It goes without saying that every sailor, whether it be racer, freestyler or recreational sailor, wants to get the most out of their equipment. Racers in particular will continuously be tuning and tweaking their race set-ups for optimum performance, but anything over and above this is strictly prohibited.

Previously this rule had been adhered to, however now we are led to believe that some sailors and brands are taking the next step and making physical changes to their equipment. Should this be allowed? Is it giving riders that are altering their equipment an unfair advantage? Where should the PWA draw the line? Where does careful tuning, become unfair adjustment?

Have adjustments been made to the bottom of Arnon’s board?

As new equipment is put into production and the top racers get their new quivers dialled in, many would like to change aspects of their boards and sails but who is actually doing it? As you can see below, it appears that Arnon Dagan has made adjustments to the bottom of his board – rumour has it that the double concaves used to plant the board on the water are in fact hindering the performance; riders are chosing to fill in and then sand the bottom of their boards to loosen it up and give it a slightly livelier feel.

Should this be allowed? What do you think? Answer our poll and share your thoughts in the comments below…

One event down on the PWA slalom tour and already we have a new face to watch out for: Point7’s Alberto Menegatti. We say new face, but is he really? Surely someone cannot come in and land straight at the top of the rankings? Of course not. Alberto is a very talented racer that has taken youth world titles and been in the top ten for over 10 years, so what has changed? How did 28 year old Alberto (or Bambi as he is, or maybe now was, known on tour) go from top 10 to leading from start to finish in Korea?

As you can see here it’s all about the winter training. 

Like many other competitors Alberto is a natural on the water, always known for his incredible early planing and smart tactics, plus at 194cm tall he’s built to race. This alone maybe enough to win a race, but taking an event win is a whole other matter. Alberto obviously decided at the end of the 2012 season to re-evaluate his training and take an even more serious look at exactly what he needed to do to win. In came more dedicated off water training, whilst on the water El Medano bay became THE slalom training ground with bouys, starts and many, many races held in all manner of conditions.

This wasn’t just some equipment tuning with a training partner, this was day in, day out, fully focussed racing on the water complimented with a completely structured, functional training programme off the water.

In short, putting the hours into a structured, focussed training plan has clearly worked wonders.

This begs the question, if more racers adopted an increasingly serious attitude to all aspects of their training could we see some further new faces at the top of the rankings? 

Just windsurfing isn’t enough anymore to win you need to be a true athlete, which obviously Alberto has come to realise. Who else could be at the top if they followed in his footsteps? Did the lighter winds of Korea play into Alberto’s hands, or was it a fluke win? Will Antoine and Bjorn reign supreme as the season continues?

Who do you think has the talent and determination to make it onto the podium in 2013?

And which riders have the potential but need to take a closer look at exactly how to make it to the top?

Share your views in the comments below!

Next time Boardseeker will take a look at how the 2013 PWA Wave tour is shaping up and how a whole host of new events could really shake things up at the top. 

Name: Iballa Ruano Moreno

Date of Birth: 1/December/1977

Born in: Gran Canaria

Currently living: Gran Canaria

Sponsors: Roxy, Starboard, Severne, Baker &Mckenzie, VW Comerciales, Flying Objects

Disciplines: Wave

Top results: 5 times world champion

Nicknames: Princess Ib

Describe your style on the water: Fluid

Describe yourself off the water: Open minded, friend of my friends and funny

Favourite spot: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Tenerife

Current favourite board and sail:  70L Starboard QUAD and 4,2 Severne Blade

Iballa Moreno

at home

Best memory from 2012:

Being able to organise the world cup in GC and save the event together with my sister and our club Morenotwins…..

in Pozo,

Gran Canaria

What do you think helped you win the title? Training all year in different conditions. Also when there was no wind, I did a lots of training with my Stand Up Paddle board.

How did you celebrate? We had a little celebration on our birthday recently

What are your plans for the winter? Staying around the islands for surf and windsurfing….keep training

Who do you admire the most on and off the water? My sister Daida for being a champion in the water and off the water!!! Life give us hard times but only you can make it change and go through it…So I’m thankful she is doing well now and has recovered.

What are your strengths and weaknesses? My strengths are the surfing and weaknesses jumping probably…I would like to learn some new jumps!

What skills would you like to have from another competitor?  Daida´s jumps

Image credits PWA/John Carter

Iballa, with her sister Daida.

Photos by: Jimmie Hepp

Last time Boardseeker caught up with the flying doctor she was enjoying the long waves of south america, but where is she now?

Aloooooooooha from the beautiful land of Mahi Mahi, Mai Tais and bomby shallow reef breaks! Yes compadres, I’ve ventured across the Americas to the depths of the pacific to the wee paradise isle of Maui, Hawaii. To be honest, having been here many times already the sense of adventure was slightly lessened compared to my last two trips to Peru and Mexico. The 50th state of America is almost like a second home at this stage and knowing what’s in store for me here comes almost as a relief in comparisson to the daunting unknown of my escapades in Central and South America. Maui is a unique place. As hospitable and welcoming as it can be, it can also come with equal measures of hostility and difficulty. It is after all an island, and island cultures and people tend to be extemely unique and slightly insular……. I should know, after all I come from one.

Cultural pride and heritage mean everything to island people and there are few if any other places I have ever been to where the people take as much pride in where they come from as they do here. Hawaiians are a proud people and rightfully so. They come from a tropical paradise, which is as rich environmentally as it is culturally and being here reminds me of how similarly, I take such pride in being from Ireland and being Irish. The more often I come here the more clarity and insight I gain on this place. Living on Maui’s Norh Shore as I have done for every visit I’ve made, I begin to appreciate more and more of what it has to offer considering it is such a diverse melting pot of cultures and societies. People come here from every corner of the world, from every possible demographic and every mix of backgrounds all in search of the same thing……. waves. Glorious, clean, heavy, punishing, beautiful, challenging, jaw-dropping waves. It honestly never gets old taking a look at the mottly crew who make up a line up. Whether surfing, windsurfing, SUPping or kiting, the stories you hear and the faces you meet rarely tell the same story. Everyone came here in their own way, from their own background and in their own time but all for the one common cause. The sea. Nature’s playground.

And so I suppose I have my own story to tell and reasons for being here…….. naturally working on my pasty Irish freckly tan is one……. eating my bodyweight in fresh Ahi Poki doused in wasabi and soy is another…….. of course my life-long dream of donning a coconut bra and grass skirt and taking to life as a professional hula girl is up there too…… but mostly so I can find someone who’s willing to take me for dinner to Mama’s Fishouse already!! What I wouldn’t do for a $50 plate of Mahi and a $20 cocktail….. hahahahaha!!! Oh yeah, and I suppose I wouldn’t be too averse to the idea of doing a bit of windsurfing here and there…… if I have to…….

The sailing here has been epic, as always! There really is no need for me to go into the ins and outs of sailing Ho’okipa, you’ve heard it and seen it all before, so naturally you all know how incredible it can be. I first sailed Ho’okipa four years ago and coming back, having been limited since then to the waves of Ireland and Europe I was interested to see how all my ‘training’ would pay off here…… hahahaha holy crap Ho’okipa can beat me up! It’s all about going for it here, the wave can often times be a one or two hit wonder and unless you’re willing to ‘send it’ and boost a big aerial you can come away after a day’s sailing there with your tail between your legs , a rosy colour to your cheeks and some rock-mangled gear that looks like it spent some time in the ring with Tyson.

Ho’okipa sailing is Ho’okipa sailing. It’s a unique wave that takes years to fully tune in to and can be as punishing as it can be rewarding. A month into my stay here and I’m starting to tune into it…..I think…..and now at least I know what I want for Christmas….. “Dear Santa, I would greatly appreciate the magic skill of boosting a big aerial off the lip just like Mr.Polakow or Mr.Siver thank you please……… And if not, I suppose a voucher for Mama’s Fishouse wouldn’t go astray instead, ta very much”. Hahaha stop thinking about food Katie, focus on sailing.

