Enjoy the video and be sure to head over to Ben’s Facebook Page to keep up to speed with all his happenings – facebook.com/k800ben

More at www.arrianneaukes.com

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

“This winter I aimed at making a clip showing Cape Town through my eyes. I wanted to show the unique African sunset which gives the video it’s golden look, but with only about half an hour with this light a day it was a much more demanding process than we first anticipated. The result however came out really nice and I am happy to introduce to you MY CAPE TOWN.”

Add Chris on:
facebook.com/ChristopherFriisDEN36

And make sure to like the Wave Academy Events site:
facebook.com/WaveAcademyEvents

Tarifa Part 1 – Slalom with Tom Malina

Tarifa is well known as a European Mecca of windsurfing. Typical strong Levante winds, sun and nice temperatures over the summer with decent swell and Poniente wind over the winter. But the last couple years especially during the winter months Tarifa has become a good training ground for the top slalom sailors to prepare themselves for the upcoming season. There are many reasons why we meet up at this place, here are just some of them.

As a slalom guy from the middle of Europe (which means without the sea!) I have been always been searching for a place where I can train and spend my winter time. For six years Cape Town was my second home but it was always more about wave sailing and chilling than proper training and it became every year more and more expensive. So after that I decided to move to Tarifa. I can go there with my van as it is only 3000km drive and mainly I can take all my stuff without any restriction, and believe me that slalom sailors have a lot of stuff to carry. This is the first big advantage. When you are there you can stay in camping or if you go for a few months you can rent your own apartment for really nice price as it is the low season. The next thing is good facilities; nice gym, sauna, yoga lessons or if something goes wrong there is windsurfing trauma clinic with Fyzio. Generally speaking living in Spain is still cheap so you don’t have to spend so much from your budget.

The other reason why I like it here and for sure this does not only apply to me, is that there are always friends from the tour with whom you can train and test. Ben van der Steen and Ludo Jossin are locals and it is always good to sail with them. For example this spring when the PWA tour is behind the corner you could see us lining up on the water ready for practising starts or laying out some buoys for gybing with guys like Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, Marco Lang, Kurosh Kiani, Antoine Questel, Dennis Little and many more. We are all coming to Tarifa because it offers wind almost every day, nice temperatures most of the time over 15C, sun and in winter some nice waves as well. For testing our gear and for effective training we need various conditions and this is the right place.

Now to talk about the wind directions, Poniente is the west wind which works during the winter and spring most days. It is blowing from the Atlantic ocean with a strength from 3-5bft and it often brings good waves or big chop as well. Nice conditions for testing our big or medium boards and bigger sails from 9.5 to 7.0. With Poniente we usually sail at Arte Vida hotel sometimes at Valdevagueros or when is the wind direction is more from north we go to Kite beach. I don’t like those kind of conditions so much particularly when it is super choppy but on the other hand this is the best practise for competitions you can get. (Editors note: Confused about all these spot names? Tune in next week when we will have a map of all the locations).

Levante wind is a different story. Warmer wind coming from the south-east (offshore), which needs a couple days to become steady to hit Tarifa with its full strength later. Ordinarily it blows for a few days and it can rise up to 9Bft! During those days we have high wind slalom practise or speed sessions, we can tune our smallest boards and sails from 7.0 down to 5.5. I enjoy Levante time more than the other one as it is more sun and warmer. Sometimes it feels like a paradise on Earth. When it is the classic Levante day we usually go to the Dune. Normally it is full of kiters but as soon as the wind is strong enough they just disappear. Sometimes the direction of the wind can change a bit during the day so we end up at Kite beach or Playa Chica. When there is flat water as well we love to go to Campo de Fubol in the town for some speed sailing. Almost 2km long speed runs along beach can be nice experience, blasting in 40 knots down the course just a couple meters from the beach pumps your body with massive dose of adrenaline.

As I mentioned before there can be a couple days for good wave sailing as well. It is always nice to swith off the slalom routine and enjoy some wave riding or jumping. Depends on the wind direction we normally sail in Bolognia or Los Canos de Meca when is Levante or Arte Vida and Zahara when Poniente. We are also enjoying surfing days when there is no wind at all and believe me it can be really sick! (Editors note: More on this in our wave part to this series).

Well that’s why we love to go to Tarifa. There is not many days when there is nothing to do and if it happens you are just chilling and looking forward for the next windy day, catching up on a few emails or visiting friends.

Tom Malina (CZE109) is sponsored by – Fanatic/Simmer, O’Neill, SVS, Identity, Sika, TBG, Surfcentrum Šeba.

Find out more on Tom and follow his progress on the PWA Tour this year over at – www.tom-malina.com

How to do Wave 360′s.
The Wave 360 is one of the most respected wave maneuvers in windsurfing. It is also one of the hardest and the one which gives you the best feeling when you land it properly! Learning this move can take years and it requires a lot of patience and persistence. Just keep on trying them until you get them right! You will get there eventually!

Not getting it right?
The most common problem with the Wave 360 is if your mast tip keeps hitting the wave when you start the rotation. You are probably pulling in with your back hand to start the rotation then. Do not pull it in, try to keep it as open as you can for as long as you can and carve with the board instead. If you are still having this problem try with more speed.

Chris is sponsored by: Simmer Style, GoPro and Playground

Chris has also set up a new business venture for anyone wishing to nail moves just like this one above. you can join Chris on his travels and get all the coaching tips you wish for, find out more on his facebook page – facebook.com/WaveAcademyEvents

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Events Overview

WARNING

This video contains NO beautiful scenic shots, NO arty stuff, some rude words and lots of Head Shaking!

So watch on and enjoy the action as we get to see Mr Proffitt and friends having the time of their life in WA this last winter.

Now with a focus on the racing and freeriding scene, Maui Ultra Fins has taken on Kurosh onto their team of exceptional international sailors. Kurosh will be heading the Maui Ultra Fins development cycle towards creating top level racing fins which are to be released during this upcoming season.

Kurosh has already been working together with Rick Hanke and Olaf Sutor of the Maui Ultra Fins team on new models which are aimed towards top level racers and freeriders worldwide. Excited about this addition of supporters Kurosh comments: “I´m ready to take Maui Ultra Fins to the next level. We will be working together closely on bringing out some fins which guarantee not only performance but a high level of sailing experience which is one of the most important aspects for the end user, amateur and pro alike. I will also be the link between the brand and the general public. I´m super happy and excited about a new partnership where we can work towards common goals!”

Rick Hanke of Maui Ultra Fins comment: “We are very happy to have Kurosh heading our race fin development. Despite his young age, he is already a seasoned PWA racer with a strong technical focus. Kurosh is always willing to share his vast experience with our customers getting them the best possible G-10 and carbon fins possible for the 2013 season.”

Keep an eye out on the release of the new Maui Ultra Fins racing line during this season. To see more about Kurosh Kiani, click over to his website www.kiani.dk and check what he´s been up to lately.

All photos are credited to: Olaf Sotur/Everaftermaui

Photo – windsurfaustralia.com

So what happened? Well just the usual training for Ben Proffitt, double forwards, pushloop forwards and more, then this…

For the real detail check out the x-ray and feel free to leave you comments and suggestions about it at the end of this post.

Last but not least, one unhappy Mr Proffitt. We wish him a speedy recovery here at boardseeker.com and totally feel for him as we all know he was training extremely hard!