The final video of the EFPT Alquato Cup is here! Steven Van Broekhoven has won the event, Dieter van der Eyken took second,. and Phil Soltisiak finished third.
The second teaser of the 4th edition of Bonifacio Freestyle Project… full video coming soon!
Check out the action from the final day of Goya Windsurfing Festival in Waddell Creek. Marcilio Browne was able to beat Kevin Pritchard twice in the double elimination to win his first AWT event of his career. Kevin Pritchard finished second followed by Levi Siver.
Ingrid Larouche took the victory in the ladies fleet, Casey Rehrer won the Youth fleet, Joe Ray the Grand Master class, Ferdinando Loffreda the Masters class and Jerry McKay the amateurs.
Congratulations to all winners!
This year because Sarah Hebert has an implantable defibrillator the French federation of sailing didn’t allow her to race. Anyway she was on the water and the starting boat and she made this nice video from the biggest windsurfing event in the World, the Defi Wind.
Check out some awesome action from Waddell during Day 2 of the AWT Santa Cruz Goya Windsurfing Festival. Kevin Pritchard clinched the men’s single elimination yesterday. Yesterday the double elimination began, with more heats being run today. Check out the rankings from the single elimination below.
Continue Reading →
AWT Santa Cruz: Day #1 Results: An action packed day here in Santa Cruz with heats running back to back all day, at the end of a tiring day we have some results from the Single Elimination which will be continued on Friday as Day #2 gets underway. Stand out sailors from the day include;
Pro: Marcilio Browne & Morgan Noireaux
Women: Fiona Wylde & Ingrid Larouche
AM: Jerry McKay & Casey Rehrer
Masters: Attila Tivadar & Ferdinando Loffreda
Results are below.
Continue Reading →
Kicking off the 2013 American Windsurfing Tour with Tour Director Samantha Bittner, the action starts today!
The Aruba Extreme event took place a few weeks ago and the official wrap up video is done and put together by Pertusato Films. Check out the action from this next generation of freestyle riders.
The inaugural PWA Cold Hawaii World Cup was held in 2010. Every year thus far the competition has been blessed with a mixture of monstrous swells and port tack howling winds, to starboard tack float and ride – which has tested the top sailors in the world to their limits – whilst providing jaw dropping action aplenty.
Philip Köster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) reigned victorious in the first two competitions, but he was denied a famous hat-trick of Cold Hawaii victories by a rampaging Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) in 2012. In doing so the Frenchman became the first man in five events to defeat the back-to-back world champion, but more importantly, Traversa held his nerve to claim his first ever PWA event victory.
The next amazing installment of the Cold Hawaii World Cup will take place later this year, between the 16th to the 22nd September. To wet your appetite, a brand new teaser has just been released to give you a taste of things to come. Expect to see double forwards galore combined with sick cutbacks and aerial antics off the lip, in what is sure to be another epic event on the Danish shores of Klitmoeller.
Enjoy this teaser that highlights exactly what Cold Hawaii has to offer!
Tow-in freestyle from the 2103 Curacao Challenge on day 2, featuring Kiri Thodé, Taty Frans, Bjorn Saragoza, Rafael de Windt, Amado Vrieswijk, Quincy Offringa, Nick van de Eerenbeemd and others.
A spectacular video from the 2013 Defi Wind in n Gruissan, France. With over 800 competitors it’s the biggest single windsurfing event in the World. After 5 races Patrice Belbeoch won the event in front of Andre Cucchi and Sebastian Bonhomme Allaire.
A super nice edit from SoulCreations crew at the Freestyle PWA World Cup Podersdorf 2013. Check out the action and the life!
A magic day for Menegatti and Jaggi as they claim the opening victories of 2013
A promising forecast never quite materialized on the final day of racing at the Ulsan PWA World Cup as hazy skies and cooler air temperatures inhibited the local thermal effect from kicking in. With winds blowing anywhere between 3-23 knots the competitors had to wait until 5:30pm before the racing began. However, after the completion of heat nine, a combination of premature starts and fluctuating winds prevented any further heats from being finished. The sailors were released for the final time this week at 6:30pm.
