- News

Windsurfing/SUP Clinic with Pritchard and Cropas

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:06:00 -0400

Aloha Windsurfing/SUP Clinic for Beginners and Novice Water Enthusiasts:
Attention non-windsurfers... Friends, family and partners of water sport enthusiast. Matt Pritchard and Shawna Cropas are running a unique luxury water sports clinic for absolute beginners and novices of windsurfing and SUP. This clinic runs from November 10th to the15th and is part of the Four Seasons Unforgettable Event Series on Maui. This unique opportunity is for anyone who has ever wanted a safe and fun introduction to water sports while staying at a five star hotel in Hawaii. For more details email shawnacropas@gmail.com.

Or check out our last March Four Seasons Aloha Clinic event: http://www.shawnacropas.com/four-seasons-unforgettable-event-series/.

For booking please check out: http://www.shawnacropas.com/alohawindsurfingclinics/fourseasons/

5 Reasons to Sign Up for the PSC Wyatt Miller Clinic

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:47:00 -0400

Spring is an amazingly windy time to visit Punta San Carlos, Baja, Mexico and this year already the swell has been pumping! Windsport strongly recommends signing up right away for Wyatt Miller and Tyson Poor's clinic running May 18-25 with SoloSports Adventure Holidays. Here are 5 simple reasons why we think you should sign up today:

5. Punta San Carlos is the undisputed champion of places to learn how to wavesail. Whether it's your first time in the waves or you are looking to learn aerials or Goiters Wyatt and Tyson will improve your skills by weeks end.

4. Baja Fogs are not only a tasty combination of beer, tequila and lime juice but recent scientific study from the Mayo Clinic* have proven that they actually increase your wave-charging ability when consumed in a group of at least 2...drinking a Fog alone is just sad! (Remember to toast: "Fog you, you fogging foggers!"). Unlimited Fogs are available at the SoloSports bar when you sign up!

3. Tyson and Wyatt will not only improve your windsurfing skills but will take you surfing, SUPing and mountain biking...the action is endless.

2. The food at SoloSports is amazing. You just don't know until you go!

1. At last fall I personally witnessed one of Wyatt and Tyson's students landing Forward Loops on his first day trying. I've never seen this before...so sign up and learn to Loop!

(*Mayonnaise clinic)

Sneak Peek: Windsport 2013 Gear Guide

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:10:00 -0400

The brand new Windsport Magazine 2013 Gear Guide is on it's way to newsstands and mailboxes across the US and Canada. Here's a little look at what to expect...

On the Cover: Camille Juban

Photographer: Jerome Houyvet

Camille Juban get's the cover of the first issue of 2013 not just for tweaking out this aerial for photographer Jerome Houyvet but he also earned this cover by winning the 2012 overall AWT title. This makes two years in a row that the AWT's overall winner has scored the first cover of the following year. Let's see if we can make it a tradition.

Inside the Issue:

+ MUCH MORE including:

Antoine Albeau shattering speed records at Luderitz
Luderitz Speed Challenge Ride Guide
Jason Polakow and Robby Swift share giant waves with surfers in Chile
American Windsurfing Tour coverage from Maui, Peru and Hatteras
Windsurfing is back in the Olympics!
Interviews with Camille Juban, Fiona Wylde and Randy Naish
WIN the "Best Contest Ever" for a Nolimitz Mast with bag (and a tour of the Nolimitz factory if you can get yourself to the Gorge)...CLICK HERE TO ENTER ONLINE!

Matt Pritchard interviews Eleazar Alonso

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:26:00 -0500

Gaastra & Tabou are proud to announce the newest team member: Eleazar Alonso (E-41). Matt Pritchard (Gaastra / Tabou Team Manager) had the chance to catch a small interview with him:

Matt Pritchard: Welcome to Gaastra/Tabou for 2013, what are your plans for this upcoming season?

Eleazar Alonso: My plans for the this season are PWA, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Denmark and Germany. Sailing every day and make more photos and videos and be always in internet and magazines.

MP: Tell us about the new gear- what are your thoughts of the new boards and sails?

EA: There are the best boards and sails i have used ever. The sail it´s perfect for jumping and the board is fun in the waves.

MP: You have been a pro since 2005, what do you think it takes to become World Champion?

EA: More faith in myself and improve the surfing.

MP: What are you favorite conditions?

EA: My favorite conditions are 3,7 sail and logo high waves.

MP: What is one place that you have always wanted to windsurf but have not yet been to?

EA: I have always wanted to windsurf in South Africa, in Cape Down.

MP: Good luck out there- anything you want to say to your fans?

EA: I just want to have my own style jumping and surfing and also that the people get enjoy with my videos and photos.

Caption Contest from Hot Sails Maui

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:09:00 -0500

All too often we see perfect images of riders pulling off great moves around the world! Hot Sails Maui wants to do something a little different and hence this fun competition. Write your caption for this image of Chris Freeman (Sales & Marketing Manager, Hot Sails Maui) messing up yesterday at Ho’okipa, who as a reward for his poor timing was slammed onto the infamous rocks at the point. The best caption will win a Hot Sails Maui t-shirt! Please feel free to enter more than once and please share on your Facebook wall and with friends.

To post your caption and enter the contest please visit the Hot Sails Maui Facebook page (CLICK HERE)... while you are there be sure to 'LIKE' our page.

The winners will be announced next week.

Quotes from Advancing Red Bull Storm Chasers

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 09:10:00 -0500

Quotes directly from the lips of the top riders at the Red Bull Storm Chase...

Klaas Voget, Red Bull Storm Chase Sports Director:
"We couldn‘t have picked a more perfect storm, especially after waiting so long. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much wind or these kind of conditions in my life. The action was insane!"

Victor Fernandez, Storm Chaser (ESP):
"This is an amazing, once in-a-lifetime chance to compete with the elite of the windsurfing world in unbelievably wild storm conditions. My 3rd round heat at Hell’s Gate saved me from being knocked-out and I’m so stoked to advance. Making it to Mission 2 means I’ll hopefully get to visit more spots around the world and continue this amazing adventure."

Robby Swift, Storm Chaser (GBR):
"It was way windier than all of us expected and it was definitely the strongest wind i’ve ever sailed in. This was a great experience and I was over-the-moon to score the highest-scored jump of the event, even though I broke a board. The contest format was cool, with great variety and a nice change from the stress of a regular week-long contest, but it was all over so fast. I can’t describe how happy I am to make it through to the next Mission."

Dany Bruch, Storm Chaser (GER)
"It was definitely windier than we could’ve been imagined and the windiest conditions I’ve ever experienced – it was stormy for sure! The contest itself was a cool format with all of us being good friends and able to push and motivate each other. It was super-hard to score well - if you could land one good jump and compete a wave ride you had done well. We all had fun and appreciate having been a part of it."

Marcilio Browne, Storm Chaser (BRA):
"Considering what we were looking for it couldn’t have gone any better – it was definitely the windiest day I’ve ever sailed and definitely different to other strong wind locations we regularly sail in like Pozo in Gran Canaria, for example. For me it was a challenge as I’m used to warm water, so the cold was very different to the kind of conditions I train in daily. Now I know what to expect I can prepare for Mission 2 and can’t wait to score another storm like this somewhere on the planet."

Julien Taboulet, Storm Chaser (FRA)
"I was so happy to be selected for this first storm, plus it was important to be in Ireland in honour of Mikey Clancy. It was my first time in such strong wind – it was impossible to even waterstart sometimes. For sure we scored it big-time! I’m happy to make the cut for Mission 2 especially as it’s been such a long time since I competed, so it’s a great feeling to advance.

Thomas Traversa, Storm Chaser (FRA):
It’s hard to describe how windy it was – there was way more than I ever anticipated. I saw that everyone was about as out-of-control as me, but we all tried our best, nobody complained and the most important thing is that everyone is safe. I like the contest format a lot and I think that for Mission 2 we’ll all be more prepared, relaxed and will know what to expect. I don‘t think it could really be any windier and still possible to sail - but I have a 2.5 that I’ll take on the next one for sure!

Red Bull Storm Chase: Perfect Storm in Ireland

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:48:00 -0500

Brandon Bay, Ireland, January 28, 2013 - 10 of the world’s best windsurfers from eight countries completed a demanding competition in Kerry, Ireland during the first mission of the Red Bull Storm Chase – the most-challenging windsurfing contest of all time. Despite recorded storm-force gusts of up to 74 knots (137kmh) and fierce 20-ft waves, the sailors completed three rounds of competition in two locations on the Maharees peninsular. After possibly the most radical day in windsurfing history, Marcilio Browne, Dany Bruch, Victor Fernandez, Robby Swift, Julien Taboulet and Thomas Traversa advance to the second Mission of Red Bull Storm Chase.

Kicking-off at first light, the Professional Windsurfers’ Association (PWA) World Tour Head Judge Duncan Coombs, Red Bull Storm Chase Sports Director Klaas Voget and local Guest Judge Timo Mullen decided on a 10-minute heat format, with each competitor’s best scores in both wave riding and jumping counting. Five two-man heats were drawn and the tension rose as the enormity of the task ahead of the sailors sank in at a Brandon Bay beach known to windsurfers as ‘Dumps’.

Barely able to walk their equipment down the beach even the most experienced windsurfers present questioned if even launching was possible. First to make an impression was 23-year old German Leon Jamaer who launched into a barrage of high, floaty jumps and wave rides among the endless walls of white water and open wave faces topping 20ft. Another European, Thomas Traversa managed to throw in a perfect wave 360 over the savage shore-dump to the judges’ delight. The French sailors proved to be on-fire as Julien Taboulet raised the bar with a barrage of sky-high combo jumps such as extreme, delayed table-top forward loops. Germany’s Dany Bruch also notched a table-top forward and scored the most hang-time with a stratospheric jump as lasting seven seconds. Moroccan aerial specialist Boujmaa Guilloul got in on the act too with the full gambit of forward and backward combination rotations. With only borrowed gear due to airline delays, it was a frustrating day for Danish talent Kenneth Danielsen who struggled to show his full potential without familiar equipment in the testing environment.

Although the entrants were throwing caution to the wind both on and above the water, they were all issued with padded ION impact protection clothing and were equipped with Weatherdock GPS devices delivering real-time tracking. Watching over them during heats were expert Sea-Doo Personal Watercraft safety drivers while a storm-proof Heimplanet tent provided shelter on the beach as raging gusts of cross-onshore wind and hail showers ripped through.

With several former World Champions in-the-mix, the standard of competition would be pushed even further. Robby Swift (GBR) made the benchmark move of the contest with a perfect, dry-landed, pushloop-forward combo. More adrenaline-fuelled moves followed and Brazilian Marcilio Browne wowed the judging panel with a technical and stylish Goiter rotation during a wave ride – especially impressive considering the difficulties involved in making genuine turns in such strong wind. After two rounds and a GoPro Expression Session free-sail, the judging crew then threw in another challenge by re-locating to the sideshore wind and bone-crunching reef known as Hell’s Gate.

