sails and 2 boards that the riders have to register before the event and use during it, the PWA World Tour will be switching to a new format regarding the registering of equipment in 2009…A big difference in fact, and with some implications, riders now having to register at the start of the season a quiver of 6 sails and 3 boards that they must use for the whole competition year, so for all the PWA rounds 2009 !Still being written but definitely in use for next year, part of the idea behind the new rule is to limit the riders baggage requirements on extended away trips, a factor that has become more and more of a problem each successive season.The idea that was floated to allow riders the chance to take 4 boards to one event each year was not in the end taken up, and from now on the discipline will be called simply Slalom, replacing the old Slalom 42…
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
In a little over 15 days it will be the end of the Luderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, with hopefully some of the windsurfers making it back for the final days after their PWA event in Sylt, Germany…Although American rider Rob Douglas got things off to a flying start with his 49.84 knots and the new all-category world sail speed record, some of the riders’ GPS readouts from their own GPS while racing, make you realise just what potential kitesurf has got in the discipline.So, for starters, Rob Douglas’ GPS showed a Vmax (vitesse maximale/maximum speed) of 54.3 knots during his winning run on the 19th September, but not as strong as Sebastien Cattelan a few minutes later, originally given as 50.10 knots, then corrected to 49.59, but with a Vmax of 58.3 knots !!!It may still be the case that GPS readouts are to be treated with extreme caution, in any case it all adds spice to the end of this week, which is once again forecast to have good strong winds blowing in to Luderitz…As for Rob Douglas, he’s in no doubt that the 50 knots over 500 metres will be well and truly taken before the end of the event !
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
Laying waste to the savage North Sea conditions, Antxon Otaegui rose up through day five's freestyle single elimination to defeat Jose 'Gollito' Estredo in the final, and take the lead in the Sylt freestyle ranks.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 5" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
Swedish windsurfer Andreas Olandersson is one of the top European freestylers, a regular crowd pleaser on the European Freestyle Pro Tour and some regular top 5 finishes to go with it !And when he’s not sailing on his local spots in Sweden, S-66 usually winters in South Africa to prepare himself for the season and a round of the PWA world cup, the big one at Pozo Izquierdo.Before setting of for South Africa again in a few weeks time, to the Cape Town area, Olandersson has sent us this cool little video of his best sessions of 2008, a video that shows once again that it’s perfectly possible to be a good freestyler and just as useful ripping up the waves !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
Here’s an interesting initiative, from Australian windsurfer Sean O’Brien, a brand new concept called "Follow The Winds" that should see the light of dayvery soon, it’s hookline being "Follow the winds and follow your dreams".The Follow The Winds concept is to put on-line a website choc full of photos and videos, all related to the individual life and riding styles of a group of pro windsurfers including Arnon Dagan, Dennis Littel, Jesper Vesterstrom, Ross Williams, Steve Allen and Wojtek Brzozowski, all brought to life with reports on their daily routine, their latest trips and latest competitions…Where the idea becomes more original, is that the project is targetted at the un-converted (to windsurf) youth, to try and show what it’s like to be a pro-windsurfer, and that it is actually possible to live your dreams…A very ambitious project, Follow The Winds aims to follow this magnificent through to this autumn in Brazil for the two rounds of the Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix World Tour at the end of October and end of November, and hopefully to be back with a repeat running in 2009…
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
Among the registered riders for the PWA wave contest in Sylt, one very famous name is missing, the very notable one of Australian rider Scott McKercher.World Waves Champion in 2004, KA-181 has decided to retire from the hectic world of full-on competition at the end of the summer and will almost certainly only be seen again at the occasional big event such as Cape Verde…Aged 38, McKercher has been suffering from a hip injury that has got worse and worse with time, giving him considerable pain with the rigours of endless seasons of intense activity. But, far from stopping windsurfing completely, McKercher will still be very active in the windsurf world from his base in Australia, where he will be hard at work on development of Starboard’s new wave boards, plus the SUP boards that he’s been busy riding for the last few years.And those enticing exotic trips will still be on the agenda, even with KA-181 leaving a huge void on the PWA World Tour, renowned for his supreme talent and his good humour alike…
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Fetched: October 2nd, 2008, 4:44am CEST
Day four's forecast delivered the goods, allowing the remainder of race one to be completed in 7-15 knot wind.Finding form in the testing North Sea conditions, Sylvain Moussilmani seized victory, in turn handing him the early event lead.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 4" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 29th, 2008, 3:53pm CEST
For this final round of the season in Sylt, competitors have been faced with a real conundrum as regards equipment choice for Slalom 42, in only choosing 4 sails and 2 boards to last all 9 days of the competition, a real brain-ache considering how unreliable any forecast that far ahead is likely to be.While some riders, such as Arnon Dagan and Finian Maynard have gone for big rigs, biggest sail over 9.5 m2, the average is more like 9.0 m2, with the intermediate choice being between 7.2 and 7.8 m2. The smallest sizes on show vary between the 7.2 of Antoine Albeau and Bernd Flessner’s 6.2 m2. With nothing yet confirmed as regards Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s new board sponsor, lots of people were interested to see exactly which boards SUI-11 would be checking in on Saturday, and he’s eventually opted for the same combination as in Alacati, Turkey, a few weeks ago, namely the Starboard iSonic 111 and 133, but still no official announcement ! Back in action for this German round, king of the Sylt beach, Australian Phil McGain has gone for his Tabou Manta 110 and 125, the boards supplied by his regular sponsor Carbonart, not actually being registered with the ISAF…
See the full list of Slalom 42 choices checked in (Pdf)
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Fetched: September 29th, 2008, 3:53pm CEST
Much anticipated, Friday’s action in Luderitz at the Luderitz Speed Challenge didn’t in the end live up to its big expectatations, with the wind from slightly too tight an angle that complicated things for the kitesurfers, despite the run’s apparent kitesurf advantage… Apart from anything else, the falling tide gave everyone a few worries as regards safety !The riders were all out nonetheless, with the wind flickering between 35 and 40 knots, and the French riders came out firing, with Alexandre Caizergues hitting the day’s top speed of 47.57 knots, followed by Christophe Prin-Guenon with 46.77, with American sensation Rob Douglas doing "no better" than 45 knots.Also apparently promising, Saturday in Luderitz at the Luderitz Speed Challenge was a long way from what had been hoped for as regards conditions, for organisers and riders alike…The angle may have been wrong the day before but it was just not there at all on Saturday, hardly busting the 35 knot mark with litle hope of beating 45 knots over 500 metres. As on Friday, Saturday was a good day to be a French rider with Sebastien Cattelan posting top score with 44.76 knots, ahead of Prin-Guenon with 44.49 knots and Caizergues with 44.27.With the forecast being for less wind in the coming days, the riders are back on standby, with another session looking possible at the end of this week…
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Fetched: September 29th, 2008, 3:53pm CEST
Competition's second day saw the slalom fleet complete one more heat of the first race before the wind became too light to continue racing.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 3" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 29th, 2008, 3:53pm CEST
A fresh 11-16 knot breeze accompanied by clear blue sky provided a promising start to competitions second day in Sylt. Unfortunately, the prospect of racing in the perfect North Sea conditions was to be short lived.
Just moments after the sailors of heat ten hit the water to resume racing, the wind backed off, forcing the heat to be abandoned. The subsequent heat had more luck, and successfully secured the only result of the day, when Ross Williams (Tabou, Gaastra), Gabriel Browne (Mistral, MauiSails), Finian Maynard (RRD, NeilPryde) and Jimmy Diaz (Starboard, North Sails) qualified from heat 11, and proceeded into the following round of race one.
Despite the race committee’s repeated efforts to restart competition, the wind refused to play ball, and ultimately resulted in the day drawing to a close with just one heat completed.
See men’s slalom elimination #1
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Fetched: September 28th, 2008, 11:21am CEST
Following an afternoon of teasing wind, suitable conditions finally arrived on Westerland Beach, allowing the first slalom race to be started.
Despite the wind's arrival only being a brief encounter, the nine heats sailed have already produced numerous shocks and surprises.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 2" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 28th, 2008, 11:21am CEST
Following registration and a typically high profile Sylt opening ceremony the previous day, all the PWA fleets were rigged ready to compete in whatever day one threw at them. As it turned out, the morning was to be a leisurely affair, bathed in sunshine and teased by light westerly winds. The afternoon looked to follow a similar pattern until the sun started to drop, and a modest 7-11 knot breeze arrived at the competition area. Springing into action, the race committee quickly tweaked the four buoy downwind slalom course for the start of the very first heat of the event.
Two heats down, and just as proceedings looked to be following a relatively predictable path, Josh Angulo (MauiSails, Dakine) made a catastrophic error, when he crossed the finish line from the wrong side in his heat 3 clash. The shock mistake meant that he not only had to relinquish his victory, but also failed to qualify for the subsequent round of the race.
As normality looked to be restored, the next big surprise of the day came when 2008 Slalom World Champion, Antoine Albeau (Starboard, NeilPryde) failed to qualify from his heat 8 showdown. The usually dominant Frenchman looked to have a firm grip on second place in the heat, until he stalled exiting the second gybe mark, leaving his rivals free to pass him.
As the swarming crowds lining the beach came to their senses after Albeau’s shock departure, they were to witness another rare spectacle, when current slalom number three, Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine, MFC) missed out on qualification from his round two heat, by just one position.
Entering the subsequent heat, the wind backed off, forcing the race officials to abandon the heat and call an end to the first, and highly controversial day of competition in Sylt.
If day one’s events were anything to go by, the coming days are going to deliver ample loads of windsurf competition that’s as varied and unpredictable at the Sylt weather.
See men’s slalom elimination #1
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Fetched: September 27th, 2008, 7:15pm CEST
The PWA circus has rolled into Westerland, on the German island of Sylt, for the final date on the 2008 World Tour calendar. From 27 September - 5th October expect to witness a full spectrum of windsurf action, as the Super Grand Slam swings into full-on competition mode.Friday is set aside for the registration of 100+ competitors, and mammoth event opening ceremony, which will see all the stars of the PWA introduced to the massive crowds, and officially welcomed to Sylt.
Watch the "PWA Sylt 2008 - Day 1" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 27th, 2008, 7:15pm CEST
The long wait is almost over, as the athletes of the PWA World Tour sign up for the forthcoming nine days of Super Grand Slam action. With a whole day set aside for registration, rigging and general preparation, it’s been a fairly relaxed opening day for the sailors and spectators alike.
However, the casual ambiance is to be short lived, as the event swings into full-on competition mode Saturday. A promising forecast combined with the huge weekend crowds, means proceedings are to set to start with a bang.
The first shock to proceedings is the news that German freestyler, Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde) has suffered an unfortunate injury while training in the Baltic Sea. Günzlein, who came seventh in the last freestyle event in Fuerteventura, is reported to have broken his jaw after a collision with another sailor. The injury requires Günzlein to have an operation before he’ll be fit to windsurf again.
On a more positive note, top slalom racer Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) is making a solid recovery after breaking his leg racing in Fuerteventura. Buzianis will be back on his board and training for the 2009 season in the near future. In the meantime, he’s made the surprise decision to come to Sylt and share his wealth of windsurf knowledge with the crowds, as he takes up the roll of assistant event commentator.
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
One of the top American windsurf spots, The Gorge on the Columbia River in Oregon is a summer magnet for all sorts of riders, it having become renowned on the American scene since way back when...Among the hot locals, many of who are big time into freestyle as you can imagine, there's some great style out there on the water in the persons of Tyson Poor, Rob Warwick or Wyatt Miller among the "names" you may have heard of…Here's some great video footage of some of this summer's best sessions, all put together on this cool little video called "FreezZzit" !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
While Portuguese windsurfers may not yet have really made an impression on the international scene, there are still some talented riders around who deserve our attention, such as waverider Francisco Fonseca…A regular at the superb spot of Guincho, Fonseca evidently knows the place like the back of his hand, giving himself plenty of enjoyment ever session, as shows on this video covering most of the summer’s best days riding !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
There’s hardly been time to take stock and settle down again but already the Luderitz Speed Challenge is getting itself ready for more action this Friday and Saturday, with more excellent speed sailing conditions forecast to blow in.Back from a quick trip to Cape Town in South Africa, some of the riders, such as Alex Caizergues and Christophe Prin-Guenon, have been practicing in the 30-35 knot winds that were blowing on Wednesday and Thursday, making runs up around the 47 knot mark, but with some of their Vmax and GPS runs getting up to the 53 knot region !Some new competitors should be appearing this time, like French speed specialists Charlotte Consorti and Sylvain Hoceini and, having sole use of the spot now that the 3 windsurfers have disappeared to Sylt for the PWA event, the kitesurfers could be making their own headlines once again…
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
Co-organiser along with Pascal Maka of the Masters of Speed on the speed canal at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Christophe Simian delivers his verdict on the latest performances by the kitesurfefs over in Luderitz…"I send my hearty congratulations to the team over in Luderitz, performances like that are the result of lots of hard work, and even more in the way of preparation. So hats off to Frederic Dasse and his team ! And lots of respect and admiration for Sjoukje Bredenkamp for her excellent new record. But I’d also like to just say something about American rider Rob Douglas, who was very disparaging about the speed canal and our work there in one of his recent interviews. But you’d also have to say that there’s still no record for open water sailing and that therefore Bjorn Dunkerbeck has never set any kind of record. If such a thing existed it would be held by Yellow Pages with its 46.52 knots, leaving Bjorn Dunkerbeck a long way off the mark !For sure, a page in speed sailing history is turning, kitesurf is progressing at quite simply incredible speed. The WSSRC has made its decisions and we must all live with them… I even contacted the WSSRC in July about their proposed changes to Rule number 3, to make it less difficult for the kitesurfers, and I don’t regret that now. I think the big difference between there and here is that they can get good conditions blowing in very quickly and regularly, whereas we sometimes have to wait up to 3 or 4 months to be able to sail. And even when the wind’s there, some of these windsurf characters prefer having a meeting on the shore rather than racing on the water, with the exception of Antoine Albeau and Finian Maynard, who made 28 runs between them on the 5th March 2008 !!!And as for the credibility of the record, Mike Ellison is a very good WSSRC observer. He’s fastidious and if he says a record is ok it’s because everything was good and there’s no doubt about its validity. Meanwhile, we’ll be waiting for the end of Luderitz to know what to plan next on the canal."
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
An emblematic figure in the world of British windsurfing, Dave White is also the man behind the recent DrivenbyWind speed record attempt in Southend-on-Sea in England…Always reliable in his dealings with people and sponsors, he’s actually just turned his own world upside down by quitting his sponsors Gaastra and Tabou, for both of whom he’s been riding for some years now.The recent change of distributor for them both in Britain seems to have perhaps exacerbated the situation and decision, and K-63 is giving himself a period of weeks before plumping for any new sponsors, not rushing the decision, testing as much equipment as he can…Another serious contender for the 50 knot barrier, there seems little doubt that his next sponsor relationship will be with one ready to get behind him in that particular quest.
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
From the 8th to 14th September just gone, the spot at Portimao in Portugal welcomed the Formula Windsurfing world championships, also an occasion for the Formula class to hold its annual general meeting and agree the direction of future competition.As regards the event calendar, we now know the confirmed dates and location of the 2009 world championships, in Santa Pola, Spain, from 13th to 19th September next.One of the big world competitions of the year, next year’s will see a visit from a very important couple indeed, in the shape of Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, honorary presidents for the event.
Invited by the Santa Pola town council, a spot that was also home to the 2007 European Formula championships, the Spanish royal couple, big fans of all kinds of water sports, will undoubtedly be following the competition with a great deal of interest…
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Fetched: September 26th, 2008, 2:27pm CEST
15 minutes, that’s the space of time when all the big action happened last Friday 19th September at Luderitz, Namibia, at the Luderitz Speed Challenge while the riders were in full session.The unique feature in Luderitz appears to be the tides, that actually give a very short period of perfect conditions, the higher the tide rises increasing the chop on the water surface. So, at about 4.00pm local time, Seb Cattelan, followed by Rob Douglas, took advantage of this window, with the Moussilmani brothers and Bjorn Dunkerbeck still waiting for more water depth before joining the fray on the run…Even then, it seems there was just enough time for two ranking runs and you had to be in the right place at the right time to get the benefit and get near the 49 knots, as Douglas and Cattelan did.The other trick, and not the least important either, after using the higher section of the run as they had at the beginning of the week, notably for the session on 16th September, they moved down to the lower section which is further downwind for the second serious attempt, with a much better wind angle of between 145 and 150 degrees in relation to the direction of the run, a much more difficult angle for the windurfers to use…Still officially on standby, either at the spot or down in Cape Town in South Africa, the runners are ready for action again this weekend on Friday and Saturday, with some ideal conditions on the forecast and a good chance that the 26th and 27th September will go down in history !Quite apart from the 50 knots, everyone will be keen to beat Rob Douglas’ mark, a man who’s only been kitesurfing for 4 years and who only got into speed kitesurfing earlier this summer…
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
Seriously bad news reaches our desk this Thursday morning, concerning an accident suffered by German freestyler Normen Gunzlein, the very same man who directed our new WJ TV video, "Always"…The exact circumstances and information have yet to be totally verified, but it seems that while out training for the forthcoming PWA in Sylt (that starts this Friday) at the German spot of Femharn this Monday 22nd September, Gunzlein was hit by another windsurfer also surfing the spot.The physical consequences seem to be serious enough anyway, with G-186 being rushed off to hospital in Lubeck with serious head and neck injuries, plus a fractured jaw. Operated on during Monday night, Gunzlein is recovering slowly but will also have a second piece of bad news to accept and deal with, that he’ll be kept in hospital for at least another 10 to 15 days, closing the door to his participation at the Sylt event completely.Currently lying 8th in the provisional PWA World Tour freestyle rankings, G-186 had been hoping to break into the top 5, and had just started full training again after picking up a shoulder injury at the PWA Fuerteventura earlier this year !
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
As it does every year, the ISAF, the International Sailing Federation, is in the process of organising the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year awards, the honouring of the year’s top international waterman…As in previous years, there are just two categories : men and women. The good news for windsurfing is that both Alessandra Sensini and Tom Ashley have been included on the nominations lists.A big enough achievement in itself, figuring on the nominations lists is already serious recognition, notably for Sensini, who became the first woman to win a 4th Olympic medal, at her 4th Games, while New Zealander Ashley is actually getting the nod for his world championship RS:X class win at the beginning of the year, followed some months later by victory over in Qingdao, China…The windsurf nominees will be heading for Madrid, Spain, on November 11th where the nominees to hear the verdicts, but bear in mind that the lists also include top sailors of the calibre of Francis Joyon and Ben Ainslie…
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
Bjorn Dunkerbeck took the opportunity of last year’s PWA round in Sylt, Germany, to release his book, called "The Search", and now another windsurf star, German rider Jurgen Honscheid, is releasing his own windsurf literary oeuvre about his career, called "Mein Arbeitgeber ist der Wind , translated literally as "My boss is the wind"…Illustrated with some 500 photos, the book is a veritable journey through time, notably the period 1977 to 1986, a point when Honscheid was a pro windsurfer, the big rival of the period to a certain Mr Robby Naish…An excellent edition, "Mein Arbeitgeber ist der Wind" takes you through different stages in the life of this big windsurf character, a man who eventually decided to up sticks and live on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canaries to spend his time sharing his passion with the Atlantic Ocean.Unfortunately, for those of you who enjoy these stories about the history of the sport and its “belle époque”, you’ll need to polish up your Gothic, as the book will only be available in German and may never see the light of day in English translation…
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
When he’s not windsurfing, Antoine Albeau spends most of his time back on the water on his SUP or on his jetski, always on the hunt for big thrills, always ready for those chance meetings that happen…That’s how, last Saturday, when leaving the water after a great SUP session on the Ile de Re, FRA-192 happened upon a marriage group with the bride and groom still doing their photo bits down on the beach.It could have ended there of course, but it soon turned into something more meaningful when the groom recognised Albeau, obliging our hero to spend a few minutes having his photo taken with the happy couple !And never one to miss that kind of thing, photographer Julien Gazeau was on hand to capture the big moment for posterity…The good news for any other budding romances is that after the closing PWA round of the season in Sylt, Germany, Albeau will once again be free to spice up your wedding photo sessions too !!!
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
After Andre Paskowski, now it’s the other top German freestyler Normen Gunzlein who’s getting into a spot of video production, with his first production, called "Always"…A video filled with colour, humour and fun from Maui to Lanzarote, passing through Fuerteventura, Gunzlein himself in the spotlight but also some other main actors such as Ricardo Campello, Antxon Otaegui and Andy Chambers.
Watch the "Always" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurf Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
As you might imagine, the latest remarkable performances by the kitesurfers over in Luderitz hasn’t gone unnoticed by Alain Thebault and his team, who announced on September 21st that they would soon be ready for a new attack on the absolute record !Based in the south of France since last May, the Hydroptere has had to undergo some serious re-tuning and adjustments to deal with the very changeable conditions, so it’s going to be September 30th coming that the base at Port-St-Louis-du-Rhone will be welcoming the boat and opening its doors for a new official record attempt.Antoine Albeau’s record stood for 7 months, will Rob Douglas’ mark last that long ? Only one way to find out…
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
There’s absolutely no question, kitesurfers have turned the speed sailing hierarchy upside down last Friday 19th September in Luderitz, and although their times have still to be fully ratified by the World Speed Sailing Records Council, from this point on it’s clear they’re going to be up there over the coming years.To prove the point, there are no less than 6 kitesurfers now in the all-category speed top 10. Antoine Albeau’s flying the windsurf flag at 3rd in the list, ahead of Finian Maynard in 4th and Patrick Diethelm in 9th on a production board !In 10th place now is the former record holder Yellow Pages, its best mark set in 1993 helping the boat people retain a foothold in the top 10, that is perhaps until the Hydroptere gets itself going again in the next few weeks.And lets not forget the stunning performance of South African woman rider Sjouke Bredenkamp who, with her latest best of 45.20 knots, is now in the top 20 all-comers, ahead of some big names from speed windsurfing like a certain Bjorn Dunkerbeck ! The top 10 all-category performance ranking1) Robert Douglas : 49.84 knots (kitesurf)2) Sebastien Cattelan : 49.59 knots (kitesurf)3) Antoine Albeau : 49.09 knots (windsurf)4) Finian Maynard : 48.70 knots (windsurf)5) Alexandre Caizergues : 48.69 knots (kitesurf)6) Christophe Prin-Guenon : 48.64 knots (kitesurf)7/ Hennie Bredenkamp : 47.59 knots (kitesurf)8) Manu Taub : 46.98 knots (kitesurf)9) Patrik Diethelm : 46.57 knots (windsurf)10) Yellow Pages : 46.52 knots (boat)
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
Among the last of the big manufacturers to present its new 2009 product range is Gun Sails, who have just lifted the lid on their new Transwave sail, the replacement for the Wave MC in their European wave range… As with the Hammer replacing the Steel, the German company has come up with something brand new, designed by head designer Renato Morlotti and his research and development team based down in Tarifa in southern Spain…Accessibility and comfort are the buzz words for the new sail, with some serious work having one in to reduce weight without losing any strength.Available in sizes ranging from 3.7 to 6.1 m2, the Transwave also has the advantage of being compatible with both SDM (standard diameter) and RDM (reduced diameter) masts…
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Fetched: September 25th, 2008, 10:19am CEST
The intense action at the end of last week calmed itself down again this Sunday in Luderitz, with a weather forecast pointing towards the re-starting of the speed trial as from this Friday.Back in Europe to take his place at the final PWA round of the season in Sylt, Germany, Bjorn Dunkerbeck is still very positive about going back over to Namibia as soon as the German world cup round is over and if the forecast is good enough…Meanwhile, surfing their wave of success, the Luderitz Speed Challenge team are working with a sports marketing agency, Sail Incentive, on a new event project, also to go off at Luderitz in Namibia, their aim being to create a prize fund for the first man to break 50 knots, with an unprecedented media blitz to go with it…The Luderitz Speed Challenge itself is due to continue til the 13th October, and considering the big news from there in the last few days, there seems little doubt that this spot at Luderitz is going to be much in the news over the coming months.
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Fetched: September 22nd, 2008, 6:12pm CEST
When asked, "If you won the national lottery tomorrow would you…", answers are… Go and live in Hawaii ? : 15%Go on a world tour of the best spots ? : 56%Go and buy the quiver of your dreams ? : 18%Go and hire Robby Naish as your personal coach ? : 3%Go and sponsor the world cup ? : 3%Set up your own windsurf brand ? : 5% Thanks to our panel of 1322 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: September 22nd, 2008, 5:12pm CEST
Co-organiser, with Christophe Simian, of the Masters of Speed contest on the speed canal at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, but also an expert in everything concerning speed sailing, Pascal Maka gives us his opinion of Rob Douglas’ record breaking run over in Namibia…"I knew kitesurf had in immense traction potential and that the day when the kitesurfers were going to find their “ultimate spot” wasn’t far off, and that then they’d be posting some serious times. It was just a question of time. Luderitz is a great spot for kiting but not for windsurfing, as we’d heard from those who made the trip out there last year. There’s too much angle for windsurfing, too much chop to cut through and not very much water depth at the mid-tide, which actually suits the kitesurfers better.In my humble opinion, the speed canal is still the ultimate spot for speed windsurfing, and the challenge is far from over. Windsurfing has still got plenty to say on the matter."
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Fetched: September 22nd, 2008, 5:12pm CEST
Safely back in Europe after his trip to Namibia, Bjorn Dunkerbeck tells us how he saw the day of Friday 19th September when, as impotent as the Moussilmani brothers Benoit and Cyril, he could only watch as the record was exploded without really being able to defend windsurfing’s honour."Friday was a very windy day with between 40 and 45 knots on the anemometer, but it was impossible to use for windsurfers because in places on the run there was no more than 10cm depth of water.It was only much later in the day that there was enough water for windsurfing, but unfortunately by then the wind had dropped off to 25 to 30 knots. A big shame !!!Now I’m on my way over to the closing PWA event in Sylt, we’ll see what happens after that."
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Fetched: September 22nd, 2008, 5:12pm CEST
7 months and 13 days, that’s the exact length of time that Antoine Albeau was holder of the world sail speed record, right up to this Friday 19th September 2008, when the kitesurfers took their turn to turn a new page of speed sailing history… Here’s the FRA-192 view of the hot news as he saw it…"I think it was a good decision not to go to Luderitz because I don’t think the spot is too well adapted to windsurfing, specially looking at their times over the last few days.But that’s just going to help get us even more motivated than ever and I really hope the speed canal will be open again this winter !!!"
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Fetched: September 22nd, 2008, 5:12pm CEST
Just like Antoine Albeau a few months ago, American kitesurfer Rob Douglas made himself the main event this Friday 19th September at the Luderitz Speed Challenge…Here’s a selection of footage of who is now the fastest man in the world under sail speed, first up in interview, then exclusive film of that record breaking 49.84 knot run !
Watch the "Rob Douglas - 49,84 knots" video sur WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurf Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 21st, 2008, 11:56am CEST
It was a massive day for Lüderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, record after record fell. All but the 50 knot milestone, which escaped by a 0.16 knot whisker.Results are a new outright world record for speed sailing over 500m from Rob Douglas (US), a new women’s world record from Sjoukje Bredenkamp (ZA), and several national records. Day 4 - 19 Sept (WSSRC ratified) Rob Douglas : 49.84 knots (and new outright world record)
Sebastian Cattelan : 49.59 knots
Alex Caizergues : 48.69 knots
New women’s outright world record
Sjoukje Bredenkamp : 45.20 knots - beat her own record of 42.35 knots
New South Africa (and Africa record)
Hennie Bredenkamp : 47.59 knots - beat his own record of 44.62 knots New Namibia record
Jurgen Geiger : 44.90 knots - beat his own record of 44.03 knots
New UK kite record
David Williams : 43.32 knots - previous was 41.38 knots
Forecast for Saturday looks like another huge day.
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
Earlier this summer we mentioned this new board manufacturing enterprise set up by Cesare Cantagalli and Gianni Valdambrini, 99 Custom Boards… This September sees the Italian company launching itself for real, and with it its first edition of its website !Somewhere between custom and production boards, 99 Custom Boards site is another dark and classy production, with plentiful board shape possibilities to study, there being no less than 5 separate ranges of between 5 and 10 boards each !After choosing your preferred model, you can choose the colourway/decoration from a range on offer, then place your order, on line if you wish and if our limited Italian understood properly what was being offered !Another really well constructed and interesting site, 99 Custom Boards is another that’s well worth a visit ! More information :
www.99customboards.com
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
It’s definitely the season for it, one by one the windsurf manufacturers are launching their new, updated websites and now it’s time for RRD to unveil their 2009 site…Sober and clean, the site retains many similarities in terms of graphics with this year’s with similar, detailed and illustrated product files.A veritable mine of information in fact, the RRD 2009 site allows you to download all the relevant files in Pdf format, same goes for the promo action videos for their board range !As complete a site as you could wish to find, the RRD 2009 site is well worth spending the time to visit and exploring all its features and subtleties… More information :
www.robertoriccidesigns.com
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
By setting a new American sail speed record on the very first day of racing over in Luderitz, Namibia, with 47.639 knots, Rob Douglas also became the 4th fastest all-category sail racing man in the world…Aged 37, Douglas isn’t exactly an unknown in the speedsailing roll of honour, with good reason, seeing as he’s a windsurfer at heart who’s only been converted kitespeeding a few months ago.He was heavily involved, with his brother Jimmy with who he regularly organised events and competitions in the Boston area, in the windsurf world until a couple of years ago, and like a lot of people got involved in kitesurfing too, but had never set feet on a speed sailing board until this June.After encountering Mike Gebhardt last May, who has since become his personal coach, the pair of them have come up with an ambitious plan to beat the world speed sailing record, and have developed an impressive training and development to match. Twice an Olympic windsurf medal winner, Gebhardt goes everywhere with his man and, on his competitive speed sailing debut in July at Fuerteventura in the Canaries, Douglas quickly made his mark with an excellent second place, that’s before the action yesterday over in Namibia that we’ve just heard about today…Clearly a very serious contender for the new absolute record, Douglas should be much in the news over the coming weeks, and if he IS the first to break 50 knots, we’ll console ourselves with the thought that in fact it was a pair of ex-windsurfers that did it…
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
PWA World Waves Champion 2005 and 2007 and very recently signed up to the NeilPryde/JP Australia team, Brazilian superstar Kauli Seadi has been long overdue a website of his own that measured up to the level of his talent on the water… And now that’s a done deal, since just a few days ago !A bit slow, nut nonetheless well designed, the new site tells you much more about BRA-253, what he’s up to at the moment of course, but also about his work helping young Brazilians by getting them into windsurfing, not forgetting his plans for a windsurfing club… More information :
www.kauliseadi.com.br
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
3rd in the last PWA waves competition at Pozo Izquierdo in the Canaries this summer, Daniel Bruch has just joined the Maui Fin Company (MFC) rider team !Currently lying 8th in the provisional standings before the final wave round in Sylt, Germany, Bruch will be riding with the latest range of harnesses, but will also now be working on the development of their new wave fin range…A great piece of recruitment for the Hawaiian manufacturer, giving them one of the up and coming riders of the year !
