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PWA | FUERTE – Summary

PWA Fuerteventura 2010 Summary
Yesterday we’ve had the closing ceremony from the PWA Fuerteventura freestyle World Cup. Again Fuerteventura was providing us with very windy conditions for almost the entire week. Thumbs up for the organizers who did a great making this event possible. The competition; for me this was a big disappointment and I definitely wasn’t performing my best during a number of reasons. Before the start of the competition I was already not in my best physical shape. Facing a strong flue before the event kicked off. The first two days of the competition went quite okay, getting kicked out the first round field terrible.

As always I was really keen working my way up in the elimination ladder during this contest. During the start of the second double elimination I had to sail against Italian pro rider Mattia Pedrani I-00.During this particular heat I over rotated my ponsch and hit my big toe again really hard. Mattia was sailing a very solid het and won the heat. Having a bad ranking in this Worldcup has big consequence for my overall ranking. Now dropped from the 5th. place to the 14th. place in the overall ranking. The good news: yesterday I’ve had taken an X-ray photo to make sure nothing was really broken. Fortunately no fractures! Big relief! Now I hope I’ll be back on the water in a couple of days. Learned a lot over here and got some more experience in the pocket for next years Worldcups in Fuerteventura. Now it’s time to focus for the upcoming PWA Worldcup in Sylt! Big congratulations to my friend Steven van Broeckhoven B-72 who became 3rd. after sailing really strong yesterday. Also Big congrats to Jose “Gollito” Estredo V-01 winning his fourth Overall title in Freestyle.

PWA Fuerteventura 2010 results
1. Jose “Gollito” Estredo V-01
2. Kiri Thode NB-6
3. Steven van Broeckhoven B-72
4. Tonky Frans NB-7
5. Taty Frans NB-9

PWA Overall results 2010
1. Jose “Gollito” Estredo V-01
2. Kiri Thode NB-6
3. Steven van Broeckhoven B-72
4. Tonky Frans NB-7
5. Nicolas Ackazyian F-400
14. Maarten van Ochten H-73

Photos: Jhon Carter PWA

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PWA

PWA | FUERTE – Day 3

PWA Fuerteventura 2010 Day 3
Today was a doomed day for me, first I was sailing a really bad heat defending my 9th place.The conditions where quite hard, every time when I wanted to executed my moves the wind picked up in force or there was no wind at all. Finally had a couple of crashes which I could discard, but my moves were simply not as clean as my opponent.Than we started the second single elimination, somehow I had tough seating again and went out against nr. 7 Dutch fellow Davy Scheffers H 311. Davy was sailing a really good heat, according to judges a top 5 heat. So congrats to him. For me that means I’m out the first round, I really hope we can start the new double elimination really soon and maybe a third double elimination. The forecast looks really good, strong wind conditions and hopefully also some waves. For now I’m going to concentrate for the double elimination in order to fight back!



Photos: Tom Brendt



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PWA

PWA | FUERTE – Day 1

PWA Fuerteventura 2010 Day 1
Today was the kick-off from the 3rd Freestyle PWA Worldcup tourstop. The wind came up quite late, but just after 4PM the first heats where finally running. I had quite a tough seeding against Wave World champion Philp Koster G44! When the heat started the wind was really gusty so I decided to go for a safe heat. I decided taking my JP Freestyle 98L pro and my Neilpryde Firefly 4.9. This was the right choice, on the outside I had quite a few power full double moves like; Airflaka into flaka, Ponch into Flaka, Shaka into flaka. I sailed a solid heat and advanced to the next round. If the forecast is good tomorrow we will go and finish the first single elimination and if the wind stays good, we most likely also starting of with double elimination. So more news tomorrow and I going to do my honest best to continue a good performance!

PWA Worldcup report:
The sailor of the day was tour regular and current top five ranked styler, Maarten Van Ochten (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) who would have been forgiven for feeling a little bit nervous going into his heat against the 2009 Pozo wave champion, Philip Koster (Starboard, NeilPryde, Dakine). All eyes had been on Koster during practise to see how he would perform in the discipline of freestyle, especially in the lighter winds which the contest was being held in. Koster looked like he had plenty of moves in the bag, but they were no match for the seasoned freestyle pro, Van Ochten who pulled off a more diverse range of technical moves in the six-minute heat. There’s no doubt Koster will fight back in the double, especially if the forecast comes to fruition.