Mast-and-a-half high waves exploded onto stone as the sailors coped with wind gusting from 40-74 knots. Now fenced in by treacherous rocky islands and cliff-edged shoreline a different test was on the table. As they dodged closing-out set waves in the third and final round, timing was critical to scoring a steep ramp with adequate speed in the run-up. This was no problem for Tenerife-based Dany Bruch who threw down an enormous, extremely delayed forward loop and calmly posted a backside 360 on a wave. Julien Taboulet showed little fear as he flew off thick slabs of water and carved the powerful surf to shreds, as did Thomas Traversa and Robby Swift who both landed combination moves. In terms of overall impression the pedigree of the two waveriding World Champions present - Victor Fernandez (ESP) and Josh Angulo (CPV) – shone through brightly. Both displayed superior wave selection with linked turns and aerials conjured out of nowhere. As the light faded the six highest scoring sailors to successfully qualify for Mission 2 – Dany Bruch, Marcilio Browne, Victor Fernandez, Robby Swift, Julien Taboulet and Thomas Traversa - were paraded as an unforgettable day came to an end.

Red Bull Storm Chase, Results First Mission, Brandon Bay, Ireland:
(The top six sailors from the first mission will compete in the second mission)

1. Thomas Traversa (France)
2. Dany Bruch (Germany)
3. Julien Taboulet (Spain)
4. Marcilio Browne (Brazil)
5. Victor Fernandez (Spain)
6. Robby Swift (United Kingdom)
7. Boujmaa Guilloul (Morocco)
8. Josh Angulo (Cape Verde)
9. Leon Jamaer (Germany)
10. Kenneth Danielsen (Denmark)

Remaining Red Bull Storm Chase competition grounds (2 will be surfed):
Brittany, France
Cape Hatteras/US-East Coast, USA
South West Coast, Iceland
Omaezaki/South East Coast, Japan
Galicia, Spain
North West Coast, Tasmania

Contest Period I: January 10 – March 22, 2013 (2 missions)
Contest Period II: July 22 – September 10, 2013 (1 final mission)

Red Bull Storm Chase Mission One to Ireland

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 09:06:00 -0500

Ireland green-lighted! After 6 months of waiting the official GO for the first Mission of The Red Bull Storm Chase has finally been given. Ten of the world’s best windsurfers and the crew are now en-route to catch the tracking storm in time. The first round of the most-challenging windsurfing contest of all time is expected to start on Monday, January 28.

The spot: Brandon Bay, Ireland
Ireland is known for heavy storm surf and howling winds. Brandon Bay is a former PWA wave spot, where Red Bull Storm Chase can find the right break for almost any wind direction within a couple of kilometers. The bay allows perfect camera angles with stunning backgrounds. The sailors will have to fight with the fact that wind develops more power in colder temperatures. For the participants used to the warmer temperatures at home, this might become tricky...

The Athletes:
10 windsurfers will compete in Mission number one: Josh Angulo (CPV), Marcilio Browne (BRA), Daniel Bruch (GER), Kenneth Danielsen (DNK), Victor Fernandez Lopez (ESP), Boujmaa Guilloul (MAR), Leon Jamaer (GER), Robby Swift (GBR), Julien Taboulet (FRA), and Thomas Traversa (FRA). Only six of them advance to Mission number two.

The Contest:
Red Bull Storm Chase is the most-challenging windsurfing contest of all time. By hunting down 3 massive storms anywhere in the world, the 10 best sailors will battle for the crown of ultimate storm windsurfer. The contest format is simple: The top 10 sailors from the online voting compete in the first Mission. Six advance to the second and the four best riders to the final Mission. To guarantee raging conditions, Red Bull Storm Chase will be mobile to the max, with a 10-month holding period and just 48 hours to mobilise riders and global contest crew on-site before the storm strikes.

Live-Rporting:
Real-time mission reportings from the athletes and crew members, latest information and stunning images from the mission at www.redbullstormchase.com

Join Pritchard and Cropas for a 2013 Aloha Clinic

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:27:00 -0500

The 2013 Aloha Windsurfing Clinic dates are set with professional instructor Shawna Cropas and Matt Pritchard. No matter what level of sailor you are, get ready to step up your game with this dynamic duo who will guide you through the process in a safe and fun environment. Come join them on the sandy, windy shores of Maui, where the wind blows and the sun shines!

March 23rd-30th
May 25th-June 1st
June 22nd-29th

See you on the water!—Matt Prichard

Kauli Seadi Joins Hot Sails Maui

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:39:00 -0500

Hot Sails Maui has announced that former World Wave Champion Kauli Seadi BRA 253 has joined their team with immediate effect. According to Hot Sails Maui:

Kauli joins the innovative Hawaiian brand at a time when development is at its fastest pace in years and he will immediately be working closely with our renowned and talented designers Jeffrey Henderson & Tom Hammerton in Maui. Together Kauli and the team aim to further develop the wave range in the coming months and subsequent seasons. Kauli is well known as an innovator himself and working with Hot Sails Maui will be a perfect fit. The addition of Kauli to this closely knit team, will generate fresh ideas and give a new energy to all in the Hot Sails Maui Ohana worldwide.

Hot Sails Maui has been gaining a lot of attention recently with products including the Firelight, the SuperFreak Maui Edition and most recently the QU4D, which all stand out from the crowd on the water for their innovative designs and exceptional performance.

Kauli is stoked to have Hot Sails Maui support his new project ‘My Dream Tour’ with the aim of inspiring others to travel, dream, and share our wonderful sport with new friends and in new places. The first project on his agenda is his Gostoso adventure, which you will be hearing far more about in the coming weeks and subsequent interviews. With this new move Kauli plans to scale back his PWA appearances in 2013 only competing in waves events with surfing style conditions.

In the months ahead Kauli, Jeff, Tom and the team at Hot Sails Maui will be focused on developing new and exciting products which will push your sailing further than ever before.

RIP Mikey Clancy

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:45:00 -0500

A statement from Mikey Clancy's father, Michael, in memory of a rising star who was taken far too young. Mikey Clancy a rising star in the PWA has passed away...

CLICK HERE to read the statement on the PWA website.

Hot Sails Maui wants your help... CONTEST!

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:09:00 -0500

Hot Sails Maui has decided to add a new Firelight color to their range and need your help! The options have been narrowed down these two and they want to know what you think. They want to know what Hot Sails Maui fans this is best!

CLICK HERE to go to the page where you can comment on the choices and they'll announce the winner soon. To make it interesting, by leaving your comment you will be put into a draw to win a Hot Sails Maui t-shirt of your choice.

World Windsurfing Speed Record Falls... Again!

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:39:00 -0500

In 40-45 knots wind some more records were broken today and not the least: A new Windsurfing World Record has been beaten by Antoine Albeau with 52.05 kts, the first windsurfer to reach 52 knots and the only one so far who has reached this tremendous performance: 5 runs over 50 knots and 6 runs over 51 knots!

Anders Bringdal was following with his new Swedish Record which is also a new World Record on Production board : 51.45 knots !

Jurjen Van Der Noord the Dutch Record Holder went over 51 knots today, joining Anders Bringdal and Cédric Bordes, with 51.26 knots!

Alexander Goncharov has broken twice his Ukrainian Record ending with 40.94 kts, sailing only in moderate wind.

Boris Vujasinovic also is now the Holder of the Croatian Record with 42.27 kts

Nick Vardalachos smoked his own Greek Record being the 6th windsurfer over 50 knots with 50.56 knots

Mark Grinnell managed to reach the 49 knots which was his goal, with 49.66 knots, improving the South African Record in Windsurfing and is on the road to the 50!

Patrick Diethelm from Switzerland broke the same record than the last day race, doing the exact same speed: 50.49 knots

Bjorn Dunkerbeck the famous 41 times world titles holder has just joined the event today in the middle of the afternoon reaching 49.53 kts after only a couple of runs!

Well done to Martyn Ogier from UK with 48.21 knots (current British Record held by Farrell O Shea with 48.82 kts) and to Martin Van Meurs from Netherlands: 47.95 kts who improved their best speed...

Children of the Wind wins Three X-Dance Awards

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 09:47:00 -0500

“Children of the Wind”, the documentary that has been three years in the making on the remarkable story of the Bonaire windsurfers Tonky and Taty Frans, their cousin Kiri Thode, and mentors Elvis Martinus and Patun Saragoza, took home three awards last weekend at the X-Dance Film Festival. X-Dance--a play on the word Sun”dance” after the renowned film festival, and “X” for “extreme sports”-- is the largest sports action film festival in the world. For 12 years X-Dance had run concurrently with the Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah, but grew so big in its own right, that this year festival organizers decided to change the dates to November, and X-Dance is now a stand-alone major film festival. X-Dance receives hundreds of the best sports-themed films from around the world, including big-budget films backed by companies like Red Bull, and just getting accepted is a significant honor. However, to be recognized as the “best of the best” is a huge achievement for “Children of the Wind” as the film won awards as “Best Documentary”; “Best Emerging Filmmaker—Daphne Schmon; and “Best Original Score” Phillip Lober. No other feature at the festival won more than one award. “Children of the Wind” was also nominated for “Best Film.” Of further note, in a film genre that is dominated by men on the production side, Daphne Schmon, the director and main editor of COTW was the only female recognized in any of the awards or nominations.

Two weeks earlier, at the Mt. Hood Independent Film Festival, and competing against 60 films from around the world being played in 4 separate venues for three days, “Children of the Wind” won the award as “Most Inspiring Documentary” and was the only film chosen by the jury and audience for an encore screening on the closing night after the award ceremony, repeating the extraordinary success the film had at its World Premiere in Aruba in June, where it won the “People’s Choice” Award, and three sold-out encore screenings.

“Children of the Wind” has now played 3 film festivals—all emphasizing completely different film genres, and has won top awards at each of them, and 5 in total. This is a rare achievement for an independent film in a highly competitive field, and everyone involved with the film is thrilled with this start.

By playing “Children of the Wind” on the festival circuit prior to general release, the team of COTW is following a widely accepted strategy of using film festivals as a springboard to the widest possible market, by building buzz, spreading the word, and finding buyers for the film. Of course, you have to have a good film for this strategy to work—but that is proving to be exactly the case to the thrill of everyone involved!

The next festival for “Children of the Wind” is the International Film Festival of Antigua and Barbuda that takes place between Nov. 18^th and Nov. 25^th. IFFAB is a big one-week Caribbean film festival that will culminate in a big red-carpet gala awards ceremony and after-awards party on Nov. 25^th.

“Children of the Wind” is scheduled for general release in early 2013.

Windsurfing is Back in the Olympics for Rio 2016

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 08:13:00 -0500

It sounds like it was a stressful weekend for the pro-windsurfing contingent at the ISAF meetings in Ireland. On Friday a vote resulted in upholding the decision to keep kiteboarding in for the 2016 Olympics... but on Saturday a vote of the ISAF's general assembly overturned this decision putting windsurfing back in for the 2016 Games at the expense of kiteboarding. I hope in the future that windsurfing will not be pitted against kiteboarding and that maybe the two very different classes can work together to be an exciting beach lifestyle class at the Olympics!