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
Israel’s only medal winner at the recent Olympics, windsurfer Shahar Zubari flew home as soon as the games were over and since, like Gal Fridman 4 years earlier, has become a major star in his country…Only a Bronze perhaps, but his medal is beginning to rub off gold with the young Israeli having been signed up for a forthcoming publicity campaign for Renault in Israel ! Quite apart from the fee of 80,000 Shekels (about 15,000 Euros) he got from the Israeli sailing federation for his great performance, Zubari will be very happy with the 130,000 Shekels he’ll be getting on top from Renault, about 25,000 Euros extra…
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
With his Black Shot Trick, the new move invented by Moroccan wave riding star Boujmaa Guilloul that we brought you footage of yesterday, the latest wave riding trend is clearly towards double or composite jumps, such as the push loop to front loop invented by Kauli Seadi… Here’s M-3’s explanation of his new trick he’s been working in through the summer."In fact this is a move I’ve been dreaming of since the day I landed my first ever Crazy Pete, but up until this summer I’d never had the courage to really try it. I’m sure I’m not the first one to have had the idea for the move, others must surely have thought of it, but on the day itself photographer Jean Souville was on the beach and there were fantastic waves making great jump ramps !It’s actually not that difficult and you don’t get scared jumping so high because that’s what makes it happen all by itself… No question, there will be other riders doing this move very soon."
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
The Wind Legends DVD - The history of windsurfing, is the latest production from Jonathan Weston, capturing on film from the early period right to the present day the development of windsurfing over the last 30 years...
The end product is a film that is haflway between an official history and a documentary, as you'll see when you check out this excellent and very promising trailer film !
Watch the "DVD Wind Legends" trailer on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurf Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: September 19th, 2008, 2:42pm CEST
Tuesday was a phenomenal day in Lüderitz/Namibia for the second day of the Lüderitz Speed Challenge. Kitesurfer Rob Douglas (US) goes smoking into the lead, and shatters the previous US speed sailing record with a 47.639 knots run. Once teething troubles were sorted out with equipment on this first day of the Lüderitz Speed Challenge, and everyone had settled into the relentless blast of the wind, there was no end to the high speed runs. Rob Douglas had a great result for a relative newcomer to the international speed sailing scene, although Frenchman Alexandre Caizergues and Sebastien Cattelan are hot on his heels only .33 and .46 knots slower. Windsurfing great Bjorn Dunkerbeck set a personal best times of 44.78 knots, even in slightly broad conditions not perfectly suited to windsurfers.
The Lüderitz Speed Challenge is only into its second day out of a whole month’s sailing, so there will be more records personal, national and international to be broken. Results day 1 (WSSRC ratified)
Rob Douglas : 47,639 knots (kitesurfer)
Alex Caizergues : 47,313 knots (kitesurfer)
Sebastien Cattelan : 47,175 knots (kitesurfer)
Manu Taub : 45,196 knots (kitesurfer)
Christophe Prin-Guenon : 45,112 knots (kitesurfer)
Bjorn Dunkerbeck : 44,779 knots (windsurfer)
Jerome Bila : 43,986 knots (kitesurfer)
Hennie Bredenkamp : 43,807 knots (kitesurfer)
Taro Niehaus : 43,279 knots (kitesurfer)
Benoit Moussilmani : 43,183 knots (windsurfer)
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Fetched: September 17th, 2008, 1:32pm CEST
Windsurf is the kind of extraordinary sport where just when you think every possible angle has been explored, someone comes along to shake the whole thing up again !After Brazilian rider Kauli Seadi and his famous push loop into front loop move, we thought we’d come to a new threshold as regards jumps, but that was without reckoning on Boujmaa Guillol and a sensational new jump he’s been practising over in Morocco, something he’s calling the Black Shot Trick !It consists of a Crazy Pete (a cushioned back loop where you change board side whilst you’re in the air) segueing into a stalled front loop, all at a height above the water respectable enough to try both moves separately !!!Proof of that on this video we actually released a few extracts of recently…
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: September 17th, 2008, 1:32pm CEST
Time for the big boys at Naish to present their brand new 2009 website, and of course with it, to unleash their range of new boards and sails for the season ahead…While on the technical side the site has played the dark and moody card, there’s obviously plenty of interest in the new equipment ranges, specially the Freestyle/Wave boards that replace the older Freestyle models and which will clearly be scoring heavily for their increased versatility... More information :
www.naishsails.com
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Fetched: September 17th, 2008, 1:32pm CEST
Evidently committed to the SUP wave, Naish has also just put on line its brand new surf site, also covering their SUP range !Everyone who visits will appreciate the site for its detailed information, its videos and photo galleries, but obviously there are also the new products… Actually, compared to 2008, the Naish range is considerably expanded with no less than 6 new models on offer, including a special long-distance design.Excellently put together, a site that is an excellent shop window, in the most commercial sense too, for SUP ! More information :
www.naishsurfing.com
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Fetched: September 17th, 2008, 1:32pm CEST
After a serious knee injury that has kept him out of competition for the last two years, Polish rider Wojtek Brzozowski has made a triumphant return in 2008 by winning the World Formula Windsurfing Championships at Portimao in Portugal, and that riding a Starboard Formula 161 board and a NeilPryde RS6 rig, equipment that is at least two years "out of date" ! POL-10 talks us through his version of this amazing win…"At last I’m back ! Winning this competition in Portimao was a big challenge for me. After doing nothing for two whole years, I really wanted to come back in style. I’m really stoked and proud of myself at the same time !I came to Portimao aiming to win and that’s what I did, using equipment that I was very familiar with. After that, I have to believe that you can do anything you want to do if you believe hard enough.I’m happy for myself but also for my country, with victory for Marta Hlavaty in the women’s section and 3rd place for Michael Polanowski, great result all round !"
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Fetched: September 8th, 2008, 9:15pm CEST
As we do every yearm Windsurfjournal.com is off to the spend the week at the "Village de Glisse et Voile Légère" at the Grand Pavois Boat Show in La Rochelle on the west coast of France from the 10th to 15th September…One of THE big boating and watersports events in France, it's going to be taking all our attention for the duration, meaning that Windsurfjournal.com will be taking a short break and will be back, crammed with all the hot news and gossip from the show, as from September 16th.Thanks for your understanding and we'll see you again very soon here on Windsurfjournal.com !
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Rumours have been doing the rounds for some days now, rumours that can now be confirmed as official news. Antoine Albeau and Britain’s Guy Cribb will be making a Channel Crossing attempt between Cherbourg in France and Poole in England, as soon as good conditions are there…Mr Windsurf Clinic, Cribb is a national figure who has been hatching his 70 mile / 100km crossing plan for some time. But apart from the sporting challenge involved, Cribb and Albeau will be making their run to support sailor Ellen MacArthur’s leukaemia and cancer charity for children.The dynamic duo will be collecting their sponsorship money via a dedicated website, and are putting out a call to any and everyone who wants to give to this worthy cause. And in the spirit of a non-competitive run, the riders will be sticking together every centimetre of the way, each with their own support boat, typically a Zodiac in the case of Albeau…Apparently ready to go at any moment, Albeau and Cribb are just waiting for the next big weather depression of the autumn and a south-westerly wind if at all possible to launch their adventure ! To donate to the Windsurf Channel Crossing :
www.justgiving.com/windsurf
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Long-standing in-house shaper at Mistral, Mark Nelson has been making boards since 1981 from his base on Maui, Hawaii, making his living through his Nelson Factory range of surf, windsurf and SUP boards, that is, when he's not busy collaborating with some other designer "name" like Peter Thommen or Sean Ordonez...Always an innovator in terms of board shape, this year Nelson has equipped himself with a computerised shaping machine that includes a 3D software, enabling him to create a "virtual" board before committing it to production.A brilliant new tool like that is worthy of some considerable interest, so Nelson has also taken this opportunity to update and put on line his latest website dedicated to his art, choc full of interesting info, a video tour of his workshop plus some cool 3D animations to help you understand how and why his boards are shaped as they are ! More information :
www.nelsonfactory.com
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Mostly ignored by the media compared to neighbouring Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands is another top windsurf spot, with its very own top spot, Cabezo…A regular at the spot, Michael Offerman has sent us this excellent video called "The Cabezo chronicles" with a great cast of local riders…
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
With the wave riding competition circuit being sadly reduced this year, any contest is a good contest for most of the top riders, who are showing up in force for what would otherwise be considered "2nd division" events… That’s one reason why Victor Fernandez spent last weekend at the NSP Soulfiles in Denmark, while Kauli Seadi preferred staying put in Brazil (who can blame him !) for the weekend of 16th and 17th August for a wave contest on the Brazilian circuit, the ACW in Praia da Villa in the region of Imbituba, all to be sure of staying "hot" for the final PWA round at Sylt, Germany, at the end of September.As explosive in the air and on the water as ever, Kauli Seadi nevertheless contrived to lose in the final to his compatriot Konan Lang, who thereby made himself the sensation of the weekend after beating the 2005 and 2007 PWA world waves champion
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
A truly exotic and, for most Europeans, truly far flung corner of the world is Baja California in Mexico, and it’s become a real magnet for windsurfers with its combination of wind and waves that are every bit as good as some much better known spots in the world…And American windsurfer Clive Boden has spent some time this summer down Mexico way and has sent us this cool video of his trip, with plenty of surf and SUP in the mornings, then windsurf in the afternoon !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Well known already for their excellent booms, masts and extensions, Italian manufacturer Tecnolimits has gone for a big gamble this year with the launch of their range of fins !After no less than 100 prototypes and a whole year of testing, that’s what Tecnolimits have spent developing this first range of freestyle fins that are made using pre-impregnate technology and feature a special double profile.This takes the form of a kind of winglet allowing boards that use them to ride higher in the water, giving a sensation of flying, at least according to Tecnolimits ! They’ll be available in 18 and 21cm sizes, and they’ll also feature a special paint that apparently helps a smoother water flow…
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
If there’s one thing the pro riders seem to have in common this season, it’s surely the number of injuries they’ve collectively suffered.We remember Nayra Alonso breaking her foot over in South Africa, Gollito Estredo and his dodgy ankles, Antxon Otaegui, not forgetting Micah Buzianis’ fibula fracture. Now it’s Brit rider John Skye who’s been spending time down at Casualty Department…Sailing at Vargas on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands last week, K-57 attempted a one foot back loop, but didn’t get his foot back in the strap well enough on landing, winning a twisted knee for his trouble !Happily for Skye, it was a bigger scare than injury, but enough to force him to spend a few weeks enforced rest, just at the wrong moment, when the Skye man was due to be on a promo tour of his country…Despite all that, Skye is hoping to be back, fully fit, for the final waves round of the season in Sylt, Germany…
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
While the big international in Luderitz, Namibia, is getting ready for kick off, there’s also plenty of action over in Southend-on-Sea in England where the DrivenbyWind 2 event is now confirmed and which will run, as we mentioned back in mid August, for 3 months from November with a 10 day break for the festive Christmas / New Year period…It’s an event open to pro riders chasing the legendary 50 knot mark, but also open to anyone keen enough, and indeed rich enough, with a price of £1000 (1300 Euros) on entering for the session…
Download the registration form (Word)
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Robert Masters from Stableroad.com is back with another of his beautiful classic videos, Crash, from the early 90s, an excerpt from the Instant Replay video !In action, the NeilPryde team of the period including Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Laird Hamilton, Sierra Emory, Jason Prior and Robby Seeger and some mega trash wipe outs with riders who clearly have no fear !!!
Watch the video (Quick Time Player)
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Sweden’s 3rd biggest city with its 3 million inhabitants taking into account the suburbs, Malmo is also blessed with being on the sea… Wanting to create a younger, more vibrant image of their city and its architecture, the local council put out to tender the idea of making a promo film to advertise the city.A windsurfer but also a manager at an audiovisual production company, Bill Watts was the lucky one who got the gig, against heavy competition from some of the bigger, better known Swedish production houses to have replied.Result ? Watts Productions have enlisted the services of windsurfer Kristoffer Living and both will be working until the end of the year producing the film in question, that will evidently have a strong windsurf theme to it !!!
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Young Irish waverider who looks set to make a name for himself in the coming years Mikey Clancy has just brought his website bang up to date in typical style to help you follow his progress and travels.And to kick the thing off in style, this great video shot at his regular spot of Brandon Bay in some clearly better than average conditions ! More information :
www.mikeyclancy.com
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
With the Olympic Games now out of the way, everyone’s busy getting ready for the first true world championships for the Olympic class, the ISAF Sailing World Cup !A few weeks before the start of the Olympics, we mentioned this new world cup contest with an Olympic flavour, but it’s only just now that the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) finally unveiled their schedule for the new competition, with no less than 7 dates during the year, the first round being in Australia at the end of December and the last in Britain next September.A great new initiative that should give something of a boost to the Olympic classes that will be in action at the London Olympics in 4 years time, such as the RS:X, with the 2 years immediately following an Olympics normally being pretty quiet on the competition front… ISAF World Cup Calendar 08-09
16 to 21 December 2008 - Sail Melbourne Regatta, Melbourne, Australia
25 to 31 January 2009 - Rolex Miami OCR, Miami, United States
04 to 10 April 2009 - Trofeo SAR Princess Sofia MAPFRE, Palma, Spain
18 to 24 April 2009 - Semaine Olympique Française, Hyères, France
27 to 31 May 2009 - Delta Lloyd Regatta, Medemblik, Holland
21 to 29 June 2009 - Kieler Woche, Kiel, Germany
14 to 19 September 2009 - Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, Weymouth, England
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
From the 27th to 31st August, the spot at Klitmoller in Denmark was host to the 3rd edition of the NSP Soulfiles, with almost perfect conditions for the windsurfers who had accepted the invitation.From day 1 of the contest the wind and waves were in attendance, and the wave contest resulted in the final everyone expected between the two big favourites, German rider Klaas Voget and Spanish star Victor Fernandez. Victory to Fernandez in the end with his excellent range of jumps, with local rider Robert Sand finishing 3rd. And the next day over at the adjacent spot of Anstholm, Voget got his revenge, winning the super session contest run in conditions less excellent than the previous day’s.And with the wind dropping off completely later in the weekend, it was the surfers and SUP-ers who took over the water, making it another brilliantly varied NSP Soulfiles for another year !!!
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Master of ceremonies and co-organiser with Pascal Maka of the Masters of Speed on the speed canal at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France, Christophe Simian gives us his latest views on the speed world, with some bad news for speed fans, there won’t be an attempt on the canal before December 2008, even January 2009 !"Pascal Maka and I will make a decision on the future of things on the speed canal after the event in Luderitz, Namibia and in relation to the results they achieve over there, nothing until December 2008 or January 2009 at the earliest. I’m not that keen on getting something going at Saintes before the end of the year, we need some time, and anyway, we already hold to two fastest speeds in the world (Antoine Albeau with 49.09 knots and Finian Maynard with 48.70), lets let the others have a go !Everyone seems very sure there’s going to be an explosion in Luderitz, but it’s not as simple as that. Alex Caizergues and Bjorn Dunkerbeck look like the two best bets for the record. Personally I see Dunkerbeck more as Mr 50 knots ! I’ve got the experience of ten world records for sailing and you mustn’t allow yourself to think that it’s in the bag just because you hit 53 knots on the GPS. There are plenty of variables to try and control and bring together on the day. The strong current in Luderitz couldbe a big handicap, the riders must remember to stay humble, which isn’t always the case with the kitesurfers, Caizergues, Cattelan and Taub apart.Personally, I'll be spending some time with the Hyroptere as the official WSSRC observer and try to help them if they like with my understanding of the different types of Mistral you get in the region. This boat and its crew have huge potential and could, very soon, set the kite and windsurfers both straight, something that would please me very much. I wish them all luck over in Luderitz, because records are set to be broken !"
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
It’s definitely the big news of this September 2008, that Bjorn Dunkerbeck will be one of the entrants for the Luderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, from 15th September to 13th October… He tells WJ what got him so interested !"What really motivated to go tot Luderitz is that I really needed to get into some serious speed riding and that for once, I’ll be able to run on my small speed boards that are between 37 and 38cm wide, hoping to get as close as possible to the 50 knots.Sailing at 40 knots is already something, 45 is something else besides, and for going really fast you need perfect water and great wind…Windsurfing is my whole life, and above all I love great conditions, that explains my decision !"
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
After Hawaii, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia, next stop for the Butterfly Effect event is La Rochelle in France, during the big Grand Pavois boatshow, going off on Saturday 13th on the plage des Minimes…Organised by windsurfers Juliana Farias and Tatiana Howard, the Butterfly Effect was born in 2007 and is open to women kitesurfers, SUP-ers and windsurfers and consists of a long downwind run long distance race, open exclusively to the girls of course !All those interested are expected on the Naish stand, sponsor of the event along with DaKine, in time to register and be ready for the off at 2.00pm…And Farias and Howard have taken the opportunity to give the Butterfly Effect website a big face lift, with much more up to date information on the event that will move on to Brazil on October 4th… More information :
www.betheeffect.com
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
The news broke last night in fact, news that will surely set tongues wagging, Bjorn Dunkerbeck has just confirmed his entry for the Luderitz Speed Challenge, starting 15th September in Namibia !Which actually makes it a very busy autumn for SUI-11, who will be doing the first part of Luderitz up to 25th September before flying off to Sylt in Germany for the final round of this year’s PWA, before jetting back in to Luderitz after 6th October…You might remember that last year Dunkerbeck had registered some shorter than usual fins for the Walvis Bay event, also in Namibia, and no doubt that would be a good option in Luderitz… As for his two big windsurf speed rivals Finian Maynard and Antoine Albeau, the story is that they’ll be watching Dunkerbeck’s performances closely before deciding whether to get involved or not !
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
We’re not in the habit of blowing our own trumpet too much here at Windsurfjournal.com towers, your loyalty over the last 3 years being the only kind of reward we’ve ever craved, but when it’s someone else’s words that have made us smile it seems a shame not to share our happiness with you all !Last weekend, over in Austria, manufacturer F2 organised its annual international dealer meeting to present its new 2009 equipment range, some 44 distributors from all over the world… Outlining their 2009 strategy, target marketing and pricing policy, among the business discussions there was considerable debate on the current state of the media, the net in particular, and the unequivocal feeling of the F2 distributors was that the net is indeed the primary media now for windsurfing, and that Windsurfjournal.com is far and away the best of the bunch.And with their own internal report in their hands, F2 were happy to reciprocate the feeling to their 44 worldwide distributors ! A great bit of publicity and a very touching tribute to us WJ staffers…
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
Talented windsurfer, we’ve stopped giving Dane Lars Petersen (who lives just a stone’s throw from the great Danish spot of Klitmoller) the big build up, so well has he become known to WJ readers and viewers…D-99 is a very good level and highly motivated freestyler, as he shows in this cool video shot very recently… Proof that the latest rad and technical moves are not the sole property of the new-school riders !
Watch the video (Quick Time Player)
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Fetched: September 6th, 2008, 1:08am CEST
We mentioned this one a few days ago, that Italian manufacturer Point-7 had just updated its website, presenting its brand new 2009 equipment range at the same time…The graphics are really well done, giving a cool, clean feel, but the big interest is obviously in the new equipment, notably the two brand new sails they’re releasing, the Square and the Swell.As a complement to the Sado, their European wave sail, the Swell is for a more surf-oriented style, having less power around the rear hand but enough to help it be as versatile as possible. While the Square replaces the Runner almost exactly, retaining the principles of high performance freeride without cambers… More information :
www.point-7.com
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
Untouchable, Sarah-Quita and Marcilio Browne are confirmed event winners, despite a spirited performance from Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo, who took victory in the third men’s single elimination on the penultimate day of competition. In the same time, The first race of the ’08 speedwindsurfing world championship is a fact. At the mandatory skippers meeting this morning at 10:00, all racers received, besides the last instructions, there personal GPS-device which identifies them during the race and enables a world wide audience to follow the racing action live on the Internet.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 9" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
Following the postponement of the June PWA waves round in Guincho, Portugal, the world’s waverideing professionals had hoped to make it happen at the same venue in September at the same spot, but the Portuguese round couldn’t finally go ahead because of a simple lack of funds… And as has been recently announced, there won’t be a Brazilian round this year either, meaning that all hopes have now turned to Sylt in Germany or Tiree in Scotland for some kind of grand finale, but even the Tiree contest is still along way from being confirmed.So, supposing that the Sylt event can’t be ratified because of poor conditions, which has happened already in the past, and that the Tiree round doesn’t come off, which is totally possible, that would give rise to an unprecedented scenario where Daida Moreno would win on the strength of just one completed round and Kauli Seadi on just two !Despite the best efforts year on year by the PWA, that would be an enormous shame for what is the king of windsurfing competitions…
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
The spot at Qingdao that in 15 days time will be welcoming the Olympic sailing events to its waterside, has shown an unexpected face recently, firstly a reduction in the amount of green algae, but as importantly, some decent wind ! Famous for its generally light winds, the spot at Qingdao managed to rake up some rare windy days with the anemometer busting up to 25 knots for several days at a time. With the Qingdao Olympic village officially opening its doors on 27th and the first of the world’s athletes arriving, the forecast is pretty optimistic for the week ahead at least with some days of 15 and at least one more with those 25 knots again.That’s leading to some serious head-scratching among the team organisers and trainers, with almost every nation expecting to find the more like 6 knots maximum the spot has become famous for !Of course, things will probably change between now and the opening of RS:X hostilities on August 11th, but could it be that this spot of Qingdao is actually going to end up much windier than we’d all been led to expect…
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
Good morning from Fuerteventura to racing day 4. Riders have skippers meeting in a few minutes and go for a first possible start at 11:00. The wind readings are 130 degree and 22 knots average, so not enough right now but the conditions are improving.
See the live GPS Spectator
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
Both races Monday were won by Antoine Albeau in the men fleet, and Karin Jaggi (SUI, F2, North) in the women fleet. In difficult conditions with breaking waves of up to 1.5 meter and up to 30 knots of wind, the majority of the competitors had difficulties to score good runs. Albeau dominated the day another time, also scoring the top speed of the event with more than 40 knots now. Patrik Diethelm (ITA, F2, North) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (SUI, T1/Proof, North) are tied in points behind him, but Diethelm takes second with the better top speed. Places four and five are tied in points as well, with Cyril Moussilmani (FRA, Fanatic, North) ahead of Finian Maynard (BVI), who could find the fastest way throug the chop today. In the women fleet first and second place is tied between Valerie Ghibaudo and Karin Jaggi, but Ghibaudo scored the faster run, so is still leading. Third and fourth are also tied between Marion Raisi (FRA) and Emanuelle Duby (FRA), so we have to expect the decisions only in the next races. Racing continues Tuesday with the skippers meeting at 10:00 and the first possible start at 11:00.
See results leg #3 (Pdf) See results leg #4 (Pdf) See results after 4 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 29th, 2008, 6:46pm CEST
On the 12th July, the PWA Pozo Izquierdo climaxed with a great super session where Ricardo Campello made his mark going for those triple front loops. The very same day, young Philip Koster also put on a fantastic show including some incredible high jumping that will stick in the memory for some time.Two weeks down the line and Anaif have sent us this great video extract from the super session, featuring that BIG Koster jump…
No commentary needed !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
When asked, "The manufacturers release a new equipment range every year, in your opinion that’s…", answers are… Indispensible : 15%Necessary : 18%A “bad” habit : 45%Not very interesting : 10%Not at all interesting : 8%No real opinion : 4% Thanks to our panel of 1274 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Never before has it been as interesting to go on a windsurfing holiday as now. Our friends at ClubVentos in Jericoacoara has started their 2008 season, by launching a second spot; Icaraizinho. That means that you can do a combo vacation, visiting both places in the same vacation. They take care of transfer, gear rental and hotels. Jericoacoara + Icaraizinho = Combo vacation. Yet, both places look to be worth visiting alone, for those who wish to go for only one spot. According to ClubVentos, you can create your own vacation, choosing as much time you want in the different spots, or just stay in one place. No rules. Windsurf vacation revolution. As you might have heard from previous news, Icaraizinho was added to ClubVentos as a new destination, after the biggest Beach Search ever done. Most of the PWA elite took part in the search of ClubVentos second center. The story plus action can be viewed in the Beach Search DVD at their homepage. More information :
www.clubventos.com and
www.clubventosbeachsearch.com
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
After last year’s trip to Santa Paulo in Spain, this year Leba in Poland will be home to the European Formula Windsurfing Championships, from 30th July to 3rd August… One of Poland’s top windsurf spots, Leba is accustomed to hosting national ands international competitions and should be a top quality venue, just like the top class rider entries list that includes Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel making his debut on his Exocet “Black Machine” boards, not forgetting Jesper Vesterstrom, Ross Williams, Steve Allen and top local riders like Michael Polanowski and Wojtek Brzosowski.Reigning French champion Julien Quentel will obviously be present to defend his title while the Big Frenchie Antoine Albeau has decided to stick with the ISWC Speed Contest in Fuerteventura that only ends on August 2nd !
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
More hot mid-season transfer news just in and one that will have the knowing tongues wagging in the rider paddocks over the next few days. Argentinian rider Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel has just signed to Exocet at the season mid-point…During the last few weeks there’s been the announcement of budget restrictions for his ex-sponsor F2, and rumours about ARG-3 have been flying around despite his persistent denials.Freshly kitted out with his new gear, he’ll be jetting off to Poland any day now for the European Formula Windsurfing Championships, and from now on he’ll be flying Exocet’s colours in both Slalom 42 and Formula Windsurfing !
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Good morning and welcome to day ten of coverage at the 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam. Today's skippers meeting is scheduled for 10.30am, with the decisive third men's and women's double elimination starting shortly after this.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Good morning from Fuerteventura ! Riders have skippers meeting in a few minutes, and the race committee plans to start at 11:00. The angle is a little bit too deep at the moment, but this might change.
See the live GPS Spectator
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Another good day of sailing was completed Sunday in Fuerteventura, with the same winners as Saturday : Antoine Albeau in the men and Valerie Ghibaudo in the women fleet. Those two are now clearly leading the overall ranking with the perfect score of 1.4 points. Also successful Sunday Tomas Malina, setting a new Czech national record at 33.99 knots, subject to WSSRC ratification. In hardcore conditions, the 63 competitors were sent out for their first leg at 13:00 hours local time, probably missing a good hour of sailing before. But the race committee decided to give the riders a chance to eat before sending them out on a long day, as the conditions seemed to improve minute by minute. The first runs showed the potential of the day, with 37-38 knots runs already in the very beginning. Antoine Albeau (FRA, Starboard), Patrik Diethelm (ITA, F2, North) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (SUI, T1/Proof, North) were setting the best speeds at that time. The top 10 ranking was constantly changing then, with almost every run of the top sailors. To the end of the leg, it was Patrik Diethelm causing the first extension of the day, and the speeds went up to 39 knots at that time, still with Albeau in the lead. Another extension was caused by Cyril Moussilmani (FRA, Fanatic, North) then, with a spectacular run bringing him into 5th position. The race went on thrilling, with Diethelm taking the lead from Antoine Albeau in the last few minutes and a top speed of almost 40 knots, but only minutes later Albeau fought back with another 40 knots run, defending the lead till the end.
See results leg #2 (Pdf) See results after 2 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 28th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Double elimination victories for Browne and Offringa earns them the early event lead, ahead of hungry second place rivals Ricardo Campello and Yolanda De Brendt.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 8" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 7:35pm CEST
Good morning to the second racing day here in Fuerteventura.First possible start 13.00
See the live GPS women See the live GPS men
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 7:35pm CEST
Entering the penultimate day of competition, Marcilio Browne and Sarah-Quita Offringa top the ranks in their respective fleets. Today will see them fighting to extend their leads in third single elimination, which will kick off shortly after the 11.00am skippers meeting.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 7:35pm CEST
The first race of the ’08 speed windsurfing world championship is a fact and right from the start it was a good one with a double extension. Antoine Albeau and Valerie Ghibaudo are the winners of the first round. At the mandatory skippers meeting this morning at 10:00, all racers received, besides the last instructions, there personal GPS-device which identifies them during the race and enables a world wide audience to follow the racing action live on the internet. For the first time in the history of speed windsurfing the official WSSRC timing system is combined with GPS timing. Thus all tracks of the speedsailors can be followed on the live spectator in real time. The first possible start was set at 12:00 am, but needed to be postponed by one hour as the wind was not suitable at that time. The combination of an average windspeed of 23-24 kts and a wind angle of 135° resulted in a top speed for winner Antoine Albeau of 37.01 knots. Quite impressive in these tough conditions. The fastest women was Valerie Ghibaudo, she sailed an average speed of 31.39 knots over 500m. So the Frenchies did it again ! Sunday riders expect the same wind conditions, but the tide will go down even a little bit more. The skippersmeeting will be held at 10:00 o'clock again, with a first possible start at 11:00 hours.
See results after 1 leg (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 7:35pm CEST
Big air, dynamic moves and radical action: The PWA freestyle crew take over Sotavento beach for the first day of mind blowing trickery.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 7" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 8:45am CEST
The world’s top 100 speed windsurfers and kiteboarders are coming to Fuerteventura for the 23rd Windsurfing & Kiteboarding World Cup. When Fuerteventura calls, they all come. The island, situated in the Canaries, has got the wind the windsurfers and kiteboarders need. Guaranteed. Plus, there’s the bonus of white sandy beaches, blue skies and summer-like temperatures.A unique premiere will be the live presentation of both the windsurf and kiteboard speed events in the internet. This will bring windsurfing live to a world wide audience for the first time, enabling every spectator to directly follow each competitors tracks on the screen.
See the entrants list
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Fetched: July 27th, 2008, 8:45am CEST
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 5:11pm CEST
It’s something that happens rarely enough that it’s certainly worth mentioning here, that a windsurfing couple will be sailing together, or nearly, during the Olympic sailing competitions that start on August 11th in Qingdao, China…As one of the French selections, Julien Bontemps will soon be flying off with his wife Irina Konstntinova-Bontemps, who will be representing Bulgaria in the women’s competition ! And, to make their business as pleasurable as possible, they’ve been training together at La Baule over the last few weeks, Mr Bontemps’ home spot…And, if you believe what the so called experts say, being in a relationship can give a certain stability that is indispensable in life, specially for big sporting events like the Olympic Games !
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 12:44pm CEST
After their freestyle world title won by leading rider Marcilio Browne, Mistral is going to honour the fact with the 2009 release of its completely re-worked freestyle board range, the JokerRD.There are two new sizes at 99 litres (231 x 63cm) and 109 litres (231 x 66cm), and the boards have a more pronounced rocker to improve speed and acceleration, a rear flip tail for better control, plus a new rail line to help initiate moves.These two Jokers have been developed in close consultation with Marcilio Browne in person; the 99 being as close as you can get to a replica of his most-used board.And worth noting that on the construction side, the Joker RD will be made from Carbon/Kevlar for the best possible strength to weight ratio ! More information about Mistral :
www.mistral.com
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 12:44pm CEST
Today, the men's double elimination will pick up where it left off yesterday, and the women's fleet will start their first double elimination on this, the seventh day of competition in Fuerteventura.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 12:44pm CEST
With the PWA Slalom 42 Sotavento now over, it’s obviously time to check out the provisional rankings, standings that are as fascinating as ever !In the women’s contest, Valerie Ghibaudo’s win jumped her up to 3rd in the overalls, a good return after her bad result in Costa Brava, while Karin Jaggi stays at the top ahead of Israeli sensation Lee-al Korzitz, who’s experience on the RS:X circuit is clearly paying dividends in her first season on the PWA World Tour.In the men’s section, Antoine Albeau is way out in front and can wrap up the title at the next round in a few weeks time, still one more round away from the end of the tour year… Behind him, Mr Consistency Kevin Pritchard is hanging on ahead of a back in form Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Just 200 points then separate 4th placed Cyril Moussilmani from 10th placed Ben van der Steen. Which basically means that as far as the lesser podium positions go the season is far from over…From the 11th to 16th August, everyone will be rolling into Alacati in Turkey for the penultimate round, a round which could have a decisive effect on plenty of things !