 

Photos: John Carter PWA

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PWA

PWA | LANZAROTE – Final

PWA  Lanzarote 2010 final Day
Allready my last report for this Worldcup competition. Today we started of with strong winds good for a powerfull warmingup with my Neilpryde 5,3 Firefly and my JP Freestyle Australia 98 Pro.Just when the wind kicked in the crew decided to fininsh of the single elimination. As we still needed to finish the winners and losers final for both men and women.The wind kept building and so did the waves too. I was excited and prepared for action as I had made loads of progression in jumps during the winter-/ spring. The moment that we just started to run the double, the wind was still playing games, which kept whole competition on hold.


After a break from about two hours, the wind improved and fortunately we could go on with the double elimination! Luckily we finished a couple of rounds in the double elimination. Event summary; like most riders, I would have never thought Lanzarote providing low wind conditions. Last year we’ve been experiencing loads of waves and strong winds. I was quite surprised and so did all the other riders too. Most of us were not expecting light winds and choppy waters, but rather big waves and strong winds. Though I’m glad we got a result which counts,  finishing on a 9th. place for the PWA Lanzarote Freetstyle 2010. Needless to say I’m very stoked hitting the top 5 overall in the World. Dreams do come true.


PWA Freestyle overall result after two events:

    1. Jose Gollitio Estredo V-01/ Venezuela
    2. Kiri Thode NB 61/ Bonaire
    3. Steven van Broeckhoven B 72/ Belgium
    4. Tonky Frans NB 7/ Bonaire
    5. Maarten van Ochten H73/ Holland

Photos: Andras Marton

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PWA

PWA | LANZAROTE – Day 3

PWA Lanzarote 2010 Day 3
Today the weather started off really cloudy. Right after the skippers meeting around 10AM the wind was still kind of light and never picked up. Until 5:30PM, fortunately this allowed us watching the soccer match Brasil VS Holland. Holland was only represented by a hand full of riders. Most of the crowd were a supporting the Brazilian riders. Watching the match, covered in orange flags exciting experience.To sum it up, it was kind of a thrill, especially when Holland took the victory. This was a mind blowing experience for let’s say 90% of the audience who were cheering for Brasil!


After the great match was finished and a lot tear drops later, the wind started to fill in. The PWA crew decided to start off immediately finishing of the first single elimination for the men and women. In the end after lot’s of re sailing it was enough to finish one heat. For now we still have to finish the single elimination for both men and women. The wind forecast doesn’t look really good for tomorrow (loads of cloud cover and north westerly winds). Let’s see if we atleast can get an result for both men and women.



Photos: John Carter PWA

 

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PWA

PWA | LANZAROTE – Day 1 & 2

PWA Lanzarote 2010 Day 1
Registration started at 10AM in the morning. Right when I was preparing my sails with the event stickers, the wind started  picking up lot. This gave me the opportunity for a nice warm-up session for 5,3. The forecast was really looking promising for the start of second PWA freestyle event. Unfortunately at 2PM when the first start was planned the wind already start dropping a lot. Insufficient enough for an official contest. Though a lot of riders went out giving the audience a nice show.

PWA Lanzarote 2010 Day 2
Skippersmeeting was planned at 9AM. When arriving at the event-scene the wind was still kind of light, luckily right after the lunchbreak things changed! Unexpected at 2PM the wind started to pick up a lot and finally we could start off!! My first opponent today was, Danilo Menezes da Silva BRA 83 from Brasil. After a nice warm up session the wind was good enough for my 98L JP freestyle Pro and my Neilpryde Firefly 5,3, just when the heat started the wind started of to be quit funny again. Because the wind wasn’t that solid I decided to go for really save heat, starting off whit a one handed Funnel, followed by Ponsch and a switch stance Chachoo, Shaka, small Airflaka etc… Danilo Menezes da Silva BRA 83, was also sailing quit strong, but in the end a won the heat.