According to Rory Ramsden (the chief operating officer for Olympic Windsurfing) on rsxclass.com:

Never have so many fought for so long and so successfully to get a class re-instated on the Olympic sailing programme. This team effort involved people all over the world on many different levels and in many different ways. The fact that the ISAF General Assembly voted strongly in support of windsurfing and the RS:X for Rio 2016, is testament to the passion and determination of all these people. You helped to keep the story alive during the long six month fight.

This morning the dreams of thousands of young windsurfers are reinvigorated. Their chance to race in the Olympic sailing regatta is restored.

Thanks for your support and your constant belief that we could do what no other part of the sailing community has achieved in the past.

This battle was fought using all the levers available. 31,254 people signed the online petition. 20,000 joined the "Appeal" page on Facebook (Thanks Adam). 14,342 followed the 'Vote Windsurfing' Facebook page. And countless others worked tirelessly in the background to lobby MNAs and turn the groundswell of opinion into a tsunami of voters at the General Assembly.

This was a truly Olympic effort and just like as in any boat race only one can win. We know how the world of kite board racing must feel for it is how we felt on May 5th. The disappointment must be palpable. They are gracious in a defeat and that will only strengthen their determination to bid again for Olympic selection.

We will do our best to help them in that endeavour right up to where the line is drawn. The line that may never be crossed under any circumstances. Windsurfing will fight and fight hard to stay in the Olympic sailing programme when threatened.

In our heart of hearts, we both know that this was a fight neither of us wanted. A compromise would have weakened the appeal of both sports to small and emerging nations round the world. Now is the time for both windsurfing and kite to take stock.

Windsurfing as a global sport slept walked into this nightmare. No one really believed that the men and women's windsurfing events would be dropped. The fact that it was woke a lot of people up. We can never again be caught napping.

Kiteboarding ran a skilful campaign. They focused on their strengths and made a strong presentation but were ultimately found wanting because the discipline of kite board racing is still new and their equipment is not fully developed. Four more years will see big changes.

As for me, it was always my intention to step down after the RS:X was selected for Rio 2016. I never expected that to be so difficult so now is the time, after almost 30 years since I ran my first IMCO European Championships in Guernsey, Channel islands to stand back and let a new generation take the sport forward to Rio and on to who knows where in 2020 and beyond.

Good luck and keep the dream that we have all share alive,

Rory

PWA 2012 Fantasy Pool - And the Winner is...

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:06:00 -0500

It came down to the wire with only 11 points separating the first two places in this year's pool (not to mention only 49 points for 3rd place back of 2nd). Congrats to the World Riders and team manager Tom Wojkowiak of Canada for taking the win and claiming his choice of fin from Makani Fins!

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total
1	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	123763
2	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	123752
3	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	123703
4	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	123020
5	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	122943
6	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	122790
7	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	122427
8	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	122300
9	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	121729
10	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	120728
11	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	120573
12	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	120299
13	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	119382
14	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	119255
15	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	119184
16	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	119014
17	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	119002
18	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	118931
19	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	118866
20	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	118864
21	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	118854
22	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	118628
23	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	118447
24	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	118265
25	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	118172
26	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	118116
27	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	117896
28	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	117866
29	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	117671
30	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	117644
31	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	117436
32	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	117122
33	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	117055
34	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	117033
35	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	116908
36	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	116863
37	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	116771
38	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	116686
39	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	116571
40	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	116556
41	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	116463
42	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	116243
43	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	116060
44	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	115804
45	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	115730
46	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	115632
47	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	115598
48	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	115439
49	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	115401
50	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	115333
51	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	115154
52	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	115121
53	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	115076
54	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	115021
55	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	114900
56	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	114846
57	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	114840
58	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	114834
59	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	114710
60	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	114691
61	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	114428
62	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	114417
63	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	114278
64	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	114021
65	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	113720
66	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	113653
67	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	113548
68	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	113521
69	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	113416
70	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	113377
71	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	113268
72	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	112959
73	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	112701
74	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	112306
75	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	112141
76	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	111909
77	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	111876
78	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	111721
79	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	111645
80	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	111485
81	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	111306
82	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	111250
83	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	111220
84	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	111201
85	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	110998
86	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	110674
87	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	110442
88	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	110177
89	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	110167
90	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	110101
91	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	109998
92	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	109843
93	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	109727
94	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	109627
95	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	109557
96	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	109392
97	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	109281
98	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	109238
99	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	109051
100	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	108958
101	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	108792
102	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	108598
103	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	108082
104	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	107913
105	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	107815
106	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	107490
107	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	107445
108	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	107354
109	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	106967
110	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	106869
111	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	106840
112	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	106588
113	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	106566
114	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	106283
115	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	106216
116	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	105147
117	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	105057
118	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	105020
119	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	104989
120	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	104493
121	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	104460
122	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	104278
123	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	104059
124	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	104000
125	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	103156
126	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	102661
127	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	102085

PWA Fantasy Pool Update... after Denmark

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:01:00 -0400

Below are the updated standing following the Denmark wave event. It's coming down to the wire with plenty of action going on in Sylt right now. Hope you're enjoying the LIVE FEED as much as I am.

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total
1	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	100074
2	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	99184
3	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	99052
4	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	98722
5	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	98607
6	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	98595
7	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	97919
8	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	97913
9	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	97200
10	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	96903
11	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	96627
12	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	96419
13	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	96028
14	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	95974
15	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	95928
16	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	95847
17	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	95237
18	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	94939
19	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	94912
20	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	94907
21	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	94670
22	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	94527
23	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	94329
24	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	94324
25	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	94281
26	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	94232
27	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	94060
28	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	93864
29	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	93730
30	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	93649
31	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	93526
32	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	93477
33	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	93422
34	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	93421
35	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	93400
36	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	93346
37	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	93274
38	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	93268
39	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	93246
40	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	92921
41	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	92723
42	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	92681
43	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	92636
44	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	92609
45	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	92591
46	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	92575
47	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	92552
48	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	92445
49	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	92390
50	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	92366
51	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	92339
52	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	92322
53	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	92108
54	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	92075
55	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	92000
56	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	91992
57	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	91945
58	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	91927
59	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	91817
60	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	91811
61	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	91746
62	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	91730
63	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	91656
64	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	91614
65	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	91575
66	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	91465
67	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	91147
68	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	91113
69	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	90992
70	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	90932
71	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	90922
72	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	90904
73	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	90899
74	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	90822
75	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	90590
76	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	90520
77	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	90519
78	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	90426
79	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	90290
80	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	90206
81	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	90140
82	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	90123
83	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	90073
84	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	89645
85	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	89602
86	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	89370
87	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	89260
88	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	89205
89	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	89122
90	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	89106
91	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	89101
92	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	88886
93	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	88694
94	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	88667
95	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	88259
96	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	88238
97	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	88226
98	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	88194
99	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	88045
99	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	88045
101	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	88007
102	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	87792
103	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	87783
104	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	87771
105	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	87559
106	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	87502
107	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	87237
108	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	87131
109	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	87018
110	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	86887
111	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	86886
112	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	86621
113	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	86551
114	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	86088
115	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	85452
116	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	85338
117	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	85329
118	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	85242
119	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	85142
120	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	84950
121	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	84740
122	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	84339
123	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	83933
124	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	83913
125	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	83796
126	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	83438
127	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	82279

World of Windsurfing's Open Letter to ISAF

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:14:00 -0400

World of Windsurfing (WOW), a non-profit organisation has sent this open letter to all ISAF members asking to keep windsurfing an Olympic discipline. We hope that the ISAF Board Members will consider the arguments when taking their final vote at the Annual General Meeting in November.

Munich, 24. September 2012

Dear ISAF Members,

Being a community of interest on behalf of windsurfing, World of Windsurfing (WOW) is very concerned about the possible dropping of windsurfing in favor of kite surfing at the Olympics in 2016, which is why we are addressing you today.

World of Windsurfing e. V. (www.worldofwindsurfing.org) was founded by the most important stakeholders of the windsurfing business in January 2007 as a non-profit association under German law. The association is politically and denominationally neutral and independent from any individual interests of its members.

On behalf of its members (associations, special interest media, brands, travel companies, suppliers, OEMs etc.), WOW operates internationally in the fields of market research, communication, public relations, online marketing and event management.

These are WOW’s current members: Cobra International, JP-Australia, Neil Pryde, Starboard, Fanatic, North Sails, surf Magazin, surf & action company, Club Mistral and F2 Boards.

WOW’s goal is to strengthen windsurfing in any possible way and to raise awareness and popularity of the sport especially amongst the non-windsurfing-community (or not-yet-windsurfing-community, as we see it).

There are various reasons that speak for Windsurfing remaining an Olympic discipline. Windsurfing is an easy-access sport: for youngsters, for women, for nations with little sport promotion funds or people with no access to these. Its disappearance from the Olympic Games would be a kickback for the overall perception of sailing sports. It would also be a kickback for the sports and touristic development of small and emerging nations. Please find our arguments below:

1. Appeal to the youth
Windsurfing has established a large variety of programs for the offspring. This is also proven by the fact that six times more youngsters took up windsurfing in the past 12 months in comparison to kite surfing, according to a study by Yachting Australia.

The RS:X Class is actively involved in developing racing fleets in the U21, U19 and U17 Age Divisions who compete in separate World and Continental Championships. This cannot be said for kite surfing!

With the Techno 293 now in place as the youth pathway feeder class equivalent to the Optimist, junior windsurf racing is growing strongly in countries like Indonesia, Peru, Argentina and the USA. (Source: Rory Ramsden, COO RS:X class)

Windsurfing is safe and easy to learn and offers little risk to other water users. It is a mature and wellstructured sport with a clear youth pathway allowing kids as young as 8 or 9 to learn in safety. This can certainly not be said for kite boarding!

2. Female participation
80 women from 37 countries competed in the RS:X World Championships, in kite surfing, only 12 women competed in the Kite Course Racing World Championships. (Note by WOW: this corresponds to a 40% participation of females at RS:X and only 15% at Kite Course Racing!) Only two women were able to complete all the races at the Kite Course. (Source: Nevin Sayre’s open letter to US Sailing)

This shows a strong appeal to women to compete in windsurfing.

3. Windsurfing is one of the biggest sailing discipline on the planet
Approximately 48,000 people learned to windsurf in 2011 (expansion from the VDWS figures). Windsurfing is done in more than 100 countries across the globe by people between 8 and 80 years of age.

At these Olympic Games, 60 member countries from 6 continents were involved in the sports. These are figures that speak for themselves. Windsurfing plays a crucial role in creating global attention to sailing sports as such and has a bright future with the Techno 293 growing more and more popular amongst the offspring.

4. Windsurfing offers the least expensive route into the Olympic Regatta for small and emerging sailing nations
Both in terms of equipment and campaign costs, starting with the Techno 293 which costs less than an Optimist and continuing with the RS:X which costs less than a Laser, countries with little budget find easy access to windsurfing. Paired with the fact that success in this sport comes down to the abilities of the athlete only, not their ability to acquire the best and most advanced (and most expensive) material, windsurfing has a strong appeal with emerging nations.

