Light Wind Freestyle Contest:

1- Romain Pinocheau

2- Marc Lagarrigue

3- Alexandre Colin

Tow-in Contest:

1- Julien Mas

2- Adrien Bosson

3- Romain Pinocheau

Words – Jean-Mat

Well, the title should have been “Going south”, but you choose the name of your sponsors, don’t you?! This is the very first video on my new Fanatic/North gear, and after 3 months of riding all over Europe I can say I’m really stocked with it.

As the spring is very cold here in SW France, my girlfriend Carole and I first took a plane to Fuerteventura and scored some pretty good surfing there. Then we decided to drive to Andalucia, and stayed there for two weeks. Such a good idea! 14 days of sailing out of 14, and some great conditions with levante and west swell.

In this short clip we put a sum up of these sessions. Unfortunately, there is no footage of our home spots in this video, let’s say it was just too cold to keep filming on the beach!!

Anyway, at the moment, there is plenty of windsurfing action here on Oleron Island, so you can expect more footage soon.

DAY 1

Two weeks after the opening of the 2013 Windmeet Freestyle Tour, the best French Windsurfers found themselves back in Le Brusc, south of France. Once again, they came from almost all parts of France for the unofficial French freestyle championship, a championships that plans to have six events this year, in order to train, emulate and compete in a friendly spirit.

Sadly the wind did not materialise on the (Saturday) first day of competition but the organisers were already prepared to give a big show for the crowds that were soaking up the sun on the beach. Individual paddle races, city crew paddle races, a light wind freestyle contest and a big Tow-In contest from 5 pm to sunset! Each rider had two possibilities to achieve their best tricks and to be able to qualify for the final. With just seven places up for grabs the plan was to make a big show very close to the beach.

Without surprise, the best French riders were present in the final, most of them are also competing on PWA, but there were also some good local riders. As the sun set and the show came to an end the crowd and competitors found themselves enjoying a well deserved party for the opening night of La Cahute, the windsurfing school that hosted the event.

Report: Benoit Crumeyrolle

Photos: Alexis Fernet

Light Wind Freestyle Contest:

4- Romain Pinocheau

5- Marc Lagarrigue

6- Alexandre Colin

Tow-in Contest:

4- Julien Mas

5- Adrien Bosson

6- Romain Pinocheau

DAY 2

Sunday morning and the wind still didn’t show, but don’t worry, the Tow-in shows continued. Making the best of no wind the riders flew into their moves in utterly perfect conditions: glassy sea and no wind! Two ingredients to launch a free/open session.

Once more, the best French riders found themselves on top but some others showed a very interesting level. Some people might comment that this is no longer windsurfing, but we don’t care about the angry and jealous people: Tow-in allows a show despite the lack of wind, it is fast, exciting, explosive, powerful and entertaining.

This week end was then a perfect one, with good moves, big crashes and a very good atmosphere. All of this shared with people powered by the same passion: WINDSURFING!!! Top world riders (Julien Mas, Adrien Bosson) but also, new PWA competitors (Arthur Pollet, Romain Pinocheau) and some very good local riders were there to compete. Also a girl (Sonai Le Bouteiller) soon joined the action and two other young ladies were also there to observe for the coming years, finally a special mention to our youngest rider, Sam Esteve, aged 15. All these people will surely come back for the next events! Will you?

Karin Jaggi in control

Day 4

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. The conditions today truly showed exactly why South Korea is one of the most challenging stops on the tour… more

Jimmy Diaz

Day 5 was a long day for the crew and competitors as they remained on their toes as the wind built then dropped several times throughout the day. probably worse than a no wind forecast for those at the event as they really have to be ready for action all day long. However with tomorrow promising good wind, the final day of competition could well prove to be fruitful for those lying in the lower positions. Read on for the official PWA press.

The calm on day 5

DAY 5

A day of teasing winds – despite an unfavourable 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… more

The final day promises more of this