See the women’s Slalom 42 standings after 2 rounds See the men’s Slalom 42 standings after 3 rounds
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 12:44pm CEST
The fourth day of relentless wind put the sailors endurance to the test in three more rounds of adrenaline fuelled racing.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 5" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
In March and April, the big windsurf manufacturers were all over the spots on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii for their traditional photoshoots…JP Australia was one of that band of hopefuls and has just released a video of the best moments from the wave shoot, with some great action from JasonPolakow, Kauli Seadi, Robby Swift and Baptiste Gossein !
Watch the video (Quick Time Player)
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
Gun Sails have just given their web site a good going over during July, with much better ergonomics all round.More space for visuals, simpler, faster clicking, plus the possibility of creating and managing your own personal profile… More information :
www.gunsails.de
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
Just a couple of days ago we spoke about Greek rider Nikos Kaklamanakis and German rider Christian Freimuller who stumbled on a brand new algae invasion in Qingdao, China, during pre-competition training… This unexpected re-encounter, the Chinese authorities having declared the problem totally resolved, became an opportunity for some good-humoured photo shooting itself.But the story gets much less amusing when you hear that after his contact with the famous algae, Freimuller started feeling burning sensations on different parts of his body, plus extreme tiredness and nausea !Unable to do any further training, Freimuller has decided to go home to Germany to try and find a cure for his ailments and complete his event training…Meanwhile back in Qingdao, while the algae are much less present than before, it doesn’t bear thinking about the possible state of health of the "volunteers" and soldiers drafted in to clean up the spot over the last few weeks, without any kind of protection !
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
After a hugely successful start to the competition, with 5 solid days of slalom racing, the event now swings into freestyle mode. The freestylers registered yesterday, and are rigged and ready to compete today. Their skippers meeting is at 10.30am…
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
Legend, Global, Loco and Switch, there’s no pint changing a winning team at MauiSails for 2009, and the Hawaiian manufacturer has used July to update its website where you’ll find details of the 4 updated 2009 vintage models !Just about all the information you could want about each sail is now available on their website, with full tech specs and explanations of the differences between the different designs…
More information
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Fetched: July 25th, 2008, 4:18am CEST
A colourful backdrop of slalom eliminations and full fleet racing shook things up for a third successive day of nerve racking competition.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 4" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 3:20am CEST
After the spinning of the new Mission and Icon over the last few days, Hawaiian manufacturer Simmer Sails has now unveiled its entire 2009 wave and freestyle collection.And if you take the time to check it out, you can visit the site and see their brand new sail, the Iron, a hybrid wave sail that has plenty of power for bigger riders but is still very manoeuvrable in surf.A well conceived site, giving successive pages of tech specs, sail by sail, plus plenty of photo footage of them in action !
More information
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Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 3:20am CEST
It was late morning on Wednesday, during the last day's racing at Sotavento, that the official news "broke", that Micah Buzianis has indeed broken his (left) leg and will not be able to defend his 2nd place in the rankings...After a visit to hospital for the necessary X-rays, the ankle ligament injury he appeared to have suffered was actually much worse than feared and that in fact his left fibula was broken. Having already injured the left leg during the PWA Gran Canaria a couple of weeks earlier, it was obviously aggravated with all the big effort of the previous few days before the break happened on Tuesday.Despite considerable pain, Buzianis did his very best to carry on racing on the day before being forced off the water by excessive pain at the jibe point…Lying second after 9 rounds of racing, US-34 saw his hopes of a podium finish for this round of PWA Slalom 42 disappear, and there must be considerable doubt about his fitness for the next round in Alacati, Turkey, in a few weeks time…
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Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 3:20am CEST
Unfortunately the wind in Porto Pollo dropped in the last days of the Starboard ProKids Europe but thanks to the good three first days we still got a complete list, both in double and single. The winner in the Kids category was Lucrezia Genazzani and Francesco Capuzzo. In the Grommets category the young and very talented Joup Schmit finished as winner, and the female category was won by the local athlete Francesa Mendola, who is also a part of the Palau project "vivere il mare". The Super grommets category was won by the Belgium talent Dieter Van Der Eyken tightly followed by Italian Vittorio Mazzocca. Even with communication difficulties between the two athletes an important friendship has grown and everybody hope to see more of them both together around the world.In the last category the fight continued between Max Droege, German junior Champion and Filippo Bestetti, Starboard junior champion, and was in the end won by the Italian.
See results
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Fetched: July 24th, 2008, 3:20am CEST
Today's skippers meeting is scheduled for 11.00am, and racing will begin shortly after this in conditions similar to yesterday (gusting wind 15-30 knots).
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Decidedly on form during the PWA Slalom42 at Sotavento, American rider Micah Buzianis appears to have fallen under a bad spell, just when he was lying second in the standings...Apparently, at the very moment he started the 11th heat, the American fell on the jibe, with his left ankle stuck in the front footstrap. In insufferable pain, he couldn't walk and had to be helped from the water.The on site medical staff had an initial look and very quickly became aware that the ankle ligaments had been seriously damaged. But that didn't stop Buzianis getting back on the water to complete heat 11 with a DIY strapping on, but was forced to give up nonetheless as the pain became just too bad.There are still 4 rounds of competition that could be run on Wednesday, leaving US-34, a miracle cure aside, missing out on a good performance and important championship points !
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Now more than ever a fixture in the Simmer Sails catalogue, Victor Fernandez’ weapon of choice, the Icon, is getting a subtle evolution for next season, but retains the same guiding concept, to be a radical but go-anywhere wave sail.Those evolutions include a slightly reduced mast head to help induce a progressive twist on the trailing edge, giving the sail a slightly wider wind range than its predecessor. As for the profile, there’s a very noticeable hollow under the boom level, positioned well forwards to give maximum power and response.Still made almost entirely from X-ply monofilm, the Icon will be available in sizes from 3.4 to 6.2 m2. More information about Simmer Sails :
www.simmerstyle.com
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
As he was at the PWA Lanzarote a few weeks ago, Tom Brendt was a privileged front row spectator for the Pozo contest…And as happened after Lanzarote, Brendt has just sent us a big 10 minute highlights video of the best moments from 10 days of full-on competition !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Last week, we spoke once again about the problem of the famous green algae over in Qingdao, China, site of the forthcoming Olympic sailing events, a problem that the local authorities announced had been solved, largely thanks to a 22km long floating barrier put in place especially for the occasion…However, having been training on site for the last few weeks, Greek rider Nikos Kaklamanakis saw things slightly differently during a session with German rider Christian Freimuller last Friday 18th July, in a moderate 15 to 25 knot wind…Whilst sailing on what will be the forthcoming racing zone B, the two riders came face to face with a new "field" of algae bang in the middle of the course.Thankfully Kaklamanakis and Freimuller were able to take a philosophical view of the problem, even see the funny side, but we’re not sure anyone will be laughing if it’s still going on when the official racing gets going…
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
The penultimate day of slalom competition is about to get underway, with racing scheduled to begin at 11.00am. At present the top positions are dominated by French sailors, Antoine Albeau and Valerie Ghibaudo, following eight and nine races in the men's and women's fleets respectively.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Some hot news just in, confirming the suspicions raised this weekend when Anders Bringdal was seen testing some new sails over at Sotavento in the Canaries…The news is now official, after joining the Naish Sails team to big fanfares just two years ago, Bringdal is changing sponsor in mid season, and will be riding with Italian manufacturer Challenger Sails’ sails !Under contract to Naish up to the end of July, S-10 will see out the full term and fulfil his obligations including the speed contest, starting next week, riding his Naish gear, before making his official debut for Challenger Sails.S-10 has signed with the Italians for 3 years and no doubt he’ll have a big hand in developing the new ranges of Challenger’s slalom/race sails !
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Antoine Albeau and Valerie Ghibaudo take an early lead on the opening day of competition in Fuerteventura. Challenging conditions and an ample dose of surprises marked the start of competition in Fuerteventura, and set the scene for the forthcoming four days of race action.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 2" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Lots of changes over at Simmer Sails for 2009 with a much-altered range and some new names to look out for… Which is how the Mission makes its appearance for the new season, a pure wave sail designed for waveriding.Tight and compact, the Mission is conceived to be light and easy-handling in surf, to have top class construction, and to be a sail that is both neutral and responsive at the same time.Also available in a Mission X version, with more use of X-Ply monofilm for an even more solid construction, and the new sail will be available from 3.0 to 6.1 m2. More information about Simmer Sails :
www.simmerstyle.com
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
The life of a pro windsurfer like Kevin Pritchard can rapidly become very expensive when it means you’ve got to travel, find accommodation, fed yourself and get from event to event, all through the year…Among the best windsurfers in the world, US-3 has learned how to make full use of these contacts and has also learned how to persuade possible local sponsors for every round to try and reduce costs to a minimum, and make sure he does the good deed for his local sponsor during the competition…That’s why, during the Canaries series, Pritchard managed to borrow an Austin Mini for the Pozo by Tenercoche.com and Sotavento rounds, and at Pozo even got himself put up for "peanuts" in the Partner Hotels chain.An intelligent and well executed plan !
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Hot Sails Maui’s other wave sail, to complement the Fire, the Smack has been given a considerable re-look for 2009, the construction at the mast head having been made significantly lighter.The sail profile has been modified to give a sail that is softer handling and with improved power control, all made in top quality construction.Available from 2.8 to 6.3 m2, the 2009 Smack has also been reinforced to give it even better solidity and strength ! More information about Hot Sails Maui :
www.hotsailsmaui.com
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Welcome to day four of coverage at the 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam.
Today's skippers meeting is scheduled for 10.30am, and racing will begin shortly after this in the building wind.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Absent from the web for a while now, the top French freestyler Nicolas Akgazciyan is back with a bang with a brand new website under the name of his sail number, F-400.comIt features a cool graphic layout, information about his recent freestyle competition performances, plenty of photos and some soon-come videos, and all on land and water, F-400 being an aficionado of dirt windsurfing as well as windsurfing !!! More information :
www.f-400.com
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Fetched: July 23rd, 2008, 10:39am CEST
Registered and ready to go: The men’s and women’s slalom fleets sign up for the forthcoming five days of race action. The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam stands poised to explode into action following the registration of all the biggest names in racing. In total, 50 men and 15 women have signed up for the event.
Watch the "PWA Sotavento 2008 - Day 1" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 21st, 2008, 5:57am CEST
Good morning and welcome to day two of coverage at the 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam.
Today's skippers meeting is scheduled for 11am, and racing will begin shortly after this.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 3:05pm CEST
The biggest names in men's and women's slalom racing have arrived at Sotovento beach for five action packed days of high wind competition. Following registration yesterday, racing will commence today. The skippers meeting is scheduled for midday, and the first heats of race 1 will begin shortly after this.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 3:05pm CEST
Great Britain topped the medal table as the podium positions were decided on the final day of racing at the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Aarhus, Denmark.There was no change at the top of the Girl’s RS:X with Polish windsurfer Maja Dziarnowska posting a first Friday and Patricia Freitas (BRA) close behind her in second, but this was not enough for the Brazilian to steal silver from her. Laura Linares (ITA) said her third gold medal win had still not sunk in, “I still can’t believe it, it is wonderful!”Cypriot Michalis Malekkides in the RS:X was beaten by both the Greek Thiseas Kampas and German competitor, Oliver-Tom Schliemann but it did not change his gold medallist position. Kampas retained his silver medal while Schliemann, despite winning the race had to settle for bronze.
See women results after 12 races See men results after 12 races
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 3:05pm CEST
Registered and ready to go, The men’s and women’s slalom fleets sign up for the forthcoming five days of race action.
The 2008 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam stands poised to explode into action following the registration of all the biggest names in racing. In total, 50 men and 15 women have signed up for the event.
The forecast for the days ahead looks exceptional, with unusually strong wind set to blow from the outset of competition Saturday.
See the registration list Slalom 42 equipment (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 12:59am CEST
Born last year, the Canaries based manufacturer 7th Wave is in a constant state of R’n’D on their range of boards from their base on the north of the island of Fuerteventura in the Canries…Quite apart from their range of 4 models in single or twinzer versions and ULT or URT construction options, 7th Wave have brought innovation to board design, not least in the form of some mini-Tuttle fin boxes they’ll be using on their twinzer boards, for locking the fins better in position and with the added extra of losing some weight at the rear of the board.The other innovation, ad not the least of them, a 3rd construction option that should be available very soon, called the SE. A highly reinforced "Pozo Special" board, according to shaper Pierre Bracar, designed for waveriders who like to jump big and land flat ! They’ve got it all covered…
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 12:59am CEST
The records tumbled at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship with all seven titles decided, Great Britain secured the Volvo Trophy and a new generation of sailing stars emerged in Aarhus.Another record breaker Thursday was Laura Linares of Italy. She won her third consecutive title in the Girl’s Windsurfer event on the RS:X and became the first sailor in the 38-year history of the event to win five Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship medals. Like Kontides, Linares dominated the series from start to finish only once finishing outside of the top-two places.Michalis Malekkides won a second gold medal for Cyprus in the boy’s windsurfer fleet. After a tough day Wednesday, he was back to best in Thursday’s stronger winds.Malekkides won race 10, but with his close rival and training partner Thiseas Kampas (GRE) in third, the pair were only separated by five points in the overall standings. The decisive action came in race 11, when Malekkides took a gamble out to the left of the first downwind, caught a gust and accelerated from six to second. He maintained that position across the finishing line and the title was his as Kampas struggled across the line in 14th. Despite that finish, Kampas hold on to second overall, although Germany’s Oliver-Tom Schliemann is just six points further back. Friday is the final day of the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship, the 38th edition of the event. One race is scheduled for each event, and although the gold medal winners have already been decided, there are still plenty of podium positions up for grabs.
See women results after 11 races See men results after 11 races
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 12:59am CEST
Time for Hawaiian manufacturer Hot Sails Maui to start revealing their 2009 new products, first among which is the Fire, their out-and-out wave sail.Same overall spirit, but the Fire version 2009 gets a boost in lower winds thanks to a new batten, below the boom line, with a rising line and giving more depth.Available from 3.0 to 6.3 m2, the Fire 2009 is built to Hot Sails’ traditional high standards with heavy duty clews and some interesting new colour ways More information about Hot Sails Maui :
www.hotsailsmaui.com
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Fetched: July 19th, 2008, 12:59am CEST
With the Pozo PWA only just finished, lots of riders decided to jump on the first ferry possible to get over to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura where PWA hostilities pick up again this Friday 18th July.American rider Greg Thomas, alias Captain Greg, a man we’ve mentioned this winter as a rider hitting the PWA circuit at all of 61 years old, was one of those.On the spot for a few days, Thomas got out on the water on Wednesday 16th July, trying to find his markers at a spot he really didn’t know that well… And during a full speed run, the unthinkable happened when his boom imploded under the strain and one of the tubes cut into his head !!! A bit groggy but still conscious, US-808 made it into the beach thinking he had a simple cut to the head. But when he saw the way people were looking at him he realised that the injury was more serious than that…Now, just two days later, Captain Greg is perfectly fine but finds himself with a head like a boxer who’s just gone 15 rounds, 8 stitches on his forehead and a total ban on sailing !!!None of which will stop him getting out on the water to defend his 37th place on the Slalom 42 rankings as hard as he can…
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST
Good news at last from Qingdao, China, where the next Olympic Sailing events will soon be held, with the famous green algae seemingly finally gone.Last Saturday a veritable armada of some 100 boats and 500 people finally managed to install the 22km long floating barrier, this backed up by a second barrier 100 metres further on that should, between them, stop the algae in its tracks...So the Chinese authorities can finally sleep easy, specially now that the Qingdao Olympic Village is also complete and ready for the 700 athletes who'll be moving in on July 27th !
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST
The top five places in the 29er boys, RS:X girls, Laser Radials and the SL16 are getting tighter with only two days left of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships. After the rest day Tuesday, Wednesday, the breeze was lighter on the Bay of Aarhus allowing for more of the sailors to excel as the conditions eased for them. The race committee set three races for each class to catch up on those lost on the first day.With the wind shifting in direction and speed throughout the day, consistency was key to success in the windsurfer fleets as both the light and heavy wind specialists had a chance to shine. Thiseas Kampas of Greece was the standout performer in the Boy’s RS:X fleet, closing the gap on the overall leader - also his good friend and training partner - Michalis Malekkides of Cyprus to just three points. Great final runs helped Kampas make up vital places to score second and third positions in races 7 and 8 before he sacrificed first place in the day’s final race to force Malekkides to the wrong side of the course. The strategy worked as the Cypriot posted an 11th place, his worst score of the regatta, whilst Kampas again finished strongly take fourth place.Laura Linares (ITA) had another stellar day in the girl’s RS:X fleet, with a second place followed by her fifth and sixth bullets of the regatta. With just three races remaining and no score worse than a fifth the Italian looks well on the way to a third consecutive Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship title. Maja Dziarnowska (POL) and Patricia Freitas (BRA) continue to battle it out behind the leader, with just two points separating them in second and third place respectively.
See women results after 9 races See men results after 9 races
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST
Legendary French shaper now set up on the Basque coast, François Pacou from Wave's wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like SUP in a hurry, and has also launched himself onto the SUP wave.Well known for its windsurf, surf and kitesurf boards, Wave's is generally usually manages to make its products a bit different, and this is no exception with a triple concave hull on the first models. A thowback to old school windsurf boards. A lot of attention has gone into the hull and it seems pretty fast up to planing and feels less heavy. And as a bonus, for improved handling in surf, Wave's have jumped on the other trend of the moment in offering the boards in twinzer versions. There's a range of boards you can order and you can bet that Pacou will bring some interesting subtleties to the art ! More information about Wave's :
www.waves.fr
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST
While the Speed World Cup will for sure be setting up camp at Sotavento, Fuerteventura, for their first round of the 2008 season, there’s more bad news than good for the rest of the speed season.
The speed rounds scheduled for Tarifa, Spain, and Walvis Bay, Namibia, are postponed pending resolution of some problems being experienced by the local organisers. While the kitesurfers can always bolt themselves onto the speed attempt series going off in Luderitz, Namibia, in September, for windsurfers it leaves plenty of things up in the air…
The good news is that there will be a production equipment speed series held from 29th November to 6th December, at a brand new speed spot, Dungarvan in Ireland, a spot apparently highly valued by local windsurfers for its big expanse of flat water and very promising wind statistics !
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 9:00pm CEST
With some 400 athletes present and 62 nations represented, the Olympic sailing events in Qingdao promise to make a great show come August… But before all that there were more than 2500 who set out on the ultimate quest, the one for Olympic qualification.Using the RS:X rigs, there will be 27 women and 35 men on site, with the full list of entrants recently divulged by the ISAF (International Sailing Federation).All the big names you'd expect in the discipline will be there, from Jessica Crisp to Faustine Merret, not forgetting Alessandra Sensini and Marina Alabau, with the big names among the men including Nikolas Kaklamanakis, Julien Bontemps, Tom Ashley and Nick Dempsey, who'll be battling out for glory on those Chinese waters.And you can't leave out the New Zealander Barbara Kendall, competing at her 5th Olympic Games, her first time being in 1992 in Barcelona, at the competition on the famous Lechner !
See the list of registered riders (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 1:55am CEST
Now that the PWA Pozo Izquierdo is over, it’s time to take a look at the overall standings for the season after two rounds…Whilst in women’s freestyle and the men’s Slalom 42 the domination of Sarah-Quita Offringa and Antoine Albeau is beyond dispute, behind them the battle is on, with none other than Kevin Pritchard the rider most able to stay in touch with the bif Frenchie.But where the battle really is getting very interesting is in the wave competition, with Victor Fernandez coming back strongly to take second place behind Kauli Seadi, more than making up for his underachieving 11th place in Cape Verde in March. Always there or thereabouts, Josh Angulo is keeping face in 3rd place, closely followed by Marcilio Browne, Robby Swift and Jonas Ceballos ! With three more wave competitions to come on the PWA 2008 calendar, everything is still possible, most of all a battle royal at the top between Fernandez and Seadi that should be plenty to keep the public (that’s you !) interested right to the end of the season !
See the women’s freestyle standings after 2 rounds See the men’s Slalom 42 standings after 2 rounds See the men’s wave standings after 2 rounds
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 1:55am CEST
Two big names from Italian windsurfing have joined forces to create a new brand identity, NoveNove Custom Boards (99 Custom Boards)... Former RRD shaper Gianni Valdambrini and the legendary Cesare Cantagalli are the leading players in the company that will be making not only windsurf boards, but kitesurf, surf and even SUP boards !As you might have gathered from the name, they will only be making customs, under a simple single slogan : Tailor made in Tuscany, the simple plan being to offer quality products to customer order…A company that has only just been born, 99 Custom Boards will only really begin to exist in September when you’ll be able to order our board on-line, or via one of their accredited dealers…As for the name, they didn’t have too far to look, it happening to be Cesare Cantagalli’s lucky rider sail number, I-99 ! More information :
www.99customboards.com
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 1:55am CEST
The Italian manufacturer Drops, well known for their windsurf and surf boards, have joined the SUP adventure and are due to have no less than 9 models on sale this summer !From 7’7” to 12’, there should be something to suit all riding styles, and there’s the bonus of two different construction techniques to choose from… More information about Drops :
www.drops.net
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 1:55am CEST
Last Wednesday, a steady south-westerly wind of about 25 knots was blowing across the rade de Brest in Brittany, France… And like just about every day, the Exocet - Kona Windsurfing team are out on the water during the lunch break, the Exocet HQ being no more than a few metres from the water.But, unlike the previous days, big boss Patrice Belbeoch and his assistant Mathieu Levos decided to go for a different kind of madness, getting their Kona Maholo Tandem board over the 30 knot mark.Using Kona 7.4 and 5.8 m2 no-camber sails, the boys spent an age making runs across the straight until they finally clocked a 30.1 GPS Vmax ! Apart from having a bloody great time doing it, the terrible twosome also decided there and then on their next objective, beating 35 knots on the same board !!!
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Fetched: July 17th, 2008, 1:55am CEST
It’s become something of a big tradition down at Fanatic, that the month of August is generally when you can expect to see the release of the latest instalment of their Addicted to Ride video series, and 2008 is no exception with the imminent release of Addicted to Ride IV !Lots of great action from the Fanatic team riders at some of the most amazing spots in the world, like El Yaque, Egypt, Cape Town, Pozo, Chile, all filmed in super high quality and with some varied camera angles…And while you’re waiting for the official video release of that 4th edition, check out this equally great trailer clip !!!
Watch the "Addicted to Ride IV" trailer on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 9:27pm CEST
When asked, "Stand Up Paddle (SUP) is the big new trend in windsurfing, personally…", answers are… I do SUP and I’m hooked : 8%I’ve tried and I like it : 12%I’d like to try it : 41%I tried one but that was all : 5%I’m not really interested : 31%What is SUP ? : 3% Thanks to our panel of 1274 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 9:27pm CEST
Laura Linares (ITA) in the Girl’s RS:X class posted a fifth Monday in her second race which was unusual for her but this was soon discarded meaning she remained in top spot. Polish windsurfer Maja Dziarnowska managed to keep her second place overall due to her bullet in the second race. ”I am so happy with my performance because I was in front of Laura and some other really great girls. I think I was fast but I think I was lucky as it was so gusty and shifty today out there.”Israel’s Ron Asulin was the star of the day in the Boy’s RS:X, revelling in the flatter seas and westerly breeze coming off the beach, conditions he compared to those back home in Eilat. After winning the silver medal in Kingston last year, Asulin admitted he came to Århus with his sights set firmly on the title, but found himself a little off the pace in early races. After fourth and first place in today’s two races he climbs up to fourth overall and back in touch with the leaders although Cypriot Malekkides is still looking formidable at the front of the fleet. Malekkides posted scores of 2 and 5 today to take a seven-point advantage over second place Thiseas Kampas (GRE) into the lay day. German windsurfer Oliver-Tom Schliemann makes up the top four in third place overall.
See women results after 6 races See men results after 6 races
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Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 9:27pm CEST
The very least you can say is that it hasn’t been easy getting information about the Slalom World Championships that’s been going off in Trentino from the 7th to 13th July, on the shores of Lake Garda ! But after 4 completed rounds in all categories, Danish rider Sebastien Kornum took the Junior title ahead of French rider Jocelyn de Souza and Polish Jacek Piasecki.In the Youth section, is was Turkish rider Enes Yilmanzer who took the prize, beating German rider Sebastien Kordel and Fenchie Pierre Mortefon, and in the women’s competition it was French rider Marion Mortefon who took the honours, winning over Turkish rider Lena Aylin Erdil and the other French rider Clémentine Demont…Despite the communications problems, the competition was nevertheless an excellent opportunity to discover who may be the Slalom 42 world beaters in a few years time !
See the final results
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Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 11:39am CEST
One of the best sellers of the last 3 years, the Tricktionary book has just been updated and re-printed for a forthcoming version 2 !Apart from the reams of moves to learn, the biggest innovation in version 2 is the hugely enlarged waveriding section, with no less than 80 pages where John Skye and Victor Fernandez give you more tips than you could shake a pointy stick at on how to progress.The book should be out in the next few days and, to show how successful the first volume has been, will be available in English, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian !
See some sample pages More information :
www.tricktionary.net
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Fetched: July 15th, 2008, 11:39am CEST
With 10 days good wind over the 10 days of competition, the PWA Pozo Izquierdo round was without any question a huge success. Some people may remember Antoine Albeau’s domination of the Slalom42 contest, others Victor Fernandez’ 3rd consecutive Pozo waves win, not forgetting Sarah-Quita Offringa’s superb performance in the women’s freestyle event, but everyone will go away with one name on their lips, Philip Koster !!!At just 14 years old, the Germano-Spaniard caused the season’s biggest sensation to date, taking 9th place in waves, but above all E-44 made a huge impression with a cool, easy style reminiscent of Fernandez himself.But, clearly intent on making his mark as permanent as possible, E-44 really went for it on Saturday 12th’s Super Session. Going flat out, Koster managed to get onto a cast iron "ramp" and just kept going up and up… Back on the beach, the crown went wild and the experts expressed their appreciation too. And with good reason, Koster’s big jump, landed with a waterstart, was estimated at at least 4 or 5 mast heights !!! Hard to say if that’s the biggest ever jump on a windsurf rig, but as far as competition riding is concerned, Koster’s maiden flight seems sure to figure in the annals of the sport’s history !
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Fetched: July 14th, 2008, 1:41pm CEST
There was an international feel to day two of racing at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Århus, Denmark where sailors from Europe, Oceania and Africa occupy the leaderboard top spots. The top three places in the Boy’s RS:X fleet have remained the same with the Cypriot windsurfer, Michalis Malekkides posting a first and fourth. This is his second Youth Worlds and he was looking for a top six place before he came but now thinks he can do better. “I worked a lot over the year with my coach to improve on my strength. Especially when it’s windy I think I’m very good and in the light wind I do well. I think that the work is paying off now,” said Malekkides. Laura Linares carries on leading the girl’s fleet with a second and first place with Poland’s Maja Dziarnowska and Greece’s Anastasia Davrou swapping places below her.
See women results after 4 races See men results after 4 races
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Fetched: July 13th, 2008, 7:16pm CEST
Junko Nagoshi defeated Laure Treboux to claim third in the freestyle ranks, and Ricardo Campello & Daida Moreno flew sky high to win the wave super session on the final day of competition in Gran Canaria.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 10" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 13th, 2008, 7:16pm CEST
The first day of the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship saw lots of action on the water, with capsizes and breakages as the rain clouds passed over the Bay of Århus. In the RS:X girls fleet Laura Linares (ITA), the two-time Youth gold medallist had a faultless day with two first places and even managed to overtake a few of the boy windsurfers who had started before her. “It was quite tiring and cold out there today, but I am pleased with my results,” she commented. “The wind was quite shifty where we were, from 15 -18 knots with choppy waters.”The Cypriot windsurfer, Michalis Malekkides mirrored Linares’ performance with two first places in the boy’s fleet, with Thiseas Kampas from Greece close in second place.
See women results after 2 races See men results after 2 races
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 5:11pm CEST
A repeat of 2007 sees Victor Fernandez and Daida Moreno crowned event winners after an awe inspiring double elimination finale at the Pozo proving ground.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 9" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 5:11pm CEST
There is wind and waves for the final day, which may well serve up slalom, freestyle or a wave super session.
See the livecast See the webcam (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
After endless days, many with too much wind by the way, testing on the water outside Sydney, Australian boat Wot Rocket is now fully ready and will go into serious speed attempt mode during August to try and break the sail speed record.Sean Langman, creator and pilot of the revolutionary WotRocket, has just had the go ahead from the World Speed Sailing Records Council to use a Trimble GPS on board measuring system, and to begin their 28 day session during August, all with the intent, of course, of beating Antoine Albeau’s current best mark of 49.09 knots, and ultimately the magic 50 knot mark !Between now and then, Wot Rocket will continue testing its systems, notably the rigid sail that seems to be the potential weak point of the project…
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
It’s become one of the big events of the early summer period in Britain, with this year, on 27th June, some 17 windsurfers including Guy Cribb and Jamie Hawkins set off on the famous long distance race from Bournemouth to Brighton, a grand total of 175 kilometres. A furious but essentially fun event with any sense of serious competition being firmly put away in the cupboard for the day…In average winds of about 20 knots, riders had the right to drop out of the race at any moment they chose, with only Cribb, Hawkins and Matt Wemms finally making it to Brighton Pier after nearly 7 hours windsurfing in their legs !!!
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
On 12 July, over 250 of the world's best young sailors will line up for the opening races at the 2008 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship in Århus, Denmark, but who will be leading the charge for medals?The competition in Arhus ranges across seven different events along with the Volvo Trophy awarded to the best performing nation at the championship. With several of last year’s champions returning to defend their titles, the battle for medals in 2008 looks set to be tougher than ever.Two-time Youth Worlds gold medallist Laura Linares (ITA) will start as hot favourite for a third consecutive title in the Girl’s RS:X windsurfing fleet. The young Italian star spearheaded her nation’s triumph in the Volvo Trophy two years ago and again won gold in Kingston last year. She also won bronze medals at both the 2004 and 2005 Youth Worlds, meaning a podium finish in Århus would give her an incredible five ISAF Youth World Championship medals. Amongst the principle challengers who will stand in her way are Patricia Freitas of Brazil, Anastasia Davrou of Greece, Sybille Bosch of France and Hei Man Chan of Hong Kong, who all return to the Youth Worlds after top ten finishes in Kingston last year.