With the fourth race not being completed no discards came into play, which means this week will live long in the memory of Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) as he claims his maiden event victory on the PWA World Tour. However, the Italian was made to sweat it out for almost an hour this evening having been disqualified from heat eleven, after being a little too eager to make a good start. This presented the opportunity for Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) to swoop in and steal Menegatti’s thunder, but it wasn’t to be as the wind soon deteriorated, leaving a delighted – but relieved – Menegatti to revel in his success. Today is also a big day for his sail sponsors – Point-7 – who will be celebrating in Italy tonight having finished on the podium for the first time in their history.
Alberto Menegatti speaking after his first ever event victory:
“I thought I’d lost the event – even though Antoine (Albeau) would have still had to finish third or better in the winners’ final – so I’m still processing it. I’m super happy, I’d like to thank my fin sponsors – Z Fins – for their help throughout the whole winter as their fins allow me to be fast in both flat water and waves. I’d also like to thank my friend from South Africa Peter Langley after he helped me a lot when I was there this winter. At the start of the season if someone would’ve offered me 3rd, 4th or 5th place I’d have happily taken it. To have finished in first is just a dream. I also need to thank both my sail and board sponsors as the equipment couldn’t work better and I couldn’t have wished for a better start.”
In the women’s fleet Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) reaffirmed her title winning credentials after a magnificent performance over the three eliminations which were completed. The multiple-time world champion reigned victorious in two of those races, whilst finishing second in the other to stamp her authority over the event. In doing so, the Swiss gem becomes the first woman to prevent Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) from claiming the Jinha Beach crown since 2010 – when the reigning world champion missed the event due to a shoulder injury.
Karin Jaggi speaking after winning the first event of the season:
“It’s always good to naturally start the season ahead. The best thing for me is that I I feel really comfortable on my equipment, I still made a few mistakes, but I have such good board speed and control in pretty much all conditions. I think it can be quite a good season for me. Now I’ll be traveling to Thailand for a bit for work, before going back to Australia, then heading back to train in Europe – I’ll probably head to Gran Canaria early to get used to the conditions. ”
Please note that there will be no racing tomorrow – the sailors will be treated to a city tour of Ulsan by the organizers, which will conclude another fantastic event at South Korea’s famed Jinha Beach. Thank you for tuning into the action this week and we hope you will join us again from June 11th as the men’s slalom fleet head to Costa Brava until 16th June.
The 2013 Ulsan PWA World Cup Overall Standings: Men’s Slalom
1st Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)
2nd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde_
3rd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different)
4th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
5th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
The 2013 Ulsan PWA World Cup Overall Standings: Women’s Slalom
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
2nd Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
4th Ayako Suzuki (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)
5th Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde)
A day of teasing winds – despite an unfavorable forecast – on the fifth day of the Ulsan PWA World Cup saw the sailors experience a long day on hold, but ultimately the wind never quite materialized enough to allow the competition to resume. However, the glorious sunshine returned allowing the competitors and crowds to relax on the beach. The sailors were eventually released at 4:45pm and they will now prepare themselves to battle it out on the last day of racing tomorrow – which should see an action packed day of fully charged slalom.
While on hold the PWA caught up with Argentina’s sole representive Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails).
PWA: This winter you travelled to Maui to test different combinations of equipment, why did you eventually decide on Starboard and Loft Sails?
GCH: “I chose Starboard because I thought they were the easiest and quickest boards out there. I also feel that they are the most consistent to sail across all of the sizes (small/medium/large). I basically felt the same about the sails too because all of the sails perform brilliantly and they have a great wind range. So overall I now feel a lot more confident about going on the water no matter the conditions.”
PWA: Which size of boards and sails have you registered for the season?
GCH: “For the boards I have the 127l, 107l and the 87l Starboard iSonics. With the sails I have registered 9.6m, 8.6m, 7.8m, 7.0m. 6.3m and 5.6m,”
PWA: Did you go anywhere else for training this winter, aside from Maui?
GCH: “In November I was in Maui to test all the equipment. Afterwards I travelled back home to Buenos Aires, before heading to Tarifa in early February until the first event here in South Korea. In Tarifa I was training with Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) and Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails). This was actually the earliest that I’ve ever travelled to Europe as I usually spend the winter in Maui. However, with Loft being based in Tarifa it made more sense for me to be based their, so that I could test and tune all of my equipment. Also Benny and Ludo have been training here for the past couple of years and have had good results – so I thought it must be a good place to train.”
PWA: You’re currently sat in sixth place at the moment, are you happy with how the first event of the season is going?