Up to the next round. Now I had to face my friend, European Champion and currently Nr. 2 of the World Steven van Broeckhoven B-72. I knew I had to sail a great heat, to be able to beat him. My tactic this time, was starting of from a different direction, with a chance finding a solid ramp, to do a Airchachoo, which is a high scoring move. Unfortunately for me the wind started to drop a lot and I didn’t even come up to planning speed. Steven at that time was allready trowing a great show on the way in. In the end I didn’t sail a good heat whit a quite a lot of unnessary crashes. Steven took the victory and I was pissed of on about my peformance. For now I am positioned at 9th. place and I try to focus on the double elimination if the wind is efficient enough tomorrow. So hope you all wish me a lot of luck and I will do my honest best to perform the best I can! More news tomorrow.

Photos: John Carter PWA

 

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PWA

PWA | PODERSDORF – 5th

PWA Podersdorf 2010 Day 1
Registration started for the PWA Worldcup season 2010 at 10 am. After receiving all the sponsor/ event/ stickers and event lycra’s. It was time for a little interview and few photos. After all the participators had registered we had a big welcome meeting from the organizers and whole EFPT/ PWA crew regarding the information for the upcomming days. As pland we suppose to start with the competition at 12:30, unfortunately the wind was to light. After having waited until 7:30 pm. we where released for this day of competition.


Overall impression: the event organisers did a really good job overruling every year the size of the event, to describe the whole scene in one word; “HUGE”. Besides the windsurfing competition and stands from all kind windsurf ore wind-/ watersport related brands, there’s also a lot partying going on in 7 different areas. This will also give you kind of idea how many visitors there expecting; thousands (± 5000>..).
The wheater; the forecast for now doesn’t look to promising, warm wheater and not to much wind for upcoming days. But according to the locals here, the wind can be quit surprising here in this area even when there’s really bad forecast. Let’s hope for the best!Riders presentation/ vip: around 10:00 am. we had the riders presentation, this was mainly about introducing all the  the riders to the audience. After that we where told going again on stage representing us to main stage and the party audiance. There we got a special vip area and some extra tickets so we could let some special people in.


 

PWA Podersdorf 2010 Day 2
After having the announcement that chances were non having any wind this day, it was super windy from 6:00 until 8:00 in the morning. The wind literally woke me up. 9AM Skippers meeting the wind already decreased in force. 9:30AM heat nr. 1 was ready to go, unfortunately the wind got even worse. After waiting, resailing the heat twice there was not enough wind finish the heat. So the PWA crew decided to prospone the competition every 15 min. As for today the wind didn’t show up enough, running a proper competition. Tomorrow skippersmeeting will be held at 6AM, first possible start at 6:15AM. So it will be an early birdie again, because my first. Austrian TV “hottest rider-/man contest”: today there was a contest organised by ATV looking for man and riders rating. The whole idea was a model working for ATV had to check at our but, chest and upper body. Highest score rating was 5 point. I scored 2 x 5 and 4+ finishing 2nd. Really stoked haha.

This morning I woke up at 5 clock because the skippers meeting was being held at 6am in the morning, with first possible start 6:15. When I arrived there was some wind, but definitely not enough to run a competition. Also for today not to much developments regarding the weather conditions. There has been some south winds predicted for tomorrow, but usually they fill in the end of the day. Tomorrow the skippers meeting will be at 8:30 so let’s hope for the best.

 


PWA Podersdorf 2010 Day 4
Today we were allowed to sleep a little longer than 5am. Skippersmeeting started at 8:30 but the wind was fairly light with an average 6 knots average, which is off course not enough to run a proper competition ore to even get on planning speed. The whole day it was rainy and also there temperature dropped quit a lot to. Around 15:00 the wind started slowly to increase a little and after a while me including a few other riders decided to go on the water to check the conditions. Unfortunately this was only for really short period of time and then wind dropped of again to a average of ±8 knots. Tomorrow the skippersmeeting will be at 6am again, which means 5am out of bed! Hopefully more news tomorrow, I’ll keep you posted!