In the boy’s fleet, silver medallist from Kingston Ron Asulin of Israel returns to the Youth Worlds with the aim to go one better than 12 months ago. New Zealand’s Josh Nixon also finished in the top ten in Kingston last year and impressed at Kiel recently with a 20th place finish in the 65-strong fleet including some of the top names from the senior circuit. Charles-Elie Nayral makes his debut at the Youth Worlds and will defend the title Pierre Le Coq won for France last year.
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
Fifty knot wavesailing madness sees more competitors fall by the wayside in the double elimination. Picking up the wave double elimination where it was left off, six more heats were completed before the waves backed off.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 8" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
The waves have turned up and the wind is blowing through at a solid 40 knots, it looks like today's going to be a good one.
See the livecast See the webcam (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 12th, 2008, 6:47am CEST
We’d actually started to worry a bit but finally there’s news from Trentino, on the shores of Lake Garda, where, since July 7th, the junior, youth and Masters world slalom championships has been happening !No less than 145 riders registered for the event, 48 Youth, 43 Juniors and 54 Masters, a huge French team of 30 riders and even 2 Americans over for the contest in the shape of Connor Baxter and Zane Schweitzer !After registration on 7th, Tuesday was the first proper day of competition, at least if there had been any ride-able wind, meaning that things only got going on the second day; Wednesday.One round has been completed in each category with victories for Enes Yilmazer in the Youth section, with Frenchies Jocelyn de Souza winning the Junior section and Clementine Demont the girls event. And let’s mention French girls Marion Mortefon and Moran Demont who made it to the Junior final riding against the boys !
See the standings after 1 round
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
An emblematic figure, top waverider and accomplished slalomer, standard-bearer for manufacturer Maui Sails and of course head of his own Angulo Boards manufacturing, Josh Angulo has been travelling the world for some years now, but the month of June just gone was probably the busiest since CV-1 burst onto the scene.It started at the beginning of the month with 5 days of training at Pozo to be well acquainted with the spot, then off to Costa Brava for the PWA Slalom 42 round… Once the event finished our Americano-Cape Verdian friend decided to use his time in Europe to call in on Hamburg, Brussels and Lisbon before joining up with his family for 4 days back in Cape Verde. But with hardly time to unpack his bags, CV-1 was back to Pozo Izquierdo for some more wave training, then off to Portland, America for a long-standing commitment to a windsurf event there ! Then, at the beginning of July, he was back at Pozo, ready and willing for the most important PWA waves competition of the season !!!We’re not even going to try and calculate the number of air miles involved (even less the fossil fuel consumption that goes with it !) but at least you get an idea of what life is like for a top windsurfer at the peak period of the season…
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
Familiar faces returned to the podium on day seven, after Antoine Albeau showed dominant form to win all three slalom races, and Sarah-Quita Offringa defended her first place finish from the previous day's single elimination, to outright win the double elimination.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 7" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
Day after day passes with not much change over in Qingdao, China, with plenty of international teams still on site for training…The Chinese authorities, evidently set on the idea of solving the famous green algae problem, have been pulling out all stops possible over the last few days, putting in place a submarine fence across the entry to the bay of Qingdao that is hoped will stop the algae bloom fields getting into the sailing zone for the forthcoming Olympic events in August. At the beginning of this week the big algae attack started, but was then hampered by the other, latest problem to hit the area, the fog ! It’s hoped the clearing operation will be finished by the end of this week…And while all this has been going on, the container of competition RS:X boards and rigs that set sail from Thailand a few weeks ago, has arrived in Qingdao in the last few days and is being kept in the required 26-27 degree storage facility until they are distributed to the competitors in the coming weeks !
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
There's a familiar sight down here at the beach, blue skies and 30 knot wind. The wave, freestyle and slalom fleets have their skippers meetings at 10.00am, tune back then for the next update on the day's competition.
See the livecast See the webcam (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
Astonishingly quick off the start in the early stages of the competition, Finian Maynard found it increasingly difficult to stay with the front runners in the latest round of Slalom42… He explains why, round after round, he’s still adjusting to his new RRD boards, to Windsurfjournal.com !"I’ve been fine on the X-Fire 90 in training, and on the first day of competition with 25-35 knots, until the wind picked up to 40 knots. The 90 was a little hard to ride in the 40 knots hard-core waves/chop Pozo conditions, but I am doing my best in the circumstances.These boards have a lot of high speed potential and I like them. It is just the super hard wind and very hard-core chop/waves that is a little too much for this design concept here in Pozo. Just a little less wind and I would have been challenging for wins like the first day and not struggling in the mid-pack like the last 3 days.No worries, I will have my time in the future, but for now I do my best and try to salvage this event with a top 5 finish !"
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
Windsurfer, kitesurfer and of course SUPer, young Hawaiian rider Kai Lenny has signed a sponsorship deal with Oxbow for this season, along with a certain Laird Hamilton, the team’s new all round waterman… Still only 15 years old, Lenny knows how to do just about anything on the water, which will make him a great ambassador for the surfwear brand, and lots of potential for the years to come.And as a result of this new "hat" Lenny is now wearing, we may see him a bit less on the PWA World Tour than in previous years…
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
It’s become something of an industry standard in the last couple of years, that any manufacturer looking to create a buzz about their new products launches a dedicated site for the item in question !That’s certainly true of Starboard this year who have just announced the release of their new Kode board range, an ambitious range of 8 boards that are mostly aimed at wave riding in the smaller sizes through to a more freeride/freestyle ride for the bigger sizes…Tech specs, explanations, photos and even videos, it’s all there waiting for you on the dedicated Whatisthekode.com website ! More information :
www.whatisthekode.com
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
Following extensive tests carried out over the last few days by the organisers here at the PWA at Pozo Izquierdo, the live webcam from the event is finally operational ! It’ll give some interesting camera angles plus a commentary in Spanish, good quality streaming when there aren’t too many on-line at the same time…And while you’re at it, why not check out the Pozo-Izquierdo website itself, which has got some other video footage from the PWA in the Canaries…
Watch the webcam (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
A day of multi discipline action saw Sarah-Quita Offringa add another victory to her name, winning the second freestyle single elimination, ahead of Daida Moreno in second and Laura Treboux in third. Slalom racing witnessed a changing of the guard, when Antoine Albeau failed to qualify for the race 6 final, leaving Britain's Ross Williams to claim the top spot.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 6" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
The PWA Slalom 42 tour is missing something this year, the presence of Dutch rider Pieter Bijl, pro rider yes, but also head of research and development at NeilPryde. He explains, in forthright manner, how such a thing came to pass !"Well, to cut a long story short, I'm not allowed to leave the US, I'm applying for my papers and should have had them just before Korea, the only problem is that due to a few difficulties they delayed my paper work and now I'm just waiting from day to day, no one knows when I will get it, could be tomorrow and it could be in 5 months, so I had tickets and all that arranged for the events and had the intention to be there, but so far I have been unable to make it to any of them. It is really bad, I did more training and preparation then ever before and would have been really ready for a good season."
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
More crazy Pozo wind delivers perfect conditions for the slalom fleet to hit the water, and kick off the day number 7 of competition in Gran Canaria.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 10th, 2008, 6:56pm CEST
We didn’t have long to wait before TV stations from around the world started to take a look at the infamous green algae in Qingdao, with stories starting to appear on news programmes over the last 48 hours.After the question of air quality in Beijing, Qingdao and its green algae has become the next issue to deal with for the Chinese Olympic organisers ! According to the experts, the growth of these algae is linked to favourable solar conditions and in nitrate heavy pollution. Nitrates provide food for these algae and comes from used, untreated water and chemical products like fertilizers…With pollution being an everyday factor for the Chinese economy and summer rushing upon them too, it’s hard to see how they’ll solve the problem.And to give you an idea of how bad it is, check out these two videos from our colleagues at the Reuters agency in Britain and ABC News !
Watch the video Reuters UK (Flash Media Player) Watch the video ABC News (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 9:11pm CEST
There was a tense moment at the end of Sunday morning at Pozo when, after a heavy fall in her semi-final against Sarah-Quita Offringa in the PWA freestyle, the Swiss rider Laure Treboux came back in swimming, totally incapable of sailing. During a big shaka, SUI-4 let go of her rig and was hit across the neck by the boom. Hard enough to completely snap the boom on impact !The medics were on hand to take charge of her potentially damaged spine and whisked her off to hospital for some tests and examinations which, happily, found nothing wrong, with no vertebrae having sustained any damage...To understand how hard the impact was, she was sailing on a 3.0 m2 sail in average winds of 45 knots. The happy ending is that Treboux was out on the water again first thing Monday morning !
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
From the neighbouring island to Tenerife, Daniel Bruch was the other revelation of last Friday, 4th July, with a superb 2nd place, beating none other than Kauli Seadi on his way to the ¼ final. E-181 tells his story to Windsurfjournal.com"What can I say, except that I still haven’t come down ! What’s great is that it’s only my second year back on the tour. I’d been on the PWA Tour 10 years ago, but I’d taken a long break to deal with some family issues. For my second year back I trained really hard and the results came quickly with a 9th place in the single elimination in Cape Verde, although I slipped back to 21st in the double. That made me train even harder. My day started with a broken mast in my heat against Kevin Pritchard but I managed to get through. The next win, against Scott McKercher gave me lots of confidence and after I beat Kauli Seadi I felt like nothing could stop me.
Not only that, now that I’m not with F2 any more I did the whole day on one board ! I hope this result is going to help me find a new board sponsor…"
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
Sunday at about 3pm the wind started to pick up and the judges moved to the tower, the ASPC team bagan to clear the competition area and Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun Sails) and Normen Günzlein (JP/Neil Pryde) had to go into their heat. The conditions were pretty hard, 13 to 15 knots and both of the guys were on their biggest sails. They both managed to do about 6 to 8 moves and after 5 minutes Akgazciyan was announced as the winner of this heat. After this the conditions were going up and down but the wind never dropped under 13 knots, it rather moved up and occasionally was dropping again.F-400 just kept going on, eliminating the Belgian “hot shot” Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) as well as Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North Sails). Both did their best against Akgazciyan but the guy was on fire after the last days success in the whole double he wanted to see how far he can get… Well he got far. The final heat against the winner of the single, Antxon Otaegui (JP/NP) was amazing. Still in pretty hard conditions both guys performed great and the frenchie gave everything. Even Antxon had to admit that the moves that were thrown against him were perfect and so it was no surprise that another final heat had to be sailed. In this one Antxon knew exactly what to do. He used the gusts to show not the most difficult moves or not so many of them but did everything with his unique powerful style, each move was a bit higher and smoother than the ones of his opponent.
See results EFPT Alacati
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
The interest in SUP has brought media success and with it, some serious interest from economic magazines… Latest example , the very serious Forbes magazine in America who actually put SUP on the front cover of latest issue of their ForbesLife edition, specifically Laird Hamilton in action at Teahupoo.An interesting choice and perhaps one or two big decision makers who are going to see the "new" sport in a different light !
Read the article
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
The women's freestyle fleet are currently attending their skippers meeting, and the second single elimination will spring into action from 9.30am onwards.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
Day five delivered another memorable day of competition, witnessing the awesome spectacle of a full fleet race, and the completion of the women's freestyle double elimination. Standing her ground, Sarah-Quita Offringa defended first position from Daida Moreno, who took second. Antoine Albeau took top honors in the day's race, ahead of Peter Volwater in second, and Kevin Pritchard in third.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 5" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
Monday 7th July at Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria, as part of the sideshow to the PWA Slalom 42 the local organisers put on, as they do every year, a round of waveriding for the Junior riders, among them one master Philip Koster.Not content with simply winning by a mile, the 14 year old "kid from Vargas", pulled a superb double front loop, landed perfectly planing at full speed without even wetting his ankles !!! According to the numerous spectators and other riders who saw it, it was far and away the most beautiful double loop of the week, better even than Victor Fernandez, a true master of the move !No question that the PWA waves double elimination, that should get going later in the week when the swell comes back in, should be a real visual treat, and should have Josh Angulo sweating at the idea of taking on young Mr E-44 !!!
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Fetched: July 8th, 2008, 3:15pm CEST
Like the big boys, the young slalomers from all over the world have also got their international competition to look forward to, with the Slalom World Championships Junior and Youth going off in Trentino on the shores of Lake Garda, Italy, from the 7th to 13th July…A major competition that often reveals who will be the future slalom stars, this contest is for Juniors of under 17 years of age, plus a Youth section for riders up to 20 years old, with a Masters category to give a more cross-generational aspect !Sponsored by JP Australia this year, it should be great 6 days with a chance to see the young stars of tomorrow…
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Fetched: July 7th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST
Battering 40 knot winds set the scene for a full day of freestyle and race action at the infamous Pozo Izquierdo windsurfing arena.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 4" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 7th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST
A lot of young athletes are during the week coming from all over Europe to Sardinia to get to know some of the most famous names among junior windsurfers in the Starboard Pro Kids Europe event.Among them we have Max Droege, German junior champion. Dieter Van Der Eyken, the vice Starboard Pro Kids world champion in the category “super-Grommets” and the young Juop Schmit, who is the Starboard Pro kids world champion, coming all the way from Antille where he lives and train.Among the local competitors, competition had some of the most important names in the Italian windsurfing world. Fabio Vinante, AIWS Italian junior champion, the talented Mattia Fabrizi, Marco Vinante and Pietro Albano and the very young Vittorio Mazzocca who in 2007 won the Italian AIWS championship as well as the AIWS European championship in the category “super-grommets”.In the competition is also of course the boys and girls from the team TNT, among them the young and talented Lucrezia “Lulu” Genazzani, Italian AIWS female champion, and also the kids from the project "vive il mare". The discipline Freestyle is guaranteed to give the public a good show and the competitors and big dose of adrenaline.
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Fetched: July 7th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST
The new big chief at F2, Karin Jaggi tells us what she thinks of the judgement by the business court in Salzburg, Austria, at the beginning of July, and how she sees the future for the manufacturer !"The 3rd of July was a major step forward, even if there are still big mountains to climb as a business. But we’re ready for the challenge.The hardest thing for me, from a personal point of view, is that we can’t carry on supporting all the team riders, many of whom are friends, but that’s the way in business.If we want to succeed in the future we’re going to have to work hard and be very careful about budget control…"
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Fetched: July 7th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST
Day five is looking like it's going to be another awesome day of competition, as the relentless trade winds continue to hammer Pozo beach.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 7th, 2008, 2:58pm CEST
An astonishing 5th place in the single elimination waves contest last Friday at Pozo, after knocking out Levi Siver and Alex Mussolini, Philip Koster is clearly THE sensation of this early season… At 14, the kid from Vargas is living his dream to the limit and shares his experience here with us !"Last year I was riding but didn’t once get past the first round, but this year it’s been like a dream, winning my heats and finding myself in the next round.The day before the contest I’d managed to nail all my best moves in training, double loops and takas. Friday wasn’t better, the waves weren’t as good, but I managed some good back loops, some push loops tables and even a push tweaked into a front loop but I missed the landing, and all mixed with some good surfing. It was the kind of full repertoire I didn’t have last year. Victor Fernandez came to congratulate me before our heat, that was great… I gave it my best shot but I couldn’t beat him.I’m really surprised by my results but at the same time I think my training here and in Maui is beginning to pay off !"
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 2:48pm CEST
Antoine Albeau shows he’s still the man to beat, winning both of day two’s slalom eliminations with a perfect run of first place finishes.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 3" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 2:48pm CEST
The swell's backed off a touch, producing ideal conditions for the women's freestyle fleet to hit the water for their first outing. The freestyle skippers meeting is at 11am, and heats will get underway from 11.30 onwards.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 2:48pm CEST
Boys were motivated but just like 85,7% as there was still wind predicted for Saturday in Alacati for EFPT event. So although the place was rocking they took it easy. Well not of them of course... and again we're not tellin any names but some of them came home with the uprising sun !!!The word is that there are some hot water pools in the harbour which are super romantic when you're there with the right person. We will keep the rest to your imagination, don't know if that's good though...
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
One day down, and the men’s and women’s wave single elimination is complete. The action packed day culminated with Victor Fernandez and Daida Moreno taking top honours in their respective fleets, leaving only the double elimination left to settle the scores.
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 2" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
Day three of competition has brought blue skies and solid wind, ideal for the first slalom elimination. The racers have their skippers meeting at 11am, and the first of the heats will get underway from 11.30am onwards.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
According to the plan the double continued Friday in Alacati for EFPT event. The boys were fighting to get a better position and some of them managed to pretty far up even.The heats were great to watch, and the crowds on the beach had the best time. Each rider was doing some moves in front of the tribune before his heat to pump the motivation. The spectators were cheering each rider and so it was big fun on both sides. Björn Saragoza (Starboard) and Choco Frans (F2) from Bonaire did amazingly good with their easy looking style and great moves they went through the elimination until they had to fight against each other. Choco was better in the end and had to face Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun Sails) who came also a quite long way.
F-400 sent both Swedish riders to the beach, first Niklas Strahlen (RRD/Simmer Style) had to face the French guy and although Niklas was doing amazingly good he was second in this heat. After that Andreas Olandersson (Fanatic/Simmer Style) was up against the frenchie. Both had sailed 3 heats before that and the heats of the “Swedish pimp” were sick. After 3 heats his lycra was still dry – not one crash !!! In heat 30 these two guys were head to head and after 5 minutes F-400 was announced winner of that one. Both had almost the same amount of moves but on the technical side Akgazciyan impressed the judges a bit more.Choco Frans and Nicolas Akgazciyan were sailing the last heat of the day. After their heat the wind dropped and the jury released the sailors for today.Nicolas Akgazciyan will face Normen Günzlein Saturday in the next heat and everyone is looking forward for that as these two riders will deliver a great show for sure !!!
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
Along with Finian Maynard, British rider John Skye is the other shock new recruit to the RRD team… K-57 tells us what persuaded him to change sponsor at this critical point in the season !"I’d heard lots of positive noises about their boards and when I tested the new wave twin 74 I understood how much all the stories were true… For me that was one of the most important points regarding the transfer, really liking the boards, and that’s exactly what’s happened !
All the boards seem good and RRD are obviously trying hard to keep things moving forward at the moment, so that makes it great to join their team. I would like to thank F2 for all their support over the last few years, it’s always hard to say goodbye but now I’m looking to the future with the RRD !"
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
The wait is almost over, as windsurfing’s elite wave, slalom, and freestyle fleets register for the forthcoming nine days of high-wind, multi discipline competition…
Watch the "PWA Pozo 2008 - Day 1" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV - The Windsurfing Channel flux on iTunes Store
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
We spoke about this very recently and our spies were seemingly well-informed, as the decision taken by the business court in Salzburg, Austria, on July 3rd means that F2 International can continue to function as a business.As suggested at the time, Patrik Diethelm, Daniel Aeberli and Karin Jaggi will now be the three main figures in the windsurf division, with Jaggi taking the main external role as "Madame F2" !As we also predicted, the 2009 product range will start to appear in the shops very soon, and in general, we should all congratulate the leading players there for preserving the historic name of F2 as part of the modern windsurf industry, despite their many detractors who seem to have been enjoying "burying" the brand over the last few weeks... A litle prematurely it would appear !
See the official press release (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
The wave fleet have just had their skippers meeting and competition has been placed on hold until 10am while both the wind and waves build.The slalom fleet have their skippers meeting at 11am.
See the livecast
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
Promised wind didn’t let riders down in Alacati and the single elimination of this Turkish EFPT event started Thursday about one and a half hour after the skippers meeting... As the boys had their stuff prepared during the last days they had an easy start. Skippers, chilling, green flag – sailing… First heats were already sweet, the tribune in front of the competition area filled up real quick and the Turkish spectators were cheering their guys on as much as possible and the boys did pretty well. Burak Dalgic (Tabou/Gaastra) eliminated Andrea Rosati in the first heat, Andrea still with a hurting foot was sailing great but the Turkish guy made the crowds scream when the race director announced the result. He was stopped in the next round by Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) who made his way to the finals and finished the single on 4th.Challenged there by Normen Günzlein (JP/NP), the super relaxed german guy presented a great show for the public and was sailing amazing. Showing again his fantastic moves like toad, kono and burners again Antxon Otaegui (JP/NP) was the one who stopped him. The Spanish dude met Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North Sails) and those two had the battle of the day. Andre Paskowski presented esliders, switch chachoos, a sick ponch, flakas on both sides and much more but Antxon Otaegui answered this with a fantastic funnel, clew first ponch, also esliders, a gozada and also some other moves. The JP and Neil Pryde rider had the better overall impression but as almost always in the finals of this season it was damn close…At the end of the single he was announced 1st and the judges and race crew went of to prepare the double, which started after another 30 min.
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Fetched: July 6th, 2008, 4:23am CEST
Greeted by turbo charged trade winds and pumping swell, registration day gave a taste of things to come over the next nine days. Seizing the opportunity to practice in the classic Pozo conditions, the competitors hit the water to familiarize themselves with this truly unique location before registration commenced.
Also prior registration, the trials stage of the wave event fired into action. The trials allow newcomers to the professional circuit, locals, and unranked sailors a chance to compete for "wild cards", which grant entry into the main wave event. Four wild cards were up for grabs in the registration day trials, and no surprises, three out of the four were awarded to Pozo locals, who always pose a major threat to PWA regulars when the main event begins.
Following the trials, the day’s formalities commenced, which included registration and a huge group photo of all the athletes present. As always, the turn out for this event has been monumental, with 39 competitors in the men’s slalom fleet, 48 in the men’s wave (the maximum possible), 11 in the women’s freestyle, and 15 in the women’s wave fleet.
Friday’s skippers’ meeting is scheduled for 9.00am, and heats will commence from 9.30am onwards.
See Slalom 42 equipment registered (Pdf)
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Fetched: July 4th, 2008, 5:58am CEST
The clock in Qingdao, China, venue for the forthcoming Olympic Games sailing events, is steadily ticking, and the event committee, in the absence of any better ideas, are turning to desperate measures to try and deal with the invasive green algae we’ve been telling you about over the last few weeks, some 10,000 "volunteers" ands 1000 boats now involved in the clear up… With only just over a month to go til it all kicks off, the green stuff now covers some 30% of the event area, and the phenomenon, due in no small part to (in)human activity, is obviously causing plenty of headaches to an organization that would like every detail to be perfect !The Chinese Olympic Committee is pulling out all the stops and says it will have the problem dealt with by July 15th ! We shall see…
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Fetched: July 4th, 2008, 5:58am CEST
Leading the overall rankings after two rounds of the season's PWA freestyle, Gollito Estredo talks us though his victory in Lanzarote, just before his first experience of the big hard waves at Pozo in its pomp !"Well, I did it... To be honest, I was quite nervous about the idea of the latest round. All the frestylers this year have an excellent level and they're all hard to beat. But I managed to win again and I'll be hoping to repeat that in Fuerteventura !!!All the same, I'm ready as I can be for the event in Pozo, my fist time there for a PWA waves competition. I'll be hoping to do well but still keeping plenty in reserve for Fuerteventura, coming up very soon after !"
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Fetched: July 4th, 2008, 5:58am CEST
JP Australia and NeilPryde have offered 3 times Freestyle World Champion, Ricardo Campello, a bonus of USD10.000 if he can land a triple forward and capture it on film and video. With all the pro sailors in Gran Canaria and the conditions heating up for the weekend Campello is ready to give it a go !The forecast looks promising for this weekend. There will be plenty of cameras ready for the action to come. Despite suffering a case of tendonitis Ricardo is ready to try it but does not want to put too much pressure on himself.
"If the conditions are right and I feel comfortable I will give it a try. I have checked my doubles from last year on video and when I am done with the second one I actually had plenty of height and time for a third rotation. So theoretically it should be possible. I guess the trick is not to over rotate and not to get lost during the rotations." said Ricardo.
Ricardo will be using prototype sails of the new NeilPryde Firefly available in stores from late August. Let’s hope Gran Canaria delivers the nuclear conditions it is known for and we should see some interesting stuff.
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Fetched: July 4th, 2008, 5:58am CEST
After the daily highlights we had from Tonix Productions, employed to cover the event by the PWA World Tour, now Tom Brendt has sent us this top class vid covering the best moments from the entire PWA freestyle Lanzarote…Lots of great action to enjoy, some great moves plus footage from the nail-biting final featuring Gollito Estredo and Kiri Thode !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 3rd, 2008, 6:28am CEST
Italian manufacturer Roberto Ricci Designs is pushing on all fronts just lately and, having apparently decided to get seriously into competition, has just signed another (after Maynard) big name to its ranks in the form of Brit rider John Skye !!!A talented waverider, K-57 also takes his leave of F2 after taking a lot of time over his decision… And apparently it was only after testing their new Wave Twin that Skye finally said yes !As for Maynard, the contract comes into effect at the PWA Pozo Izquierdo, and with his new sponsorship deal, Skye is another who might spring a few surprises on this next waves round…
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Fetched: July 3rd, 2008, 6:28am CEST
Seems that half of Hollywood has decided to get into SUP, and after Pierce Brosnan, who we told you about recently, now star American actress Denise Richards is the latest to get into the tabloid press after getting her feet wet on an SUP in April on the beach at Malibu, California !Best known for her roles in Starship Troopers and Sexcrimes, she’s actually more often to be seen naked on the pages of Playboy magazine than on the big screen, but evidently, judging from these photos, she’s already got plenty of style…
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: July 3rd, 2008, 6:28am CEST
Well known on the freestyle scene, brothers Taty and Tonky Frans are often to be found training on the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean… And before da brudders disappeared to Europe for the summer competition season, our colleagues at HB Productionz got close enough to capture them on film on this short that they’ve called "Frans Bros at Home"…And since it’s obviously a family affair, young cousin Kiri Thode gets in on the action too !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: July 3rd, 2008, 6:28am CEST
After two consecutive rounds run in Greece in June, the European Freestyle Pro Tour has shifted across the Aegean to Turkey for the 5th round of its season, running from 3rd to 7th July…And following on from the PWA Lanzarote, Canary Islands, lots of top riders have made the have made the trip over and will be back in the Canaries in Fuerteventura a few days after the EFPT for another round of PWA !After suffering an ankle injury in Lanzarote, Antxon Otaegui, current leader of the EFPT, will be present, even if he can’t yet be sure of being fully operational on the water… But one rider’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, leaving Normen Günzlein and André Paskowski room to make up some points in the overall rankings !
See the list of registered riders
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Fetched: July 2nd, 2008, 9:21am CEST
The news has just broken, news that will be making the headlines before and during the PWA Pozo Izquierdo, starting on July 3rd, that Finian Maynard will be carrying the RRD logo on his sails form now on, having jumped ship from rival manufacturer F2 !Signed just a few days ago, the contract starts officially with the PWA Slalom 42 in Gran Canaria, and KV-11 has already had plenty of time to test the X-Fire 2008 range he’ll be using from now on… Breathing fire from every orifice this season, Maynard had already made clear, and his 2nd place at the PWA Costa Brava also showed, just how much he wants to be PWA Slalom 42 champion this season !
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Fetched: July 2nd, 2008, 9:21am CEST
We mentioned this one a few weeks ago, now the news is official, that Olympic sailing classes will also get to fight for a World Cup in 2009, called the ISAF Sailing World Cup.Running on similar to the PWA World Tour, the Olympic classes, including the RS:X class, will compete at already established events like the Sail Melbourne in Australia, the Miami Rolex OCR in America, the Princess Sophia Trophy in the Balearic islands, the SOF in France, the Delta Lloyd Regatta in Holland, Kiel Week in Germany, and the Skandia Sail for Gold in Britain, those events being the points scorers for the ISAF World Cup !Professionalisation of the sport, negotiating TV rights and discussions with main sponsors, the ISAF is jumping the level up several notches in one hit for the Olympic classes, with the first round of competition scheduled for December, downunder in Australia !
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Fetched: July 1st, 2008, 2:07pm CEST
As you might expect, the email network between kitesurfers, windsurfers and the World Speed Sailing Records Council has been overheating during the weekend, regarding the infamous rule 3 that is set to dictate that from now on there must be a minimum of 50cm of water on any speed run ! Reigning speed record holder Antoine Albeau gives us his thoughts on the new rule, and the kitesurfers’ idea that if necessary they’ll create their own speed validation association… "Personally I think it’s a good idea to have a minimum depth rule… It won’t have any impact on the speed canal, when you look at photos of the record day, we were riding a long way from the canal edge where there must be lots more than 50cm. I don’t think it’s fair that the kitesurfers can use a place where the depth is so little that windsurfers simply couldn’t ride, as is the case at Luderitz, where the ‘ground effect’ is quite significant…For all of us, kitesurfers and windsurfers, I can’t see anything to be gained form creating a new association… The only way we’re going to get any proper media coverage is to be battling out with the big boys, the sailing boys ! And another thing that’s unfair, they’re using GPS to time their attempts. We should all be on the same 500 metre run. All those things are important and we should be trying to defend our sports rather than our personal opinions !"
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Fetched: July 1st, 2008, 2:07pm CEST
On the 13th July, the north shore of Maui, Hawaii, will be home to the 3rd annual Maui International Paddleboard Championships, sponsored this year by those astute marketers from Naish…Originally a paddle race, the SUP brigade have slowly but surely invited themselves along for the party, party that is actually pretty physical with a 9 mile run from Maliko Gulch to the harbour at Kahului.With those steady tradewinds blowing it’ll for sure be essentially a downwind, with the wind on their backs, but still a big physical challenge with a hefty swell and other potential pitfalls to avoid. If it’s the kind of thing you’d be interested in (you never know !) there’s a dedicated website full of all the information about this year’s race, plus the two previous editions ! More information :
www.mauipaddleboard.com
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Fetched: July 1st, 2008, 2:07pm CEST
For the last few weeks already, the best of the world’s pro waveriders have been at the spot at Pozo Izquierdo on Gran Canaria, readying themselves for the second and seemingly most important round of PWA waveriding of the season !A special kind of spot with those 40 - 45 knot winds, Pozo is often a place where riders like to unveil their latest new tricks, and get one over on their competitors, big-time.Last year, reigning world champion Kauli Seadi brought his new push loop to front loop move to the party, and this year BRA-253 has got a clew first taka to scare everybody with, all landed perfectly on the wave !!!Clearly, the Brazilian superstar is keeping some stuff back for the event proper, but he’s evidently got a new move that should score some heavy points again this year…
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Fetched: July 1st, 2008, 2:07pm CEST
When making that great 3rd place at the recent PWA Freestyle round in Lanzarote, Ricardo Campello had stickered his sail with a list on each side of the tricks he wanted to pull in order and in each direction… And here he explains to us how he came up with his successful idea !"I had the idea to use these trick list stickers on my sails because with the new race format you have to do 6 moves on each side, of which 4 score. So I put a list on each side of my sails, that way I didn’t forget a single move that I wanted to do. Which also means I have no idea which moves I did and didn’t do…
It’s just a kind of personal idiot board that keeps me on top of where exactly I am in my heat !"