54 countries took part in the 2012 Olympic Qualification series. Countries like Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, Iran, Jamaica, Oman, Peru and the Philippines now have windsurfing development programs. In the last 7 Olympiads, athletes from 5 continents (Oceania, Asia, Europe, North America and South America) have won medals.

5. Windsurfing plays an important role in the touristic development
The impacts of the touristic development of windsurfing spots are unparalleled. Besides a secured income and regular work, new windsurfing spots have also helped to build an infrastructure in various areas around the world. (Source: Surf & action company,Germany)

Here are some examples:

Alaçati (Turkey): the development of windsurfing has led to the construction of six hotels, an apartment complex for 2,000 people and it created hundreds of jobs
Dahab (Egypt): With windsurfing came 8 hotels, 12 water sport schools and thousands of new jobs. The village has been revaluated, receiving new infrastructure and amenities.
El Yaque, Venezuela: Thanks to windsurfing, 6 hotels were built. The region now has a support centre for poor children and youngsters who want to learn windsurfing.

6. Logistics and infrastructure
Being as new as it is, kite racing is a competition format that needs further development and may require more security measurements on shore and on the water. Even if this assumption proves to be wrong, the fact remains that infrastructure for windsurfing is less than required for kite racing as the boards are the same size & kite rigging and launching areas require more space. Windsurfing certainly requires less infrastructure than all other sailing classes. (Source: Double Olympic windsurfing medalist, Bruce Kendall ‘s open letter to US Sailing)

Both windsurfing and kite surfing can be performed close to shore, which makes them both spectatorfriendly sports. However, comparing windsurfing to kite surfing, it must be noted that in low wind speeds, windsurfing contests can take place, whilst kite surfing ones cannot once the wind drops below a certain level (kite boards don’t float!). Besides this, Windsurf racing takes place in the same wind speeds as other Olympic Sailing Events.

This is also a reason why a continuous training is more difficult for kite surfing newcomers: only in good wind conditions, they can practice racing. Upcoming windsurfing talents can practice in a much broader variety of conditions, meaning again that the sport and its perfection is more accessible for windsurfers, who don’t need to travel that far or wait that long to train.

7. Windsurfing attracts spectators and the media
Windsurfing has a broad audience: it is followed by a broadcast TV audience in more than 150 countries, and an internet audience in 169 countries — it has the strongest web presence of all Olympic classes and achieves a TV attention as high as e.g. the Scandia Class, which has a much larger fan base. (Source: Rory Ramsden, COO RS:X class)

Considering that media attention is a key deciding factor for the IOC, windsurfing has well deserved its right to be and remain an Olympic discipline.

We would like to emphasize the fact that whilst we have used comparisons to kite surfing for our arguments, we do not want to make the impression that we are against this young sport. On the contrary: WOW likes kite surfing; it helps to make sailing sports attractive. But we see it as a spectacular water sport for a few as it is certainly not accessible for everyone.

We therefore ask the ISAF members to revise their decision taken at the mid-year general meeting on 5. May 2012. Vote windsurfing back into the Olympics for the sake of the many, many people around the World of all ages and both genders that enjoy this easy-access and attractive sailing sport.

Yours sincerely,
World of Windsurfing e.V., represented by
Danu Chotikapanich, CEO / Executive Board Member and Martin Brandner CEO / Executive Board Member

Surf Expo Gallery

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:27:00 -0400

Surf Expo just finished in Orlando, Florida and here are you can CLICK HERE to check out our Facebook gallery of some of the cool stuff.

The 2012 AWSI Windsurfer of the Year is...

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 10:22:00 -0400

And the winner is...

PWA Fantasy Pool Update... after Turkey

Sun, 02 Sep 2012 09:07:00 -0400

Here are the updated standings following the PWA contests in Turkey (slalom) and Fuerteventura (slalom and freestyle). Let me know (info@windsport.com) if you have any questions about your team. —Pete DeKay, Windsport editor and pool organizer

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total
1	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	93428
2	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	92877
3	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	92218
4	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	92185
5	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	92086
6	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	91184
7	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	91114
8	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	91069
9	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	91046
10	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	89921
11	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	89760
12	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	89453
13	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	89343
14	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	89194
15	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	89008
16	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	88632
17	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	88408
18	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	88045
19	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	88040
20	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	87973
21	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	87957
22	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	87941
23	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	87886
24	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	87803
25	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	87726
26	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	87447
27	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	87264
28	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	87228
29	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	87167
30	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	87142
31	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	86979
32	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	86815
33	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	86742
34	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	86659
35	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	86638
36	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	86610
37	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	86533
38	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	86340
39	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	86302
40	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	86281
41	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	86237
42	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	86073
43	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	86054
44	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	86006
45	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	85972
46	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	85955
47	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	85856
48	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	85835
49	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	85809
50	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	85688
51	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	85637
52	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	85571
53	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	85439
54	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	85424
55	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	85385
56	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	85364
57	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	85362
58	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	85356
59	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	85324
60	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	85242
61	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	85142
62	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	85111
63	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	85020
64	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	84944
64	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	84944
66	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	84895
67	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	84894
68	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	84780
69	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	84741
70	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	84735
71	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	84704
72	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	84653
73	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	84548
74	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	84516
75	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	84466
76	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	84356
77	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	84048
78	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	84021
79	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	83751
80	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	83723
81	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	83707
82	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	83653
83	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	83559
84	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	83324
85	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	83274
86	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	83257
87	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	83098
88	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	83075
89	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	82883
90	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	82866
91	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	82811
92	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	82740
93	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	82636
94	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	82618
95	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	82404
96	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	82394
97	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	82380
98	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	82373
99	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	82185
100	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	82074
101	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	82008
102	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	81893
103	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	81576
104	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	81492
105	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	81470
106	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	81261
107	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	81206
108	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	81178
109	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	80831
110	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	80496
111	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	80206
112	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	80151
113	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	80075
114	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	80018
115	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	80000
116	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	79914
117	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	79585
118	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	79486
119	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	79402
120	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	79221
121	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	78536
122	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	78485
123	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	78471
124	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	78276
125	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	78236
126	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	77637
127	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	74818

AWT Pacasmayo Classic - Final

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:53:00 -0400

The expected southwest swell arrived, pushing solid conditions for the contest. With the finals of the kite, SUP, and Long board completed in the morning and early afternoon, we decided to try and finish the remaining heats of the men’s pro division double elimination. We again ran in front of the hotel providing the best venue for judging and also the best possible wind and waves, as further up toward the point the wind was looking super light and too sketchy for the riders.

Athletes who started waves near the point definitely had an advantage, and those who were familiar with the spot were well aware of this. Some of the longer waves saw 15 or 20 turns. Aerials and solid turns were bringing in high scores with the riders using a mix of skills to rake in the points. Wave selection was key as the wind was light. Catching the wrong wave meant the sailors would be well down wind, and have a long slow slog back upwind to the point. Riders gaining the most points were those who chose their waves wisely, and stayed in the critical section of the wave. It’s very easy here to outrun the main breaking section in search of a bigger chunkier section downwind where you can boost an aerial. That strategy didn’t always work well, as the waves sometimes just faded out, and the sailors were left having missed the opportunity of milking the wave further upwind.

Heat 25: Saw young Alex Vargas from Chile and local Peruvian Ricardo Gugliemino progress through.

Heat 26: Venezuelan Diony Guadagino (below) and Tato Molina from Uruguay overtook Vinicius Martins to take 1^st and 2^nd respectively.

Heat 27: Riders were looking to be as consistent as possible. Eduardo Hermann pulled ahead with a long ride and some solid aerials. Diony also sailed a sloid heat, using the wave with fluid and stylish riding.

Heat 29: Alex Vargas from Chile pulls through with more aerials and longer waves than the other riders, placing 1^st in the heat. There was a tie for second place between Chilean Eduardo Hermann and Maui boy Kevin Pritchard. Both sailed a really solid heat with Kevin boosting 2 big aerials on one wave. Unfortunately for him, his 2^nd wave wasn’t as high scoring. The tie was broken by taking the highest scoring wave from the heat and here is where Eduardo just edged ahead and took 2^nd place from Kevin.

At this stage (photo above) it was nearing sunset and we only had minutes of daylight remaining.

Heat 30: Heat length changed to 15 minutes with one wave to count so we could try our best to squeeze the last from the day light and finish the bracket. Tom Juban joined the winners from the previous heat to defend his 3^rd place ranking from the single elimination. Tom, the younger brother of Camille Juban and only 15 years old had impressed everyone during the week of contest. In the single elimination final he gave Camille and Fabrice a serious run for their money and was proving that he is a force to be reckoned with. The heat was very close with all 3 riders waiting to catch the longest set wave they could find. Alex Vargas was on fire and pulled off the best wave moving him ahead into the next heat, passing Eduardo into 4^th overall and a disappointing 5^th for young Tom . He then joined Fabrice Beaux in the final heat of the contest in the battle for 2^nd place. The sun was setting and in the end it was Fabrice with the best wave, defending his 2^nd place ranking. With the sun down and insufficient light for judging we were unable to run the final and results stayed with Camille Juban in first.

The closing party was hosted by Jaime Rojas of the El Faro Resort. Pacasmayo girls joined in on the fun and we had traditional Peruvian fried doughnuts, ceviche, and Pisco Sour drinks. Smiles all around as the awards were presented. The AWT has been invited to come back again next year and we are all looking forward to the Pacasmayo 2013!

Fall Wave Camp with Matt Pritchard at Punta San Carlos

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:24:00 -0400

Don't shut down just because your local season has. Punta San Carlos, Baja goes strong for months to come. We've got the perfect way to pump up your skill level while extending your wave sailing season. Join Matt Pritchard Kevin McGillivray as they share their wave sailing expertise in the Fall Matt Pritchard Wavecamp right in the SoloSports Adventure Holidays campo in PSC. For more info - click the banner below or call 949.289.7779

National Geographic Extreme Photo of the Week

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 13:12:00 -0400

Gorge windsurfing photographer Richard Hallman just got back from Peru where one of his big wave surfing shots was just picked for National Geographics Extreme Photo of the Week (click to see and read about it). Congratulations Richard!

USA Chosen as Location for Red Bull Storm Chase

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:03:00 -0400

Cape Hatteras, NC has been nominated as one of seven possible destinations for the 2012 Red Bull Storm Chase, which has just completed the first week of it's waiting period. If a huge storm hits Hatteras before November 30th then top pro riders from around the world (who were all nominated las month) will fly in to ride it! Three of the seven locations that receive force 10 storms (wind consistently over 55 mph) will be picked. The seven locations are:

US East Coast, Hatteras
Iceland, SW coast
Ireland, NW coast
Galicia, Spain
Brittany, France
Japan, SE coast
Tasmania, NW Territory

Storm Riders: The 10 competitors in the 2012 Red Bull Storm Chase include: Victor Fernandez, Boujmaa Guilloul, Ricardo Campello, Robby Swift, Daniel Bruch, Thomas Traversa, Philip Koster, Julien Taboulet, Marcilio Browne and Kai Lenny.