GCH: “I’m happy, but I made a couple of mistakes in the first two semifinals. In the first semifinal I crashed with Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails), when we were both easily qualifying in second and third place. In the semi-final yesterday I was third on the outside gybe and on course to make the winners’ final, but when I was pumping to get back on the plane my front hand slipped off to boom – so that was game over.
“Every heat that I’ve sailed so far I’ve been consistently in the top two or three, so I’m a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to capitalize on the first two eliminations, but In the third elimination winners’ final I finished second, so I’m really happy and I’m currently tied on points with 4/5th, but it’s also very close with a couple of guys below me. I feel like last year when I made mistakes I was finishing in 30th, so from my point of view the equipment is better. Also I trained a lot harder – I’ve gained 5kg in the gym and the training in the Tarfia means that I’m a lot more prepared for this season.”
PWA: What’s your overall aim for the season?
GCH: “I’d love to finish in the top five – I know it is super difficult – but I’d also be very happy with top ten with this being my first year on the new equipment. it takes time to adjust and to learn the perfect settings for competition sailing no matter how good your equipment is.”
PWA: You did really well yesterday in the lighter winds, do you think there’s a particular reason for this?
GCH: “Not really – all I could say is that I have done a lot of formula windsurfing in the past, so maybe when it’s lighter winds and we’re on the bigger equipment I am more used to the wider boards and larger sails. There’s a lot of guys who train in very windy places so they almost never sail their bigger equipment, so maybe they are not so used to it. In yesterday’s second final it was me Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) first to the first mark on both attempts to run it and we are all used to big kit.”
PWA: Favorite slalom conditions?
GCH: “15-25 knots, when we’re on middle boards and 7.8s. I would say my worst is when the wind gets to 30 knots and above. Having said that, this winter I found myself matching Benny in 40-45 knots in Tarifa.”
PWA: Thanks Gonzalo and good luck in the racing tomorrow.
The forecast looks great for tomorrow with the gradient wind in the correct direction for the local thermal effect to kick in, in full effect. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am with the first possible start at 11am. Don’t miss a thing by tuning into the live stream, which is available via the PWA TV @ https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=1622.
The decision to hold an earlier skippers’ meeting on day four of the Ulsan PWA World Cup was duly rewarded as Jinha beach was transformed into a port tack slalom sailors playground, which allowed an epic – but grueling – eight hours of racing to be completed. The usual thermal winds – which so often grace South Korea’s number one windsurfing beach – were replaced with a frontal cross shore wind from the left. By the end of the day, two eliminations for both the men and women were completed, whilst the first round of the men’s race four was also sailed. Today’s action saw four separate winners’, firstly the two reigning world champions Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) and Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) both claimed their first race victories of the year, before Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) claimed his first elimination victory in four years. Unfortunately for Arrighetti, Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) soon reasserted her authority over the event with another bullet. Today the Sea of Japan truly showed exactly why South Korea is one of the most challenging stops on the tour.
Men
Elimination Two
Winners’ Final
Antoine Albeau immediately bounced back from his misfortune in elimination one – where he suffered a broken fin – to put himself right back in contention for the event title with his first bullet of the season. Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7) made the best start of the fleet and the Italian was able to hold his lead until just before the third mark, at this point Albeau showed his prowess as he pounced to brilliantly maneuver his way passed Menegatti. Once the big Frenchman was in the lead there was no way he was going to relinquish his winning position and Albeau held his nerve to claim victory ahead of Menegatti. Meanwhile, Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) displayed the form he showed last year to finish in an excellent third place, whilst Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) and Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different) had to settle for fourth and fifth respectively.
The two semifinals in race two both started under dramatic circumstances as five sailors crossed the start line early across the two heats. Firstly in heat thirteen Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) and Finian Maynard (RRD / Avanti) both jumped the gun, before Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Loft Sails), Micah Buzianis (JP / MauiSails) and Pascal Toselli (Tabou / Point-7) all mis-timed their starts.
