A huge hangar in Gent, Belgium hosted this event and it was clear that the wind was a lot cleaner than at London, probably because the pool was nearly twice as big!! This event proved that windsurfing can pull in the big crowds with packed stands every night. Together with a decent sponsor, it was a great start to the PWA season.
THE MOVE: Push loop THE SAILOR:
Ricardo Campello
RESULT: This was done in practice before he injured himself.
COMMENTARY: Nightmare event for Ricardo. He was out-jumping everyone in practise as this jump shows, however come the competition he managed to get his ankle jammed in the fin slot on the jump ramp. See the pain etched on his face in the clip in INSIDE LINE – ouch! Anyway, he has recovered quickly and was able to compete at the recent PWA freestyle event in Austria.
THE MOVE: Shaka into nearly flaka THE SAILOR:
Jose (Gollito) Estredo RESULT: 9th in Slalom, 1st in Freestyle
COMMENTARY: This move beat Cheo into second in the freestyle discipline. Goillito's only failing in Belgium was that he tried to do too much! Rather than being contented with a perfect round winning move (the shaka) he tries to then turn it into a Flaka. he nearly makes it but not quite!
THE MOVE: Switch stance chacho THE SAILOR:
Nicolas Akgazciyan
RESULT: 6th in Jumps & Slalom, 4th in Freestyle
COMMENTARY: Nicolas is an indoor specialist! He always does better under a tent than under the sky. It’s hard to work out why but he does gets planing super early & he always does moves he knows he can pull off, so rarely gets his long curly locks wet. However, we think he was quite pleased with this tricky number which is rarely performed with such grace & accuracy in the outdoor world.
THE MOVE: Forward loop THE SAILOR:
Iballa Moreno RESULT: 1st in Jumps, 2nd in Slalom & joint 2nd in Freestyle
COMMENTARY: Iballa was miles ahead in the Jump discipline, she even tried a couple of push loops but this high forward was enough to win. Her sister, Daida, stayed in Maui to do the Mistral photo shoot but Karen Jaggi was there to win the slalom along with another Pozo girl, Silvia Alba Orozco and German sailor Ann Kathrin Stevens who only entered the slalom discipline.
THE MOVE: Push loop THE SAILOR:
Yannick Anton
RESULT: 3rd in Jumps, 13th in Slalom, 10th in freestyle,
COMMENTARY: The 25 year old Frenchman seems to get better and better each season. His jumping has improved outdoors and this showed at the London event where he finished third in Jumps. This is a text book, ankle dry push loop.
THE MOVE:
Table top
THE SAILOR:
Thomas Traversa RESULT: 2nd in Jumps, 6th in freestyle
COMMENTARY: Ye olde table top may have been around for a while but done properly, it’s an awesome move. Mr.Traversa shows us the underside of his board with stalled perfection. No surprises to see this 20 year old in second place.
THE MOVE:
One-footed forward loop THE SAILOR:
Marcilio Browne
RESULT: 1st in Jumps, 5th in Freestyle, 10th in Slalom
COMMENTARY: We reckon Kauli may just be regretting taking young Marcilio under his wing on the PWA Tour – he’s kicking Seadi’s ass!! He’s just turned seventeen so we reckon this is the first of many PWA titles. Note how his front foot really does stay off the board for the whole rotation – sweet!
THE MOVE:
Grubby
THE SAILOR:
Karen Jaggi
RESULT: 2nd in Jumps, 1st in Slalom & Freestyle
COMMENTARY: Karen was streets ahead in the freestyle and was the only one to pull off some new skool tricks. This is a very sweet grubby from the Swiss legend.
THE MOVE:
Push loop
THE SAILOR:
Kauli Seadi
RESULT: 4th in Jumps, 1st in Slalom, 8th in Freestyle
COMMENTARY: Kauli did more push loops than anyone else. He slightly stalls the rotation to make them look pretty darn cool. Ok, so the landing’s a bit shaky on this one but are you going to tell him that or are we?!
THE MOVE:
Forward loop & rock star dismount THE SAILOR:
John Hibbard RESULT: 5th in Jumps, 10th in Slalom
COMMENTARY: Well done to the Hibbard for coming 5th. Here we have a solid clean forward from John but we’re more taken by his dismount – what a showman! We also love his Spiderman outfit.
THE MOVE:
Indecision before the ramp THE SAILOR:
Silvia Alba Orozco RESULT: 3rd in Jumps & Slalom, joint 2nd in Freestyle
COMMENTARY: Here is what not to do when approaching an indoor jump ramp. Silvia seemed to become more timid with every run, rather than gaining confidence and striking that ramp at full speed. This was her first indoor event and you wouldn’t catch any of us trying the ramp so fair-play but maybe more balls needed for the next event?!
THE MOVE:
Double backloop crash THE SAILOR:
Robert Teriitehau RESULT: see above
COMMENTARY: Not many sailors went for doubles (not surprisingly!) but you could, of course, guarantee that resident nutter, Teritehau would try them. No doubt this stung a bit, but to a man who has jumped off the bridge of a cargo ship 60 feet down into the Atlantic Ocean and survived to tell the tale, you wonder why he didn’t try a double out of the pool!
Jose Estredo
Iballa
Marcilio Brown
Yannick Anton
Top 10 Results
Jump
1. Marcilio Browne
2. Thomas Traversa
3. Yannick Anton
4. Kauli Sead
5. John Hibbard
6. Nicolas Akgazciyan
7. Josh Angulo
8. Robert Teritehau
9. Kevin Mevissen
10. Dionicio Guadagnino
1. Kauli Seadi
2. Robert Teritehau
3. Kevin Mevissen
4. Cyril Moussilmani
5. Josh Angulo
6. Nicolas Akgazciyan
7. Ben Proffitt
8. Dionicio Guadagnino
9. Jose Estredo
10. Marcilio Browne
Robert Teriitehau
Freestyle
1. Jose Estredo
2. Douglas Diaz
3. Kevin Mevissen
4. Nicolas Akgazciyan
5. Marcilio Browne
6. Thomas Traversa
7. Ben Proffitt
8. Kauli Seadi
9. Dionicio Guadagnino
10. Yannick Anton
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