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Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
When asked, "Since the advent of Internet, would you say that specialized paper magazines are…", answers are… Still essential : 34%Interesting from time to time : 16%Neither better nor worse than they used to be : 12%Still uninteresting : 8%Doomed to disappear : 22%They will go into Internet too : 8% Thanks to our panel of 1332 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
As complete a brand as you could hope to find, Roberto Ricci Designs got involved in the windsurf sail making market a couple of years ago, early products being the Wave Vogue and the Evolution Rig…And seemingly intent on making further inroads into that market, they’re releasing a new sail in 2009 called the Super Style which, as its name might suggest, is aimed at freemove, somewhere between light wind waves and freestyle.No info regarding sizes as yet but it surely won’t be long before all the beans are spilled !
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Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
Head shaper and big boss all in one at Tabou, Fabien Vollenweider, has been getting interested in twinzer boards for a while now, although only as far as some prototype boards he made for Thomas Traversa.But the wind has obviously changed down Tabou way with their 2009 collection including twinzer boards !The Da Curve series stays on catalogue, but this time with 2 versions, a Heavy Duty model with a single fin, and a Team Edition version in twinzer config. As we understand it, all four sizes will be available in both versions, that’s to say 67, 73, 79 and 85 litres.More infor very soon !
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Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
We’ve mentioned a few times recently, the difficulties riders have been having with the invasive green algae at the spot it Qingdao in China where the Olympic Games events will be going off in August… What was no more than an anecdote a couple of weeks ago has now become a worldwide preoccupation.And to prove it, this article from our colleagues at Associated Press that speaks about this problem that is certainly occurring because of pollution and which first appeared in the Qingdao water back at the beginning of June. As things stand, some 3000 people and 400 fishing boats are currently engaged in trying to clear the stuff, but, worse still, it now appears that the algae give off some kind of highly toxic gas !!! And with a small town rapidly undergoing a boom in population as the Games approach with all the extra pollution that goes with it, it’s difficult to see how the organisers are going to deal with a problem that’s been getting steadily worse over the last three weeks...
Read the article Associated Press
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Fetched: June 30th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
After Podersdorf in Austria at the start of May, Costa Teguise on Lanzarote in the Canaries was host to the second round of PWA freestyle this season... And after 5 great days of racing and two fully completed double eliminations, Sarah Quita-Offringa and Gollito Estredo came out on top not just of the event rankings, but of the provisional overall rankings too.
So sit back and enjoy this video of a great week of competition !
Watch the "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Highlights" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 29th, 2008, 12:58pm CEST
Entering the final day of competition, Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) and Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails) had both battled to win one double elimination each, meaning the final day would prove critical in deciding who would take home the event, and 2008 season lead.
In the women’s fleet, Sarah-Quita Offringa’s (Starboard, NeilPryde) dominance had already guaranteed her the event win, leaving the remaining positions to be challenged for in the final day’s third double elimination.
Shock came when the seemingly relentless Lanzarote trade winds failed to blow on the morning of the final day. The riders had no option but to endure the agonizing wait for wind.
With precious few hours remaining for the double elimination to run its course, the competition area lapsed into a nervous calm while the race committee decided on the fait of the event. Late into the final nerve racking afternoon, Head Judge Duncan Coombs made his decision, and announced the event officially over. After five days of howling wind, Estredo was dubbed the men’s winner, and Offringa took top honors in the women’s fleet.
See women results after 2 double eliminations See men results after 2 double eliminations
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Fetched: June 29th, 2008, 12:58pm CEST
Pressure mounts, as the third successive single elimination is completed on the fifth day of competition in Lanzarote.
Watch the video "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Day 5" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
Today's skippers meeting is scheduled to start at 11am, with both the men's and women's double elimination 3 starting shortly afterwards. At present the wind is looking fairly light, but should build as the day warms up.
Stay tuned for more updates.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
Jose Estredo continues his rampage to steal the event lead from Marcilio Browne while Sarah-Quita Offringa remains rock solid in first place for the women, following the second full double elimination.
Watch the video "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Day 4" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
The sailors are currently getting briefed at the skippers meeting. At present, two full double eliminations have been completed, so today will see the start of the third single elimination in the men's and women's heats.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
Although the quest for the 50 knot mark has never been more in the news than in this year of 2008, what with Antoine Albeau's new world record in March, plus the current record attempts by the Wot Rocket and the Hydroptère, the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC), the body responsible for validating all water sail speed records, has just introduced a new rule that is sure to set off a storm of heated debate…And for good reasons, with the new rule 155 being basically summed up in the following sentence : "Speed records will not be ratified when, in the opinion of the WSSRC present at the event, the depth of water on the speed run is less than 50cm."...Already hard at work preparing September's Luderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia, the LSC organising team and, without doubt, the whole kitesurf community are up in arms at the new rule, with the spot offering the chance to sail in VERY little water...Of more direct concern to windsurfers, the speed canal at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer could also find itself in conflict with this new and totally unexpected new rule.The only thing certain to happen now, following Thursday 26th's announcement, is that there's going to be a lot of heated debate to come iun the next few weeks !!!
Read the new rule # 155
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
Born only last year, board manufacturer 7th Wave has made promising progress with their range of twinzer and single fin boards…Recognised for his talent shaping wave boards, Pierre Bracar seems to be broadening his range and has been working on a set of slalom/speed boards !!! Working in collaboration with 7th Wave team rider Orlando Lavandera, Bracar has just produced a set of prototypes that seem to have gone down a storm on a recent day out at Sotavento, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands…Nothing to report as regards a move to production stage yet, but in choosing Lavandera 7th Wave are taking things seriously, because although you and I may barely recognise the name, he’s actually one of Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s regular training partners !!!
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Fetched: June 28th, 2008, 2:32pm CEST
We mentioned this a couple of days ago, now rumour has become fact with Mistral is undergoing a reorganisation and bringing all its companies under the umbrella of its parent company, Mistral International BV…In the windsurf business since 1976, Mistral has also over the years developed separate ranges of surfwear, shoes and even watches. And with the passage of time they’ve all become stand-alone companies, with only the brand name to identify them…And these are exactly the stand-alone licenses that Boards and More International have just given up, although the windsurf department will stay under the wing of the German company !
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
Jose Estredo delivers a fatal blow to Marcilio Browne as he stands poised to take the event lead, while Sarah-Quita Offringa tenaciously dispatches her rivals to defend her first position stronghold.
Watch the video "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Day 3" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
The rumour has been doing the rounds for a few weeks now and seems to be firming into real news, that Mistral will be leaving the sheltering wing of German operation Boards and More International… It seems likely that Dutch-owned company Mistral International BV that will become the new owner of Mistral. Apart from their windsurf equipment, Mistral International BV should be taking over all the Mistral branded activities and products, including Club Mistral, Mistral Sportwear, Footwear and Eyewear.Although the official announcement isn’t due for a few hours or days yet, that seems to be what Boards and More International are saying, stating that they will now be concentrating their activities on Fanatic, North Sails, North Kiteboarding and Ion !
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
Well known all over America, supermarket chain Costco has also developed an online shop site where you can buy almost anything, like a television, car battery, and now, your very own SUP board !Already working as a distributor for surf manufacturer Maverix, Costco have decided to surf the SUP wave and will be selling two models at 11’0” and 12’0”, complete with paddle and carry bag for less than a thousand dollars…A stunning piece of news and the kind of supplementary shot in the arm that could help SUP make even more of an impact than it already is !
More information
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
Conditions once again look set to deliver a jaw dropping freestyle rampage. Today's skippers meeting is scheduled for 11am, and the second double elimination will commence shortly after this.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
Even if you’re completely out of touch with the real world this summer, switch your computer on around the 1st August when you’ll be able to enjoy the pleasure of the new oeuvre from Mistral, Committed Reloaded…Second instalment of the Committed DVD that came out last year featuring Marcilio Browne, Committed Reloaded is another Peter Svenson production, this time with action from the young Brazilian again, plus Diony Guadagnino and Francisco Porcella…Between 35 and 40 minutes of great windsurf film to appreciate, and totally free to boot !
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 8:24pm CEST
A forerunner in the world of twinzer boards, Quatro is not keeping up the effort and has been working on a brand new model for 2009 to add to its successful Wave Twin Fin range…The details are still hard to come by but it seems certain that there will be 3 new shapes available in 2009, apparently at 68, 75 and 81 litres.Generally speaking the boards have a compact shape but with a re-worked outline to help get up to planning faster, and a new construction to give lighter weight and more strength…More details very soon…
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
Marcilio Browne and Sarah-Quita Offringa stand their ground in the double elimination to claim the early event lead ahead of determined runners up Jose Estredo and Laure Treboux…
Watch the video "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Day 2" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
Today's skippers meeting is at 1pm, with heats running from 1.30 pm onwards. At present, a full double elimination has been completed in both the men's and women's fleets, with Marcilio Browne and Sarah Quita Offringa topping the ranks.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
Still in the middle of serious financial restructuring, F2 will have to hang on until 3rd July before they get their hands fully back on the controls…While some "experts" may have prematurely written the company off, according to the latest info we’ve received, F2 should be back in proper business as from July, with a new management structure as we outlined a couple of weeks ago.Board shaper but also responsible for deciding the board ranges, Patrick Diethelm has just spent 15 days in Thailand at the Cobra factory, supervising production of their 2009 boards, with the first production runs available sometime this summer.On the organisational front, a small office will be retained in Austria to handle administrative matters, while the core team of Karin Jaggi, Diethelm and Daniel Aeberli will be using a more mobile head office, as is the trend these days, with nothing more complicated than a laptop computer and a mobile phone to set their "offices" up !Of course all this still depends on the end of the legal machinations due on July 3rd…
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
We mentioned this one very recently in relation to a sneak photo, and now the info has become fully official, that the Italian manufacturer RRD will be releasing their first SUP board as early as September !Available in one size only at 11’.0” to begin with, the RRD SUP comes with a deck fully EVA foam covered, and should also include a carry handle that also functions as a mast foot for fitting a windsurf sail… More information about RRD :
www.robertoriccidesigns.com
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
While most eyes are firmly fixed on the spot of Qingdao and the forthcoming Olympic Games in China, backstage there’s plenty of long term work going on regarding the future of the event with, in August 2010, the first ever Young Olympic Games likely to go ahead in Singapore…Taking its lead from the real thing, this competition is intended to give young riders in the 15-16 age group a bona-fide classic Olympic style contest, all in almost exactly the same disciplines as adults.Sailing and windsurf are, as you can imagine, well featured and on June 23rd just gone, the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) decided that the board they would select for the purpose will be the Bic Techno 293 ! Selection for the Young Olympics will be made on the basis of 6 international competitions plus the world championships.
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Fetched: June 26th, 2008, 2:34am CEST
Hawaiian manufacturer Goya is letting a steady stream of info out about its 2009 board range, and now it’s the X1 that makes its appearance…While the essentials of volume and versions stay the same, with the 105 and 115 litre models, the shapes see some slight changes, taking their inspiration from the One range, with a very rounded shape. Designed at the outset for freestyle, the X1 boards are now seen as a kind of 4x4 board for waveriding in lighter winds. On the construction side, the X1 will see an upgrade for 2009 to something with more strength and less weight…More information very soon !
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
The second stop on the PWA Freestyle World Tour has got off to a flying start with a full single elimination completed for men and women, at Costa Teguise, Lanzarote.
Monday action saw Marcilio 'Brawzinho' Browne beat Ricardo Campello in the men's final and Sarah Quita-Offringa took the honours in the women's fleet, beating Daida Moreno who took second…
Watch the video "PWA Lanzarote 2008 - Day 1" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
The sailors have just been briefed at the midday skippers meeting, and heats will commence at 1pm. At present there's a building 20 knot cross offshore wind and conditions look set to deliver awesome action for the first men's and women's double elimination.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
Board manufacturer Starboard has decided to go big on its arrival in the SUP market by signing very recently the highly respected rider Ekolu Kalama !Cousin of Dave Kalama and hailing from the island of Molokai, Hawaii, Ekolu Kalama has a slightly unusual background having recently given up a career in the fire service to devote himself full time to professional SUP… Two times winner already of the Molokai to Oahu Paddle Race, Kalama has dreamed of being a pro board rider since he was a kid.
And now it’s actually happened, with Starboard signing up his services also to help develop their next SUP board ranges, while Kalama himself has just returned from a trip to the Maldives where he’s been photoshooting the Starboard 2009 SUP range… And the Pacific based brand will more than likely be sending him off to the 4 corners of the world to promote SUP and introduce it to as many people as possible !
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
With the Olympic Games starting in August, we can all expect to see plenty of new technology emerging to help us follow the sailing and of course RS:X action live and direct on the net. Athens 2004 saw the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) putting in place a live module enabling people to follow the riders round the buoys, and you can expect more and better from Qingdao, with for instance weather forecasts coming direct, along with the overall standings in real time according to the completed rounds.Back stage, an entire team will be charged with the task of re-positioning the marker buoys depending on wind shifts during the 5 laps of racing, all thanks to radio information received from transmitters placed on the self same buoys !Then there are the two consultants, big names from the sailing world in the shape of Lynn Fitzpatrick and Di Pearson, who will give a judgement on the day’s racing each day, at least for all the day’s completed races…It’s a big challenge, but the ISAF clearly wants to make these Olympic races in Qingdao a techno fest enabling readers to follow all the action in all possible disciplines… Fingers crossed !
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
On 3rd July coming, Pozo Izquierdo on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands opens its doors for one of the most awaited wave events of the season…Winner last year at the same spot, Spanish rider Victor Fernandez has been training his pants off over the last few weeks, mainly it his favourite, local spot at Almeria, near where he lives !Proof of that on this video showing that E-42 is truly on of his game, on the waves as well as above them…
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 24th, 2008, 11:21pm CEST
We showed a photo of this yesterday on our "Shot of the day" page, a new and disturbing element that has arrived at the spot at Qingdao in China where the Olympic events are due to start in August, the dreaded algae !Visibility was already pretty bad for the various national teams training on site, with the fogs that had recently descended, then the algae came in to add to the problems.While most of the teams have found that they can deal with the fog by using GPS systems, the algae has been dealt with by local fishermen who have been drafter in to collect it off the water with their nets, making endless trips back and forth across the bay, the green stuff moving around with the changing currents !Regarding the wind conditions, Qingdao seems to be living up to its reputation with whole days passing with the wind never beating the 6 knot mark…
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
After their Custom Wave Series we told you about last week, time to tell you about the One range with details starting to find their way out onto the net !Clearly one of Goya Boards’ main weapons in the 2009 market and targeted at freestyle/waveriding, the 2009 One boards haven’t seen much change to their overall shape, but should see the arrival of a new size with the 105 litres to go with the 77, 85 and 95 litre versions, still aiming to deliver a board with a fast rocker design and rails that will maximise manoeuvrability…More info very soon !
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Saturday 21st June down at Kanaha Beach Park on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii saw the Da Kine Classic going off, the second in the traditional annual Maui Race Series…Always in the right place at the right time, our colleagues at Mauiwindsurfing.net have just sent us an excellent video highlights of a great day's slalom racing, in particular a welcome win for Phil McGain in the 39-49 age group, plus Micah Buzianis in the 19-39 group and the Pro class !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Victim of a bad fracture to her foot in February in South Africa, young Spanish starlet Nayra Alonso has been going through a long and often painful process of physiotherapy that has only allowed her to get back on the water again since mid May…E-4 should have made her competition comeback at the forthcoming PWA Freestyle starting this Monday on Lanzarote, Canary Islands, but after missing so many weeks of training for what is a very demanding discipline, plus some serious reflection on her situation, Alonso has finally thrown in the towel as far as this event is concerned, preferring to save herself for the subsequent round starting at Pozo Izquierdo at the beginning of July.Still hyper-motivated, E-4 also hopes to shine in the waves discipline she was successful in at Sylt, Germany, last September…
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Lying 1st on the European Freestyle Pro Tour after 4 rounds, 4th placed at the PWA Podersdorf in May, the Spanish rider Antxon Otaegui is evidently the man in form at this early point in the freestyle season. E-169 gives us the inside story of his latest victory, on Milos, Greece…"The 4th EFPT event went off in Milos, Greece. I have to say that the conditions we got there were almost perfect, constant side onshore wind and some small waves.At the end I took the victory and I am really happy with it as I continue getting more points on the overall ranking, there are lots of good sailors on this tour and the level has increased a lot in the last 2 years, many of these guys could be, and some of them are, top ten in the world.I know the season is still not finished and there are still many events coming up, that’s why I will work hard and train a lot to become European Champion in 2008."
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Winter is generally the time when riders get down to some serious training and see some new spots at the same time… British rider John Skye is one of those and has sent us this video called "Winter 07 - 08", featuring his best sessions of the winter in South Africa, Cape Verde and of course Maui, Hawaii !
Watch the "Winter 07 - 08" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
The interest that`s mounting for SUP shows no sign of abaiting, with plenty of manufacturers in Europe and America getting into the action… Latest to join the fun is Aquaglide, well known for their inflatable modules, but also more recently for the ex-Windglider, the inflatable windsurf board first released some time ago by Mistral…To help them make their mark, Aquaglide have signed the services of John Amudson, a shaper very well known on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii.They'll be releasing two models, an 11'0 and an 11'3, both of which will incorporate a mast foot rail for anyone wanting to fit a windsurf sail !Clearly targeted at the widest market possible, Aquaglide are also releasing a range of accessories, windsurf fittings and rigs, plus a carry bag that can take board and paddle together.
Watch the video (Quick Time Player) More information :
www.apaddlesurf.com
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
From the 4th to 8th June, the European Freestyle Pro Tour was installed at Vassiliki on the south coast of the island of Lefkada in Greece for the 3rd round of the EFPT season…Watching closely from their front row seat, Stampro01 has sent us this 5 minute video highlights of the best action from the competition, specially the semi final between Andre Paskowski and Normen Günzlein !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
After the spot at El Yaque on the island of Margarita, Venezuela, Brazil has also become in a very short space of time a breeding ground for great young riders such as Kauli Seadi and Marcilio Browne.Levi Lenz is part of the even newer generation and next week will see him in action at Costa Teguise, Lanzarote in the Canaries for his debut freestyle appearance on the PWA World Tour…To help you appreciate his level these days, what better than a great video that will tell you more than mere words !
Watch the video (Windows Media Player)
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Well known for their excellent quality fins, French manufacturer Select has also recently established an equally solid reputation in the field of paddle making, for kayaks and for SUP…And you can`t do all that without updating your website, as Select have recently done, presenting their entire range with the possibility of ordering the paddle of your choice on line, direct ! More information :
www.select-kayaks.com
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Slowly but surely the 2009 ranges are being unveiled and this time it`s Italian manufacturer RRD who has let slip details of some of its new product…It was during the Défi Wind inGruissan, south of France at the start of May on the Roberto Ricci Designs stand that they presented most of their new products for 2008, but also there in their bags, two of the forthcoming X-Fire 2009 boards in prototype stage, their new slalom range.With minimalist deco and the return of the classic RRD logo, total change of shape with the deck lowered and a generally compact, rounded shape, that's the first sign from RRD of their clear ambition to have a more significant presence in slalom next year !More info very soon…
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
NeilPryde's V-Series sails are synonymous with the concept of powerful planing performance on flatwater.
2009 sees the popular V6 and V8 sails joined by a third V-Series sail, the V8 Helium a sail designed specifically for use in light winds, getting you out on the water and up on the plane even on the lightest of days.To celebrate the release of the first sail in the 2009 collection NeilPryde is giving away a brand new V8 HELIUM sail and 10 limited edition V-Series t-shirts.
Simply fill in the form, get our V8 Helium question right and be in to win. Entries close 11 August 2008.
More information
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
At just less than 2 months from the Olympic Games in Beijing, the riders are on the home straight of their team preparations, with plenty of windsurfers, like other athletes`already on site in Qingdao, China, for their final training…With a reputation for light, technical conditions, the spot at Qingdao has recently developed a previously unknown climatic peculiarity in the form of a particularly tenacious fog ! As you`ll understand when we explain that one team, out for a group session, couldn`t even follow each other on the water such was the low visibility…
Last week some Danish Laser sailors got into a worrying situation when the fog suddenly got really thick. They only had a compass and they knew they were more than 3 NM offshore. They found land with their compasses OK but this bit came with onshore surf, rocks and cliffs.Finally, they found a small beach surrounded by cliffs where they pulled their boats onto the sand (not something most Olympic class equipment can deal with). They set off across country to the nearest road where they managed to catch a taxi back to their hotel.The hero of the hour was the owner of the Senti Sailing School and Shop who took them in his motor boat to retrieve their equipment. They set off very slowly along the coast - being very careful of the submerged reefs - to find the boats with the aid of his GPS.
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
The rumour has been circulating for a few weeks and seems to be about to be confirmed thanks to one little photo, that Italian manufacturer Roberto Ricci Designs should be releasing a range of SUP boards in 2009…During the RRD international dealer meeting in Egypt last week the info slipped out.Can't tell you any more than that for now except to say that RRD is for ever diversifying, now involved in windsurf, surf, kitesurf now also yachting !
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Fetched: June 23rd, 2008, 2:55pm CEST
Author, among plenty of other projects, of the famous Rigmarole, Robert Masters has always made it a personal mission to help us enjoy classic windsurfing from what you might call the Golden Age !Now he`s released this new old video opus`a highlights of the O'Neill Invitational 1987 with some big names in action Robby Naish, Mark Angulo, Mike Waltze, Pete Cabrinha, Anders Bringdal and none other than Robert Teriitehau, already master of some mad jumping even at that early period !
Watch the video (Quick Time Player)
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
It`s obviously the season for it, with manufacturers willing you to win yourself a prize !After NeilPryde a few days ago, now sail maker Severne Sails is giving you the chance to win one of their light wind Glide sails…All you need to do is answer one simple question about the properties of e2 fabric, a form to be filled in and who knows, perhaps the joys of light wind planing can be yours !
More information
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Worthington certainly knows how to put on a regatta for the 65 competitors who made their way from all over the country and beyond for the US Nationals. From Tornados to glorious sunny conditions, a beautiful lake just perfect for windsurfing, and the lively sounds of the Unvarnished Music Festival made this a most memorable week.
The US Nationals have just concluded for 2008 with 17 spectacular races in Formula and 19 races in the open Raceboard fleets. The race committee and organizers made the most of every opportunity to make this five day event a racing spectacular. Fernando Martinez dominated the fleet, with Ron Kern, Peter Bonello and Allison Shreeve in a hard fought tussle for the minor placings. Over 65 competitors turned out for a week of grueling racing in conditions ranging from 4 to 40 knots. Allison Shreeve, competing throughout the week on the Formula Windsurfing One Design kit finished an impressive third overall in the Formula fleet and first woman.
See US Windsurfing Nationals results (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
28 women and 35 men will line up for the official training sessions for the Olympic Games in Qingdao, starting on 9th August, before the start of official hostilities a few days later.The rigs will be allocated by lucky dip, with all the riders looking to quickly accustom themselves to the new equipment, not forgetting to add their national flag and rider name stickers…And with the sails scheduled for just this one leaningful competition outing, NeilPryde, the official supplier of the RS:X rigs, have just decided to make the rigs available for purchase by the riders once the Games are finished.
A great souvenir for the 63 entrants, specially considering some of them have very little chance of making it onto the podium...
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
During his tour of France at the end of May, Francisco Goya presented most of his new 2009 range, among them some new sails from new designer, Jason Diffin, but plenty of boards too…Detailed information is trickling through for the moment, but the news is that the Goya range will essentially be staying the same, at least as far as the names are concerned, although there are some changes to their shapes !One of Goya's classics, Custom Wave Series should still be available in 4 sizes, but with different volumes, the 68, 75, 81 and 90 litres giving way to 66, 72, 78 and 84 litres… On the shapes side, they see a return to a more classic design with thin rails to improve perfor;ance in surf.More info very soon !
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
"Surprise" entrant, Iballa Moreno, PWA waves world champion 2007, took an encouranging second place at the Slalom 42 in Costa Brava. She gives her story of what was for her a home event !"I'm really stoked to have done the Costa Brava round this year… It's the first time the girls have had the run of the place and it was an interesting opportunity since it was happening in my home country. There were lots of entrants, lots of new faces too and the level really surprised me !Being part of a new round and finishing second in the competition was really something special for mei…From here on there are other rounds in the Canaries about to go off and it's a great way of getting motivated and getting the season off to a good start."
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
On 23rd June in Costa Teguise on the island of Lanzarote in the Canaries, the women will be in freestyle action for the first time this season…As with the men, the winter season has been marked by some intense training sessions and trips to far off sunny destinations.And one who's advancing year on year, Swiss rider Laure Treboux shows us on this video, shot in Dahab, Egypt, just how much progress she's made, and that she'll be very competitive this year once again !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Before heading off to Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône in the south of France for its official speed record attempts starting on June 15th, Alain Thébault and his Hydroptère team gave themselves a final performance check before in the straights at Hyeres to test the boat out under proper record conditions...In a good, steady 20 to 25 knots wind, the Hydroptère gradually built up power before notching a highly impressive mid afternoon VMax speed of de 46.8 knots, almost double the wind speed ! To remind you, the Hydroptère team is hoping to beat the 50 knot mark in no more than 25 to 30 knots of wind...Now safely installed in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, they're waiting for some good conditions to blow in before starting their official attempts.
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Surf legend Gerry Lopez is also very well known as a shaper with almost 37 years spent behind his trusty tool kit !A big SUP fan since it was invented, Lopez is planning to go into production in 2008 with two models, a 9'6 and a 10'3…And the first of those have just appeared in California, but unless you manage to get over to Hawaii to pick one up, it'll be almost impossible to get your hands on one just yet. More information about Gerry Lopez Surfboards :
www.gerrylopezsurfboards.com
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
If you're a regular reader of Windsurfjournal.com, the name of Bernd Roediger will be familiar already as a young man, just 13 years old, who already has a great level out on the water…Out riding whenever conditions are good, US-1113 has sent us this video of his recent progress windsurfing but also on SUP, with the highly appropriate title of "After school"…
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
After a bad week at the PWA Costa Brava where 2 false starts left her no better than 7th in the overall standings despite winning the first race... FRA 444 talks us through a competition she'll be happy to forget in a hurry !"The Costa Brava round was one I'd been hoping to win, but those two false starts put me well out of contention this year. I'm really disappointed with my performance, I'm not worried at all by me speed on the water, but those false starts really did me in despite feeling on very good form. All I can think is that I was trying to get started from the most advantageous buoy position but there was a visibility problem with the start boat for us girls, plus a really variable wind direction that didn't help at all.
There were plenty of girls on the competition but it's still between Karin Jaggi and I as far as I can see, as long as I stop making mistakes ! These latest ones were fatal, I need to get my concentration levels up for the Fuerteventura round to try and haul myself back up to 3rd in the overall ranking."
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
When asked, “What do you like the most on Windsurfjournal.com ?", answers are… What’s new : 49%In the zone : 11%WJ TV : 13%Pick of the day : 7%Pin up of the day : 16%Livecast : 4% Thanks to our panel of 1260 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Particularly talented at Formula Windsurfing, Australian rider Steve Allen is leticulous in his preparations and who leaves nothing to chance as regards equipment… Always on the lookout for more performance, AUS-0 has been using some new and fairly astonishing Formula Windsurfing footstraps board, likewise on his slalom boards too.Designed by Armin Kovalski, Swiss distributor of Loft Sails and Lorch Boards, these footstraps are hand made and give a substantial weight advantage, the new Kovalski straps when soaked weighing in at an incredible 700 g lighter than conventional straps.Comparable in many ways with what was to be foundon the olds JP Australia Strapper, the straps are also extremely comfortable thanks to an ergonomic design that weighs just 54 grammes. Enough to persuade Allen to switch to the new Kovalski footstraps…
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
A serious player in the surf market, Surftech are getting very interested in SUP and have just updated their website to include a substantial SUP section stuffed with info…It tells you the history of SUP, gives you practical advice to help you choose your board, and a guide to the brands available such as the famous Laird and Robert August ranges, plus a look at a new and amazing design, Randy French's Blacktip ! More information :
www.surftech.com
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Present for the one and only day of competition at Costa Brava, the 12th June, the Photodingo.com team made the avait the trip over to Spain specially for this event…Result, a few days later, this great photo gallery with plenty of on the water action plus the party atmosphere on the beach !
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
Antoine Albeau and Karin Jaggi slay the opposition to claim the top spots at slalom’s second stop on the World Tour.
Situated at the foot of the breathtaking Pyrenean mountains, The Bay of Roses welcomed windsurfing’s elite athletes to its shores for the second clash on the slalom calendar, from the 10th-15th of June.
Watch the video "PWA Costa Brava 2008 - Highlights" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 19th, 2008, 10:02am CEST
The word of the day was “sick”. Everyone who saw these last heats will leave the place stoked like hell.The almost 20 knots onshore wind brought Antxon Otaegui and Normen Günzlein closer to the beach during the final heat and they were fighting straight in front of the judge tower. Normen Günzlein pulled a funnel diablo, a nice switch kono and even had a kulo on his side and also other moves. Antxon showed his style in moves like switch chachoos, clef first punyeta Diablo, a “sick” ponch and esliders on both sides. In the end the riders and spectators were waiting severall minutes for the decision of the judges which had a hard time to decide between the two riders. A tough job.It was Antxon Otaegui from Spain in the end who the judges had in first position. 3 of 5 judges gave their vote for him and a 3:2 decision shows once again how close it has been.EFPT leaves Greece with 2 results. Next stop will be Alacati in Turkey where we also expect great conditions and as always a good time.
See results after double elimination
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
The arrival of the weekend draws hordes of windsurf enthusiasts to Sant Pere Pescador, to rub shoulders with the legends of the Professional Windsurfers Association.Swarming Spanish crowds engulfed the competition site on Catalunya’s Bay of Roses for the penultimate day of slalom action.
Watch the video "PWA Costa Brava 2008 - Day 5" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Day six and last day of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup is about to get going.The competitors are about to be briefed at the 10am skippers meeting. At present there's a force 2 breeze blowing down on the beach, this should build as the day progresses.
See the livecast See women elimination ladder #4 See men elimination ladder #4
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Everyone went to sleep Friday night early as the day was pretty busy and everyone was exhausted. Also the forecast was promising and so the riders wanted to have all their energy for the double. Sharp at 2 o’clock the wind began and shortly after that the double started. Unfortunately after the second heat the wind took a break… After about 30 min. the green flag went up again and the competition was on.The heat between Normen Günzlein (JP/NP) and Nicolas Akgazcyan (Starboard/Gun Sails) had to be stopped because of again dropping wind but this time it didn’t come back. So everybody wait for Sunday and will continue at about the same time, means 2 pm.
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Uncharacteristic Spanish conditions called an early halt to proceedings on day four of competition in Sant Pere Pescador. Following day three’s epic conditions, the PWA elite gathered at sunrise to take advantage of the hammering Tramontana wind that had been forecast for the morning session.
Watch the video "PWA Costa Brava 2008 - Day 4" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Worthington has been a great host city and the US Windsurfing Nationals is a blast for us as guests. Things are well organized and the race committee is doing a great job. The wind is cooperating well so far. Sailors have got 9 races in so far.