So mixed into my personal battles with Ho’okipa (currently pretty good odds on Katie vs the Point with the wave coming in victor at about 200:1 ) hahaha!, I have been competing on the awesome American Windsurfing Tour. The Maui Makani Classic was the last stop on the six event tour for 2012 and was without a doubt, the best sailing I have seen in person in my life (and I’ve seen Koester in 50 knots Cabezo). I also feel it’s probably the best I have sailed on the tour too. I took the unique angle at this event of being media director which involved everything from writing daily press-releases to making videos and interviewing the competitors and dealing with the local press. Super fun considering my love of “the chat”, oh how I love “the chat”! Ha! But slightly challenging considering my only skills for the job on my CV include, 1) Loving the chat 2) Talking a lot 3) Loving the chat……. and 4) Being a doctor?! Hmmmmmm…. not quite media mogul credentials, pretty sure CNN won’t be banging down my door any time soon, but I did gain mad skills in using more than two fingers at a time to type and trying to sound a little less leprachaun and a little more uncle Sam…… got a real nice American twang going on right now, really helps break down the Paddy communication barriers over here!

The event was an insane success. 120 competitors from 24 countries (including two from Ireland, yours truly and 3rd place amateur fleet Neil Turpin from Dublin!) and a who’s who in the line up of the pro fleet. Watching heats with Stone vs Goya vs Siver vs Polakow vs Pritchard vs Katchadourian et al was mind blowing. I have written thousands of words about the heats on the AWT website so I won’t bore you with them now but all I can say is mix those names in with double mast high Ho’okipa and the recipe delivers probably the most memorable and successful event in recent times. From the ladies point of view we had a mackin’ fleet. Names like Junko Nagoshi, Anne-Marie Reichmann, Shawna Cropas, Tatiana Howard, Angela Cochran, Ingrid Larouche and so many more were all battling it out. I felt honoured and so unbelievably priviliged to be sailing both with and against those girls. Having 20 minutes of mast high Ho’okipa to yourself and three other women is absolutely priceless and I’ll never forget it. So proud to be representing Ireland at these events and really, really chuffed to have made it through to come 7th against 20 women for this event and 5th overall for the AWT year. My first heat was a toughy but I pulled through only to be pitted against last year’s winner and superstar Junko Nagoshi and last year’s runner-up Anne-Marie in my quarter finals. But I went into the heat with the only expectation of doing myself proud and having fun….. which I did! And caught some nice big bomby sets along the way and only narrowly lost on a 2:1 judges decision to Anne-Marie. Happy days! The win in the mens was taken by super nice, intelligent and talented 16 year old Bernd Roediger

And so from there it’s been a mix of sailing, SUPing, surfing, eating, partying and hanging out with some of the coolest people I know who I now consider very dear friends. I love the complete dichotomy in my life between Ireland and being a doctor and travelling and being a windsurfer. I’m so lucky to have the family and friends at home and away who all enrich my life so much regardless of what capacity it is in. Whether it’s my Mum, Dad, siblings and friends at home or my windsurfing family here on Maui and my sponsors in the Simmer team and Moo Custom team, I’m so grateful to be surrounded by such kindness, openess, happiness and support. Mahalo to you all!!

Previous adventures with katie and link to maui travel feature:

• Maui travel feature
• Katie in Peru
• Tenerife to South America

The EFPT’s final event this year took place on UK shores, at Weymouth, the Olympic sailing site. Boardseeker finds out more from Hanna Poschinger.

EFPT Weymouth

Photos: Jay Haysey/GlobalShots.

After seeing the South of France with every possible weather scenario ranging from howling winds to calm sunny days the EFPT team and many of the riders travelled onwards to the first ever EFPT tour stop in the United Kingdom: Weymouth.

Seen by many people as an ex-olympic site, the event company XPLG (Xtreme Playground), with the leading managers Sam Burnett and EFPT rider Adam Sims (Sailloft), decided to make it a venue for the 2012 finale of the European tour. In only two months they pulled in a high value main sponsor, Centaur Executive Coaches, who saw the potential in supporting such an event in the popular windsurfing scene of the United Kingdom. Starting from scratch only 60 days before the competition took place, the organisers worked like maniacs not to only make it happen, but to provide a great event for the riders, partners and the spectators.

Because the EFPT team has been working very closely together with the organizers of the event, we’d like to give you some insights into just exactly what went on behind the scenes. After driving for approximately 1,000 miles from Six Fours les Plages in France to Weymouth in the south of England, spending the night in ‘interesting’ travel lodges, having more fuel station food and Red Bull than you can shake a stick at, the experience of severe hail showers on the highway (not good!) and the enjoyment of driving the last 200 miles with only 50mph because the car broke down, we safely arrived at our destination – the OTC right in front of the big National Sailing Academy within Weymouth. Being welcomed by strong winds everybody was craving for a windsurfing session. We still decided: first the work, then afterwards the fun bit, not quite considering that it was (almost) winter and the sun would set at 5 pm. Anyway with a small but motivated group of helpers we started to set up the 12 x 6 meters marquee without any instructions which probably wasn’t the best idea ever considering that we used all the wrong poles for the roof, screwing in dozens of tiny screws…which we had to unscrew again (of course) to exchange for the right poles. As the day got later and darker the hope for a windsurf session was gone and only the drive for food made us continue on. It was good to see that even competitors got involved and helped us setting up this massive tent in order to provide a wind protected chill-out area for everyone throughout the following days.

On the registration day we saw a big number of competitors entering, with a high number of Brits. Adam Sims (Sailloft), Nic Hibdige (Starboard), Ben Lee, Jack Sawbridge (North/RRD), Charlie Wilson (North/Fanatic), Nick Bentley, Jamie Howard (RRD/RRD), Phil Richards (F2), Josh Sparks (North/Fanatic), Will Rogers (Starboard), Andy Bubble Chambers (JP/Neilpryde) and Jamie Drummond (Starboard) all paid the entrance fee in order to compete against some of the best European freestylers such as: Davy Scheffers, Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard), Andraz Zan (F2/F2) and Adrian Beholz (Sailloft).

Different to the other tour stops we saw this year, there was also be a girls fleet sent out in Weymouth. The organizers called for female freestyle windsurfers to compete in the ‘Queen of the Wind’ event sponsored by Femi Pleasure. The Polish brand provided not only prize money and nice clothes for the top three, but also goodie bags for every entrant. Seven girls registered to fight for the crown.

If we would have to make an equation after the last two tour stops it would be: strong winds = cold temperatures. The first day of competition delivered enough wind to run almost the whole single elimination with the postponement of the losers and the winners final to the following day. The hot tub just in front of the Official Test Center (OTC) was heavily used by the riders. Fast in, warm up, fast out was the motto as people were lining up to get at least their feet and hands into the steaming water. It all looked pretty life saving to me. Good job to the organizers for providing it!

The single elimination saw Davy Scheffers taking victory with Van der Eyken in second and Adam Gavriel and Andy Chambers in third and fourth. Right after the final the wind dropped and sailors were released.

Monday was the day that was awaited with high expectations. First of all the wind was back and we could send the riders through the whole double elimination with Rick Jendrusch (F2) definitely being the man of the moment. He sailed amazing heats, taking out Jeremy Plüss from Switzerland, Adrian Beholz from Germany and even Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers, to end up in fourth position overall. The top three positions stayed the same with Davy in first, Dieter in second and Adam Gavriel from Israel in third place.

In the evening the schedule included a night tow in show at Weymouth town beach! Every year fireworks light up the skies during the traditional Guy Fawkes night celebrations. With many thousand spectators expected, this evening promised to be a big happening for the 13 experienced tow in riders. Red Bull were of huge support for the show and provided the jetski, the music truck (DJ Chubsy) and plenty of free cans, they guaranteed the right atmosphere at the beach, especially with the likes of Colin ‘Whippy’ Dixon taking over the towns PA system. Also with the funfair and the bright lights in the background the scene was amazing and all the riders were hyped up for their two runs ahead. The two powerful spotlights were switched on and the competitors provided a great show with Max Matissek (Fanatic) from Austria winning the discipline, Andy Chambers in second and Julien Mas in third place.