Elimination Three
Winners’ Final
At the second time of asking the second winners’ final of the day was completed and it was Arnon Dagan who stole the limelight with an accomplished display. The Israeli timed his start to perfection as he claim the lead from the outset. From here Dagan took full advantage of the clean wind in front of him to maintain his lead, whilst Gonzalo Costa Hoevel turned on the after-burners to blitz his way passed Menegatti. At this stage the top four was completed by Albeau, but his arch nemesis Bjorn Dunkerbeck was enduring a torrid time at the back of the pack. As the third mark approached Dagan and Costa Hoevel had opened up a sizable gap between them and the rest of the fleet, and it wasn’t long before Dagan was celebrating his first elimination victory in quite some time, after excelling in the lighter airs. Meanwhile, Costa Hoevel claimed second, but the race wasn’t over there. Antoine Albeau seized the initiative to climb into third place, after taking advantage of a sloppy gybe from Menegatti, which left the Italian settling for fourth. Bjorn Dunkerbeck eventually fought his way back to fifth, having held off the challenge of Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) down the final straight by the narrowest of margins. As the duo crossed the finish line there was a mere half a board length in it.
Alberto Menegatti was left ruing his luck that the first attempt to run the winners’ final resulted in a cancellation, as the current event leader held a healthy lead when the heat was abandoned. Elsewhere, Matteo Iachino (F2 / Challenger Sails / AL360) did brilliantly to qualify from the first round after the Italian suffered a broken mast just minutes before his heat, but he kept his cool magnificently to recover. The drama wasn’t over there either as several big names excited the fourth race at the quarterfinal stage. Last years event winner – Micah Buzianis – failed to advance from heat eleven, whilst Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti), Pieter Bijl (Angulo / NeilPryde), Ludovic Jossin (Patrik / Loft Sails), Cedric Bordes (Tabou / Gaastra) and Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) all took early exits.
Elimination Four
Before the day concluded the opening round of race four was also completed and there were no upsets, although Bjorn Dunkerbeck and Finian Maynard were both made to sweat to seal their place in the quarterfinals.
Women
Elimination Two
Winners’ Final
Valerie Arrighetti bounced back from her disappointing performance in the opening elimination in the perfect fashion as she claimed her first bullet of the season, but it was Turkey’s Lena Erdil (Patrik / Loft Sails / Mystic / AL360) who actually made the best start of the bunch in the winners’ final. However after a promising start things quickly went downhill for Erdil and by the first mark Arrighetti had moved into the lead. Once at the front of the pack the French lady showed her guile and expertise to open up an unattainable lead as she combined brilliant straight line speed with fluid gybes to claim victory. Karin Jaggi followed up her opening victory with a solid second place, whilst Marion Mortefon (Starboard / Severne) and Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) completed a heavily French dominated top four.
Marion Dusart (Loft Sails) needed to be escorted from the water after a nasty catapult just after the start line in the losers’ final. Thankfully her injuries weren’t serious and the twenty-two year old was able to resume her competition in race three.
Elimination Three
Winners’ Final
The multiple times world champion, Karin Jaggi, struck again in race three as she claimed her second victory of the event thus far. However, the Swiss gem didn’t have it all her own way as Fujiko Onishi (Starboard / Loft Sails) burst out of the starting blocks. Jaggi though – as always – kept her cool and by the second mark she had built a substantial lead over her closest challenger, Ayako Suzuki (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic). With the top two wrapped up, it was all about the battle for fourth which involved Arrighetti and Cousin. Despite a poor gybe at the final mark Arrighetti was able to secure third, as her compatriot was forced to settle for fourth.
Lena Erdil felt the full force of the newly enforced rule – which means the heat is only cancelled if 6 or more sailors are off the plane for 10 seconds or the wind drops below seven knots – as she failed to qualify for the winners’ final. The Turkish maestro made another strong start and was still in great position by the second mark, but from here it all went to pieces as Jaggi, Onishi, Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Sayaka Iwai (RRD / MauiSails) all bypassed her to compound her misery. The other shock in race three was the fact that Cagla Kubat (Starboard / Loft Sails) also failed to advance after dropping her gybe in heat two.
After a marathon day on the water, which saw four separate winners, the day eventually concluded shortly before five O’clock. Tomorrow we will be hoping that the thermal wind kicks in during the afternoon, so that the fourth eliminations can be completed. The skippers’ meeting for tomorrow has been called for 10:30am with the first possible start at 11am. You’ll be able to follow all the adrenaline fueled racing live by tuning into the live stream via the PWA TV @ https://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=1622.
Results After Four Eliminations – Men
1st Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Point-7)
2nd Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic / Different)
4th Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne)
5th Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde)
Results After Four Eliminations – Women
1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
2nd Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Valerie Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic)
4th Ayako Suzuki (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)
5th Mio Anayama (Starboard / NeilPryde)