Wednesday racing wound up with big wind. It was on the border between 9m & 9.8m. The 9m would have actually been the call for the 1st two races as it was gusting well over 30.
Thursday was light to start out. Most of the fleet, about 20 boards, were rigged around 12m. Fernando Martinez is sailing very well and has a good string of bullets and is 7 points ahead after 9 races including throw outs…Lots more racing to come, and it's not over yet !
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Day five of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup is about to get going.The competitors are about to be briefed at the 10am skippers meeting. At present there's a light breeze, but it's blowing from the Tramontana direction, so it may well increase.
See the livecast See women elimination ladder #4 See men elimination ladder #4
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Again more than 30 riders registered and again it all happened quite quick. As soon as the skippers was done the competitors began to prepare their stuff, brought it to the front of the beach and started to check the conditions. 3 pm sharp the first heat started and although the wind was a bit gusty it was amazing to watch. Slowly the few kitesurfers next to the competition area began to disappear which is always a good sign for windsurfers cause it means that the wind is picking up. After the fourth heat the wind was getting more and more stable and the heats were of the chain.Boys were fighting like hell, judges were impressed and as some of them judged PWA already one can imagine what was going on in the competition area to leave the judges stoked on the tower…Heat of the day, beside the two final ones, has to be heat No. 14. Where Kevin Mevissen (RRD/RRD Sails) met Antxon Otaegui and Normen Günzlein (JP/NP) met Steven van Broeckhoven (F2). No one who has seen this heat will forget it for quite a long time. Burners, Konas, Ponches, switch chachoos and so on from pretty each one in the heat. In the end only two could win but this was a tough one !!!With amazing style and not one crash Antxon Otaegui sailed an unbelievable performance putting him in the first place of the single. Results after one single elimination : 1/ Antxo, Otaegui, 2/ Andre Paskowski, 3/ Steven van Broeckhoven, 4/ Nicolas Akgazciyan...
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Still in the throes of structural re-organisation, F2 is thinking forwards and already working on its 2009 products and season…And one of the first interesting news stories to come out concerns Dr Pasher, F2’s proprietor, who has somewhat re-distributed the roles to be played in the "new F2". Patrik Diethelm stays as in-house shaper, and takes over responsibility for product management of F2’s boards to boot while Karin Jaggi takes over the reigns of the marketing department… And another long-standing servant, Daniel Aeberli, also the creator of the Choco Fins brand becomes the land-based marketing boss with Philipp Shnerr keeping his job as commercial director… A brand created by windsurfers, for windsurfers, that would seem to be F2’s principle for 2009 with the possibility to involve the riders personally in the company’s daily life…On the 2009 product side, F2 is keeping its slalom/speed ranges, the SX, SX TE and Missile, strictly under wraps for now, but could well also release some new freestyle/wave boards, called the Vintage series, plus a new freeride range called the Veron… And the RX model will henceforth be available with a Tuttle fin box and no less than 5 sizes in the range !
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
We mentioned this one a little while ago, that carbon fibre is becoming more and more expensive and consequently windsurf manufacturers are having to try more and more to find new technologies…We knew already about Technora that is increasingly being pressed into service, but JP Australia have found something else they’ll be using this season, something with a very good performance to strength ratio.Can’t say any more than that for now other than to say that they’ve been trying out this new construction for the last few months and, that as a complement to its Full Wood Sandwich and Pro Edition constructions, JP Australia could easily end up with a 3rd construction option for 2009, one that is totally exclusive and better quality than the Pro Editions !
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
The Tramontana wind machine turned on to deliver a day of awe inspiring slalom racing on Spain’s Costa Brava. With howling wind predicted on the forecast, day three of competition stood poised to serve up a heavy dose of high octane slalom action.
Watch the video "PWA Costa Brava 2008 - Day 3" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
On the 5th March, Antoine Albeau beat the all-comers water sail speed record with his 49.09 knots on that canal at Saintes-Maries-de-le-Mer in the south of France…And seeing as they’re now the fatstes sailmaker in the world, NeilPryde have decided to mark the fact by running a prize competition in which you, the reader, can win an RS:Racing sail, the very model used by the big Frenchie in breaking the record !To enter, nothing could be simpler : fill in a little form and answer a single question, "What is Antoine Albeau’s sail number ?"… Doh ! More information :
www.neilpryde.com
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Fetched: June 15th, 2008, 5:08pm CEST
Day four of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup is about to get going.The competitors have just been briefed at the 9am skippers meeting, and are all rigged and ready to go. Everybody just waiting on the wind to build sufficiently to get competition underway.
See the livecast See women elimination ladder #4 See men elimination ladder #4
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
The first day of competition for the US Windsurfing Nationals was held Wednesday in Lake Okabena, Minnesota with 35 mph winds, 4 races for the Formula class with Fernando Martinez (A- 42) from Miami winning the first 3 races of the day.World champion Allison Shreeve ( AUS-911) from Australia finishing top 5 in most of the race.
At the of the day sailors has to be evacuating for a tornado warning.
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
When you talk about SUP, the old chestnut of transportation problems is a regular issue raised…Over in the States, there seems to have been a solution developed with the invention of a 3 piece board that can be easily assembled !!!Manufacturer Pope Bisect has made its name in the surf world over the last few years by releasing some 2-piece boards that clip together without any loss of performance on the water…And with the arrival of SUP, Pope Bisect have released an 11’6” SUP model, the Pope Trisect SUP, transportable in 3 pieces that can be assembled in just a few short minutes. As shown on this amazing video !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player) More information :
www.bisect.com
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Slalom’s second bout of race action is locked, loaded, and ready to go, as the biggest fleet in almost a decade registered to become part of this historic windsurfing face off.
The biggest players in windsurfing’s elite slalom racing discipline have touched down on the Costa Brava, hungry to state their intentions for the forthcoming season, and begin the points race for the 2008 title.
Watch the video "PWA Costa Brava 2008 - Day 1" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Clearly intent on getting ever younger riders on the water, board manufacturer Starboard will be releasing an SUP specially designed for kids this summer, called the The Kid 7’2’’ !Very rounded and compact, the board will be available, like the rest of Starboard’s SUP range, in Tufskin or Tufskin Camo, with the additional option of an insert for fitting a mast foot plate for the full windsurfing longboard experience ! More information about Starboard SUP :
www.star-board-sup.com
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Having moved on to final tuning at its base in Toulon, south of France, sometime in the next few days the Hydroptere will move along the coast to Port-St-Louis-du-Rhone to attack the record…Overseen by an English World Speed Sailing Records Council official, the official speed trial period starts on June 15th when, like the windsurfers before him, skipper Alain Thébault and his crew will be waiting for the right conditions to blow in to attack the famous 50 knot barrier !
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Day three of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup is about to get going.The competitors have just been briefed at the 9am skippers meeting, and are all rigged and ready to go. Everybody just waiting on the wind to build sufficiently to get competition underway.
See the livecast See women elimination ladder #1 See men elimination ladder #1
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
OK, so it’s not exactly a secret following various sightings of Peter Volwater and Julien Taboulet riding twinzer boards… But now the information is firming up in a more concrete way with the news that F2 will be releasing a range of twinzer boards as part of its 2009 collection, a range of 3 models going by the name of the Rave.
Not exactly a stranger to the concept, shaper Patrik Diethelm has been working for more than a yea, aided and abetted by a trio of riders comprising Peter Volwater, John Skye and Julien Taboulet to help get everything ready to release the boards this summer… The overall shapes are compact to help them have the widest range of conditions possible !And still in the throes of serious reconstruction, F2 International has appointed Karin Jaggi as head of marketing in addition to her role as team manager…
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
As its name would suggest, a Slalom42 contest imposes limits on the riders, having to choose 4 sails and 2 boards for the whole week's competition.And that's certainly the case over in Costa Brava for this second round of the PWA world champs, an event that started with the competitors registering their equipment choices, selections that could have a big influence on the end result !And with the weather forecast for the week looking unsettled for this Spanish round, it's interesting to note that some riders have gambled on medium to strong winds, where others such as Antoine Albeau and Gabriel Browne have gone the other way, for light wind options, with 7.0 m² as their smallest sail size. So if the famous Tramontana wind blows up to its regular 30 knots over the weekend it looks like being a pretty sporting contest...
See the list of registered equipment (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
After the European Freestyle Pro Tour round at Vassiliki beach on the island of Lefkada in Greece last week, with that great win for Nicolas Akgazciyan, the same runners and riders will be doing it all over again on the north side of the island this time, from the 13th to 15th June at Milos Beach for the EFPT Milos Beach Corona, the 4th round of the season !Pretty much the same line-up will be present with Nicolas Akgazciyan, Antxon Otaegui, Kevin Mevissen and Normen Günzlein among others, with plenty of hot action on the water in prospect, once more time…
See the registered riders list
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Having recently acquired control of windsurf manufacturer AHD, French parent company Tridenn has decided to get involved in the burgeoning SUP market with a range of boards under the brand name Tiki Taki !The man behind the idea is AHD shaper Pascal Gerber, the brain behind various SUP boards manufactured by the Terminatech factory in Tunisia, wielding his tools over a range comprising 6 models.Alongside the more "traditional" models there will also be a 9’3” compact version, ideal for lighter weight beginner and experienced riders, with the advantage of a board that is simply easier to transport… More information : tikitaki(at)tridenn.com
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
With the PWA freestyle round in Austria only just over, Gollito Estredo and Andre Paskowski flew off to Egypt for 15 days of intense training split between the spots of Dahab and Somabay…Lots of superb freestyle riding to enjoy here, turquoise lagoons, perfect conditions and a video that tells you much about how both riders have progressed, even during their trip, with a triple spock and konos-a-go-go !
Watch the video "Gollito and Paskowski in Egypt" on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Day two of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup is about to get going.The competitors are scheduled to meet for the skippers meeting at 10.00am, and heats will swing into action shortly after this.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
On Saturday 7th June, at the spot at Kanaha Beach Park on the north shore of Maui, Hawaii, there was the first of 5 rounds of the Maui Race Series, the traditional summer slalom series on the island where you can generally reckon to see some of the big names such as Micah Buzianis and Pieter Bijl getting in some valuable race training…In tip top form, Phil McGain was the eventual winner of the Pro series, ahead of Pieter Bijl and Alex Aguera not far behind, but ironically it was the only race AUS-7 didn’t win that was the one to set everyone talking !Apparently, just seconds into the day’s 4th race, McGain accidentally but violently took out another rider, Mike Yasak, who then had to be rescued from the scene because of a double fracture of the leg !!! Accelerating hard for the start, McGain simply didn’t see the other rider…Swiftly dealt with, Yasak is already recovering whilst McGain, visibly shaken and worried, said he’s never seen an accident like it in 30 years of windsurf career !
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
It’s already become a big annual event for women windsurfers the world over, this year at the end of August, when Daida and Iballa Moreno run their famous Training Camp, 2008 vintage !A bit of a change this year with the event going off well into August, 26th to 30th, and this at a brand new spot, that of Pozo Izquierdo on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. Limited to 40 entrants, the 2008 Training Camp keeps the same philosophy as previous editions : meeting other riders, sharing experiences and wisdom, and progressing your riding, and all ‘women only’ !
And with the event growing in popularity, you’ve got until just 10th July to register, which you can do this year by internet if you wish !
More information
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Following the arrival in their team of Josh Angulo, Hawaiian manufacturer Maui Sails certainly weren’t going to waste any time in releasing some new wave product, two new models in fact, the Legend and the Global…CV-1 has of course been heavily involved in the development of the new sails, and details are beginning to emerge, for instance that the Legend will be available in 2009 as a monofilm X-ply construction over the entire surface. A pure waveriding sail, the Legend should be very light and responsive, with the Global covering other types of conditions…A big fan of riding in light conditions, Angulo will soon have a full quiver of sails entirely to his liking with two new light wind sails in the shape of the 6.1 m2 Legend and 6.8 m2 Global versions !More details very soon… More information Maui Sails :
www.mauisails.com
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
A strange story happened last week at the legendary spot of Pozo Izquierdo on Gran Canaria, Canary Islands…With riders like Iballa and Daida Moreno and Jonas Ceballos with a bunch of locals, all having fun in the 40 knot winds and some cool waves, the Guardia Civil turned up at the spot and immediately ordered everyone, including the windsurfers, out of the water !And so everyone sat it out on the beach as spectators of a strange situation, namely that one of the big wind generators nearby had broken and the huge blades were spinning too fast with the risk that they might actually break up and injure or worse people in the water or on the beach.Two hours of windmill watching later, albeit one behaving very bizarrely, the situation was eventually judges to be not too dangerous after all by the Guardia Civil…
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Day one of the 2008 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA Slalom World Cup has been greeted with warm weather and blue skies.
Registration is currently underway, and the first of the day's heats is scheduled to start at 2.00pm this afternoon.
See the livecast
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
The Belgian team from HB Productionz spent most of last December at the famous spot at Jericoacoara in Brazil, a trip that lasted a few weeks…Now, a couple of months later, they’ve sent us this video featuring some of the crème-de-la-crème in action including Andre Paskowski, Chico Bento, Edvan Souza and Normen Gunzlein, plus some wickedly talented and on fire locals !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Riding under Armenian colours following her injury problems and the unwillingness of the French authorities to issue her a license, Sarah Hebert is attacking the season in a practical frame of mind !After the windless week in Ulsan, South Korea, ARM-1 will be present in Costa Brava from the 10th June for the second round of the season’s PWA Slalom42, supported by two brand new sponsors : Maui Magic and Select.The women’s brand division of Mystic, Maui Magic will be kitting her out with all her wetsuits and other accessories, while Select will be providing her with the fins that will help her trim those vital tenths of seconds on the water !
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Fetched: June 13th, 2008, 5:48am CEST
Just a few days ago we brought you the story of the Olympic Games RS:X class equipment having been carefully measured and about to start its journey to Qingdao, China, ready for the start of the Games on the 9th August !As if we didn’t already take enough care, the 60 or so NeilPryde RS:X boards will be making their way to China in a refrigerated container !!!Worried about the possibility of structural or laminate damage, the decision was taken to take an unprecedented step, allowing the boards to travel at a constant 27 degrees, somewhat less than the 60 degrees that can frequently be the case !!!
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 10:00am CEST
Winner of the 3rd roundof the European Freestyle Pro Tour in Greece, Nicolas Akgacziyan talks us through his magnificent 1st place that has put him on 3rd place of the provisional podium…"I’m really stoked to have won this round because it’s got me back in the running on the EFPT standings after missing the Tarifa round. It’s my second great result this year using my new 2009 wood-carbon Starboard Flare 98, it’s a great board ! I feel really comfortable on it and I think that really helped in the competition. I was feeling good mentally too, I concentrated on having fun and I think that really helped a lot.I hope I can be in contention for 1st place overall because that was one of my goals for this year. I’ll need to do at least 6 rounds to be able to "lose" that Tarifa result, I’ll be crossing my fingers !"
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
With the seabreeze failing to arrive by the 5 pm deadline, the 2nd leg of the Formula Grand Prix Tour has ended this Saturday. The fleet waited on the beach all day but the wind never got about 5-6 knots. The rankings stand of the last race Friday.
Racers are packing up now with some going home, other going to the next PWA event in Costa Brava but most will return next month for the Polish Championships and European Championships which are back to back.
See results after 8 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
The last days of the EFPT event in Vassiliki were just waiting and hoping to finish the double, even just to start it but the clouds around the bay didn’t allow the thermical winds start blowing. Also the plan to extend the event till Sunday couldn’t be fulfilled as some riders had their flights back already on Sunday morning. So the event has to end as announced, on Saturday night. Anyway the time the "family" had in Vassiliki was great and to have a result on a brand new event in the first day is just perfect. Everyone is just stoked about the place and keeps the fingers crossed to come back next year.
See results after single elimination
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Riders finally hit the water for the first race on Friday at 4pm in Sopot for Sopot Formula Grand Prix. The breeze was still a light 8-10knots with holes and big shifts around the course. The steep short waves sets were also making it really hard to keep going upwind.In both races there were big shifts and major holes near the beach on the left side of the course. It made it a gamble either way and some sailors were left sanding for minutes without wind. No redress in the world would even help these sailors out ! It was playing catch up from there and trying to pick off a few boards every leg.
Riders waited around after the 2nd race for another 20 minutes before the organizers send the fleet back ashore around 6:00 pm. Up in front it's s till Steve Allen, Gonzolo Costel Hovel and Jesper Vesterstrom fighting it out for the top positions.
See results after 8 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Bad luck for all, riders and spectators in Vassiliki for the third day of competition on EFPT Event. The double elimination sheet looks still brand new and the red flag is a bit lonely up there on the flag mast.Saturday is the last day and there is still a chance to finish the double elimination. Results single elimination : 1/ Nicolas Akgazciyan, 2/ Antxon Otaegui, 3/ Normen Günzlein, 4/ Andre Paskowski…
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
After a first successful last year, board maker Starboard keeps the ball rolling this year with a second World Tandem Gemini, the second world tandem championships for tandem rising using the Starboard Gemini board !As before, they’re tagging themselves onto the Grand Pavois international boat show going off in La Rochelle from 12th to 14th September as their stage for the best in the world to battle it out on…A long journey for some perhaps, but as in 2007, Gemini tandem boards will be available to hire on the day, and the whole event is organised by the local CN Angoulins club ! More information :
www.cnangoulins.com/worldtandem
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Day 2 of Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix in Sopot started with the postponement flag up to 1:15 pm before the fleet was sent out in light conditions. The chop and waves were steep and close - making getting going a real challenge. There were at least 20 other boards that didnt make the start as well. In hindsight, a little less downhaul would have helped.
Race 6 was started immediately after in similar conditions. The wind was still oscillating as the 2 breezes were fighting each other- similar to Wednesday conditions. With just one more race, we get 2 throw outs, so from now one everything counts.
See results after 6 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
When the wind’s just not there for your weekend’s sport or a windsurf competition, anything goes when it comes to getting some action !Currently away competing on the Greek round of the European Freestyle Pro Tour in Vassiliki, Nicolas Akgazciyan and Kevin Mevissen decided to kill some time on Thursday afternoon by having a windsurf session in the swimming pool of the hotel adjoining the spot !!!The boys scored themselves a bucket full of laughs, some memorable wipe outs, some highly unusual photos, all in front of the unbelieving eyes of the other guests and staff at the said establishment… And it needed something like that to help celebrate F-400’s fine win in the single elimination the day before, the young man’s 23rd birthday !!!
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
The riders have a wicked time in Vassilki Thursday for second day of EFPT event, either sailing and performing between the guests or hanging around. As on any other stop each one of them keeps contact with magazines, sponsors, windsurf websites and friends, so the restaurant of the club this day looks like a big internet café. As soon as the correspondence is done this guys turn into kids again and do their best find some competition.
There is this soccer game where the loosers line up in front of a wall and get shot down buy the winners. Riders learn to do some Capoeira moves and the legend in that, Chico Bento is a great teacher as well.
Results single elimination : 1/ Nicolas Akgazciyan, 2/ Antxon Otaegui, 3/ Normen Günzlein, 4/ Andre Paskowski…
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Every year, all over the world, new windsurf clubs start up, promising themselves and you to seek out the most perfect conditions possible…Having recently opened up on the Greek island of Limnos, the Surf Club Keros is following the rule but with the big difference that they claim to be the first windsurf club showing 100% respect for the environment !In fact, built in a protected area, the Surf Club Keros centre is built from 100% ecological materials, and the whole electrical system is run solely on solar energy. Add to that a turquoise blue lagoon spot bordering white sand beaches, and you just might have a brand new destination that’s going to incite a lot of interest.And in addition to courses in windsurf and kitesurf, the Surf Club Keros also offers yoga courses, taking their concept to the ultimate ! More information :
www.surfclubkeros.gr
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Heavily inspired by longboarding, but with the paddle too, SUP can quickly turn into a serious extreme sport when you start pushing it beyond its known limits ! Proof of that on this superb photo of South African rider Chris Bertish in action on some serious big stuff armed with his trusty Naish 10’6”…A photo that says it all, and which shows that SUP is a long way from finished dishing up surprises !!!
See the picture enlarged
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Day 1 turned out to be a fantastic day of racing in Sopot/Poland for the first day of the Formula Grand Prix. Winds were light to medium from 10 to 17 knots but the sea state was still quite confusing. Sailors had to deal with an array of chop and swell around the course as well as an aggressive fleet at the start. Most of the races, port tack was well favored and it took some weaving and yelling to get through without damage. Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel wasn't so lucky went down hard on the starting line in race 3 but with redress still came out in 3rd at the end of the day. Up in front- it's any body's game as there are quite a few sailors capable of winning here. The level is quite high at the top.
We had 4 races Wednesday and we are running the outside trapezoid course with the leeward mark set just in front of the Sopot Pier. It makes it rather difficult to get the layline as the pier sticks out and a lot of positions are lost as sailors are fumbling to get around the mark. With 4 races completed, everybody is quite tired after the first day of racing.
See results after 4 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
The 2009 wave board ranges look certain to be stuffed with twinzers ! More evidence of that with this latest from Starboard, a brand new range of twinzer boards coming out this June under the name of the Evil Twin series !Two models will be available, 74 and 80 litre versions largely shaped similarly to the Evo boards, but with more aggressive lines and of course, two fins. Developed for all kinds of waveriding conditions, according to Starboard’s blurb the Evil Twin comes with the widest range of rideable conditions possible… And alongside the wood construction boards, there will be wood/carbon Evil Twins available to help reduce weight and improve responsiveness !More info on this one very soon… More information about Starboard :
www.star-board.com
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
37 riders registered to compete in the event in Vassilki and so some qualification heats had to be done. These heats were like a warm up for the judges, the boys were showing their skills all right but the hard work was still to come. One heat after another was sailed only disturbed by some that had to be rerun because of the changing conditions. But that was only in the beginning, then the clouds started to come, the wind turned a bit and the water in front of the club was getin hot. One of the most amazing heats was number 14, Kevin Mevissen (RRD/RRD sails) fighting against Antxon Otaegui (JP/Neil Pryde) and Steven van Broeckhoven (F2) sailing against Normen Günzlein (JP/Neil Pryde). The crowds on the beach got to see what the rest of the contest will look like. The 4 guys pulled all possible tricks possible and almost none was falling. Anyway only 2 could advance… The boys were fighting big time and in the end the final was Antxon Otaegui against Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard/Gun Sails). Antxon wanted to take a longer break and oversaw that the winners final is always done before the looser. Also the crowds on the beach were a bit to enthusiastic and so Antxon was in a bit of a hurry to go upwind where Nicolas was already waiting. Anyway the heat was amazing. Both doing perfect switch chachoos, shakas and more… After 5 minutes the decision was done and the crowd was giving a hand to both riders, which came in completely exhausted. In the loosers final the best two German freestylers met each other in a direct duel. Andre Paskowski (Fanatic/North Sails) had to go against Normen Günzlein. As the forecast for the next days is amazing everyone is looking forward for it, the Vass locals are super sure about it, which means that we will again see amazing action. Results single elimination : 1/ Nicolas Akgazciyan, 2/ Antxon Otaegui, 3/ Normen Günzlein, 4/ Andre Paskowski…
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
Waverider extraordinaire and eternal traveller, British rider Ben Proffitt has made South Africa, especially the area around Cape Town, his winter destination of choice over the last few years…Taking his chances with the local "conditions", K-800 unfortunately saw his camera stolen after just a few days this time round, but managed to save this small amount of footage that make up the video he’s sent us called simply "Capetown 2008" !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
World waves championship runner up in 2007, Spanish star Victor Fernandez should be a big star on German TV this summer !And why not ? The young Spaniard has been selected by beer manufacturer Jever to feature in a TV ad campaign that should start hitting the screens as from the end of June..Not much information to speak of about the clip in question except that it shows E-42 on tip-top form on the water !
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
From the 5th to 10th April, Marignane and Carro in the south of France was the spot for the first round of the Sooruz Funboard Pro Tour, AKA the French FFVoile/AFF championship.And here, just a few weeks later, the Photodingo.com team have sent us this highlights video of the competition, with no les than 15 minutes of footage of the 11 rounds of slalom, and the waves double elimination !
Watch the "Sooruz Funboard Pro Tour Marignane/Carro" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 9th, 2008, 6:52am CEST
This August the eyes of the world will be focussed on Beijing, China, and Qingdao in particular for the sailing competitions. And to conform to the rules, all competitors must use identical equipment that has been rigorously checked down to the finest cm2 and gram.Over the last few days Norbert Marin, technical manager and official measurer for the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) has had the unenviable task of validating all the equipment that the RS:X class sailors will be using.First of all he headed off to the NeilPryde factory in China to check over all the sails, masts, booms and extensions, before hitting the Cobra factory in Thailand to check the boards. And with a new construction technology being used that is designed to eliminate the possible differences in weight between one board and another, it took a whole 5 days to measure all the fins, foot pad mountings, daggerboards and weight of all the boards concerned !A long and arduous job that seemed likely to take up to 7 whole days ! The good news is that all the equipment was up to scratch and will be of to Qingdao in the next few days…
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
Francisco Goya's tour de France that has just come to an end was the ideal opportunity to check out some of the Goya Sails and Boards new gear for 2009... There was obviously a lot of interest in the new wave boards, but the new range of sails too following the arrival of designer Jason Diffin at the company at the beginning of the year.While detailed information is hard to come by, some general news we can be certain of : Goya Sails will be releasing three new models in 2009 going by the names of the W3D, Guru and FXR. Among them, two wave sails and one freeride/freemove, all with an even better build quality and finish.Another small but significant development, so as to mark a break with their past, there will also be a brand new, updated Goya logo !
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
From 21
st to 28
th August in Dahab, Egypt, Micah Buzianis, US34, PWA Slalom World Champion 2005 and Vice World Champion 2006 from Maui and head coach Dirk Muschenich, former winner of the German Windsurf Cup and now professional windsurf coach plus Harry Nass and his team (including Rob Superman Horn) will get you ready to surprise yourself about your speed, your jibing and kick some butt in slalom racing. This camp is not just aiming at semi professionals - they are more then welcome as well - but also at people who windsurf for fun, enjoy speed, want to get faster, want to improve their jibing and maybe get a bit involved in racing.In groups of maximum 10 people you will find out about how to trim your equipment, get faster (check with GPS), improve your jibing in general and get it to perfection, jibe around a buoy in the middle of a racing fleet, do Lemans beach starts, do boat starts, get your body ready for slalom and speed and win races !At the end of the camp there will be a Slalom competition and the winner will get a one week holiday including flight, hotel and a brand new JP Slalom board. More information : info(at)harry-nass.com
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
Young Russian freestyler Egor Poprentinskiy made his PWA circuit debut during May at the event in Podersdorf, Austria, where he came home in a promising 9th place…And at all of 22 years old, RUS-11 may be a little "old" for the discipline, but is nevertheless predicted to have a bright future, proof of which you’ll find on this video shot this winter during a trip to the increasingly famous spot of El Yaque, Venezuela !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
Not one of the contracts of the century maybe, but a nevertheless astonishing sponsorship, Taty Frans, one of the most talented freestyleers of his generation, can count Deviator among his sponsors for this season !This plastic fitting recognised throughout the world for enabling you to "steer" your rig during a fall so as to protect the nose of your board, gets a serious youth vote, and at the same time has released some new crazy coloured versions.Meanwhile, Taty Frans will be riding the whole season using Deviator and will therefore be hoping the seriously extend the life of his freestyle boards !
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
When asked, "In your opinion, who will be the 2008 PWA Slalom 42 world champion ?", answers are… Antoine Albeau : 88%Kevin Pritchard : 4%Björn Dunkerbeck : 2%Micah Buzianis : 2%Finian Maynard : 1%Josh Angulo : 3% Thanks to our panel of 1138 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
The market for small, on-board, waterproof cameras has exploded this year with most camescope manufacturers getting in on the act, bringing out new models.Panasonic are no exception to the rule, following the February release of their SDR-SW20, a compact multi-sports camera...Although they have a global marketing strategy, over in Germany, the local Panasonic group have decided to employ the services of one Bernd Flessner to help promote the new toy for them, testing the camera during his winter sessions over in South Africa.
And the result is that despite jumping up to 8 metres at a time, the Panasonic SDR-SW20 in question stood up to everything the German could throw at it, as shown on these great videos !
Watch video 1 (Flash Media Player) Watch video 2 (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
A global concept, Sylvain Demercastel’s Planet Blow also exists as a dedicated website where you can see the trailer clip currently on WJ TV, download it, and find out lots more about the two main trips you’ll see in the film, to Chile from Costa Rico to Indonesia.As you’d expect, a cool site, top class graphically, and as an added bonus, in HD (High Definition) quality format with excellent streaming ! Pour en savoir plus :
www.planetblow.com
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
Music composer, windsurfer, eternal globetrotter and lover of beautiful destinations, Sylvain Demercastel, along with top mate Fabrice Beaux, has been all over the world over the last few years filming for his brand new and unparalleled production, Planet Blow.An action film largely based around windsurfing, Planet Blow also gives you an excellent view of our fragile planet, a fact that has never been more newsworthy than now.Check out the excellent trailer clip for Planet Blow now on WJ TV !
Watch the "Planet Blow" trailer on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: June 4th, 2008, 1:52am CEST
Recently signed up to Severne Sails, German rider Peter Garzke has also just given his whole website a good going over !Simple, clean and well built (the site we mean), it’s a place you can find out more about G-6, specially where that concerns his travels, Garzke spending more than half his life travelling the world’s windsurf spots… More information :
www.petergarzke.com
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Fetched: May 30th, 2008, 11:20pm CEST
On the 17th and 18th May, Buhala Boards organised their first ever round of competition dirt windsurfing, the Buhala Dirt Windsurfing Contest, in Leucate, south of France ! We bring you the best of the action (and filming) from the two riotous days with lots of slalom and freestyle to enjoy, proof again that windsurfing can have a proper life off the water too...
Watch the "Buhala Dirt Windsurfing Contest" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: May 30th, 2008, 11:20pm CEST
Over on Maui, Hawaii, the waveriding season has given its place up for the start of the slalom season and the legendary Maui Race Series, a generally "friendly" series of races organised to interest the riders and entertain the watchers down at Kanaha...Friendly but serious enough to motivate the local riders who are out training at every opportunity so as to be completely ready for the opening of "competition", as you'll see on this great new video from our colleagues at Mauiwindsurfing.net called "Speed Racers", where you can enjoy the racing skills of the likes of Peter Thommen and old timer Greg Thomas who, at 61 years old, is sure to be there with the rest of them and be part of the action !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 30th, 2008, 11:20pm CEST
There’s no shortage of pretenders to the 50 knot crown in 2008… And following its initial trials around Sydney, WotRocket is the latest to grab some attention for its cause, with the launch of its brand new website !Cool, clean and well produced, the Wotrocket.com site tells you much more about this bizarre looking boat that could easily be up there tickling Antoine Albeau’s record very soon.For now, having not really had the kind of conditions they would have liked, WotRocket will be undergoing some more much-needed intensive testing from June 2nd to 7th,with their official attempt to beat the 50 knot mark starting in just a few weeks time. According to the engineers responsible for developing the WotRocket, it needs a smooth, steady 25 knot wind to hope to be able to achieve double that in water speed over 500 metres ! Pour en savoir plus :
www.wotrocket.com
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Fetched: May 30th, 2008, 11:20pm CEST
The blog trend has been getting much stronger over the last few years and now windsurf manufacturers are starting to take it much more seriously !North Sails came up with something the other week when they launched their Windsurfer’s Union, where their team riders post items whenever the can, and now Hawaiian sail maker Ezzy Sails has just started its own blog, a platform where you can read the outpourings of designer David Ezzy, but also his son Graham Ezzy, and none other than Jem Hall…
Well conceived, well produced ! More information :
www.ezzyblog.com
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
It’s been a great month for Women’s RS:X world #1 Marina Alabau (ESP), who retained her European title in Brest before taking victory at Medemblik. The Spaniard has held the top spot in the rankings since February 2007 and on current form (she’s finished on the podium at every ISAF Graded event she’s competed in this year) looks set to be fixture there for some time to come.