It wouldn’t be an English event if there wouldn’t also be the right parties to go with it. Jay Haysey and Adam Chubbock from Globalshots made sure that Saturday (Royal Rave) and Monday (Globaland) were unforgettable nights. With a lot of UV paint, glow sticks , funky glasses and Adam ‘Chubsy’ Chubbock as the guy behind the turntables, we had a great celebration after the tow in show.

The prize giving was held the day afterwards in the Spinnaker room of the National Sailing Academy. Honoring the top three of the event and also the top three overall in the 2012 EFPT ranking, Davy Scheffers (1st), Dieter Van der Eyken (2nd) and Adrian Beholz (3rd). Davy who won the tour for the first time fulfilled one of his dreams and stated:

‘What I reached today shows me that you can get everything you dream of as long as you keep going for it and work hard.’

It was a great event and a great show at all the tour stops this year. We would like to say thank you to everyone who participated, organized, helped in any way or followed us in this season. We are hoping to provide an even bigger and brighter tour for you next year with a lot of wind, action and fun!

Let the good times roll and stay tuned!

Hanna

Boardseeker catches up with the EFPT’s Hanna Poschinger to find out more about the latest events; first up the EFE in the South of France.

EFPT monthly September/ October

Photos: Raffi Cherbedjian

With many thousand miles travelled by car, plane, bus and train the last weeks have been the busiest for the EFPT team in the whole year. We’ve seen the last two tour stops in Six Fours les Plages, France and the big finale in Weymouth, UK. First things first, we’d like to give you a better insight on the first of these two events, the European Funboard Expression which took place from the 27th through to the 31st October in the South of France.

The European Funboard Expression event, organised by Steve Palier as well as Fred and Natach Bosson has become an institution in the past three years and already staged the European Freestyle Pro Kids Tour. For their fourth edition the team wanted to take it a step further and bring the best professional freestyle windsurfers of Europe to their venue. Working 24/7 throughout the whole year the organisers managed exactly that. The event set up was well worthy of the international competition that they expected and featured freestyle windsurfing, a tow-in contest as well as a social programme that ranged from community dinners to a movie night with a video contest and a RRD fashion show.

36 riders out of 12 nations registered on day one. Some to fight for the crown and the top positions this year, some to experience their first international competition. Amongst the world class sailors getting involved were Davy Scheffers from Holland, Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard) from Belgium, Adrian Beholz (Sailloft/Fanatic) from Germany, Tonky Frans from Bonaire and Mattia Fabrizi (North/Fanatic) from Italy, just to name a few. Best seeded UK freestyler was Adam Sims (Sailloft) who came to defend his current top 10 overall position. He brought along 17 year old Nic Hibdige (Starboard) and Ben Lee, both from the UK who had their EFPT debut in France.

Immediately after the registration was completed, race director Tom Hartmann sent the fleet out on the water as the storm front was coming, just as ordered, and delivered conditions for 4.7m sails and smaller. A whole single elimination and parts of the double were run on the first day always followed by the camera of the B2B team, who provided the live stream on dailymotion.com. Over 5000 people were following the competition at home via the internet. This made the whole event extremely accessible and interactive. Steve Palier who was the responsible person on site even found the time to do the live commentary and managed to organise interviews in between. He really did a great job and deserves some special acknowledgement for his commitment. As many followers have been national, Steve kept entertaining the French audience in his mother tongue, whilst Adam Sims from the UK helped out in between and after his heats to give the international followers updates on what was going on on the water.

Day two always had a big storm on the cards. With wind speeds of up to 60 knots forecast the council refused authorisation to start the competition and we had to postpone the first possible start from 9.00 am to lunch time, when the wind dropped a tiny bit. The riders had to rig their 4.0′s and smaller. Whilst people were still out in their short wetsuits the day before, they now had to unpack their winter ones as the strong winds delivered super cold conditions with a windchill of only a few celsius above zero. The judges were equipped with snowboard jackets and pants, as well as thick sleeping bags and snow goggles due to the strong onshore conditions, which even made the water surface take off at some points. They had a really hard job here and proved themselves in these tough conditions. Some riders were clearly struggling in the nuclear wind and the choppy water, whilst others still showed high class freestyle. As we made our way through the double elimination the performance of some riders should be highlighted: Davy Scheffers sailed through four heats taking out Rick Jendrusch (F2), Anthony Ruenes, Mattia Fabrizi (North/Fanatic) and Adrian Beholz (Sailloft/Fanatic) to be then stopped by Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard). Dieter was clearly powered up on his small sail and ready to take victory defeating Tonky Frans, who is currently ranked top five in the world, twice! The result for the top five after the finished double were as follows:

1st Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard)
2nd Tonky Frans
3rd Davy Scheffers
4th Adrian Beholz (Sailloft)
5th Mattia Fabrizi (North/Fanatic)

Dieter Van Der Eyken (Belgium) – 1st place:

‘I am really very happy to see that I can beat some top guys like Tonky, especially by defeating him twice, it’s just incredible! I already knew le Brusc as I have sailed here a few times and this is one of my favorite spots in the Mediterranean, it’s perfect to train in freestyle. But I was not expecting such strong winds, it has been a long time since I used such small sail. I was on 3.6 overpowered! The organisation was top and especially the live webcast, which is great for the image of the EFPT. The EFE is much more than a competition, it a great appointment and a great showcase for the sport!’

The top UK sailor was Adam Sims (Sailloft) who finished in joint 13th place. Ben Lee and Nic Hibdige (Starboard) made it to a joint 25th place in their first international competition. Well done!

The following days of the EFE in Six Fours delivered nice weather, but unfortunately no wind. Perfectly prepared for that case we had two strong boats to do a tow in qualification that was open to every registered sailor. Due to the mild weather the beach was full with people as 21 riders fought for the 10 places in the final on the next day. As expected the members of team France, Julien Mas and local boy Adrien Bosson (North/Fanatic) made a great impression here, clearly showing that they trained this discipline. In the final though, two rookies made it to the podium and dispatched Julien Mas to the third place. Romain Pinocheau (F2) French freestyle talent convinced with a perfect double funnell and took second, Antoine Albert from New Caledonia even managed to land a switch kono on his first run and almost nailed a skopu on his second try. This was rewarded by the judges with a first place.

For the last day of the event, the new single elimination had already been seeded and the riders of the first heat were prepared to hit the water around 9.00 am. Again le Brusc had a super strong forecast this time with wind coming from the other side, delivering fully offshore conditions. The whole coastline between Marseille and Nice saw a red flag this morning, so did we. The coastguard gave us no authorization to start due to dangerous conditions and recommended to cancel the competition. Like that the freestyle contest came to a sudden end and the ranking stayed the same.

The EFE/EFPT in France convinced with an amazing organisation, great but also challenging conditions for sailing, a superb social programme and a media coverage which was quite unique for the European tour, due to the every day live stream. We are looking forward to next season and to see this tour stop grow even bigger. At this point we would like to thank all the riders who were providing the show, to the whole EFE team and everybody who followed us throughout these exciting days.

Stay tuned for the full write up and some insights about the finale of the EFPT, the Centaur King of the Wind in the UK!

Thanks for following,

Hanna

Words by: Will Johnston and Jodi Stevenson
Photography by: White Caps Photography

Woolgoolga

Woolgoolga might be hard to wrap your tongue around but it is not hard to fall in love with this beautiful town that delivers both waves and wind. Situated on the northern coast of NSW on the east coast of Australia, ‘Woopi’ as it is locally known, is the location for this years Australian Wavesailing Championships.

Former Olympian Jessica Crisp off the lip

The sand spit which joins the mainland to Flat Top Island is worthy of a ticker tape parade. The layout of the island and the spit means that most forecasts from the North are funnelled between the dunes and island, aligning the wind in almost perfect port tack wave-riding conditions with no headland to block the wind on the faces of the wave. There are no rocks – just a peeling sandy beach break that grinds down the beach in a good swell and provides nice sections further down the beach. This works exactly the opposite way in Southerly winds and low and behold – starboard tack wave heaven.

