Young Gun Omar Sanchez will ride for Loft Sails in 2013 and 1014. Omar Shanchez is just 21 and debut on the PWA world tour in 2007, at his home spot of Pozo. In 2012 he posted two 17th place finishes at Pwa Pozo Izquierdo and the Pwa Tenerife events.
Omar Sanchez (E-33) will compete in every PWA wave events and target top 10 overall. We wish him luck, and look forward to seeing him in action more often.
Alex Blackmore at only 9 years old has joined Team QSW. QSW is one of the largest and most successful independent windsurf teams in Europe, with six riders competing in everything from the BSA Slalom Series to the BWA Wave Tour.
After just one season with Point-7, and finishing 6th in the PWA Slalom rankings, Josh Angulo has announced he will be departing from Point-7 and the Black Team. This is Josh’s 4th change in 5 years, having most recently left Gun Sails. In an interview on ContinentSeven Josh said “From my understanding, the team budget they do have is preferred to be spent on a younger team. I believe they have some new “young guns” that they will by announcing soon that have joined the team.” So it sounds like money the major factor.
We are unsure whether we will see Josh return to the PWA tour in 2013, but a good chance we will see him at a few contests, when asked of his plans he stated, “It’s hard to get rid of that “competition bug”.”
Josh is a very busy guy, becoming to father to his 3rd child, a recent move to Boston, flying back and forth from Cape Verder to the US, and running the Angulo production board brand.
You can read the full interview with Josh over at ContentSeven.
The Jaguar NeilPryde Racing Series finished the year in style, at the Rio de Janeiro Extreme Sailing Series™ event. Sixty windsurfers from Brazil and France competed on the universal, one-design RS:One, an ISAF-approved class.
Check out Maui Monthly’s November issue (#91) from MauiSails. Stories from Maui, Baja, Mexico and the USA, theres even a chance to win a brand new 2013 MauiSails sail.
Here is a nice clip produced by Eric Bellande of the 2012 Luderitz Speed Challenge in Namibia.
The Luderitz Speed Challenge is all done, with so many record Being broken and incredible times posted! Antoine Albeau broke the World Record eight times over the competition’s four weeks period, ending with the fastest time of 52.05 knots, setting the new World record. Albeau was joined in making history by the fastest female of the event, Zara Davis of Britain, who posted a windsurfing world record speed of 45.83 knots (made on Production board).
12 national multi-discipline records were broken during the course of the event, which is incredible when one considers that 13 nations were represented. The records were as follows :
All in all seven riders hailing from five different countries went over 50 knots. These were:
These unprecedented performances were made possible not only by the incredible skill and athleticism of each contestant but also by their belief in the event and their willingness to give of their experience to improve the sailing conditions. All the windsurfers agree that this year’s results can definitely be improved, and who wouldn’t, when you consider A.Albeau went three knots faster than he did in 2008, in less wind! The riders are presently leaving Namibia with ideas for modifying their gear in order to return for more action in stronger winds in 2013.
The third Phantom 295 event this year is well under way. More than 19 countries, 40 charter sets, sun, beaches, wind and some of the best youth racers
worldwide are in Phuket, Thailand for the Kings Cup. Check out the video from Day 1 which had practice races and registration!
Almost everyday a record has been broken in Nambia, the windsurfers keep smashing the 500M record. On Wednesday November 21, Antoine Albeau was timed at 52.05 knots improving his own record, as he had already set on November 13.
Anders Bringdal followed with a new Swedish Record which is also Production board World Record, 51.45 knots!
Jurjen Van Der Noord the Dutch Record Holder also went over 51 knots today, joining Anders Bringdal and Cédric Bordes, with 51.26 knots!
With more than a week left there`s no telling what happened, and the big man Bjorn Dunkerbeck just joined the contest and we can expect some big numbers from him, but will he or anyone beat Antoine Albeau’s 52 knots?
Live scoring has brought a new dimension to many extreme sports fans, including skateboarding, surfing and now windsurfing! This year the PWA stepped up there game and began using the iScore. This new dimension to live competition, ensures the fans know what is happening out on the water, and what the judges are seeing.
To find out more about the PWA iScore system we spoke with Rich Page, PWA Tour Manager and the man behind the PWA iScore, to discover more about the scoring system and the changes it is bringing into the sport, how it started and where it is headed.
Professional Windsurfer Tyson Poor Grabs some days at the Gorge after all the tourists have left. Head over to his blog and check out some sweet pics.
After the promising first few days at Luderitz Speed Challenge, everyone felt that the 50 knot barrier wasn’t far off with some close runs and a new World Record. Finally, on Tuesday, the barrier was broken and records kept tumbling with almost every run.
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After a long six month battle, Windsurfing has made it back as an Olympic Event for the 2016 Olympics.
The ISAF Annual General Meeting, in a simple majority vote, decided to delete Kiteboarding and re-instate Windsurfing, which has been in the Olympics since 1984 as a Mens Event, and since 1992 for Women.
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1st Bernd Roediger, 2nd Kevin Pritchard, 3rd Marcilio Browne
2012 Maui Makani Classic is Over…… What an Incredible Contest!!
What a phenomenal 5 days of contest here at the AWT final tour stop at Ho’okipa Maui! Everyone was in agreement that there hadn’t been a competition like it at Ho’okipa for a very long time. The biggest names in windsurfing from back in the day put up a fierce fight and an epic show against some of the top new names in the sport.
With 120 entrants, from 24 countries, 60 amateur competitors, 20 female sailors and a who’s who in the Professional division, this event was destined from the outset to be a very, very special few days. Combining the incredible entry list with some all-time Ho’okipa conditions with waves in the 12-15 foot region, spectators and competitors alike were treated to a spectacle that I don’t think any of us will be forgetting anytime soon!
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The action at the 2012 Maui Makani Classic is in the bag, with 16 year old Bernd Roediger, winning the event! Congrats to him, who battled back defeating first PWA legend Marcilio Browne in the semi final. Then moved onto the final against last years champion and former World Champion Kevin Pritchard in a double elimination.
Awesome good to all the competitors and a big shout out to the AWT who put on an awesome event, and the many announcers who gave everyone at home including myself awesome live coverage.
Another incredible day of action at Ho’okipa beach park! Check out all the action from day 5 at the Maui Makani Classic, where youth, amateurs and masters had a blast on day 5!