Three Missions: With each storm the field of competitors will be narrowed down. All 10 windsurfers will compete in Mission One at the first storm location, after which the field will be narrowed down to six riders. Mission two will once again narrow down the group to four riders. Finally, these four will battle it out in the last storm to see who is the ultimate storm sailor!

CLICK HERE for more information about the 2012 Red Bull Storm Chase... stay tuned for all the news and action from this unbelieveable event!

Holland and Spain take RS:X Gold Medals

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:09:00 -0400

We had wind again today but also rain. It was typical English rain - on an off again. Just enough to get wet but not really enough to wear rain gear.

Today was the final day for Canadian Sailors at the 2012 Olympic Games. Zachary Plavsic of Vancouver BC has secured the top Canadian result here with an 8th overall in the Men's RSX Windsurfing class.

Today's medal race was a chance for Zac to move up from 8th place to possibly 5th overall. If he could beat the Greek, the French and his New Zealand training partner, JP Tobin. Zac was actually tied on points with his Kiwi friend going into today but the tie breaking rule had him 8th.

Zac got an ok start. It was clean but he was a little behind. A short way into the race he was well ahead of the New Zealander and within striking distance of the Greek. The Frenchman had gone to the left on the first leg and was challenging for the lead. By 1/2 way down the second leg Zac had left the Kiwi well behind (maybe 300 Meters - a big gap at this level) He was gaining on the Greek. 6th place overall was in his sights. Then - just seconds before rounding the gate at the bottom of leg 2, Zac's boom fell apart. I could see there was a problem with the boom from shore but it was not clear if it had broken or something else was wrong. As Zac's coach, Kevin Stittle, later explained to me it was the clamping mechanism (a giant buckle) that connects the boom to the mast by means of a plastic lever that tightens a rope that goes around the mast. The rope has a knot at one end and somehow the knot had come undone. Neither Zac or Kevin had ever seen this happen before. No one was suggesting any foul play but they were dumbfounded as to how this could have happened.

In any case, the boards behind Zac quickly passed him. In true "Zac style" he "MacGyvered" the boom and got back to racing. He was a whole lap behind at this point but the crowd was going wild cheering for Canada. It was amazing. Most people would have just quit and got their coach to take them in on the coach boat. Not Zac. This guy does not know how to give up. Apparently it was still broken but he somehow managed to make it work. What a show he put on.

Ironically, because Zac was so far behind the race Committee had to leave the old windward mark in place longer than usual. There had been a wind shift and the spare windward mark had been moved to the right on the 3rd leg. Dorian VanRijsselberge, the Dutch sailor, was so far ahead he kept going for the old windward mark that Zac was headed for - allowing the French sailor to pass him before he noticed the new windward mark. It would not have made a difference anyway as the Dutch sailor had already secured the Gold yesterday and merely needed to finish the medal race to collect his prize. Impressively, he caught up to and passed the French guy on the last leg to finish 2nd in the final race and win the Gold Medal with a near perfect score card of 6-1st's, 3-2nd's and a 3rd. WOW!

We are all very proud of Zac and will be toasting him tonight at the Canadian Sailing Team BBQ.

Medals
Gold - Netherlands - Dorian VanRijsselberge
Silver - Great Britain - Nick Dempsey (Local Weympouth Boy)
Bronze - Polland -Premyslaw Mirarczynski

We also had Nikola Girke in the women's RSX Class Medal Race. Nikola was ranked 10th going in with an outside shot at moving up to 8th, but it was not to be. The wind was not sub-planing conditions but it was not ideal for Nikola. She was 9th at the first Mark and lost a spot on the second downwind to finish 10th in the race and 10th overall. I will say she seemed to be working harder in this race for that 10th than she did in some of the earlier races in which not as much pumping was required. We are also very proud of Nikola's performance. Well Done Nikola!

This Women's RSX race was quite an exciting race at the top of the fleet. Going into the final it was Spain, Israel and Finland in 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The Israeli sailor had a tough race finishing 9th, just ahead of Nikola. This took her out of the medals. It was also an indication of just how well Nikola is going despite finishing 10th to be duking it out with the Israeli girl who had been 3rd going into today. She had a close battle with the Israeli woman all around the Course.

The Finish girl had a strong result finishing 4th and the Polish woman who was sitting in 5th going in managed a 3rd in the medal race to clinch the Bronze. They carry their scores from the first 10 races into the medal race and points in the medal race are doubled so big upsets are possible in this final race.

Medals
Gold - Spain - Marina Alabau
Silver - Finland - Tuuli Petaja
Bronze - Polland - Zofia Noceti-klepacka

RS:X Class claim for Judicial Review against ISAF

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:05:00 -0400

Since the ISAF Mid Year Meeting and the narrow vote to deselect windsurfing and the RS:X for the 2016 Olympic Regatta in Rio de Janeiro, the class has been working on many levels to get this decision reversed under the direction of its crisis management group within the Executive Committee.

The opinion of our legal team is that the decision was perverse and unfair and so accordingly we have issued a claim for Judicial Review [dated August 1st 2012] in the High Court in London which had to be lodged within 3 months of the date of the decision on May 5th.

28,385 people from around the world have signed the on-line petition against the ISAF decision. 18,812 have joined the 'Appeal against kitesurfing in the Olympics' Facebook Group. 13,209 are following the 'Vote Windsurfing' Facebook page. The tone of the discussions in these forums has been one of disbelief that two colorful, dynamic, media friendly global events could be so easily discarded.

Disbelief that such a strong pipeline of Youth and Junior windsurfing classes could be discarded in favour of a discipline with no such pipeline.

Disbelief that a class, the RS:X, which is second only to the single handed men's and women's Laser Class in terms of size, diversity and global reach could be discarded.

Disbelief that a class that has such a high level of women's participation in terms of numbers and quality of competition could be so lightly ignored in favour of an event where only 12 women from 10 countries took part in the last kite course racing world championships.

The RS:X equipment by Neil Pryde Windsurfing was selected in 2004 by ISAF after an open evaluation and was the supplied equipment for the men and women 'boards' events in the 2008 Olympic Games and is now being raced in the ongoing 2012 Olympic Regatta.

For more information:

iPad Lobby document here: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/this-is-windsurfing/id533430355?mt=11

MS Word Lobby document here: http://www.rsxclass.com/download/ThisIsWindsurfing.doc.zip

Vote Windsurfing Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/votewindsurfing

Petition - Keep Windsurfing as Olympic Discipline: http://www.change.org/petitions/isaf-keep-windsurfing-as-olympic-discipline

RS:X Website: http://www.rsxclass.com

Canada makes Men and Women RS:X Medal Races

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:35:00 -0400

The wind finally lightened up today, averaging about 9 knots on the North Course and slightly more (about 12knots) on the West Course. The temperature was still not warm at 18, but it was a pleasant enough day. The crowds finally turned out today with thousands of spectators watching the racing from the Nothe point. Canada had both men's and women's RS:X on the water.

RS:X - Men
Zac Plavsic qualified for the medal race today with a 7th and a 29th (ouch!) He is sitting in 8th overall but has closed the gap on 7th. He was up as high as 5th in race 9 but race 10 was ugly most of the way around. I have not spoken with Zac but the wind got pretty light and it can bey very fluky in the light stuff and it is not Zac's strength. There was a huge shift to the left in the afternoon and this may have turned the fleet inside out with very little opportunity to maki it back.
Zac is actually tied with JP Tobin of New Zealand for 7th - his training partner along with regatta leader Dorian Van Rijsselgerg from Holland. Zac and JP both have 80 points. The best Zac can do going into the last race is 5th. The guy in 9th can not catch him as he is more than 20 points behind. 20 points is the maximum score in the medal race because there are only 10 boards and scores are doubled. The Greek in 5th has 65 points and is within reach if Zac has a great race and the Greek falters. The French sailor with 66 points would also have to have a bad race. Regardless of the outcome Zac has had a terrific performance. A 5th would be out of this world fantastic! Our fingers are crossed. The RSX Men's fleet has a day off tomorrow and the wind looks like it will be back up in the 16-18 knot range on Tuesday for the Medal Race, which favours Zac as he is probably faster than the Greek and the French guy and with a smaller fleet it will probably be more of a drag race since clear air will be easier to come by. Go Zac Go!

RS:X - Women
Our Women's windsurfer, Nikola Girke had her worst day of the event today with a 19th and an 18th. The light air has always been her achilles heal and it really showed today. She did improve her first mark rounding position in both races demonstrating a great deal of determination and perseverance, but when you get back that far in light air there is not much you can do without a speed advantage.
Despite the disappointing results she has managed to stay in the top 10 with 89 points, which puts her 14 points out of 8th which will be the best she can do if she puts together a great medal race and the Italian and French sailors ahead of her have bad races. Obviously the worst she can do is 10th as the top 10 are now locked in. With the wind expected to be back up in the 14-16 knot range Nikola could well move ahead. Regardless we are all immensely proud of her accomplishment. Well done Nikola!

US Nationals - Day 2 - Formula and Slalom Results

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:31:00 -0400

Day two at the 2012 US Windsurfing Nationals presented by the American Windsurfing Tour started slowly with a perfectly calm morning. The restful conditions allowed all the racers to settle into the Hood River Event Site and get all their gear rigged up and ready. By early afternoon the wind started to kick up above 12-knots and the call for the Formula racing to begin was made by race director Darren Rogers... a great call! And the wind just kept gradually building through three course races until it reached enough to make the switch to Slalom. A full round of three Slalom races completed another perfect day at the 2012 US Windsurfing Nationals. Let's look at what happened in a little more detail..

Formula Action: The first day of course racing was dominated by MauiSail's Phil McGain who took all three races by a decent margin. The question is: can anyone catch him? Finishing second and third respectively behind McGain were Xavier Ferlet and Steve Bodner... so we'll see what they can do in the coming days to put up a challenge. Ron Kern sailed strongly and finished the day just ahead of local hero Bruce Peterson, who's fall in the third race dropped his standing to fifth. Just behind Peterson was the incredibly talented Marion Lepert... this junior racer will hold her own any day against the men.
It was amazing just how tight the racing was across almost the entire fleet with some insanely close finishes at the downwind line that was set right next to the beach. It made for a great spectacle to watch and we're looking forward to more as the week of racing continues.

Phil McGain

McGain leading at the half-way point.

Xavier Ferlet

Formula start

Steve Bodner

Marion Lepert

Slalom Action: Tyson Poor may have had to sit out of the freestyle competition yesterday with a sore shoulder, but he definitely wouldn't let it keep him out of the Slalom. His determination showed through with three bullets. We're pretty sure that Phil McGain will be looking to avenge his loss to Poor tomorrow, the only blemish on his near perfect day of racing. Also gunning for Poor will be his Gorge Cup rival Bruce Peterson, who finished the day solidly in the third position. A battle for the next three places is setting up between Casey Hauser, Steve Bodner and Jordan Reid... unless Wyatt Miller replicates the performance he put down in the last race of the day and joins this pack.
The slalom action provided plenty of crashes and even some heated protests, so let's see what the rest of the week brings as tension builds out on the course!