Sunday 30th September – Competition starts

Conditions were slowly deteriorating so head judge Dean Hendrie decided to send the women fleet out first. Some of the female competitors were only able to compete on the weekend – with pesky work dragging them away from the action. Despite the trying conditions, Jessica Crisp, Kate Barker and Mel Bienemann were first to hit the water for a 15 minute heat. Jess Crisp showing she still has those wave moves in the bag and advancing through to the winners final. Then the wind swung onshore and put a halt to competition for the rest of the day.

Amateur winner Aaron Constable massive Table-Top

Waiting for wind is thirsty work – 1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila – (Dance) Floor!

Fortunately for the competitors, competition director Will Johnston had pulled out all stops, with a cold keg of hand crafted beer – Rainbow – tapped and ready back at the main house to assist those in need of rehydration after a long day of waiting for the wind. Add to this a Mexican feast of epic proportions, Tequila, 5ltrs of home distilled rum and other spirits, all thoughts of the day were left behind to be replaced by epic stories of jumps as high as a mountain and waves the size of trees. The forecast for Monday looked average, so most kicked on far into the night. The night culminating in an epic strobe light party (to clarify – the strobe light consisted of someone standing by the light switch and rapidly turning it on and off – much to the dismay of those foolish enough to attempt to sleep nearby…)

Tuesday 2nd Oct – Competition fires up!

The competitors awoke to the pleasing sound of trees rustling as the 20knot SSE wind gradually built. Some got down there at first light – making the most of the building Southerly and 3ft peeling waves. We hadn’t been too lucky with the swell, but there was still plenty of action on the water in perfect cross-off, with competitors getting dialled into the spot before the competition started. Al McLeod (VIC) pulling off an impressive Goiter to set the scene and standard.

With everyone managing to work out a perfecttetris of cars at the tiny sandy ‘car park’, the marquee was up, the judges were ready, the score sheets flappingin anticipation, smooth tunes flowing and the wind blowing over peeling blue waves in one of the most picturesque natural environments, the day was looking good!

And what a day of action it was!

Battle of the Masters – Blood, Sweat and Beers

First up was the Masters division, with 1 jump and 3 waves counting in 12 min heats. The right side of the ladder saw an on form Jason Juretic (NSW) nudge past last years masters champion, Warren Holder (NSW), with a big forward loop. Jason came back in fine form to take 3rd overall. Oli Barta (QLD) was keen to get back in the top masters spot after a loss to Warren Holder last year and was tearing up the waves.

The final was between Oli and Pat O’Connell (QLD). After pulling off nice loops in the heats, the Pat was struggling a little to get ramps as the wind got lighter and placed 2nd, Oli took him out with some big forwards and a Gu-screw in spectacular fashion.

Open Pros – Return of the King

The story of the day was that of one Stuart “Stuey” Martin (NSW). Stuey has been out of the game for 10 years, shaping surfboards and really loving riding his boards with a kite. Last year Stuey went to the Nationals in Gerroa, but got knocked out early in the single elimination. This year however, it looks like he had been sailing a lot, as he tore up the singe elimination ladder. On his path to the final, was last year’s Australian Amateur Champion Duncan Osborne (NSW), who was looking dangerous with some solid aerials and explosive cutbacks.

On the other side of the draw, Dan Berry (NSW) took out Matt Ruthren (NSW) and a raging Joel Ryan (VIC) – (he was going crazy with big moves, one hand backloops, nice forwards and shuvits) to claim his spot in the final. Dan is the wave selection master – many people were heard joking of their new competition strategy “Follow Dan around and drop in on him”. This helped him score good waves to tear to pieces with his vertical Polakaw-esk style. Also he is a flyweight so he can pull of backloops when barely planning.

Finally Stuey found himself facing Dan in the final. Tough competition but Stuey is no stranger to victory – once whipping Robby Naish and a certain Dunkerbeck in the same 24hrs. In the final, both Dan and Stuey were on fire. When it all came down to the last minute of the heat – the tension was palpable, even from the beach.

Dan gybes onto a wave out the back as Stuey heads through the break zone, keen to get one last wave in the dying moments. He is 50m up wind of Dan, and gybes on the same wave. Gasps are audible on the beach as surely this is interference!? But no, Stuey continues upwind, not interfering with Dan’s wave. Everyone expects Dan to push him right upwind off the wave. But no, he bears away to hit the end section for a big cutback. Meanwhile, upwind, Stuey stalls, turns, pumps and gathers speed into his bottom turn. With only seconds to go, the wave looks to close out, and BAMN! He smashes through from under the lip into the flats with finesse. Shouts go up, trumpets erupt, all the women on the beach start throwing bras and underwear. He has done it – solidifying the win with the last minute wave, adding to his big loop and good rides earlier in the heat to the win!

There are murmurs of discontent around the last wave, but count back of the scores shows even without the last wave, he was just ahead of Dan.

In the loser final Shane Finnigan (QLD) came out on top, just pipping Joel for 3rd and 4th respectively.

AMS – Table Top heaven

The Amateur fleet had been running between the masters and pros draws. The stand out sailors soon rose to the top, with Aaron Constable (QLD) emerging victorious with some HUGE tabletops. One of the stand out moves of the comp was a tabletop right behind and above Luke Ballie (QLD), who was just bested by Aaron in the final. Luke races a lot of RSX and slalom, but it was awesome to see him tearing the waves to shreds, to take 2nd. Kirk Koster (QLD) showed his days at Currumbin Alley have paid off with some smooth riding to take 3rd.

Womens – Waves to RSX to Waves

Kate Barker (NSW) and Mel Bienemann (NSW) had to battle it out to see who made it through to the final against Olympian, Jessica Crisp (NSW). Mel unfortunately had to leave so Kate put up a strong challenge against Jess. Showing in the better conditions she can wave ride very well, but Jess was too strong and with an amazing one handed table top (The Jesus Christ), solidified her 1st place position. It was terrific to see Jess back in the waves after competing in 4 Olympics. She was loving it and could have easily taken out most of the guys in the competition.

Open Pro winner Stuey One handed Forward Loop

..Part 2

Jessica Crisp ripping up the waves

Master overall winner Oli Barta

Juniors/Groms – Young guns

No matter the conditions, these young guns sailed extremely well and it was awesome to see younger sailors getting out into the waves. They were going for big jumps and displaying some great skills on the wave with nice cutbacks and smooth bottom turns. Zach Coleman (NSW) put together a tactical heat getting lots of waves to earn him top spot, with Jake Juretic (NSW) 2nd and Lachlan Boullier (VIC), 3rd. Nic Walker (QLD) sailed well to take the top Grom and 4th in Juniors.

Event Wrap-Up

The competition was a complete success, with a solid result in great conditions. Thursday and Friday were looking pretty good but when the day came the wind never kicked in and everyone was left frustrated waiting and watching as the 10kn wind teased us. This meant no double elimination so the winners of the single elimination stood victorious!

The presentation ceremony was fun with some great prizes by the event sponsors. With DJ Timmy L on the tunes, the Rainbows flowed well into the night and so did the party. Everyone had a great week of fun, wind, waves, new friendships and new rivalries. The event came to a close with this profound statement -

“When you breath in – you breath the wind “ David Johnston, 2012 Wavesailing Nationals Trophy designer/poet.

The organisers would like to sincerely thank Severne Sails, Starboard, Hot Sails Maui, Airsickness, White Caps photography, Josephmark, Australian Windsurfing Association, QLD Freewave Association, NSW Wavesailing Association, Dean Hendrie, Tim Williams, Chris Powell, David Johnston, Christine Ballinger, Ryan Kelly and all the others who helped along the way – your help has been invaluable.