PWA Podersdorf 2010 Day 5
Today I woke up at 5am in the morning to fresh for the skippersmeeting which was at 6am. Only few riders showed up during the skippermeeting, the rest didn’t even show up before 9. Almost the whole day there was around 0 to 2knots and lake was dead flat, great for wakeboarding. During the midday some of the riders started up a small soccer competition “Europe VS South America”. It was a tight game which ended in penalty’s, this time won by the South American team. These photos where taken yesterday during the realy, realy, reaaaly light wind: Tomorrow skippersmeeting will be at 5:30. The wheaterforecast looks the same as today but here in Austria you’ll never know!


PWA Podersdorf 2010 Day 6
Just a quick update for now, today I woke up at 4:30AM. First start was at 5:45! Although the wind forecast was looking pretty bad we finally had some wind. Which eventually only increased during the day. The wind was kind of  light, definitely not my favorite conditions! I managed to keep my head cool and sail a lot of powerfull heats. In the end I lost against Nr 2 of the world (Kiri Thode NB 61). My first top 5 in my career, very excited!


 

PWA Podersdorf 2010 Final report
I just came back from the Worldcup in Podersdorf. I decided to stay one day longer because after competition it was still windy… good for a sweet freestyle session on my JP Freestyle 98 and my Neilpryde Firefly 5.3. An inside view of the PWA: The competition setup was 7 minute heats with 3 minutes transition time. The Freestyle competition format was for 6 moves on both tacks with only the best 3 tricks counting for the overall score.


My first heat (nr 3A) was against French rider Julian Mas (F-7). The wind was quite light so I decided to start off with fast powerfull moves instead of waiting for the right gust of wind. This would give me the benefit of having some extra time, incase the wind would drop even more during the heat. I sailed a solid heat and advanced to the next round! My second heat (Heat nr 11B) was against another French rider Leo Ray (F-200). Fortunately this time the wind increased a little, so I could go for some more power moves like Shovit-spocks, No-handed Flaka’s and Ponches. But after one minute the wind shifted a little and dropped of quite a lot. But Leo Ray was still planing and throwing moves. Just before the end of the heat I was still missing one move on starboard tack. I decided to take a little risk and throwing a really long stalled Chachoo in front of the judges. After landing this move, the red flag went up and I had a good feeling about my score.


Now I moved further in the elimination ladder to another heat (Nr. 18A). My next opponent was Aruban rider Quincy Offringa (Aru-10). As I always train with Quincy in Aruba at the Fishermans Huts, I knew this was going to be an interesting heat. Normally, we always sail together and push each on the water, so I was ready for more action. A few minutes before the start of the heat, the wind increased more so I could sail powerd-up with my Neilpryde Firefly 5.7 and my JP Freestyle 107 pro. I started my heat with a Ponch into flaka, a Shovit-Spock followed by an Air Flaka, than a switch Flaka over the other tack and a Bob one-handed handed over the starboard tack. Now I only had to land a few more moves on port… with a Bob One-Handed, Shaka and Switch Chachoo. After finishing all my moves I was quite happy with my heat and I advanced to another round.

Heat nr. 21B, this was going to be a really tough one against “Vice Worldchampion” Kiri Thode (NB-61 ). Beating this rider in these sort of conditions you’d need a really good heat!! I knew I would have to take some risk to be able to beat him. Kiri was sailing an amazing good heat and I didn’t sail such a good one. In the end, the judges announced that Kiri advanced to semi-final and he deserved it. Heat Nr. 21B was for me the last heat of this World Cup, which placed me on a final 5th. position!

After the Competition:
After that we drove back home (with Steven van Broeckhoven and Davy Scheffers). I planned going straight to a test/promo-event from JP and Neilpryde at the Brouwersdam. Now back home I hope to train as much as I can on flat water and in the waves too. Hopefully this will give me the slight edge improving my big jumps for competitions like PWA Lanzarote and PWA Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.


*Final top 5 ranking Worldcup Podersdorf:

  1. Taty Frans NB-9 (Bonaire)
  2. Steven van Broeckhoven B-72 (Belgium)
  3. Gollito Estredo V-01 (Venezula )
  4. Kiri Thode NB-61 (Bonaire )
  5. Maarten van Ochten H-73 (Netherlands)


Photos: John Carter PWA