Tyson Poor leads the pack.

Ingrid Larouche

Phil McGain is way ahead

Bruce Peterson

Tyson Poor

Congrats and thanks to all the sponsors, competitors, organizers and volunteers for making this amazing event happen! Sponsors of the 2012 US Windsurfing Nationals include: AWT, Dakine, AWSI, Sailworks, Starboard, Chinook, CGWA, Mistral, Nolimitz, North Wave, Oregon Sports Authority, Vela, 101 Surf Sports, Big Winds, Black Project Fins, Makini Fins, Vector Fins, G-42, US Windsurfing Association, Windsport Magazine.

Day Two Results:

Steven Max at US Nationals

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:23:00 -0400

Steven Max impresses at the US Nationals

Fresh from claiming the U17 World Freestyle crown our young freestyle sensation Steven Max flew over from Aruba to make an appearance at the US Nationals hosted by the AWT. While it was easy to get him and his family there his equipment arrived just in time for his first heat.

The MAX report

It is Gorgeous, lovely and windy here. Wonderful people and great event! Literally 5 min before the 1st heat Steven finally got to rig up his Freestyle Pros, talk about timing! As you now already know, it went spectacularly. It honestly looked like Steven was going to go all the way. They really had no idea who he was and what he can do and completely underestimated Steven, so much fun to watch! It has been an exhausting trip though and very stressful will the equipment being delayed, add the cold weather and water conditions and you will not be surprised to hear that we were all knocked out and sniffling after a long day yesterday and all lights went out as soon as we got home." —Max Family

CLICK HERE to read more about Steven Max's US adventures on the Hot Sails Maui blog...

US Windsurfing Nationals - Day 1 - Freestyle

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:43:00 -0400

Freestyle at the US Windsurfing Nationals presented by the AWT
Day one at the 2012 US Windsurfing Nationals presented by the American Windsurfing Tour was blessed with great wind, flat water and some intense freestyle action. An entire double elimination featuring head-to-head heats was held for the pro men along with four single elimination final heats for the women. Competitors came from all over, including California, Canada and even Aruba! Let's look at all the action in a little more detail...

Women's Action:
When the women hit the water the judges were suddenly thrown into a state of confusion. These heats pitted two new school freestylers, Ingrid Larouche and Tanya Ferguson, against the incredible longboarding style of Jacquie Barone. Which move should score higher: a Spock or doing the splits while Railriding? It was like watching two completely different sports, so it was decided to crown both a new and old school freestyler in the women's division... Ingrid Larouche and Jacquie Barone respectively!

Men's Action:
The single elimination started with a bang as the World Under-17 Freestyle champion Steven Max landed a clean Culo right near the beach. This set the standard and everyone knew they'd need to bring their A-game to beat this incredibly talented kid. The closest heat of the first round saw Casey Hause narrowly edging out Canadian Dan Thomson. Hauser ended the heat strongly after a rough start to just overtake Thomson who was sailing very well. The final of the single elimination came down to a showdown between San Francisco Bay area sailors Wyatt Miller and Jordan Reid. It was an impressive show with Miller taking it after landing his signature Gozada—a switched stance back-to-sail Spock variation.
The double elimination started off impressively for two brothers who came all the way across country from Ontario, Canada: Adam and Tom Wojtkowiak. Not only are these two young freestylers competing but they are also producing the videos and many of the photos for this event. Unfortunately for them they each had to deal with sailors who were definitely on fire, Steven Max and Casey Hauser. With Max and Hauser taking out the Ontario brothers they now had to battle each other to keep advancing. Hauser sailed and great heat hitting tricks like a Funnel and double Flaka, but it was not enough to defeat the junior champ from Aruba. Up next for Max was Jordan Reid... a true contest of talented new-schoolers. The cold-ish water (compared to Aruba) and long days of travel prior to the event seemed to hit Max at the wrong time as he missed his Culo despite nailing almost everything else, and was not enough to take down Reid's double Spock, Kono and Shaka Flaka. So the final was set: Jordan Reid vs. Wyatt Miller.

Men's Final:
The wind was getting a little fluky so Miller pulled out new 6.0-meter sail that he'd never really freestyled on before. It looked like it was working well for him in the lulls, but there were enough gusts that he definitely didn't look like the "Miller-time" who dominated the single elimination earlier. With the door wide open Reid took full advantage sailing a strong heat and taking the final over Miller. But, with this being the double elimination it meant that they'd have to sail again... and Miller re-evaluated his gear choice opting for his smaller freestyle sail. The choice definitely paid off for Miller, as he was back to form ripping through every move. Reid seemed a little off his game in the final allowing Miller to take the victory.

Congrats and thanks to all the sponsors, competitors, organizers and volunteers for making this an amazing event! Sponsors of the 2012 US Windsurfing Nationals include: American Windsurfing Tour, AWSI, US Windsurfing, CGWA, Dakine, Sailworks, Chinook, Vela, Oregon Sports Authority, Big Winds, G-42 IT, Nolimitz, Vector Fins, Makani Fins, Black Project Fins, Mistral, Northwave, Starboard, Vela, 101 Surf Sports, Windsport Magazine.

Day One - Freestyle Results:
Pro Men:
1. Wyatt Miller
2. Jordan Reid
3. Steven Max
4. Casey Hauser
5. Adam Wojtkowiak
5. Tom Wojtkowiak
7. Dan Thomson
7. Jay Watermeyer

Pro Women (shortboard):
1. Ingrid Larouche
2. Tanya Ferguson

Pro Women (longboard):
1. Jacquie Barone

PWA Fantasy Pool - Tenerife Wave Update

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:24:00 -0400

Here are the updated results following the PWA Wave event in Tenerife. If you have any questions regarding your team, please e-mail them to me at info@windsport.com.

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total
1	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	62725
2	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	62066
3	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	62033
4	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	61885
5	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	61852
6	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	61472
7	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	61455
8	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	61423
9	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	61127
10	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	60795
11	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	60378
12	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	59988
13	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	59971
14	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	59674
15	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	59328
16	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	59272
17	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	59092
18	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	58823
19	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	58782
20	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	58674
21	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	58531
22	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	58085
23	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	57997
24	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	57882
25	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	57832
26	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	57831
27	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	57783
28	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	57718
29	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	57658
30	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	57601
31	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	57552
32	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	57536
33	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	57519
34	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	57486
35	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	57157
36	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	57090
37	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	56943
38	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	56875
39	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	56771
40	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	56728
41	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	56678
42	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	56640
43	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	56622
44	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	56579
45	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	56562
46	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	56529
47	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	56525
48	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	56465
49	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	56382
50	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	56359
51	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	56299
52	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	56251
53	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	56249
54	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	56233
55	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	56079
56	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	56013
57	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	55947
58	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	55870
59	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	55820
60	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	55781
61	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	55771
62	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	55718
63	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	55704
64	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	55634
65	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	55551
66	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	55524
67	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	55490
68	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	55402
69	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	55221
70	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	55176
71	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	55171
71	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	55171
73	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	55078
74	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	54980
75	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	54958
76	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	54880
77	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	54841
78	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	54794
79	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	54770
80	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	54485
81	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	54479
82	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	54330
83	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	54297
84	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	54182
85	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	53984
86	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	53929
87	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	53903
88	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	53815
89	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	53705
90	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	53599
91	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	53468
92	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	53313
93	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	53304
94	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	53303
95	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	53236
96	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	53188
97	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	53173
98	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	53044
99	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	53027
100	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	52995
101	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	52929
102	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	52907
103	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	52899
104	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	52884
105	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	52852
106	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	52677
107	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	52594
108	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	52330
109	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	52230
110	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	52005
111	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	51999
112	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	51768
113	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	51714
114	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	51619
115	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	51520
116	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	51219
117	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	50946
118	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	50718
119	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	50620
120	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	50580
121	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	50493
122	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	50412
123	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	50257
124	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	50229
125	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	49745
126	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	47552
127	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	46612

UPDATE: PWA Fantasy Pool Standing after Pozo

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 21:47:00 -0400

Here are the updated standings for the PWA Fantasy Pool following the results of the men's and women's wave competitions:

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total
1	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	53742
2	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	53231
3	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	53083
4	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	53066
5	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	52934
6	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	52902
7	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	52472
8	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	52423
9	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	52241
10	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	51962
11	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	51927
12	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	51730
13	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	51482
14	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	51021
15	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	50889
16	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	50740
16	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	50740
18	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	50674
19	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	50652
20	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	50305
21	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	50290
22	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	50256
23	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	50026
24	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	50021
25	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	49959
26	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	49729
27	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	49674
28	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	49664
29	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	49634
30	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	49515
31	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	49492
32	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	49415
33	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	49295
34	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	49096
35	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	49003
36	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	48981
37	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	48948
38	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	48917
39	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	48916
40	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	48898
41	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	48849
42	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	48838
43	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	48782
44	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	48724
45	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	48684
46	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	48569
47	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	48524
48	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	48359
49	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	48355
50	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	48239
51	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	48112
52	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	47969
53	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	47811
54	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	47777
55	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	47667
56	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	47585
57	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	47547
58	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	47497
59	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	47397
60	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	47332
61	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	47309
62	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	47277
63	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	47267
64	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	47234
65	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	47228
66	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	47151
67	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	47117
68	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	47086
69	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	47068
70	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	46952
70	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	46952
72	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	46898
73	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	46837
74	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	46804
75	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	46656
76	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	46584
77	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	46502
78	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	46475
79	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	46419
80	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	46391
81	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	46387
82	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	46374
83	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	46271
84	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	46188
85	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	46078
86	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	46056
87	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	46039
88	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	45925
89	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	45914
90	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	45908
91	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	45846
92	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	45770
93	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	45765
94	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	45744
95	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	45682
96	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	45678
97	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	45612
98	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	45554
99	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	45545
100	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	45452
101	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	45398
102	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	45364
103	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	45265
104	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	45248
105	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	45231
106	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	45017
107	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	44847
108	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	44831
109	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	44688
110	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	44687
111	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	44671
112	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	44665
113	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	44621
114	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	44601
115	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	44237
116	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	44208
117	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	44109
118	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	43930
119	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	43779
120	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	43398
121	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	43044
122	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	42752
123	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	42691
124	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	42565
125	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	42158
126	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	42109
127	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	41186

In Memory of Jim Drake

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:42:00 -0400

"Jim Drake changed the lives of millions of people and will continue to do so.

Windsurfing has made people experience the wind, waves and water in new ways. The sport has made converts travel and even settle on the opposite side of our planet.

His spirit was always to include everyone and especially women and kids into windsurfing. Jim and his wife Sam spent years with us in Thailand developing designs and strategies to increase the popularity of windsurfing. He was always optimistic and especially happy to challenge the status quo. His view on “one design” versus free choice of windsurfing gear for the Olympics was well known. His designs, like the Formula 175, the worlds most winning race board ever took competitive windsurfing to a new level.