Final results:

• Open Pro
• 1. Stuart Martin
• 2. Dan Berry
• 3. Shane Finigan
• 4. Joel Ryan

• Groms:
• 1st: Nic Walker

• Juniors:
• 1st: Zac Colman
• 2nd: Jake Juretic
• 3rd: Lachlan Boullier

• Open Ams:
• 1. Aaron Constable
• 2. Luke Ballie
• 3. Kirk Koster

• Masters:
• Overall Masters Winner – Oliver Barta (Also placed first in Grand Masters age bracket – 45-55)
• 2. Pat OConnell (First in 35-45 Division)
• 3. Lloyd Ellis (First in Legends 55+)

• Womens:
• 1. Jessica Crisp
• 2. Kate Barker
• 3. Mel Bienneman

Open Pro winner Martin shredding the waves

… at the lip

The winning wave by Stuey Martin

Up close with Masters champion Oli Barta

Stu Martin – 2012 Australian Wave Sailing Open Pro Champion

You haven’t been windsurfing for about a decade, what have you been doing?

I have been kite surfing. (!!!) I was windsurfing professionally, based in Hawaii, but gave it away to pursue surf board shaping and start a business (Stuey Martin surfboards) back at home (Newcastle, NSW). I gave it away for 12-13 years.

What got you back into windsurfing?

Well I pretty much achieved what I wanted to do with kite surfing – I won a few titles but then it seemed I couldn’t go anywhere from there in Kite surfing. Then I saw some guys with new windsurf equipment and sailing in lighter conditions and decided to get back into it.

How did it feel after such a long break?

It felt really difficult, I found it hard. Fitness wise it was tough on my body and I basically had to learn how to jump all over again. There is a big difference to jumping a kite to a windsurfer.

What preparation, if any, did you do for this years event?

I tried to get out on the water as much as possible as I was still rusty as far as fitness goes. I had a crack at last years comp but got knocked out after the first heat. It just came together at the right time.

You did a one handed stalled forward? How did you pull it off?

To be honest it was weird. I saw the ramp and basically this is what I would have done in that situation in previous comps so yeah, I just went for it. Things slowly come back to you on the water.

You landed it, and it seemed like your confidence just soared out there from then on…

Yeah it did, after that heat everything just clicked, I could relax and enjoy the comp instead of hanging on.

You were up against some tough competition – Dan Berry, Joel Ryan, Al McLeod and Shane Finnigan (to name a few), were you worried you would get knocked out early again?

I didn’t have any expectations at all.

What gear were you on?

I use JP\NP – I used 82ltr quad board, 5.1 Fly

What’s next?

I’ll keep going, get involved again and do the State rounds. I regret giving it up in the first place. I’ll definitely have crack at the title next year.

Jessica Crisp – 2012 Australian Wave Sailing Women’s Champion

In the early to mid 1990s, Jessica was one of the most famous women in the world of windsurfing. Twice, in 1993 and 1994, she won the Professional Windsurfing Association’s world title. On one occasion she achieved this feat despite the pain of a broken ankle which she sustained towards the end of the season.
At the time she was acknowledged as the best all round female windsurfer in the world. But after breaking fibula and tibia, doing a forward loop at the indoor event in Paris, her professional career was cut short. Unable to jump and therefore compete in wave sailing competitions Jessica decided to try the less impact side of the sport, Olympic sailing.
She has just returned from London and in a career turnaround entered the Australian Wave Sailing Titles.

Recently come back from London Olympics where you ranked 11 overall, how did you feel out there and about the result?

It was great to be competing at the London Olympics, the conditions were great and the racing was tight. Unfortunately things did not go my way but it was a real honour.

How does it feel to participate in 4 Olympics?

The special thing about doing so many Olympics is that I was asked to march in the front row at the opening ceremony and that was incredible!

When was the last time you wave sailed?

I can’t remember the last time I wave sailed.

Why did you decide to enter this years Wave Nationals?

Patrik gave me one of their new waves boards to try out. I have always loved wave sailing but now after going out on this new equipment I am in love all over again – all I want to do is wave sail!

Did you do any preparation for this event?

No, but it just shows once you are addicted to windsurfing your body just knows what to do.

What do you do to keep your fitness up\what kind of training?

Fitness for Olympic sailing is huge. I spend a lot of time in the gym lifting weights and doing a lot of cardio from hell to keep super fit. Now that the Olympics are over I have been very slack – loving the couch ha ha!

Breaking your fibula and tibia (doing a forward loop at the indoor event in Paris in the 90′s) – does that still affect your wave sailing today ?

I still have no feeling in my right leg around my ankle – but it doesn’t hurt when I land jumps anymore.

The first round of the Australian Wavesailing Titles was held in light S winds. Did those conditions make it easier to ease back into it or was it hard work out there?

I was just so excited to go wavesailing and Woolgoolga is such a fun wave I was happy to go out in anything – I could wave sail 24 hours a day!

What gear did you use?

Patrik trailer wave 78 and Neil Pryde sails

Conditions were better the following comp day with 20-25knots S\SE, you were ripping it up, how did it feel?

It was fun to be planning and giving a few jumps a whirl. Luke and myself had a bet to do a Jesus Christ jump (one handed table top) – I managed to do one but I think I have to get more gusty and tweak it more for next time ha ha!

Congratulations on winning the Womens division. Did you have a competition strategy? If so, how does it differ to your Olympic competitive strategy?

Thankyou! My wave strategy is to get the biggest waves and do as much on each wave as possible. Then once you have your 3 waves in and you still have time try and do something big on the next wave. It is all about getting the jumps and waves in. Wave sailing I am not concerened about what anyone else is doing I am just trying to do the best I can do. Olympic sailing is totally different as it is all about everyone else so it is a numbers game.

What’s next for Jessica Crisp?

Lots of wave sailing and enjoying each day with my friends

Wavesailing competition is run on a fairly simple format; there is a timed heat and you are scored on your best specified number of wave rides and jumps. However a lot of factors go into determining how a competition is run and judged. Boards is joined by head PWA and Red Bull Storm Chase judge, Duncan Coombes, who gives his low down on everything from what moves could land you an amateur title through to exactly how they score the top pros.

The running of a wave competition is not quite as simple as some may think. It’s a juggling act, with many constantly changing variables and tricky decisions to make. We have to decide when the conditions are good enough to run, then how long a heat is, plus how many waves and jumps are counting.

Swell period is probably the most significant factor because it tells us how much swell we’re likely to get; therefore, indicating how many waves riders can get

We have to look at the forecasts in depth of course, the swell period probably being the most significant factor because it tells us how much swell we’re likely to get; therefore, indicating how many waves riders can get and the heat length we need to run. For instance, in Cape Verde you could have a 17 second period swell; which means if we ran a 10 minute heat, riders may not be able to get any waves.

Wind strength and how many riders are on the water are also factors to remember. If we’re doing heats with just waves to count and there’s four guys all needing to get a wave when a set comes through, but the set only brings through three waves, we would have to make the heat longer to make sure they all have an equal chance of getting waves.

Waves and jumps have equal significance within the scores; this means that even if it’s two waves and one jump, the jumping is as important. We work this out by using a factor; for example, if it’s two waves and one jump to count, we multiply the jump score by two so that it counts for the same as the jumps.

The maximum score for a wave or jump is 12 points. We don’t give out many 12s, it has to be an extremely well executed complex jump or a wave ride that combines very technical riding and tricks on the critical section of a wave to warrant a score like this.

It’s generally the top eight or so riders on the PWA which are clocking up scores anywhere near the 12 mark. These riders are doing one hand or one foot back loops, quite high. Double forwards, tweaked push loop table tops and push loop forwards. Doing these well, plus super high stalled and one footed forwards, seems to be what the riders need to do to break into the top.

Not every jump landed in a heat counts, only your best ones, and the same jump cannot be counted twice. For example, a one foot/hand forward counts as a forward; so if you did a forward and then a one footed forward, only the best one of these would count. They are just variations on the same move, not different moves.

Whilst I appreciate many of you want to see crazy jumps and the riders going for broke, in my mind expression sessions are the time for people to go big and try and win the money.

