Freestyle Freenzy Goes of in the Gorge

After a 5 year hiatus the Freestyle Frenzy came back with a bang!

47 competitors represented 6 countries. Riders came from the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Australia and England. With a less then ideal forecast for the 5 day competition window, Head Judge, Casey Hauser, decided to call a 6:30am skippers meeting on the first day of competition and it paid off. Winds built throughout the morning and winds peaked at midday averaging over 30mph! With consistent high winds, the swell started building. Creating the classic Gorge conditions the Freestyle Frenzy was designed to highlight.
Continue Reading →

2013 AWT Gorge Freestyle Frenzy & Big Air

Get Ready!

North Americas premier freestyle event is returning to the Gorge after a 5 year absence! And it is going to be good, just check out the stoke video for the 2013 AWT Gorge Freestyle & Big Air Frenzy run from July 17th-22nd. The freestyle competition will be combined with a Big Air competition, measured using the latest in 3D motion tracking technology from Xensr.

For more info visit americanwindsurfingtour.com

The Aloha Classic is Back!

Things are looking good for the PWA Tour after a few events were cancelled in previous years.  Chili is confirmed and the AWT has extended an invitation to the PWA to join them for The Aloha Classic.

The Aloha Classic was the final and premier event of the PWA World Tour until 2006 when it was cancelled.  In 2011 the AWT brought an event back to Ho’okipa with the Maui Makani Classic, which was just announced will be renamed to The Aloha Classic.

Announcing a name change for the AWT final 2013 event from Maui Makani Classic to Aloha Classic. AWT brackets will run as usual with Amateur, Masters, Youth, Women and Pro divisions. The PWA has been invited to join in on the 2-week contest window. If the PWA joins in on the event, top Pros ranking from the AWT brackets will advance as wildcards to the PWA brackets. We are happy to also welcome Duncan Coombs as confirmed Head Judge for the 2013 Aloha Classic.

Contest window for the Aloha Classic is October 24th-November 6th. Permits allow us to run 11 of the 14 days. We will hold our awards party on Saturday, November 2nd. All completed divisions up to that point will be awarded at that time and any final awards will be presented at the beach Sunday the 3rd through Wednesday the 6th of November condition dependent.

All are welcome to participate in this event. Register today at AmericanWindsurfingTour.com as spots are limited to the first 100 competitors registered.

This is great news, and it is sure to be an exciting event.  I would say we could see many names return to Competition, such as Jason Polakow who competed in last years AWT event, and Kauli Seadi who has recently joined with Hot Sails Maui.

2013 Pistol River Wave Bash – Video Wrap Up

Check out the awesome action from Pistol River as part of the 2013 American Windsurfing Tour.  The event started with 2 days of light wind perfect for a SUP contest.  The forecast delivered for day four with 10-25 knot winds.  Waves were small but enough to get through the entire single elimination.  After the long day at the beach Camille Juban won the Single Elimination!

A few last word, we’d like to give  a shout out to Sam Bittner who runs the tour, Kevin Pritchard who produce the awesome videos, and Starboard who sponsored the event!

The next AWT event in the Desert Showdown in San Carlos, Baja from July 27th to August 3rd, head over to AmericanWindsurfingTour.com for more details.

Day 4 at the AWT Pistol River Wave Bash – Camille Juban Wins

The forecast delivered for day four at the 2013 AWT Pistol River Wave Bash presented by Starboard with 20-25 knot wind. The waves were small but there was enough to get through a full single elimination bracket for all the divisions. It was a long day at the beach but it was exciting to see what the riders could deliver in such challenging conditions.
Continue Reading →

Day 2 at the Pistol River Wave Bash Bernd Roediger Wins SUP Challenge

Day 2 at Pistol River saw the finals of the Gold Beach SUP Challenge completed. It was a fun contest that came down to a serious final featuring Bernd Roediger, Pascal Hardy, Matt Spencer and Brian Caserio. The heat some some of the best waves of the day with Bernd finishing on top. The ladies also had a solid final heat with Fiona Wylde winning by a tie-breaker over Katie McAnena.

Check out a full report on Day 2 of the Pistol River Wave Bash, with pics and full results.

Day 1 at the AWT Pistol River Wave Bash

The competitors have descended on the town of Gold Beach, Oregon for the 2013 AWT Pistol River Wave Bash presented by Starboard. The opening night party and registration was hosted by the Inn of the Beachcomber and everyone had a blast with BBQ, beer and music… always a winning combination. Day 1 was a relaxing day as the wind didn’t materialize enough to run any heats, but we’re ready for when it does show up. The main action on the beach was with a SUP clinic from Bernd Roediger and Fiona Wylde. They gave the crowd plenty of great tips on paddling and catching waves. I’m sure some will use them to their advantage at the upcoming SUP Gold Beach Challenge presented by the Inn of the Beachcomber that will be running on Day 2. Stay tuned tomorrow for a report on the action and photos from this exciting SUP event.

AWT 2013 Santa Cruz Men’s Pro Finals

Nice video by Gunnar Proppe of the pro single elimination finals at the Santa Cruz Goya Windsurfing Festival.

2013 American Windsurfing Tour – Goya Windsurfing Festival – Day 3 FINAL

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!

GOYA Windsurfing Festival Day 1

Some action from the first day of the Goya Windsurfing Festival which wrapped up yesterday in Waddell Creek.

AWT 2013 Santa Cruz Day 2 Highlights

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 →

Photo Friday – AWT Kicks off and around the World

Okay, we’ve only got 1 shot from the AWT Morgan Noireaux with a nice one handed backloop above Waddel, you can find more pictures from Day 1 of AWT Santa Cruz 2013 on Facebook, definitely worth a look, and like your favorites! Tons of great pics this week, with a bunch from the Epic Sessions crew down in Punta San Carlos, and a good selection from Europe.  But the cover photo this week is Kai Katchadourin smacks the lip at Waddell a few days before the contest began.

AWT Santa Cruze Day 1 Results

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 →

AWT 2013 Santa Cruz Day 1 Recap

The AWT kicked off with day 1 in Santa Cruz yesterday. 31 heats got completed on the first day and Marcilio Browne was able to land a few perfect double Forwards. Catch back for updates and results as the action unfolds!

AWT Kicks off!

Kicking off the 2013 American Windsurfing Tour with Tour Director Samantha Bittner, the action starts today!