Hyères winner Zofia Klepacka (POL) stays at #2 after a fourth place finish at the Europeans, whilst Charline Picon (FRA) at #3 and Barbara Kendall (NZL) at #4 are also unmoved after winning the silver medals at Brest and Medemblik respectively.Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) stays top for the fourth consecutive of the Men’s RS:X rankings, a bronze medal at the European Championship in Brest the latest addition to his trophy cabinet. However, world #2 Joao Rodrigues (POR) has closed the gap on the leader, cutting the points’ difference at the top to less than 50 after he was crowned 2008 European Champion in France.
Behind the top two, Julien Bontemps (FRA) climbs up two places to #3 following a terrific month for the Frenchman. Since missing out on the Medal Race at this year’s World Championship in New Zealand, Bontemps has found his form and followed up a silver medal performance at the Europeans by winning gold in Medemblik.
See women ISAF ranking See men ISAF ranking
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
The PWA World Tour is the pinnacle of professional windsurfing, but a paradox has always existed for upcoming talents hoping to climb the PWA ranks; to improve they need competition experience, but sponsors are often reluctant to fund first time competitors, knowing they are unlikely to make a big impact with such little competition experience. Taking the initiative is Italian windsurfer Raimondo ’X-Ray’ Gasperini (Starboard). Gasperini, fed up with seeing numerous young talents going to waste, has set up Project X-Ray.
Project X-Ray is focused on 3 young Brazilian rippers, Edvan De Souza (Mistral, Simmer), Danilo Da Silva (Fanatic, North Sails), Samuel Teixeira (Starboard), and Italian freestyler, Nicola Spadea (Starboard, Severne).
The goal of the project is to help these sailors gain exposure and competition experience that they otherwise would not have access to. For 3 months, Project X-Ray will fund the team of young freestylers, as they compete in the PWA’s freestyle competitions around Europe. Raimondo Gasperini hopes the project will encourage others to set up similar schemes to help promote the future talents of windsurfing.
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
7 days to go to till the next EFPT tour stop !!! A brandnew location is comin up and everyone’s sure stoked to go there. Contest is about to happen at the Club Vass in Vassiliki, Greece, as some riders found out last year already, a awesome place...Club Vass is famous for perfect conditions, perfect organized windsurf trips and first class instructors. Well with guys like Simon Hurrey, Collin Dixon, Andy "Bubble" Chambers spending their summers in Vass everyone can be sure of getting a good "lesson". Of course the guys will also compete !!!After the tour had the first event in Lefkada north last year the boys invited the other competitors to visit Vassiliki. Several riders stayed even longer to practice for the following events and so it was no big surprise that the Club Vass joined the tour this year. The top European freestylers will join in and fight for the next 10 000 € and points.
See the entry list
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
It’s a pretty rare event to see windsurfing in the very heart of Paris, other than some indoor, as seen and much appreciated in the big hall at Bercy.
But on the 26th May, the French Olympic sailing team, including Faustine Merret and Julien Bontemps on their RS:X gear, came into town for a rare city session on the Seine, right in the heart of the capital, as part of their official presentation to the French press ! Some amusing footage to enjoy and even some proper planning, with a bit of arm work…
Watch the "Windsurfing in Paris !" video on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
17th and 18th May, the 1st national freestyle contest in Greece took place in Larissa. It was a superb weekend with winds from 12-20 knots from thermical wind… 14 contenders and 3 of them were EFPT riders so the level was really high. With good conditions, organizers can do a full single and a double elimination !
Results : 1/ Nikos Athanasiou, 2/ Stam Promponas, 3/ Alex Prapas, 4/ Nick Fakinos, 5/ Bill Ntibhs, 6/ Bill zimnhs, 7/ Alex Tetshs, 8/ Bathrelos Teo, 9/ Eyh Tsape and Kostas Tzortzhs…
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
Young windsurfer identified as part of the new young generation in Britain, Jamie Hancock, has just signed a deal with Gun Sails !Brought up in those north Atlantic depressions and a big waveriding fan, K-218 is happy to make the trip up to Scotland when necessary to sail the top spot over at Tiree.At 24 years old, Hancock’s next big aim is to jump onto the PWA World Tour wave contest and is giving himself a great chance of making it, having just spent a month on the celebrated island of Maui over in Hawaii !A name and sail number to watch…
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
Announced at the beginning of the year as including both Slalom42 and freestyle for men and women, then postponed while waiting for a change of dates, the PWA Lanzarote in the Canaries at the famous spot of Costa Teguise will now be held from June 23rd to 28th !!!Whilst the Slalom racers have lost a round from their calendar, our freestyling friends can at least plan for a great week at what is normally one of the best events of the season ! The duel between 2007 World Champion Marcilio Browne and 2006 Champion Gollito Estredo is one worth following as close as you can…
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Fetched: May 29th, 2008, 7:08pm CEST
Present for the Defi Wind in Gruissan in the south of France at the beginning of May, in among the riders at the PWA Ulsan, South Korea a few days later, Robert Teriitehau has shown himself highly motivated this season to follow the major international competition tours… But after two events, mostly marked by lack of wind, is F-2000 still as up for it ?As we understand it, Teriitehau will be doing everything possible to be present at the PWA Costa Brava from 10th to 15th June, even if he doesn’t yet figure among the list of registered riders !Clearly intent on finding a stage for his supreme talent, F-2000 will be looking to cast off the no-wind spell, specially as, after 2 contests, he’s already being called "the black cat" by the other riders !!!
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
The second leg of the Formula World Tour takes place from 4th to 7th June, hosted by SKZ Sopot. The 2008 Sopot Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix is sponsored by the city of Sopot and CF Plus. It will be the first time a major international formula event has taken place in Sopot, although the club has hosted many championhips for other classes.
Top Formula racers from all over the world converging on Sopot include Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel (ARG 3), Wilhelm Schurmann (BRA 999), Steve Allen (AUS 0), Alberto Menegatti (ITA 456), Jesper Vesterstrom (DEN111), Miguel Martinho (POR5) and Ross Williams (GBR 83) and they face a strong challenge from Poland's Wojtek Brzozowski, Hubert Mokrzycki, Michal Polanowski, and from the host club, Pawel Hlavaty.
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
Sunday 25th May, inconsistent and light winds for this year 1st Maui Vmax saw a very limited field of competitors battle the elements. The weather teased all day offering a sporadic few minutes of good conditions up, then taking them away.Alex Aguera proved the best way to deal with such conditions was to spend as much time on the water as possible. He put in as many runs as the whole rest of the field combined ! Early in the day the times were very even with 34s being posted. In the mid afternoon a spell of good wind saw the speeds jump up and Alex Aguera was there to capitalise posting the only speed in the 36s at 36.8 knots. In the Wave division Chris McNeil posted a very impressive 31.2 knot 100m time taking the wave division with a 30.0 knot average. Unfortunately a major blunder by the race director caused Mark Nelson's best speeds not to be recorded. Results : 1/ Alex Aguera (36,8 knots), 2/ Peter John (35,3 knots), 3/ Tom Hammerton (34,9 knots), 4/ Mark Nelson (31,6 knots)…
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
Talented waverider hailing from the legendary spot of Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria, Spanish star Jonas Ceballos has just made his web debut with a splendid new blog.Extremely productive on the video side over the last few weeks, E-40 will presumably be using his blog to show off his latest cuts, with plenty of hot and hard Pozo action to admire and enjoy !!! More information :
jonase40.blogspot.com
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
Recent winner at the Portugal Grand Prix in Sines at the beginning of May, Argentinian rider Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel has signed up for the season as part of the Maui Fin Company team !ARG-3 joins American Micah Buzianis in the ranks and the pair of them have their hands full this season with the development of two brand new models, the SL2 and the RC2, both of which are slalom fins…Release date for these new weapons is the beginning of 2009 !
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
The 2008 Maui Vmax competition is a GPS speed-sailing competition that will have two concurrent events. Their will be a Speed Ladder running all year and a Speed Series consisting of six Speed Meetings. The Speed Meetings will score points to count towards an overall series champion. The Speed ladder is an open event which will score only the single highest speed. 2008 Dates for Speed Meetings (subject to change)
Sunday - May 25
Sunday - June 29
Sunday - July 13
Sunday - August 31
Sunday - September 21
Sunday - October 19 For Speed Meeting series, the top three 100m speeds as recorded by GT-11 GPS averaged and results verified by the race director using GPS results software (interpolation on) will be used for the day’s result. The competitors will be ranked in order from fastest to slowest using the average of their three fastest 100m speeds. More information :
www.mauispeed.com
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
The 9th to 11th May, Qingdao in China, venue of the Olympic sailing events in August, was the location chosen for the ISAF (International Sailing Federation) for its mid-year meeting, with a few hot subjects on their agenda…In fact, they were due to confirm the choice of sailing classes for the next Olympics, the 2012 games in London… And the good news is that windsurfing will definitely feature on the programme, this being a decisions that normally comes up for review every year ! And, as has been much-demanded this winter, there’s no longer a place for multi-hulled boats…Another interesting news snippet is that the ISAF is working flat out to establish an ISAF World Cup for 2009, a class-based World Cup that will interest all RS:X sailors as it could mean the establishment of a proper professional circuit !One to follow…
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
We mentioned this one a few days ago, that Alain Thébault’s Hydroptere boat is now ready and has made the short journey from Toulon to Marseille in the south of France, during the night of Thursday/Friday last week.Now at anchor in the old port of Marseille, the Hydroptere is waiting for a good Mistral to blow in to carry out its first real tests under race conditions before going for its 50 knot attempt off the Plage Napoleon at Port-St-Louis-du-Rhone !
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
On Sunday May 25 2008, the remaining top ten sailors at the Delta Lloyd Regatta met windy and wet conditions in the medal races. The strong breeze and choppy IJsselmeer were challenging. The competitors showed spectacular battles with lots of capsizes around the course. The leaders tried to stay out of troubles and others had to take extra risks. Some gained and some lost. According to many Olympians, this year’s Delta Lloyd Regatta has been a good training for Beijing with an interesting end."Today was a different competition", said overall winner Julien Bontemps (FRA). "It is interesting to finish the series like this. I had a good start with Dorian. Of course I was covering him, but my upwind speed was bad and he was in front of me." The two Dutchmen Dorian van Rijsselberge and Casper Bouman, both coached by McIntosh (NZL), like the heavy weather conditions and were flying. Going into the medal race, Bouman was in ninth position. He needed to finish top six in order to qualify for Beijing. He took the bullet, but missed the sixth position by just one point. He has one more chance in Kiel. If he fails, Van Rijsselberge will go. Despite the fact he has a full nomination of NOC*NSF, he lost the national selection to Bouman, who still needs to complete his nomination. Sunday, Van Rijsselberge sailed in second position as he saw Bouman making a small mistake at the bottom mark. Bontemps passed him and secured his overall victory, followed by Van Rijsselberge and Tom Ashley from New Zealand.
Marina Alabau (ESP) did not take any risks in the women fleet: "I already had a big lead, so I took it easy. It was heavy going downwind in these choppy conditions. I did not have much control." But the Spanish European Champion finished third and won the regatta, followed by Barbara Kendall (NZL) and Blanca Manchon (ESP), who took the final bullet.
See women results after 9 races See men results after 9 races
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Fetched: May 27th, 2008, 6:51pm CEST
On the fourth day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008, the competition heated up. The eastern breeze was a bit stronger and the water was still choppy. Match racing, OCS’s and different conditions brought some changes in ranking and leaders. Going into the final medal races Sunday, the pressure is full on for the top ten ranked teams. The rest of the fleets will also do one more race. According to the weather forecast, the wind will pick up to force 5.The RS:X European Champion Marina Alabau (ESP) extended her overall lead with six points by taking both bullets Saturday. In the men’s fleet it was Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge who closed the gap on Julien Bontemps (FRA). He won both races and is now four points behind.
See women results after 8 races See men results after 8 races
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Fetched: May 25th, 2008, 3:14am CEST
On the third day of the Delta Lloyd Regatta 2008, the sailing conditions varied from light, to medium to stronger conditions. All competitors had to adapt to the changing circumstances on the IJsselmeer off the coast of Medemblik. The morning breeze was about 10 knots, decreasing to only 5-8 knots and picking up again to about 16 knots.According to the RS:X windsurfers, the Delta Lloyd Regatta has been a good training for China so far. But during Friday’s second race, the wind picked up and the competitors had to adjust their trim. Bontemps continued his strong performance on the IJsselmeer with another bullet in 6-8 knots. Dorian van Rijsselberge remained in second position overall.The current European Champion Marina Alabau (ESP) scored exactly the same results as Thursday, a first and sixth. She still leads the twenty participants in the RS:X Women. Faustine Merret (FRA) is second overall, with just one point difference.
See women results after 6 races See men results after 6 races
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Fetched: May 23rd, 2008, 11:26pm CEST
Carbon fibre has been one of the essential materials for building windsurf boards for some time now, likewise since then for making masts, booms and extensions.And with its well-understood mechanical properties, carbon has also become a material of choice for plenty of other industries such as cars and planes, the latter being a major user.But for the last 2 years windsurf manufacturers have been readying themselves for the transition to technora, a composite with very similar mechanical properties… And with good reason, carbon fibre is increasingly rare and of course more expensive. The given reasons are many and varied, from the demand exceeding supply argument to the increase in oil prices…But there’s a new influence making its entry onto the carbon trail, the Airbus A-380, the flower of the European air industry, has become a "super consumer" of carbon in general, and specifically K1, the type used in windsurf !!!Real excuse or false rumour, one thing’s for sure, having a 100% carbon board will become more and more of a luxury over the next few years…
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Fetched: May 23rd, 2008, 11:26pm CEST
A small but perfectly formed happening at the forthcoming PWA Slalom 42 in Costa Brava from 10th to 15th June when wave riding starlet Iballa Moreno will be competing at her first real slalom event following her successful try out at last year’s Fuerteventura contest… She tells us how it was for her !"Last year, I only did the Fuerteventura event because the freestyle contest was going off a few days later on the same spot. This year I’m going to Costa Brava because the organisers invited me and they’ve made a big effort to get as many women riders there as possible… So it was an opportunity to go and have a proper try, plus I’ve got the advantage that it’s all going off in Spain !I’ve never sailed with such big sails, which makes it a kind of personal challenge. It’s something completely different from what I’m used to doing ! So I’ll do my best and we’ll see what happens…In any case, I’m not planning to do all the slalom rounds this year, just Costa Brava and Fuerteventura…"
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Fetched: May 23rd, 2008, 11:26pm CEST
The second day at the 2008 Delta Lloyd Regatta in the Netherlands showed some close racing. The light breeze and shifts caused tactical difficulties, but pleased the Olympian teams preparing for China.Dutchman Dorian van Rijsselberge had to give up on his lead in the RS:X Men class. He started with a fifth place, but lost the battle in the second race in which he finished 20th. Thanks to the discard, he could hang on to a second position behind Julien Bontemps from France.In the women fleet, Marina Alabau (ESP) is still heading for an overall victory.
See women results after 4 races See men results after 4 races
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Fetched: May 23rd, 2008, 11:26pm CEST
In a market segment already fairly well supplied by the likes of Deboichet, Select and Maui Fin Company, a brand new fin maker has emerged from the undergrowth in the shape of Maui Ultra Fins (MUFins)… Born at the end of 2007, MUFins has begun to really take off this season under the guidance of Rick Hanke. A keen windsurfer, he’s been working for 30 years in aeronautics over in Germany, specialising in dynamic and simulated flight. With perfect schooling in fluid mechanics, he also decided to put his knowledge to good effect after he retired in 2004 !Already picked up by the radars of David Ezzy and Peter Thommen in the last few months, MUFins fins have been developed with the same attention to detail as an aeroplane wing as far as profile and outline are concerned. Already very complete, the full MUFins range includes slalom fins, freeride and twinzer wave board fins, in the case of the last two with some fairly astonishing shapes to boot !!! More information about MUFins :
www.mauiultrafins.com
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Fetched: May 23rd, 2008, 8:27am CEST
If you’re lucky enough to be off to Maui - Hawaii for a trip in the near future (you never know !), bear I mind that none other than Erik Beale will be offering speed sailing oriented clinics this season ! Organised in association with the Maui Sports Unlimited school, these classes, which are for capable sailors to improve their skills, will be happening at Kanaha Beach Park and will comprise alternate dry land theory sessions with practical water experience, the idea being to get you to sail as fast as possible…The first man to beat 40 knots, back in 1988 on the canal at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Beale should surely be one of the best teachers possible and places on the 10 dates so far announced are sure to be snapped up very quickly ! More information :
www.mauisportsunlimited.com
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 12:54pm CEST
Wind forecasting websites have quickly become an essential tool for any serious windsurfer, and the sites have become ever more ingenious in devising new ways of attracting visitors to their particular site…The latest to appear, the German site Windfinder.com, has the usual kind of forecasts but has also just launched a page called "Super Forecast". As well as the usual 8 day ahead forecasts, the new page gives you much better accuracy (21km instead of the previous 42) for the next 3 days. And as a bonus, extra information such as the humidity, temperature or rainfall, all vital information, specially as it is updated at least 4 times a day !And to check it out for yourselves, just get onto your regular weather site and click "Super Forecast". More information :
www.windfinder.com
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
On Wednesday May 21st 2008, the Delta Lloyd Regatta started with tricky conditions on the IJsselmeer (Netherlands). The moderate eastern breeze shifted to the north-northeast and was very variable.Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) won both RS:X races for men (41 windsurfers) and so did Marina Alabau in the women fleet (20 entries).
See women results after 2 races See men results after 2 races
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
Slowly but surely the new 2009 ranges are appearing, either on photos on the net or by bits of information gleaned here and there…And let’s start with Simmer Sails and the spot of Pozo Izquierdo where quite a few sightings have been made; with Spanish rising star Jonas Ceballos getting delivery of his new 2009 sails !And if the rumours are in any way correct, one thing is sure, that the Simmer Sails 2009 range is going to see some serious changes with the classic Vision, XFlex and Crosssover models disappearing in favour of the more up to date Mission, Mission HD and Iron designs…More info in the next few weeks !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
Registered for the last Defi Wind in Gruissan at the start of May, young Brazilian rider Gabriel Browne was showing off his brand new slalom sail, the Maui Sails TR-4 XT… Derived from the successful TR-4 model, a sail we’ve already spoken about on Windsurfjournal.com, the sail is constructed with a wide mast sleeve, but in technora instead of the traditional monofilm… Technora is a sandwich of monofil with an aramide weave, a material usually used in light wind sports sails. Available in a limited edition from 7.6 to 12.0 m2, the TR-4 XT is very stiff and strong but also very light. But the most interesting thing is the weight reduction, with a gain of between 1 and 3 kilos depending on sail size. All, according to Maui Sails, while retaining the same mechanical qualities… And riders Dan Ellis and Gabriel Browne will be using these as their big sail sizes this year in PWA Slalom 42…
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
From 29th April to 4th May, Podersdorf in Austria was home to the first round of the PWA freestyle of the season, with victory going to Gollito Estredo, ahead of Marcilio Browne and Tonky Frans…The film company present for the event, MotionManager, have sent us a package of 6 day summaries of the 6 days of competition, some with more wind than others but all full of top class action !
Watch the PWA Podersdorf highlights on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
The PWA round in Ulsan, South Korea, not having been validated because of lack of wind, all eyes are rapidly switching to Rosas, Costa Brava, Spain, which will be host to the second round of PWA Slalom42 from 10th to 15th June…Renowned for its forceful thermal winds, it’s a spot that should certainly allow the riders to get into proper action on the water, but also one that is already destined to set a record, that of having as many as 20 women riders registered !!!It’s a long time since anyone saw that many women riders registered for a Slalom 42 event, although the local organizers have also been trying to boost the numbers of women at the contest…Alongside the regular leader board contenders such as Karin Jaggi, Valérie Ghibaudo and Sarah Hébert, there will be a strong French contingent present in the shape of Ophelie Joly, Alice Arutkin, Marion Raïsi and Astrid Muldoon…And the keener observers among you will also notice, women from the RS:X world such as Canadian Dominique Vallée and Israeli Lee-el Korzits (who were in Ulsan) will also be present alongside French rider Lise Vidal and Polish rider Marta Hlavaty…And after a successful first outing last year at Fuerteventura, wave starlet Iballa Moreno should also be on the starting blocks !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
An unprecedented deal has just been signed by Fanatic who have just signed a partnership agreement with energy bar maker Powerbar !In fact, having already signed up riders Klaas Voget and André Paskowski to their sport team, Powerbar will be supplying the whole Fanatic team with energy bars and other products necessary for a top level extreme sportsman or woman…And for sure, their balanced formula of glucose, vitamins, minerals, fibre and proteins will make the Fanatic team one to watch out for this season !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
At 14 years old, Philip Koester, the young German rider who lives on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, is starting to create quite a stir… Spotted this winter by NeilPryde, the young star never stops training, mostly down at his local spot at Vargas, not far from Pozo.At the beginning of May, at the first round of the Canarian Waveriders 2008, the Canaries wave championship, at Pozo itself, Koester presented himself for registration but was refused entry to the main event on the grounds that he was too young… He was only allowed to compete in the Junior class, an event he won easily, E-44 crushing his opponents with his stunningly good style. In July however, Koester should be able to compete at the PWA event at Pozo, and if that’s the case then the other riders should start worrying !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
The Naish multimedia platform, Naish.tv usually has some pretty cool kitesurf and windsurf videos, but not usually much in the way of surf...But that's all changed now, with this well-produced video of none other than Robby Naish in person, introducing you to the delights of SUP !Plenty of great filming, the top man's top tips, and even an unprecedented attempt to SUP Jaws !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
That 50 knot barrier is still the subject on plenty of people’s lips at the moment as our colleague kitesurfers get back into serious action ! At Luderitz in Namibia last September at the first ever Luderitz Speed Challenge, these guys set the timing systems on fire with a new women’s world record (Sjoukje Bredenkamp with 42.35 knots) and above all Alex Caizergues’ superb performance of 47.92 knots.And seemingly set on smashing the 50 knots themselves, the kitesurfers are setting up for a new round of attempts at the same spot from 15th September to 13th October under the banner of the Luderitz Speed Challenge 2008 !And there are some new features this year, the course is being re-worked to improve the run over its first 250 metres, but also on the depth of the run itself. Finian Maynard, who has been to check out the run at Luderitz, had to give up because of the very shallow depth of the run, but part of the work on the spot is to, according to the organisers, "dig deep under the fins" meaning that windsurfers too could find themselves with plenty of water to make use of…Old windsurfers themselves, organisers Sebastien Cattelanc and Frédéric Dasse reckon that a windsurfer could post a good speed at Luderitz and the event is officially open to entrants from the discipline… It remains to be seen what they’ll think of the offer !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
The last big week of Olympic class competition in Europe (before the Games themselves), the Delta Lloyd Regatta, will be going off in Medemblik in Holland from 21st to 25th May…A week of classic racing generally speaking, this year’s running will be the last opportunity for many to test out in competition conditions before the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.And the competitors certainly haven’t missed the point, in the women’s event there will be Jessica Crisp, Barbara Kendall, Marina Alabau (recent RS:X champion of Europe in Brest)) as well as a certain Faustine Merret…The men’s contest too looks like attracting some names, such as Julien Bontemps, Joao Rodrigues, plus a mass delegation from Hong Kong !
See the list of registered women See the list of registered men
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
The man to beat at the PWA Ulsan, South Korea, Antoine Albeau will have to wait a little longer, as will his adversaries, before the season's real battles get going in earnest... Here's his story of a week of important lessons !"There's not a lot I can say about the Ulsan round, except no wind, no wind, even less wind !!!We managed to sail on a few days nevertheless, which wasn't too bad for getting things tuned up... We did a few speed runs for comparison of equipment etc. and I noticed that lots of the guys were planing really easily in the light winds and super-glassy water.And I noticed that plenty of sail manufacturers have put together good teams this year which some great competition in prospect, starting with the next PWA round in Costa Brava !!!"
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
When asked, "What do you think of the new version of Windsurfjournal.com ?", answers are… Great success : 52%Pretty cool : 13%Not bad at all : 13%OK : 7%Wathever : 6%Preferred the old version : 9% Thanks to our panel of 1280 voters…Watch out for new survey starting now !
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
During the recent Defi Wind in Gruissan, south of France, NeilPryde were showing off a brand new sail design that should be in the shops as from June, the V8 Helium...Although it’s a well-known name from the NeilPryde range, it’s performance spec is brand new as it’s a sail dedicated to light wind sailing. Available in 3 sizes (6.5, 7.5 and 8.5) the idea is to help windsurfers avoid investing in huge sails (10 m2 plus), instead to choose a sail better adapted to rider size, with the 6.5 suggested for 65 kilo riders, 7.5 for 75 kilos and the 8.5 for 85 kilos…Stripped down to the max, the V8 Helium also has a very deep profile to get power up quickly, giving, according to NeilPryde, about 1.0 metre of extra performance (and 8.5 giving the power of a 9.5)…
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
We mentioned recently the possibility of a new wave sail model from Ezzy Sails, the Wave Panther, and the Hawaiian manufacturer seems to be getting seriously inspired for 2009 with the appearance of a second wave sail, called the Free Wave !As the name would suggest, it’s a sail that covers a mixed programme of waveriding and freemove, and all with the traditional Ezzy build quality and attention to detail…Available from 3.7 to 6.3 m2, the Ezzy Free Wave will feature a coloured monofilm sail head with the main body in technora.More news in the next few weeks…
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
ClubVentos (the windsurf center of Jericoacoara), has just revealed the outcome of their mega-expedition in December 2007. Their Beach Search with riders like Kauli Seadi, Kevin Pritchard, Marcilio Browne, Robby Swift and Andre Paskowski took 10 days, and they covered 300 km of Brazil’s hidden beaches; in search for their second windsurf vacation spot.
Icarazinho ! Just as sweet as Jericoacoara sounds when pronounced, Icarazinho does. This unknown bay, 100 km from Jericoacoara is going to host ClubVentos second windsurf center, starting already this summer. The plan is to have a new constructed exclusive center ready in July 2009, but they will already start this summer to offer a limited rental service operating from an existing beach front “pousada” (hotel).So you have the opportunity to try what the PWA stars recently discovered as a hidden pearl. They also mention on their homepage that client will be able to split their vacation between Jericoacoara and Icarazinho, and do the buggy ride between them, just like in the Beach Search ! 2 spots and an adventurous buggy ride in 2 weeks!From today, you are able to download the official Beach Search DVD from Clubventosbeachsearch.com. It’s an adventurous traveling documentary containing a lot of action from some of the best riders today. Icarazinho and Jericoacoara shows what high class windsurfing should be like ! Do not miss this DVD ! More information :
www.clubventosbeachsearch.com (Movie menu)
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Fetched: May 22nd, 2008, 10:41am CEST
It’s a symbolic windsurf date, back in May 1998 the Starboard GO first appeared, that great all-rounder board and freerider par excellence, that would become a benchmark board in its domain, and above all a best seller for Tiki… At that time beginner boards were on average between 3.2 and 3.6 metres long, but no wider than 75cm. Since Starboard had been created Svein Rasmussen had been thinking about a board in a new style, the birth of compact boards…To finish the story, it was when he sent an email to Jim Drake to try and convince him to try the board, that the idea really saw the light of day. The two men met on a beach in Santa Barbara, California, and seeing Jim Drake’s evident enthusiasm for the idea, Rasmussen jumped in both feet first ! And it was from this meeting that the partnership we all know nowadays between the two first started…
First developed under the name 321 GO (and 321cm long), the revolution was to then release the board as an 280 x 83cm model…And after just a few weeks on the market and despite some resistance and scepticism, the GO quickly became a respected ride, and particularly in schools all over the world !
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Fetched: May 18th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Speed sailing really is all over the news at the moment ! There's the WotRocket we mentioned earlier in the week that's just started official testing in Australia, although the winds have been too light as yet. So now it's Alain Thébault's Hydroptere that's starting to make the running and gossip...Still in the proces of being re-assembled, the Hydroptere should be undergoing static testing in the next few days to make sure everything is properly in place, then it's time for some final adjustments and tuning of its measuring equipment.Once all that's completed, Hydroptere will make its initial runs on the "rade de Toulon" in the south of France, before heading for Marseille just along the coast, the boat's base camp for the record attempt series !Then it's as planned, off to Port-St-Louis-du-Rhone, off the immense "plage Napoleon" beach, that Hydroptere will be hoping to get the conditions necessary to smash the 50 knot barrier...
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Fetched: May 18th, 2008, 8:44pm CEST
Day six of competition is ready to get going.Riders have been greeted with a sunny morning and light winds down on Jinha beach.
See the livecast
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
At their recent general meeting, the ISAF, the International Sailing Federation, voted through some new rules that will apply from 1st January 2009…Among the new rules adopted, the most significant is surely that regarding the numbering of official sails to be used in Slalom, RS:X, Formula Windsurfing and Raceboard, in response to the mounting clamour that has happened over the last couple of years…New rule B.42 means that sail numbers must be black, minimum 23cm high and on a white background, and placed in the top part of the sail ! And of course your number must be clearly visible on both sides of the sail !
See new ISAF rule B.42 (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
In March, Kai Katchadorian, Levi Siver and Jake Miller jetted off to Cape Verde to try and get onto the opening PWA waves round of the season… And from this away trip for the lads to one of the most beautiful waves in the world, Jake Miller has sent us this portrait of Kai Katchadorian, a rider who’s been in love with this spot for a few years now.Some great action at Ponta Preta plus some of the island of Sal’s less wll-known secret spots !
Watch US-33 in Cape Verde on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel on iTunes Store Courtesy of
www.snakebitefilms.com and
www.quatrointernational.com
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
While there may not have been much action in Ulsan, South Korea, just two days from the end of this round of the PWA Slalom42, there’s still plenty of news coming out of the rider paddock !Among the discussions of the best winter session or what’s the best tuning for equipment, a shy youngster called Olivier-Tom Schliemann stands out from the other participants… And with good reason, at just 17 years old he’s made the long trip over with just one board and two sails !!! No problem registering his equipment for Slalom 42, his option being more like a Slalom 21, his quiver comprising just a Naish Stealth 8.2 and 6.5 m2 and his Starboard iSonic 105 !Not completely unknown to us here at WJ towers, Schliemann made his first PWA appearance last year on the Costa Brava, Spain, and has already got some kind of name in Germany as a talented rider of Formula Windsurfing and Olympic class.And having decided to do some more PWA Slalom42 rounds this year, he may not have the equipment range of a pro rider, but there’s no doubting his motivation !