It is when a jump turns into a combination move i.e. a pushloop forward, this counts as a separate jump. Combination jumps are the jumps with the highest degree of difficulty, with push forward being the highest scoring jumps at the moment, when they are executed well. To me a clean double would score around 10 points, a few of the judges sometimes go above 10, but that’s my bench mark because if someone then lands a bone dry push forward, which should be about two points more, I wouldn’t be able to score this appropriately. I’m think it was some of Koester’s stalled, full planing doubles that got 11 from a couple of the other judges.

Whilst I appreciate many of you want to see crazy jumps and the riders going for broke, in my mind expression sessions are the time for people to go big and try and win the money. In a contest we are mainly looking for control, it’s the same if you look at gymnastics or diving. We bear in mind the difficulty of the jump, but we really need to see it landed cleanly and that’s what you get maximum points for. We don’t really want to see crashed stuff, it might look more radical but we’re looking for control at the top level.

Of course, we all want to see a triple forward, and I don’t think it will be long before we see one from Ricardo Campello and Philip Koster; however, I do think it is hard for them to do in a heat, particularly when they’re competing for a World Title.

In terms of waveriding, we are specifically looking for a vertical approach to the lip of the wave. The more vertical you are, the more committed you are to the turn; therefore the higher the wave scores. The more severe the turn, the more spray is pushed up too, which we like.

The more severe the turn, the more spray is pushed up too, which we like.
Another guideline is we do not want straight down the line aerials, i.e. a gayrial!

Another guideline is we do not want straight down the line aerials, i.e. a gayrial! To score well for aerials we have to see a bottom turn, a vertical smack on the lip and the rider being launched from this. One-handed manoeuvres on a wave, such as an aerial will increase the score, as will wave selection. Picking up the biggest wave in the set requires patience and skill, and is rewarded.

Whilst wave tricks are becoming more dominant, in Tenerife this year Scott McKercher got through just on solid wave riding. If someone can ride with the same severity, and throw up buckets of spray, they’re still in with a chance but I think to break into the top eight without the whole new arsenal of tricks is almost impossible.

But, how does this compare with the British amateur side of competition? First of all, obviously, we are not expecting or looking for anyone in this fleet to be trying triples or even doubles. We are looking for solid jumping, the current top amateurs are fairly high levels so we are seeing stalled forwards, back loops and push loops, which can score up to around seven points.

If you can land a back or pushloop, and a forward, I would say you stand quite a good chance of advancing into a semi final. And that should be the goal; to be doing these on both tacks, for most amateurs. A lot of the time though I only ask for one jump from the amateurs, so a decent forward could see you advancing through a few rounds.

My first bit of advice, if you are going to compete, would be to start with what you know you can do, before you try something new or risky. You’re better off landing something that you’re competent at, rather than crashing; because you don’t get points for crashing!

However, with jumps the most important thing we’re looking for is full rotation; so if at the end a foot or hand slips, you go into the water but waterstart fairly quickly, then that’s generally recognised as being fairly close to that jump. This would generally score no more that four and a half points.

Competition is not easy straight away, it will take some time to understand how heats work but at the same time contest sailing will improve your riding and jumping a lot. The hardest thing is making the decision to just do it! Then if you can remember to keep calm in your heat, know who your competitor is and always check the notice board to know what heat you’re going in, you are sure to put in a good performance. Also, always remember to warm up, have some spare gear ready and start upwind!

Doing competitions is one of the best ways for you to have a goal and purpose with your windsurfing. It is something that you can aim your training specifically towards and at the same time it is a great opportunity to push yourself on the water and meet new people. PWA sailor Chris Friis shares his guide to competition, whether you are an event regular or just thinking about heading to your first contest, there is always more to learn.

Pre competition.

My preparation for competitions starts months before the event is on. I visualise what I want to do in my heats and start working on the moves that I want to do. Some of the moves I have been perfecting for years, others are new to me and need a lot more attention and training to get consistent enough to do in a heat. My advice for you would be to choose one or two moves and start training them as much as possible when you are on the water. Do them in as varied conditions as possible because you never know exactly what kind of conditions will be thrown at you in the competition. Forward loops, pushloops and tabletops are good moves to start out with because they are easy build up the consistency with and can be done in most conditions.

One of the things I have learned from doing the World Tour is that local knowledge is extremely important. The local windsurfers often perform better at their homespots and if you take guy like Dany Bruch, he always finishes as one of the top sailors in Tenerife, not only because he is a good windsurfer, but also because he has sailed that exact spot for the past 20 years, he knows exactly when and where to be to get the best waves. That gives him a big advantage. Therefore I always arrive weeks or even months before a big event and start getting dialed in to the conditions. Not only should you try and sail the spots where you are going to compete before the competition is on, but you should also try and suck in as much local knowledge as possible about the place, that way you will avoid doing critical mistakes in your heat that may end up costing you the victory.

Good preparation is the key to a calm state of mind during competition. I always make sure that I am organised and have all my equipment, clothing and food ready before I even get to the competition site. That way I leave out a lot of the stress and confusion that comes from not being organised and I can focus solely on my performance on the water. A lot things go on during a windsurfing competition and the last thing you want to be doing is running around confused looking for something that you may have forgotten or can’t find.

Make sure to check all the small pieces of equipment like your mastfoot, extension, the boom head and your harness lines because they are quite often the reason of equipment failure in competitions and it is an annoying way to loose your heat.

Photos: PWA/JC

Photos: PWA/JC

Photos: PWA/JC

Photos: PWA/JC

During competition

As one of the most basic and fundamental things to do during a competition I always make sure to get a good night sleep before the first day of competition. You will be using a lot of energy throughout the competition and it is always a good idea to eat a healthy breakfast with a lot of carbonhydrates and keep your energy level up for the rest of the day with fruit and protein bars.

Personally I don’t check the weather charts much when I am in a place with trade winds, I sort of just ask around a bit and take it as it goes, but if you are going to compete in a place that’s dominated by low pressure systems it is important to keep your self updated on the weather forecast. In big competitions I always rig 3-4 sails depending on the conditions and the forecast, but not everyone has the equipment to do so. If you can have 2-3 sail sizes rigged and ready on the beach this would be ideal.

I always attend the skippers meeting because this is where the head judge will be briefing the competitiors about important information such as the heat length, transition time, heat order and how many moves to count. It is always super important to be on top of what is going on with these factors as it will affect how you have to perform on the water.

Just before my heat is up I try my best to isolate myself from the crowd and start getting focused on what I am going to do on the water, where to place myself in the competition area and consider what sail size to go with. A lot of the sailors in the pro feet have their own set of rituals they do before their heats. Some listen to music, warm up on the beach or go on the water early. Personally I try not to talk with any one for 20 minutes before my heat, then I pee in my wetsuit and go. Try to find a ritual that works well for you.

Once I hit the water and the green flag goes up I always make sure to be most upwind in the competition area so I don’t spend the precious minutes of my heat going upwind out back. I try not to look too much at what my opponent is doing and focus solely on my own heat and doing the things that I have trained. Never do anything you are not sure you can pull off unless you have already done all the moves and wave rides you need and still have some time to go.

When my heat is over I always check my score sheets from the judges. This is where you really learn about windsurfing in competitions. You will learn how the judges have broken down your heat and see what you have to do differently to get a higher score in your next heat. Consider what you could have done better and try to do it differently in your next heat. If you lost your first heat you always have the double elimination to fight back in. Whether my heat lead to victory or failure I always try to show good sportsmanship and congratulate my opponent or wish him better luck next time.

Post competition

After an event is over I always try to analyse how I performed in my heats and break down what my weak points are. That way I will know exactly what I have to work on till the next competition is on. Maybe it’s the overall strategy and where I place myself in the competition area, maybe it’s my wave selection or a specific move that needs more work. This is all extremely important. Learn from your experiences and get better!