Jim was an early adaptor of paddle boarding and he has helped design a number of winning designs like the K15. Some of his later designs are still being tested and his ideas on the future of paddle board designs may soon be shared.

He had so much more to give and reminded us on how precious each hour of life is."

—Svein Rasmussen and the Starboard family

Two Weeks of Hot Sails Maui Demos

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 10:18:00 -0400

Two Weeks of HOT DEMOS (Pistol River/Gorge):

Following our extremely successful AWT promo week back in May Chris Freeman will back on the road with stops at both the second AWT contest of the year at Pistol River and The Gorge.

13th to 17th June - PISTOL RIVER

19th to 24th June - THE GORGE

We will have a good supply of FIRELIGHTS, the NEW SMACK, SUPERFREAK Maui Ed., SUPERFREAK, GP2, GPS and more so come check us out, try the new gear and have a perfect session!

More info will be released soon so check back or email chris@hotsailsmaui.com for more info.

Bic Techno 293 One Design Class Moving Forward

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 07:42:00 -0400

For more information on the T293 OD class visit www.techno293.org, and on BIC Sport visit www.bicsport.com.

Pro Windsurfing Fantasy Pool Update

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:15:00 -0400

I appologize for the delay in getting this update posted, but now that all the info is in the postings will be much easier. Congrats to the team "In Theory" for taking the early lead following the first two slalom events and one freestyle competition. Can they hold the lead for the entire season and win their choice of fin from Makani Fins?

If you need info about your team (maybe you forgot your picks) then please e-mail me at info@windsport.com.

Cheers,

Pete DeKay (Windsport Magazine editor and PWFP commissioner)

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total	Slalom Men	Slalom Women	Freestyle Men
1	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	33645	18493	7988	7164
2	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	33281	18047	8070	7164
3	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	33265	18526	8070	6669
3	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	33265	17998	8103	7164
5	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	33166	17981	8021	7164
6	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	32919	18493	8021	6405
7	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	32753	17882	8004	6867
8	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	32720	18146	7806	6768
9	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	32457	18196	8021	6240
10	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	32292	17322	7806	7164
11	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	32275	17123	7988	7164
12	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	32226	17355	8103	6768
13	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	32225	17024	7806	7395
14	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	32144	17322	8021	6801
15	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	32143	18311	7460	6372
16	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	32011	16826	8021	7164
17	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	31615	16826	8103	6686
18	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	31516	17288	7757	6471
19	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	31466	16562	8103	6801
19	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	31466	17519	8103	5844
21	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	31417	17833	8070	5514
22	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	31378	16441	8070	6867
23	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	31319	17058	8021	6240
24	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	31313	16062	7988	7263
25	Rip it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	31269	17322	8103	5844
26	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	31203	17322	8037	5844
27	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	31202	16661	8103	6438
28	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	31170	17074	7691	6405
29	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	31164	18162	5937	7065
30	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	31153	16694	7988	6471
31	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	31054	16810	7806	6438
32	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	30955	16777	7806	6372
33	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	30784	15434	7988	7362
34	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	30708	16348	8021	6339
35	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	30477	16216	8021	6240
36	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	30357	17652	5937	6768
37	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	30290	17255	5871	7164
38	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	30076	16975	5904	7197
39	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	29668	15275	8021	6372
40	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	29664	16959	5871	6834
41	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	29461	18328	3936	7197
42	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	29428	18427	3936	7065
43	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	29329	17932	3936	7461
44	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	29146	16474	5871	6801
45	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	28997	16622	5904	6471
46	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	28954	16612	5937	6405
47	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	28949	17651	3936	7362
48	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	28817	17915	3936	6966
49	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	28752	18493	3854	6405
50	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	28669	17453	3854	7362
51	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	28487	17387	3936	7164
52	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	28471	18130	3936	6405
52	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	28471	17569	3936	6966
54	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	28454	16843	5871	5740
55	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	28394	16431	5558	6405
56	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	28372	17569	3936	6867
57	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	28340	17091	3854	7395
58	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	28339	17684	3854	6801
59	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	28338	16375	5558	6405
60	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	28306	17486	3854	6966
60	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	28306	17503	3936	6867
62	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	28305	15583	5558	7164
63	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	28207	17981	3854	6372
64	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	28141	17123	3854	7164
65	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	28058	16859	3936	7263
66	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	28010	17355	3854	6801
67	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	27910	16909	3936	7065
68	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	27795	17091	3936	6768
69	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	27762	16530	3870	7362
70	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	27613	17420	3854	6339
71	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	27563	17387	3936	6240
72	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	27548	17322	3854	6372
73	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	27481	16859	3854	6768
74	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	27449	17223	3854	6372
75	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	27446	12657	7988	6801
76	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	27425	16028	3936	7461
77	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	27410	18229	3639	5542
78	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	27383	17091	3854	6438
79	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	27348	16595	5937	4816
80	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	27267	16959	3936	6372
81	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	27234	16216	3854	7164
82	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	27217	16991	3854	6372
83	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	27185	16959	3854	6372
84	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	27167	17387	3936	5844
84	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	27167	17453	3870	5844
86	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	27119	16497	3854	6768
87	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	27069	16662	3639	6768
88	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	27063	16375	3854	6834
89	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	27019	16216	3936	6867
90	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	27014	15996	3854	7164
90	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	27014	16870	3854	6290
92	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	27002	17222	3639	6141
93	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	26969	16166	3936	6867
94	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	26954	17223	3854	5877
95	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	26932	17998	3854	5080
96	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	26904	16497	3639	6768
97	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	26848	15599	3854	7395
98	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	26734	18526	1737	6471
99	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	26722	16711	3639	6372
100	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	26705	16529	3936	6240
101	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	26651	15320	3936	7395
102	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	26640	15424	3854	7362
103	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	26601	15963	3639	6999
104	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	26591	15573	3936	7082
105	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	26557	15737	3854	6966
106	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	26551	16259	3854	6438
107	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	26541	17338	3854	5349
108	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	26518	16342	3639	6537
109	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	26454	17355	1737	7362
110	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	26425	16249	3936	6240
111	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	26392	16298	3854	6240
112	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	26354	15056	3936	7362
113	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	26327	16315	3854	6158
114	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	26272	16975	3854	5443
115	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	26255	15765	3854	6636
116	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	26233	17035	1737	7461
117	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	26228	16332	3936	5960
118	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	26222	15963	3854	6405
119	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	26206	14957	3854	7395
120	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	25974	15963	3639	6372
121	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	25963	16265	3854	5844
122	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	25909	17338	1704	6867
123	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	25859	17354	1770	6735
124	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	25826	16645	3936	5245
125	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	25728	17751	1737	6240
126	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	25101	17454	1737	5910
127	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	24556	14924	3870	5762

Are you ready for the Gorge Windfest Weekend?

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:05:00 -0400

Make your plans to be in Hood River, OR on July 7-8th, 2012 for the always amazing Gorge Windfest Weekend. Here are some of the reasons you need to come:

Unlimited Gear Demos
Free Clinics Local Pros
Free Beginner Lessons Provided by Big Winds
Live Outdoor Music on Saturday
Raffles and Prizes
Tasty Food, Beer & Wine for Sale
Sunday Morning Swap Meet

Look forward to seeing you all there!

Nevin Sayre Responds to US Sailing's Statement

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:37:00 -0400

Dear U.S. Sailing,

It seems US Sailing didn’t have all the information before casting three votes for kitesurf course racing at the expense of windsurf racing for the 2016 Olympics. A more careful evaluation questions Dean Brenner’s explanation for the U.S. votes at the ISAF Council.

1. No argument, kiteboarding is an exciting and rapidly growing area of the sport. However, US Sailing and ISAF voted for what is currently practiced by a very small percentage of kiteboarders - kiteboard course racing. That’s like noticing all these skiers at the mountain and then choosing telemark racing as the Olympic discipline. Kite board racing uses very different equipment and skills than what you see at the beach. No doubt kiteboard racing is cutting edge and could one day evolve into an Olympic sport, but we’re just not there yet. That’s the point. There are estimates that at most 200-300 persons world-wide have been on a kite course board. This includes but a handful of juniors.

But let’s look at the facts: 80 women from 37 countries competed in the RS:X World Championships. 12 women from 10 countries competed in the Kite Course Racing World Championships. Only two women were able to complete all the races at the Kite Course Worlds. Does this qualify as Olympic-ready for 2016?

There is currently no known active Youth Kite Course Racing. Compare that to 400 kids (age 16 and younger) who are expected at the Techno Windsurfing World Championships this summer.

2. According to Dean/US Sailing’s justification, 'The infrastructure required will be minimal.' Agreed, infrastructure required for staging events is an important consideration. I wonder if US Sailing is aware that kitesurfing, due to safety concerns, is prohibited from many premier ISAF sailing venues:

In Sydney Harbour, site of the 2000 Olympics, kitesurfing is banned.
In Singapore, site of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, kitesurfing in banned.
In Cyprus, site of the 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds, kitesurfing is banned.
In Lake Garda, Italy, site of the EUROSAF Olympic Regatta, kitesurfing is banned.

But even if kitesurfing is allowed at a specific venue, other significant logistics are involved. While race management on the water may be similar to other classes, to safely launch a kite you need very specific conditions. A minimum of 100 ft of open space is required, free of any obstacles that could impale the kiteboarder, or put bystanders at risk. There is no way you can launch and tack out of many yacht harbors (Kiel?).

On top of that, kitesurfers require the ability to change kite sizes if wind conditions change between races. The ISAF Kite Equipment Report glosses over basic logistics and says huge floating platforms could be built to launch from, or competitors can launch from support boats, or be shuttled to launch from outside beaches. That’s minimal infrastructure????? There are very few venues without surrounding hazards where you can safely launch 140 kites to make a 9:00 AM start time in gusty, stormy conditions.

3. Dean’s third reason, 'The potential exists to bring new countries to the sport of Olympic Sailing' is valid. And windsurfing has done exactly that with 54 countries competing in the Olympic Qualifying events, and more MNAs competing in Men’s RS:X at the ISAF World Championships than any other class, including Laser. Does US Sailing/ISAF want to trade this success for a class that is not yet developed?

4. 'Kites can be sailed close to shore, increasing spectator possibilities.' Yes, just as easily as windsurfing. The only difference is, if the wind is on shore, all those ISAF spectators would have to be pushed back from the shoreline to avoid decapitation.

5. Dean goes on to rely on the ISAF Equipment Evaluation Report which barely addresses the critical concerns of safety. While it’s true that kites have improved in safety, and expert kiters will take their own risks, what about the safety of juniors pursing the Olympic dream? You can’t just hook a hot shot Opti sailor up to a kite and push him/her off the dock. There is zero pathway for kiting currently within US Sailing.