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
In amongst all the plentiful tv websites that are appearing on the net, Waxup.tv is one that caught our attention…Developed by Frenchies Harold Quinquis and Emile Pastureau, Waxup.tv looks like being a reference point for all kinds of board sports, kitesurf, wakeboard, skateboard and of course windsurf !And apparently having plenty of material to work with, Waxup.tv has showcased some cool trailers, like the one for the Windsurfing Movie, Epic Maui Sessions, and other neat films like Josh Angulo at Cape Verde.The streaming is ok, although the full screen option has somewhat reduced definition, but the action is everything you could want !We would recommend Patrick Dupont’s film Hot, a collector’s item almost an hour long from the end of the 80s… A site to bookmark ! More information :
www.waxup.tv
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
From 1st to 4th May, the Multivan Surf Festival Fehmarn 2008 brought four days of very nice and sunny weather with everybody-races and lots of material testing. 15,000 visitors came to the German island in the Baltic Sea to examine the latest equipment of the 40 exhibiting companies. The highest national regatta series, the German Windsurf Cup DWC, had one tour stop at the festival. 12 fold German Champion Bernd Flessner won again at Fehmarn. He aims at his 13th DWC title in 2008. The highlight of the Festival, the race around the island, could not start due to the light wind conditions. This race is not only a special highlight of the festival. This is a battle between wind driven water vehicles.Björn Dunkerbeck, Bernd Flessner and Andrea Cucci on windsurf boards wanted to challenge the German Champions and Olympians Florian Spalteholz and Johannes Polgar with their Tornado cataman. Now we have to wait one more year, until Björn Dunkerbeck can defend his title in this race from 2007 again.
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Fetched: May 16th, 2008, 9:09pm CEST
The competitors are just arriving on Jinha beach for day five of the Ulsan PWA World Cup. At present there's no wind out to sea, but clear skies suggest there's every possibility of a thermal wind kicking in as the day warms up.
See the livecast
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Another young gun getting busy on the spot at Pozo, young Spanish rider Jonas Ceballos is also one to watch in the waves despite finishing only 13th at Cape Verde in March at the opening round of the PWA waves season…Another one who’s looking to explode on the scene in July, E-40 is also hard at his training, polishing up his surf moves as sell as his more renowned jump style. Check it out here on this video called "Just a normal day" !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
We’ve been beating the Eleazar Alonso drum here on Windsurfjournal.com for some time now, this young Spanish rider from Pozo Izquierdo on Gran Canaria…Recently signed up to Fanatic and Gaastra, he’s hard at his training on his home spot, readying himself for the second round of the PWA waves championship there at the beginning of July…And judging by this video, we should be watching out for his table front loops and his doubles !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
For a few years now already, the spot at El Yaque on the island of Margarita, Venezuela, has become a veritable spawning ground for new young freestylers such as Gollito Estredo and Cheo Diaz...Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and the new youngsters are following in the big boys' footsteps, riders such as Deivis Paternina who, according to the experts at the spot, is possibly the most talented among them...
He's just 16 years old now and only started windsurfing 18 months ago (but young minds learn fast, eh ?) ! This short video from Tom Brendt tells you everything you want to know about the young man's prodigious talent and enormous potential !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
PWA World Tour, European Freetyle Pro Tour, not to mention the rounds of national competitions, a freestylers calendar is pretty full even this early in the season ! Which can easily lead to some problematic clashes of dates when event schedules overlap…And in a classic example, the European Freestyle Pro Tour, which should have been setting up shop in Alacati, Turkey, at the end of May for its 5th round of the season has just shifted dates by a few days to allow riders time to compete at the PWA freestyle contest in Lanzarote, Canary Islands just before. Which all means that the EFPT will be in Alacati from the 3rd to 6th July where the best European freestylers will be able to slug it out, with perhaps some of the other international riders as a bonus !
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Around Alicante in Spain, you can’t always rely on the wind being present, which has given rise to some interesting local inventiveness !Proof of that here with Jose Luis, Gong distributor for the region, an SUP fanatic and kitesurf nut, and who had the very good idea of using his Gong Gravity 10’2” on those days of little wind and no waves…The result of which has been some great days sailing, waves or no waves and in very marginal wind !
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
The riders present in Ulsan, South Korea, last year will testify that when the Koreans play host to a round of the PWA World Cup they don’t do things by halves !On the media side there’s something of a frenzy, with heavy coverage by Korean television who, every evening, mentions the event in its headlines, event where for now the wind has been conspicuously absent.Proof on this footage from the 8.00pm UBC News programme, and UTV News who are loop repeating coverage of last year’s event in their programming !
Watch the UBC News (Windows Media Player) Watch the UTV News report (Windows Media Player)
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
At present the sun is out, but the wind is still to kick in.
With warm temperatures forecast for day four of competition, hopefully the local thermal wind will start to blow as the day progresses.
See the livecast
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
What do a double world champion and his regular sparring partner get up to when a flying Moroccan drops by ? They go for a cool SUP session in the old port of La Rochelle !Last week, while Antoine Albeau and Julien Quentel were making final form and equipment tuning before the long journey to Ulsan in South Korea, Boujmaa Guillol, on his tour of French spots through the month of May, dropped by to say hello…But with no decent conditions to be had, our 3 windsurfing friends couldn’t find anything better to do than get out for an SUP session in the old port of La Rochelle, watched by plenty of curious passers by… The evidence is here in this cool photo gallery, showing that a good session just needs a bit of imagination sometimes !
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
A sweep of the brush at Mistral, who have launched their updated website at the start of this windsurf season… While the content pages have a fairly similar look and feel, including the very latest new product tech specs such as the Twinzer RD, the homepage is certainly graphically funkier, heavily re-looked with more space for visuals and news… Specially good is the "Spare parts" page where you can track down some essential parts, such as the dagger board housings for the famous Mistral Equipe ! More information :
www.mistral.com
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Intrigued by Bjorn Dunkerbeck's absence from Ulsan in South Korea for the opening round of PWA Slalom42 this season, we wanted to find out a bit more about the "transport and logistical difficulties" that were cited. Apparently, like a lot of other riders, Dunkerbeck had planned to leave Europe from Frankfurt in Germany to go to Ulsan... Tickets were booked a while ago, and everything was ready for SUI-11 but when our hero turned up at check in he was asked for 5000 Euros baggage charge by the airline, with no guarantee that the equipment would actually get there !Result : rather than lose 5000 Euros by going to Korea with the risk that his gear wouldn't arrive until after the start of competition, Dunkerbeck preferred not to go...An altogether unacceptable situation, to add to the difficulties encountered by French rider Nicolas Akgazciyan who was simply refused access to the plane he wanted to catch to the PWA Podersdorf event in Austria 15 days ago !
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Funny kind of season for the PWA World Tour 2008 which has gone from mostly good news to cancellations and postponements !Wfter the cancellation of the Guincho round in Portugal, now the Lanzarote event in the Canaries has seen its budget reduced… And with it, while the plan was to hold Slalom42 and Freestyle competitions from 21st to 28th June, now just Freestyle has been agreed and included.The net result is that the Slalom racers will have 6 rounds this year, one less than in 2007, making any mistakes made in competition all the more costly…
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Slowly but surely the 2009 equipment ranges are making their appearance, either during the photo shoots, or on the web, or even on the beaches…We’d already mentioned this winter, and the information seems to be confirming itself now, that Fanatic were likely to be releasing a range of twin fin wave boards for 2009, going by the name of Twin Wave… But far from wanting to bury the single concept (single-fin boards) Fanatic are offering the same range as a limited edition called the Team Edition, twin fin and carbon/Kevlar double sandwich construction.And there’s more, apparently Fanatic might extend the Team Edition idea they launched last year with the Skate and NewWave series with more boards appearing in the same construction…All the answers here in a few weeks or months time !
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
At the ripe old age of 45 years old, Robby Naish seems to be living a second youth, on the water and enjoying himself more than ever !Last December, our colleagues at Mauiwindsurfing.net caught him on film at the spot at Sugar Cove on the north shore of Maui, the big man clearly testing, as he thought out of the reach of prying eyes, some of the new Naish 2009 gear…A few months down the line and Mauiwindsurfing.net have sent us this excellent video called "Robby shreds Sugar Cove" with the man himself in tip-top form !
Watch the video (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 15th, 2008, 11:30pm CEST
Day two's skippers meeting was scheduled for 10.00am. At present it's sunny and windless on JinHa beach, meaning racing is unlikely to get underway at the first possible start of 10.30am.
See the livecast
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
With it being Olympic year, there are plenty of pre-event events going off, on the flame trail and likewise on the net ! Which all means that the International Olympic Committee has just launched a new website called Olympic.org/PersonalTrainer where amateurs can benefit from the advice of six top athletes from their fields, including the amazing Sergei Bubka (six-time Olympic pole vault champion) and Russian swimmer Alexander Popov. When you connect to Olympic.org you can watch a selection of videos where the athletes involved answer questions about some of the fundamentals of their sports.So, alongside Moroccan 1500 metres star Hicham El Guerrouj telling you how to improve your concentration and swimmer Rania Elwani giving advice on the best way to prepare yourself mentally, you’ll find windsurf star Barbara Kendall telling you how to keep the “fair play” spirit whatever the circumstances !!! Readers can then vote for their favourite “coach” and even use the videos on their own blogs. More information :
www.olympic.org/PersonalTrainer
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
At 21 years old, Spanish rider Marina Alabau won the European RS:X championships in Brest and showed herself one of the form riders at just 3 months away from the Olympics. She tells us about a victory that was as unexpected as it was pleasing !"I’m really stoked to have won the European championships in Brest… But to be honest my aim wasn’t to win, I was just hoping to gain experience, prepare myself and progress a little more. I felt great physically and I had a lot of fun on the water. I’d just come from the Spanish RS:X championships in Santander, and despite the rain and cold I felt really ready for the competition.It was a great result, no question, but this year the most important thing is obviously the Olympic Games. These European championships were a good training event where we had really varied conditions that I really enjoyed, but I’m staying focussed on Qingdao, I think I’m on the right track and I’m taking my preparations very seriously…"
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
As the Slalom42 rules oblige them to do, riders must pre-register a quiver of not more than 4 sails and 2 boards before the event starts that they must then choose from throughout the week.... This opening round of the PWA Slalom42 at Ulsan in South Korea is no exception to this cast-in-stone rule and, after studying the weather forecasts the riders have now all made their selections !Conforming to habit, reigning world champion Antoine Albeau has opted to "go big" with a 9.8 m2 as his biggest sail, a choice that only Finian Maynard has emulated, with the majority of riders having gone for 9.0 as their upper limit... On the boards side, there's very little sign of anything smaller than 100 litres of volume, and one interesting snippet of news regarding Josh Angulo, currently lacking a slalom board sponsor for the season, and will be racing in Ulsan on his Mistral SL RD 125 and 135 !
See the complete Slalom 42 PWA Ulsan equipment lists (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
We spoke during the winter about the Wot Rocket, the Australian concept somewhere between a boat and a plane, driven by a rigid sail, and another pretender to the 50 knot crown…Following some final preparations over the last few weeks, the Wot Rocket seems ready to move on to the "tuning and testing" stag, from the 13th to 16th May at Kurnell, south of Sydney, Australia, before heading off to Botany Bay the following week for an official attempt to break Antoine Albeau’s current record (49.09 knots on March 5th)…Motivated like a Tasman devil on speed, pilot and creator Sean Langman has been paying special attention to supercavitation, a phenomenon where at high speeds, water transforms into gas/vapour, using some specially designed foils.After the test session over the next few days, Wot Rocket is looking for no more than 18-20 knots of wind speed to be able to beat the 50 knot mark !
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
When you organise a round of the windsurf World Cup there are normally some concessions to be made on the part of the local organisers and on the part of the PWA World Tour team so that things pass off as smoothly as possible…Generally, the PWA World Tour gives a list of conditions that is pretty strict and precise that the organisers must adhere to, but in South Korea where the PWA Slalom42 gets underway tomorrow, the local organisers are the ones laying down the law !So, to allow the biggest number possible of Asian riders to compete, the organisers requested some flexibility on the registered equipment side (normally production equipment only) and that at least 4 overseas (outside Asia) women riders be present or 10,000 of the 45,000 euros prize money would be withheld… The end result is that the Asian riders, who won’t be competing on any other PWA events this year, will be allowed to race with 4 sails and 2 boards of their choice (even customs) and that with Valerie Ghibaudo, Karin Jaggi, 4 Turkish riders and a Canadian in the starting line up, all the cash is up for grabs !
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Fetched: May 14th, 2008, 4:47am CEST
All the sailors are registered and ready to get started racing on day 1 here in Korea. At present we have blue skies and a gusty offshore wind.The skippers meeting was scheduled for 9.00am and everybody is waiting for wind...
See the livecast
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Sailors set out in this Saturday morning for two Formula races, the wind was around 16-20 knots and some sailors went out on 9.8 while others on 11. The fleet was pretty divided with some starting on port and others on starboard. The top 3 had a pretty close fight and Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel took the win followed by Hubert Polanowski in second, Pawel Hlavaty in third, Steve Allen in fourth and Jesper Vesterstrom in fifth.
On the second race mostly started on starboard. Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel was leading going to the last upwind, followed by Steve Allen, Jesper Vesterstrom and Wojtek Brzozowski. However, some guys that where just a few meters behind got a huge lift and got some good advantage. Wilhelm Schurmann rounded in first the last upwind and finished in first followed very close by Steve Allen in second, Alberto Menegatti in third, Pawel Hlavaty in fourth and Wojtek Brzozowski in fifth. Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel had a crash on the last downwind but it did not really mater, as he had already secured the title to take the first Grand Prix World tour event, followed by Steve Allen in second and Jesper Vesterstrom in third.
At 2pm, riders started the slalom, the wind started picking up very fast and at first race riders had around 22 knots, but that soon increased to 30 with gusts going up to 35 knots. Most sailors had big boards and sails registered for the slalom and some had to do miracles to hang on to them. On the first final, Wojtek Brzozowski who was going really fast took an easy win. On the second Final, Steve Allen took the win and the Slalom title. After the slalom, all riders started packing up and at 7pm, we had award ceremony. To summarize, the event here in Sines was incredible, 11 formula races, 5 rounds of slalom, great venue and superb organization, a special thanks to all from the Overpower club that made this happen.
Next month, the second event for the Formula Grand Prix World Tour will be in Sopot, Poland, see you there.
See the Formula results after 11 races (Pdf) See the slalom results after 5 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Marina Alabau (ESP 5) has won the European Championship by a resounding 5 points. Conclusive evidence that she is fast in the light and in the medium winds. Back in second place Charline Picon (FRA 4) has demonstrated she is a worthy understudy to third placed Faustine Merret (FRA 9). She may not be so self assured in front of the press pack but she certainly can race. Zofia Klepacka made up the top four who would be head and shoulders above the rest. First of whom is yet another French women, Pauline Perrin (FRA 81), an incredible 17 points off the back of the front pack. The only non European woman not to make it into the top 10 of the ‘Brest Open’ is Barbara Kendall (NZL 15) who finished 6th in those results and seemed to lack a bit of sparkle in her racing this week.For the first time in eleven years Joao Rodrigues (POR75) has stepped onto the top step of the podium at an Olympic windsurfing class European Championship. He did so in 1996 and 1997 following up his World Championship Gold medal in Port Elizabeth in 1995. By winning in Brest, he has clearly laid his marker down as a serious contender for the forthcoming Olympic Regatta in China.2nd is Julien Bontemps (FRA 6) and Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL 126) who finally did not have to face the challenge of defending his third place against four contenders within striking distance of his 27 points. That would have been a tough ask for anyone!Overall the championship was beautifully organized by Les Crocodiles de L’Elorn. The only club in France with two Olympic gold medallists among its alumni. With an entirely carpeted competitors village, giant screen showing streamed video from the water and an army of ever smiling and helpful volunteers, French Jaouen, the president of the club, has set a standard that other organizers will have a hard time topping.
See women results after 7 races Se men results after 7 races
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Present on site at Sines in Portugal for the first event of the Windsurfing Grand Prix, a team from Sail.tv, the internet sailing channel, have sent us these interesting and well produced videos of the best action from the first 3 days of competition...Giving the commentary, in her new role, one Allison Shreeve, put to the task following her recent work presenting a programme on Australian television !
Watch the video - Day 1 (Flash Media Player) Watch the video - Day 2 (Flash Media Player) Watch the video - Day 3 (Flash Media Player)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
8 to 10 knots, gusting to 12, on the light side maybe but conditions sufficient enough at Sines this Friday for the 4th day of the Portugal Grand Prix…After the previous day's 3 rounds of slalom, the race committee took the logical decision to runs some of the Formula Windsurfing contest with no less than 5 rounds completed in the day !Evidently fully concentrated on his racing, Australian Steve Allen was the man in best form and is now just a fraction behind the Argentinian rider Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel. Both riders took two races each leaving one for Danish rider Jesper Vesterstrom who takes provisional 3rd place on the podium. A level above the other riders, Costa-Hoevel was never out of the top 3 during Friday and therefore consolidated his place at the top of the standings, some 8 points ahead of Allen...For the last day of competition on Saturday, the weather forecast is good with a good chance to get back into some top slalom action !
See the Formula results after 9 rounds (Pdf) See the Slalom standings after 3 rounds (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Following the successful completion of the first two events on the PWA calendar, the 2008 Constructors Championship has now officially started. The PWA Constructors Championship Rankings are based on results from PWA competition to date in Waves, Slalom and Freestyle.
The system, similar to that seen in Formula 1 car racing, awards points calculated purely on current discipline rankings, and scores as follows… The two highest scores for each discipline, whether they are for men or women, are added together to provide their ranking score. Due to the difference in fleet sizes you will notice the women’s points are derived slightly differently from the men’s. Women : 1
st (5 points), 2
nd (3 points), 3
rd (2 points), 4
th (1 point)Men : 1
st (10 points), 2
nd (8 points), 3
rd (6 points), 4
th (5 points), 5
th (4 points), 6
th (3 points), 7
th (2 points), 8
th (1 point)
See Constructors Championship Rankings
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
In the cold wet reality of the penultimate day of racing at this European Championship, who were the big winners and losers ? Certainly the conditions on the water were not exactly the best. Steady rain and a moderating breeze made for cold and unpleasant conditions so conversation turned inevitably to those wonderful days of wind and sun in warmer climes.In the women’s fleet, the French charge has been taken up by Charline Picon (FRA 4) who now takes up position is 2nd place just two points ahead of Faustine Merret (FRA 9) now third with Zofia Klepacka in 4th. However it is Marina Alabau (ESP 5) who with her two bullets Friday who has developed a good lead of 5 points going into the medal race Saturday.Meanwhile over in the men’s gold fleet the battle for top spot looks much tighter. Joao Rodrigues (POR 75) is still on top but only three points in front Julien Bontemps (FRA 6). Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL 126) in third is 9 points back and fighting to retain is place on the podium. Dorian Van Rijsselberge is one point back. Quentin Henry (FRA 17) and Piotr Myszka (POL 82) are two points back. Nicolas le Gal (FRA 115) is four points back.To sum up, the conditions will play their part too. The forecast is for some light stuff. Dorian Van Rijsselberge doesn’t usually do well when he has to work it. This time however there is an Olympic qualification place in play so his strategy will probably revolve around that (must do a top 6) Henry Quentin (FRA 17) is racing on his home waters so if I was a betting man, I’d say he is Pont’s biggest threat. He’d just love to be on the podium Saturday night !
See women results after 7 races Se men results after 7 races
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Starboard is proud to announce the first ever Freestyle ProKids Europe, which will take place in Italy, 6-13 July 2008. This is the best opportunity for ambitious freestylers to show their skills in a all European easy to access contest. The event will take place in Porto Pollo, Northern Sardinia.
Porto Pollo is the windiest salt-water spot in Italy, and probably one of the most reputated windsurfing location in the world. The event is a contest 100% focused on young riders and discipline is freestyle.
There will be 4 groups of competitors : up to 10 years, 11-13 years, 14-15 years and 16-17 years. The contest is open to both male and female riders, which will compete in separate ladders… More information :
www.starboardprokids.eu and info(at)startboardprokids.eu
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
There was a rest day Wednesday and the first warning signal this Thursday was for either the Gold Fleet Men or the women’s fleet. The men’ Silver fleet have their warning signal at 1300hrs.But the latest wind reading on the course area was between 3 and 5 knots and the race committee just decided not to race finally.
See women results after 5 races Se men results after 5 races
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Professional ski and surf photographer Tony Harrington has been touring the world for the last few months, visiting some of the world’s most beautiful places, a journey that took him to Tahiti last November…Finally back home just a few days ago, Harrington returned with a massive 25,000 photos taken during the 6 months and has sent us this excellent gallery featuring Laird Hamilton in action, shot at the spot at Teahupoo !
See the photo gallery
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
13th at the opening PWA wave round of the season in Cape Verde, French rider Jean-Baptiste Caste had the opportunity to jet off in April to Maui, Hawaii, to test his new 7th Wave boards at the spots at Hookipa and La Pérouse…And while he was there he took the time to pay a call on his sail sponsor, Ezzy Sails, specifically Dave Ezzy himself, who suggested he try out their brand new Wave Panther 2009 ! No concrete information about the sail we can bring you as yet but, according to our sources, it could be a likely successor to the celebrated Wave SE, and feature a coloured monofilm sail, top level manufacture and finish and the performance to go with it…
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Off the competition circuit for the last few months to concentrate on preparing for the Olympics, plus her soon-come television career, Australian rider Allison Shreeve has attracted a lot of attention with her great form in this early part of the season… And why not ? She’s the recently appointed ambassador for the new Olympic racing concept that Starboard have proposed, on a rig that AUS-911 will be putting to serious competition use on the international competition circuit over the coming months… First outing and first test over at Sines in Portugal at the first round of the Windsurfing Grand Prix !"I’m very pleased to be promoting and racing on the new Starboard Formula One Design equipment. Already after a few days of testing the equipment I’ve found it much lighter, faster and easier to handle than the current Olympic RS:X board. I think if this equipment was selected for the London 2012 Olympics, there will be much more interest for youth, women and other sailors all over the world to compete. I’ve found it very easy to carry the gear out through very difficult waves, also today racing in 20 knots the sail had more control and is lighter than the RS:X while the board was the most stable and in control of any board I've ever used. Also the media will enjoy a fantastic show with this equipment fully planing in 6 knots of wind. I'm excited for the future of this sport and am looking forward to racing on this gear over the next few months.
I’m in Portugal at the Windsurfing Grand Prix, Sines, then I’ll be heading to the UK for more testing, followed by Sopot, Poland Windsurfing Grand Prix in June."
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
This Thursday morning skippers' meeting was at 10am and a special friend showed up, the wind ! Riders rigged the formula gear and started the first race at 11am. The wind was around 12 to 18 knots on the gusts and some sailors went on 12.0 while others took 11.
On the first race, everyone started on starboard tack, the big difference was where to tack, as there was a shift in the middle of the course that could go in your favor, or not. Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel took the bullet followed by the strong polish fleet, Michael Polanowski in second, Pawel Hlavaty in third and Hubert Mokrzycki in fourth, the fifth place went to Wilhelm Schurmann.
On the second race of the day, about 5 sailors started port tack as pin end was the favor way to go. The race was well disputed until the end, on the first downwind, Mokrzycki and Polanowski crashed and had to abandon the race, Mokrzycki sailed the rest of the day with a lot of pain on his leg and was limping a lot. Costa-Hoevel won again followed closely by Steve Allen in second, Jesper Vesterstrom in third, Schurmann in fourth and Miguel Martinho in fifth.
On the third and last formula race of the day, almost everyone started port, Fabio Melo, Wilhelm Schurmann, Jesper Vesterstrom started on starboard. Vesterstrom lead the race until the last upwind, where Costa-Hoevel overtook him after going a bit further on starboard and won the race to dominate the formula races up to now with 4 bullets. Vesterstrom finished second, which still was a great effort, considering he was felling really sick during all the races and had to go to hospital afterwards. Schurmann came in third, Polanowski in fourth and Brzozowski in fifth, who had a bit of bad luck and was hit with wind shift right at the buoy having to double tack on both upwind.
After the formula races, riders started getting ready for slalom. A downwind course was set with 4 jibes and a finish by the beach, which made it really exciting for the sailors and spectators as well. There were 2 semifinals where the top 5 advance to the final and the remainder to the losers final. At around 2pm, sailors started the first heats with wind around 16 to 23 knots. On the first final, sailors had to be called back 3 times as sailors kept on going over, Gonzalo, Miguel, Menegati all missed the first final for being over early. After finally having a clean start, Steve Allen rounded in first and controlled it until the end to take the win, Schurmann came close in second followed by Polanowski in third. On the second final, Allen again had a great start at the pin end and took the win, Costa-Hoevel manage to sneak in with Schurmann on the first jibe and clear the pack to finish second and third. On the last final of the day, Costa-Hoevel took off on the start and won the race followed by Polanowski who was latter DSQ on a protest, so the second place went to Steve Allen and third to Brzozowski. It was an excellent windy day and Sines proved that is an excellent racing venue.
See Formula results after 4 races (Pdf) See slalom results after 3 races (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
The wind did not improve during this Wednesday for the Portugal Windsurfing Grand Prix in Sines, Portugal.
However there is an excellent forecast for Thursday and riders have skippers meeting at 10:00 am with a first possible start at 11:00.
See results after 1 race (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
From Wednesday through to the end of the championship, RS:X Class will be posting ten minute video reports each evening.
Here it is a video resume of the first three days of the RS:X European Championships 2008 in Brest, France, including the five men’s qualification series and the women’s championship…
Watch the video (Windows Media Player)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
The first Formula World Grand Prix event started Tuesday in the beautiful beach of S.Torpes, in Sines. Most of the top Formula sailors all came to Portugal for the event that has a prize purse of 2000 Euros and is being superbly organized by Overpower Clube.
Everybody had an early skippers meeting and afterwards everyone relaxed and waited for the wind to show up. At around 2pm, riders were sent to the water and everyone had their big sails rigged. They managed to complete one race in really light winds of around 7-9 knots.
At the start, some sailors got stuck and had a bad start, while others decided to tack and go towards shore. The ones that headed to shore, which included Steve Allen, Fabio Melo, Miguel Martinho and Alberto Menegatti, didn't get the good shift. Jesper Vesterstrom, Wojtek Brzozowski, Michael Polanowski, Gonzalo Costa Hoevel and Willhelm Schurmann, all went out and got stronger winds that took us to the upwind mark ahead of the others.
Rounding the first upwind was Jesper Vesterstrom, followed by Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel and Michael Polanowski. On the downwind, Vesterstrom jibed early and had to double jibe, leaving Costa-Hoevel to take the lead and control the race on the second upwind and downwind to the finish, with Vesterstrom chasing in second. On the second upwind, Allen had a huge come back, rounding the top mark in third was Polanowski, Allen, Schurmann and Miguel Martinho all very close together. Allen overtook Polanowski and finished in third with Polanowski in fourth, Schurmann in fifth…
Afterwards, the wind just failed show up and Claudio Alessandrello (race director) called it a day. Wednesday, the skipper meeting is set for 10 am and the forecast looks good.
See results after 1 race (Pdf)
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
Hot news just in and still to be confirmed in the next few months, that Swedish star Anders Bringdal could well feature as part of the next Masters of Speed 2008/2009 !!!A windsurfer who needs no introduction, Bringdal is one of the heavyweights of speed sailing along with Antoine Albeau, Finian Maynard and Bjorn Dunkerbeck and is a good contender for beating the 50 knot barrier...S-10 has apparently already approached the organisers to understand how their competition functions, and there's no doubt at all that he would know how to tune and prepare his Naish Sails sails, seeing as he's already heavily involved in their development, along with their famous AB+ boards !
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
The man with the incredible forward off the lip during the recent Fanatic photoshoot in Hawaii in April (cf our latest video of the day WJ TV offering), Victor Fernandez talks us through the move that is so technical few people are capable of even attempting it in waves…“I think that the main secret for succeeding with this type of move is to basically be having lots of fun on the water !!! I’d tried the forward off the lip quite a few times but not really nailed many up to now.Then, during the Fanatic photoshoot at Hookipa in April, I was really feeling good with my sailing, undoubtedly because there were quite a few of the team riders out on the water. On the day itself, I started hitting some big moves up to and including the forward off the lip that was all over very quickly, so quick even I was surprised ! It’s incredible, better still because it was filmed as part of the video shoot for the Addicted to Ride 4 DVD.”
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
It was a long wait. The Yellow Group finally started at 1846 hrs; the Blue at 1854hrs; and the women at 1919hrs. Finally the wind filled in to 8 - 10 knots. In the Yellow Group Joao Rodrigues (POR 75) was first out of the trap, never to be headed. Behind him, Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL 126) and Nicolas Le Gal (FRA 115) locked horns trading 2nd and 3rd places right through to the finish. Pont (POL 126) finally came out on top of this encounter to finish 2nd. Dorian Van Rijsselberge took 4th to hang onto 10th overall. At the start, Nick Demsey (GBR 1), Nikos Kaklamanakis (GRE) and Aron Gadorfalvi (HUN 12) were together. One of them went a fraction early. The other two immediately responded. All three were called OCS. That is effectively the end of Nick’s medal hopes. There is no way back for him. He is already carrying a BFD so will have to eat the points and try and somehow get back from 29th to something more respectable.Over in the Blue Group, Quentin Henry (FRA 17) who like Faustine is racing on his home water took a well deserved 2nd and having taken his discard has jumped up to share 3rd equal overall with Nikos but he cannot afford another slip.Despite the weed in the water, the top four women maintained their dominating position at the top of the leader board. An incredible 22 points in front of the next active sailor, Pauline Perrin (FRA 81). However Zofia Klepacka jumps to the top of the leader overtaking Marina Alabau (ESP 5) and Faustine Meret (FRA 9) who are now tied 2 points behind. Charline Picon (FRA 4) finished 2nd on the water today and is just one ranking point behind FoFo her training partner.There is a rest day Wednesday so no racing till Thursday when the first warning signal will be for either the Gold Fleet Men or the women’s fleet. The men’ Silver fleet will have their warning signal at 1300hrs.
See women results after 5 races Se men results after 5 races
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
The windsurf manufacturers’ photoshoot and video season is often an occasion for the riders to let rip in the waves and try out their brand moves…In April, during the Fanatic photoshoot, Victor Fernandez, second placed in the 2007 world waves championships, was clearly bang on form, enough to nail an incredible forward off the lip, landed on the wave, and all filmed from start to end !!! Footage that you need no commentary to appreciate…
Watch Forward off the lip on WJ TV Subscribe to WJ TV flux - The Windsurfing Channel sur iTunes Store
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Fetched: May 12th, 2008, 11:59am CEST
When asked, "What do you like most when visiting windsurf websites ?", answers are… The videos : 17%The windsurf sport news : 28%The forum : 5%A bit of everything : 50% Thanks to our panel of 1274 voters…Watch out for a new survey starting now !