Tips

A little quick tip is to always syncronise your clock to the elimination ladder. Use the heat length plus the transition time. That way your clock will tell you exactly when the heats start and end and you will know exactly how much time there is till your heat is up. The  classic big yellow Optimum Time clock is very popular among the pro sailors and I recommend any one who wants to compete to get one.

Conclusion

To sum it all up the key to do well in competitions is to be well prepared and having trained the things you want to do in your heats months before the event even starts. Be on top of any information released from the head judge and try to find a personal ritual to do before your heats to get your mind focused on your performance on the water. Last but not least learn from your experience and take what you have learned from competing and work on your weak points till the next competition is on.

Words by:
Christopher Friis
DEN 36

Chris is sponsored by:

• Simmer Style International

At the recent PWA Slalom competition in Alacati, many were surprised to see Arrianne Aukes, third in the world on the freestyle tour, on the start line. Boardseeker caught up with Arrianne to discover why she decided to compete, how the event went and what she has learned from her first slalom experience.

Name: Arrianne Aukes

DOB: 1st of October 1986

Windsurfing history: I started windsurfing when I was really young, as my parents are both windsurfers and always loved it. I begun with freestyle in 2008 when I went to Brazil for a few months, I then made my debut at the PWA freestyle tour in 2010 and finished third place overall in the PWA this year.

Previous racing? This was my first experience ever!

Why did you decide to enter the PWA racing? I always thought it would be great fun, but it never really happened and I never had equipment to train. Since I began in freestyle people always ask me why I don’t do slalom, as I’m quite strong and taller than most freestyle girls, so it was always at the back of my mind. Then in Alacati our friend Lena, who is a slalom sailor, persuaded me to enter and that was five minutes before registration finished!

How did you prepare? I think it was the worst preparation you can ever have, as I didn’t plan to compete and signed up in the last minute. I had no equipment I could use and I had never tried to sail with cambers before. But it might have been an advantage that I have experience in competing in PWA events with freestyle, so I knew what a week of competing looks like and I knew what it’s like to compete under pressure. So preparation involved fruit, yoghurt, good rest and some help and tips from friends and the other sailors.

What equipment did you use? I was really lucky that there were so many nice people helping me out as I had not the opportunity to sail with my sponsors equipment (Simmer/RRD/AL360/MUF). I could borrow a 90 and a 102 RRD board, a 5,9 and 7,6 Maui sails and a 6,9 Avanti sails.

What was the atmosphere like and who helped you out? The atmosphere was great. Everyone was so friendly and so many people were keen to help me out! TUR 907, a Turkish slalom sailor who was injured lent me his sails and masts. I could borrow Peter Volwater’s 6,9, a RRD distributor from Alacati lent me the boards, Pieter Bijl lent me his watch, a Turkish friend gave me lots of fins to use and my friends Lena, Simon, Andy and James really helped me out with small gear and…rigging up!

What advice were you given before your first race? Don’t crash into anyone else! Which made me pretty nervous and a bit wary, but I sailed well and the more I raced the more I got into it as it really is about being aggressive at the mark. I did get a lot of good advice! Sarah-Quita told me I had to change my stance as I was standing like a freestyler and not pushing on my back leg, and I got some good advice about the start tactics too.

How was the first race? It was so much fun. I did not get the best start as I had no stopwatch, and fell at the first mark because I got a bit nervous gybing with so many people at one buoy. I didn’t expect to get so competitive, as I didn’t have that high expectations, but as soon as the race started the adrenaline kicked in and my competitive side came through! By the end I was determined to make the top 16 which happened only just on the last day, which really made my week.

What did you struggle with at the beginning? I think my gybes were not so good yet and I gave way to a lot of girls if we were at the buoy at the same time, which is not such a good tactic if you want to win.

What did you progress in and learn? I learnt so much! I think there is no better way to learn so much in one week. My gybes improved a lot, I learned a lot about slalom equipment and the relevance of different fins (not just my 17cm MUF that I always use in freestyle), and my starts were going better every race.

How was your speed and racing by the end of the week?  The last four races that we did, I advanced into the semi finals every time. It felt like every race went better than the one before and that is a great feeling.

What’s harder, racing or freestyle? It’s very hard to compare those disciplines with each other, I think slalom sailing in general is more accessible to enter than freestyle but to be in the top of the game of slalom is definitely as hard as being in the top of freestyle, it just takes different skills.

What did you enjoy more and why? I really love freestyle and that’s my main discipline, and to be honest while I was competing in slalom I was a bit envious watching all the freestylers freestyling. But at the same time, I think a slalom race is more exciting in a way than a freestyle heat, because you’re actually sailing against others, whilst with freestyle it’s more your own battle.

Will you be racing again? Yes I really liked it and would love to race again if I can combine it with freestyle and if I can sort out some equipment.

26 women raced, the best turn out at an event ever, would you encourage more women (and men!) to race too? Definitely. It’s nice to meet other windsurfers, it’s so motivating you learn a lot from it and besides that it’s great fun!

The EFPT join Boardseeker for another edition of their monthly round up. This time they share tales from the EFPT competition in Greece, information about the amateur video contest in France and big news from the UK!

EFPT monthly July/August

Whilst July was a fairly quiet month for the European Freestyle pro Tour in which we fully focused on the promotion and organisation of our scheduled events, August has been a busy one, all in the name of the EFPT ’3 Style Area Cup’ taking place in beautiful Sigri on the island of Lesvos, Greece.

Greece

We took the office to the Sigri Surf Center, owned by Austrian Marcel Simon and his wife Martina, a week before the event to make sure everything would be sorted in time. Marcel who brought the EFPT to his spot for the first time impressed us with a great organisation on site including a decent judge tower, the Red Bull truck with a sound system and microphone for announcements, plus free drinks for the riders and crew. Red Bull buoys were provided for the heat area and every day there was a social programme including community meals for the participants, where the EFPT crew had the chance to discuss new ways in and the future for freestyle windsurfing with the riders.

After rather untypical low wind conditions in the first few days of August the wind started to fill in, just just as we had ordered, on the first day of the 3 Style Area Cup. Whilst the 20 riders were on sails between 4.5 and 5.3 to show their best moves in the glassy flat water of the freestyle corner at the Sigri Surf Center, the EFPT judges had some busy days taking the fleet through two single and one full double elimination. Unfortunately race officer Tom Hartmann had to cancel the second double elimination as the wind dropped on the third day of competition and didn’t deliver sufficient conditions.

Outstanding in his performance was Davy Scheffers from Holland who circled his way through all of his heats without losing a single one. He took victory in front of young Youp Schmit (JP/Neilpryde) from Bonaire and German freestyle weapon Adrian Beholz (Fanatic).

Best sailor from the UK has been current UK freestyle champion Adam Sims who had a great comeback after a disappointing first single elimination. He made his way through four heats in the double, even taking out strong sailing Tilo Eber (JP/Neilpryde) to finish 7th overall.

You can watch all the daily event videos on: https://vimeo.com/sigrisurf

Even though the event in Sigri was a big success, the organisers for the potential EFPT event in Alacati, Turkey couldn’t confirm their event early enough and therefore had to step back from it this year.

Marcel Simon, the owner of the Sigri Surf Center and the organiser of the 3 Style Area Cup already mentioned his interest for an event in 2013 and declared his hopes that the tour will grow again with more stops in the Agean Sea! We fully share this wish and are looking forward to the 3 Style Area Cup Part 2 in 2013!

France

Whilst it has been a busy summer for everyone, Steve Palier and Fred Bosson from France have been working hard to finalise everything for their EFPT event in Six Fours les Plages at the end of October 2012.

They also launched an amateur video contest for which everyone is invited to produce a ’100% freestyle’ clip. Prizes range from a brand new 2012 4.7 Loftsails Wavescape to an ION wetsuit, MB fins, Contour camera kit to a North Sail Silver Boom (140/190).

INFO: http://efe-sixfours.com
WHAT: produce a video with the title ’100%freestyle’
WHO: everyone who wants to take part
WHEN: from now on until 1st of October
SEND TO: videocontest@efe-sixfours.com
WINNER: will be nominated during the EFE/EFPT event in October, winning video will be promoted through popular windsurf relevant channels (efpt.net, continentseven.com, windsurfjournal.com)

Find out more about the video contest, the judging and the rules here

Get involved!

Big News

Best news last: the EFPT has a confirmed tour stop in the United Kingdom this year! After negotiations to run an event in West Wittering where we had problems to come to a conclusion, two young organisers stepped in with their brand new event company called ‘Xtreme Playground’ (XPLG) and suggested the final EFPT tour stop of 2012 to be staged in Weymouth! Weymouth which became popular world wide through the Olympic sailing competitions delivers amazing conditions throughout the whole year with a high chance of wind, a good infrastructure and the OTC run by the very motivated and dedicated Tris Best. With the UK company CENTAUR Travel, a public travel company based in London, being the main supporter of the event and a very passionate organisation team, this events promises to be a huge success.

We are going to tell you more about the CENTAUR ‘King of the Wind’ event in the next EFPT monthly. For now the dates for your diary are the 3rd-6th of November and the location is Weymouth!

Thank you for following!

Hanna
EFPT Tour Manager and Press Officer

2012 was a good year for 15 yr old Oscar Carmichael. With a summer training in Sotavento, he brushed up on his skills while surrounded by his peers and the best PWA freestylers. Obviously having bendy bones and a willingness to fall in a lot helps, but this kid learns quick… and his skills quickly saw him become UKWA Junior Freestyle Champion, with one event to spare.

UK Freestyler Adam Sims catches up with Oscar for Boardseeker:

Name: Oscar Carmichael
Age: 15
Homespot: Portland harbor, U.K.
Years windsurfing: about 4 years

You have been sailing 4 years. Where did you start?

I started windsurfing on a family holiday in Greece on a friend’s old school cloth sail and 10ft longboard….right then I knew I was hooked, it was just too much fun. For my 11th birthday I was given a kiddy board and rig which I took along to a local T15 club at Portland. This soon became the highlight of my week.

Ok so first off, how has the year been for you?

Yeah it’s been sick I’ve had loads of fun training in the UK and abroad and competing on the UKWA freestyle series.

You took Junior Freestyle Champion with an event to spare, a pretty damn good result if we may say so ourselves, how was the series for you?

Dude the series was soo sick this year, with Trevor Funnel’s organisation all the events were super smooth, he also hooked us up with tow-in sessions on jet-ski’s!!

Did you try any other type of windsurfing / or comps?

Yeah, I used to be really into course racing, after T15 racing I was selected for the GBR Junior National Squad team but it just wasn’t for me. Although it taught me a lot about competition I found it was too repetitive…I would find myself wanting to put in duck jibes around slalom courses and knew it was time for a change of discipline

Do you plan to do the Juniors or Pros next year, or both?

Next year I’m going to concentrate fully on the Pro’s.

Why did you get into freestyle in the first place?

I was always playing around with my kit spinning it .sitting down …just having fun. Believe it or not Peter Harts “showing off” freestyle instructional video was one of my first freestyle inspirations!  I first started competing in the T15 freestyle competitions until they started asking me to teach and judge the class I was meant to be competing in.

At 15, you are already at a very high level for freestyle – where do you see your future?

I want to reach the top 16 in the PWA and be British National Champion by the time I’m 18.

What moves do you want to learn /aspire to do?

I really want to learn Spock into Culo… its just such a sick combination, and also Pushies on the waves, they look sooo sweet.

Will we see Oscar Carmichael on the PWA World Tour in 2012, or will you be training hard for the following year?

Yeah I want to try and compete in Podersdorf and Fuerte but it depends on their dates, but fingers crossed!!

The UK Freestyle tour, how long have you been doing it?

I’ve been competing on the tour since 2010, this is when the UK freestyle really started kicking off again with the help of Trevor Funnel.  There have been a series of five events over the last couple of years which is to be extended to six next year, as the freestyle scene here is getting more recognition and attracting many new faces.

Can you explain a bit more about what happens at the events?

The events are held at different locations across the country with heats for the different categories held over Saturday and Sunday… all age ranges and abilities are catered for.  The competitors usually rock up in their vans and it is as much a social scene as a windsurfing event….the guys there have become some of my closest friends.  Even if the wind isn’t strong enough for freestyle something else will be organised,with turf dogs or tow in comps being organised.

Who are your windsurfing influences?

I really love the style of the Bonaire guys like Kiri and Bjorn, they’re so fluid throughout all of their moves. However, Marcillo “brawhzinho” Browne when he did freestyle was a tank!! gotta be the most powerful freestyle sailor…I’d love to sail like any of these guys.

Do you wavesail at all?

Yeah I have done a bit of wave sailing but not hat much.  I really need to get some more practice in in the near future as big moves like backloops are quickly becoming a necessity in PWA freestyle when there’s chop.

Any advice to other juniors looking at starting freestyle?

Getting out in light wind on a big board and doing a load of light wind freestyle for sail control and balance is a great way to improve.  Making the most of any windy day even if it’s gusty and choppy you just need to get out and train …the conditions aren’t always perfect at the competitions.

To many onlookers, some aspects of freestyle seem so far beyond their experiences, that it’s almost too hard to appreciate the difficulty of some of the moves.

I can understand this, it’s not until you start trying to land some of these moves that you can understand the complexities involved…they can be technically very difficult.

Do you think freestyle is the reserve of younger guys?

Freestyle can be enjoyed by anyone at any age however I do think that freestyle is a young person’s sport at high end competition as fitness, flexibility and the ability to learn new moves quickly are a must if you want to be near the top.

Freestyle has no doubt influenced ‘new school’ wave sailing, with the freestyle influence of the Brazilians like Kauli and Ricardo making it become much more the norm.
Any thoughts on this?

It’s sick seeing these guys shredding massive air taka’s and new-school sliding moves like the reverse,  but  I think that the classic stylish wave riding from guys like Levi Siver or Jason Polakow are hard to beat.

You hooked up with RRD for this year and had some support from them, how did the gear work for you?

The gear is sick … the boards are great for learning moves on for sure.

What moves would you say the RRD equipment helped you with the most?

The new board is perfect for slidy stuff like Spocks and Grubbies hence it’s nickname the “Cheat stick”

So you are coming to an end with RRD, any last words?

Cheers guys I’m going to miss being part of your team and thank for all your support.  I’m going to especially miss Adam Sims who has been like a big brother to me.

In the video we see you ripping in Fuerte during this summer, good trip?

This was the sickest trip!!, sailing almost every day with your friends and going to the PWA party’s at night… it doesn’t get better than that.

What did you learn?

Double spocks, Shakas and switch moves on the opposite tack

Right so the big change, who are the lucky brands then?

My new sponsors are North Fanatic ION – so big thanks to the Baker brothers for supporting me. I’m stoked with this kit combination and I’m sure their experience will come in super handy to me in the future.

You’ve had some chance to sail the gear now in these awesome Nov/Dec storms, how is it working out?

This kit is AMAZING …the Fanatic Skate is super fast and the North ID so light to duck it has really helped me with the big power moves, especially Culos and Konos on my weaker side, I also landed my first burner last week.

So the year ahead must still have school in it somewhere, what’s the plans after?

Yeah School is important, once in a while I’m off ‘sick’ to practice hard but I’ll finish my studies then probably go straight out to Fuerte for training and then the PWA competition.  I have to make a special thanks to the support of my parents though, they truly believe in me and I’m totally stoked to have parents like them, without their help I’m sure I would be nerding it up through A-Levels and Uni instead… there is time for that in the future!

Joining Fanatic/North then and it looks like you’ll be teaming up with PWA rider Max Rowe, any training plans?

I’ll be going back to Fuerte in the Summer which I am sure will coincide with Max’s dates and also possibly Jeri over winter …can’t wait.

Awesome, well all the best from us here at Boardseeker and any last words?

Thanks guys, hope everyone is smashing these winter winds and see you on the water!!