In his position as Olympic Sailing Chairman, Dean Brenner may not be concerned with further down the pyramid, but safety in the Olympic pipeline should be of paramount importance to US Sailing. Again I ask, what is US Sailing’s plan to safely incorporate kitesurfing into Junior Sailing Programs, the Olympic Youth Development Team, Youth Worlds Team, the Junior Olympic events, and all the pathways that leads to the Olympics? What is US Sailing’s plan to bring kitesurfing under its umbrella when insurance companies have deemed kitesurfing unsafe?

ISAF’s own specialists in the Events Committee voted 17-2 in favor of trialing kitesurfing at ISAF events until it is proven Olympic-ready, and keeping RS:X as the Olympic Class for Men’s and Women’s in 2016. We call on U.S. Sailing and ISAF to evaluate the readiness of kitesurf racing for 2016 and the Olympic pipeline, question dubious claims in the ISAF Kite Evaluation Report, balance judgement against the world-wide success of windsurfing as an Olympic discipline, and perform a complete fair analysis before their vote in the November ISAF meeting.

Sincerely,
Nevin Sayre - US Sailing Member

Calling BS on US Sailing's Statement

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:16:00 -0400

US Sailing sent out a lengthy article in support of the decision to replace Windsurfing with Kiteboards in the Olympics. Kiwi Bruce Kendall (who won the Olympic windsurfing Gold medal in 1988, Bronze medal in 1984) is calling BS on it... and Bruce's comments are inserted in the italicised US Sailing piece below.

US Sailing Statement on Kiteboarding vs. Windsurfing
Prepared by Dean Brenner, US Sailing Board Member and Chairman, Olympic Sailing Committee

Every four years, difficult decisions are made about Olympic sailing events. The choices made always leave some part of the sailing community frustrated and feeling, at least on some level, disenfranchised. I say this as a former Soling sailor who was quite upset with decisions made in November 2000, and a long-time keelboat sailor who did not agree with the recent decisions to exclude keelboats from the Games entirely. I know, first hand, how it feels to have the part of the sport I care most about excluded.

Most will agree that fleet to match racing in keel boats being dropped from the Olympics after 2000 was a backwards step, especially considering the retention of the Star for a further 12 years. A keel boat should be in the Olympics. It is well represented placed in the para Olympics & able bodied sailors should have more opportunity to race against those handicapped sailors.
Possibly a mixed keel boat class would have been more sensible than mixed multi hull? No disrespect intended. Now that the America's Cup is on multi hull, possibly this should be the Olympic Fleet to Match racing class? All food for thought. Previous dubious decisions do not make following dubious discussions OK.

There is no right and wrong here, or good and bad. On behalf of US Sailing, I would like to raise my hand and explain the reasoning behind the votes.

History has proven there are always right & wrong decisions & some times both sides weigh equally. Wrong decisions are more likely to be made when the subject has not been thoroughly been researched or there is a vested interest. Weighing up all the facts of this decision, at this time it appears the May 5th decision to replace windsurfing with Kite racing is a wrong decision.

While the Board of US Sailing makes final decisions on all recommendations to our ISAF delegation, much of the thinking on Olympic events and equipment originates in the Olympic Sailing Committee, which I lead. The OSC believes, and I continue to support this 100%, that kites will be good for the sport of sailing, worldwide. The reasons are simple:

1. Kiteboarding is an exciting and rapidly growing area of the sport.

Kite racing is currently a small & undeveloped sport compared to windsurfing was back to the mid 1970's. It is still too early to judge if kite racing is a narrow niche sport with a low ceiling of participants & if the numbers would naturally continue to increase without the Olympic ticket.
Currently the majority of Kite retailers have not stocked kite racing boards as the evolution of design has been too fast & superseded designs have to be sold at below cost.

Most of the Kite board brands have not invested in building kite racing board molds & are waiting for the evolution to slow down as it has been too hard to sell racing boards to retailers.
The major Kite board manufacturers have not been making many racing boards for some time due to the above reasons. As a consequence, Kite racing boards are not widely available & kite racing has not been enjoying the same growth the rest of the Kite boarding market has.

2. The infrastructure required will be minimal.

This is a non argument to replace windsurfing, but... CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article on SailingAnarchy.com -- scroll down to the POV post from 05/24/12.

Latest Update on ISAF Decision

Tue, 22 May 2012 16:00:00 -0400

According to Farrah Hall's excellent blog "Off the Wind", which is well worth bookmarking...

Over the last week, more and more issues have been brought to light about the way ISAF delegates voted in their historic decision to remove windsurfing from the 2016 Olympic Games in favor of kiteboarding. More countries have challenged the way their delegates voted, and it shows that in fact, ISAF delegates did not thoroughly research their decisions.

Most notably, Canadian delegate Fiona Kidd voted for kiteboarding after listening to an impassioned speech by a kiteboarding representative shortly before the voting. Ms. Kidd is a member of the ISAF Women's Forum. The RS:X women have been communicating with her, and it is clear that she voted for kiteboarding based on "an opportunity to bring new women to the sport of sailing." However, the reality for women in kiteboarding is currently very different. Only 12 women competed in the 2011 World Championships in kiteboard course racing, a vast comparison to the 80 entries and 39 nations in the 2012 RS:X World Championships in Cadiz, Spain- and dozens more youth women not competing in the event, training there. A letter from the RS:X women's class leader, Olga Maslivets, explains the statistics (apologies for the length):

"Dear Fiona

Thank you for forwarding your report.

Nevertheless there are serious issues to address as important decisions like this impact the lives of thousands of athletes, coaches, MNAs, their sponsors and companies involved in the whole sport

Governance:
From my calculations over 30% of the votes cast ~ 6 ~ in favour of kite by council members were either made in error, confusion about the voting process, against the guidance given by their constituencies or after no consultation with those constituencies.

In addition a further 21% of votes cast - this time by ISAF Vice Presidents - were either against the interest of the geographical constituency that was instrumental in first nominating them and then voting for them and/or their MNAs have since distanced themselves from their actions either publicly or privately.

Some may argue that the ISAF VPs do not vote for any particular geographical grouping. To them I would ask whether the fact that there is one VP each from Asia, South America and North America with the Oceania being represented through the treasurer is just a coincidence or whether they are there to represent the geographical area from which they come ?

51% of the voting decisions for Kite were therefore based on the spur-of-the-moment or on personal preference without proper consideration of the impact of the outcomes either for kitesurfing or windsurfing.

Participation
Despite the large number of people claimed by the IKA to be engaged in kitesurfing worldwide, this only produced 12 women entries to the 2011 Kitesurfing course racing world championships from 10 nations of which only ONE voted for kite and the rest voted for windsurfing. There must be a message for ISAF in that statistic.

Additionally only 2 - one in the production division - of those women managed to complete all the races without letters in their scoreline

This compares to 80 women registered for the 2012 RS:X World Championships from 37 nations and 5 continents with 16 of them competing for the last 7 qualification spots for London 2012.

In the meantime, please enjoy this video showing 1111 windsurfers taking part in the 2011 Defi-Wind at Le Gruissan in France. http://youtu.be/XtdOGpvpq30

This is just a small illustration of the shear size of the sport of windsurfing and the numbers taking part in racing in one form or another

Whilst kite obviously has potential, it is as yet unproven against the obvious success of the RS:X Women's Class who are second only to the Laser Radial in terms of numbers of athletes and country participation - 39 nations in the Olympic Q Series -

It seems odd that you did not take this into account

ISAF liability
Whilst you seem happy to accept the bland assurances of the sport of kitesurfing becoming safer and dismiss any misgivings in one line of your report. National, Regional, City and local governments around the world have seen fit to either ban kitesurfing altogether or severely limit the geographical locations where it can be enjoyed

In Sydney Harbour, the venue for the 2000 Olympic Regatta kitesurfing is banned

In Singapore, the venue for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, kitesurfing in banned

In Cyprus, the venue for the 2013 ISAF Youth Worlds, kitesurfing is banned

On Lake Garda, Italy, the venue for the Italian leg of the EUROSAF Olympic Classes Regatta Circuit kitesurfing is banned

There are a lot more examples but these serve to illustrate my point

These restrictions are to protect other users of these waters from the risk of injury. In fact 122 kite surfers have been killed in the last 10 years. Other casualties are hard to verify but here are a few examples

http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/cgi-bin/gforum.cgi?post=13810
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/kite-surfer-killed-at-redcliffe-20120306-1ui3g.html#ixzz1uiyfm54z
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2373028
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2372312
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2321007
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/39/5/e26.abstract

Dangerous situations can occur despite proper training and safety precautions due to unpredictable conditions and difficulties with equipment.

Whilst I appreciate that you thought that you were acting in everyone's best interest, I would urge you and all our friends on the ISAF Women's Forum to do their own due diligence. The three points I have made should be enough to give you all proper reasons to reflect.

Meanwhile, here's what Paul Henderson has to say " Just an observation from a has-been ISAF President and IOC Member who first went to then IYRU in 1970 as a smart-ass Canuck. Never in all that time has a Council changed 40% of the classes in an Olympiad. This totally disrupts the sailors, which is the reason for the Games, not some unobtainable TV exposure. No other sport has ever done this. One event maybe, but 40%? I trust that the IOC Program Commission will ask ISAF to review all its decisions... including the keelboat exclusion"

Has ISAF made a balanced well thought through decision?

Warm Regards

PS. ISAF selected women's match racing then booted it out before its first Olympic Regatta. ISAF booted the multi-hull out and was subject to major criticism. Now it has done the same for windsurfing with a spur of the moment decision. Do you feel that the decision making process is producing consistently good decisions?"

As the Canadian voting process is exposed, Americans are also starting to question the decisions of their own delegates, which account for three of the votes for kiteboarding. Americans in ISAF have been voting against windsurfing for many, many years - since before I started campaigning. However, since their votes have always gone unnoticed in the majority of nations' support of windsurfing, they have gone unchallenged. Perhaps now is the best time to once again spotlight the questionable practices of US Sailing and the decision-making process that goes into their votes. Nevin Sayre, promoter of the Bic Techno youth one-design windsurfer, writes in a letter to US Sailing: "In a year when U.S. Sailing has expressed deep concern over the sudden uptick in tragic sailing deaths from Annapolis to San Francisco, what is U.S. Sailing’s safety plan here? Is U.S. Sailing aware that insurance companies, citing grave safety concerns, have refused to cover sailing programs which include kitesurfing......when instructional and competitive programs are developing young kitesurf racers, and safely channeling them toward their Olympic dreams, let’s go. We are clearly not there yet for 2016 Olympic Games."

On the North American front, it's clear that more thought needs to go into major decisions such as these. It is a major step forward for Canada that their delegate is willing to do the research necessary to make an informed decision at the next vote. However, it's not certain that our American politicians are willing to take into consideration the viewpoints of the actual sailors affected by their decisions. We can only act to repair the flaws in the process of ISAF's voting.

Nevin's letter

NZ Herald article about Canadian voting

Another NZ Herald article interviewing Bruce Kendall

Jerusalem Post article

Meet Mark Boersma (USA 17)

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:29:00 -0400

Just as the Michigan windsurfing season was kicking in, Michigan Windsurfing’s Will Splashtack strolled over to the Grand Rapids area to talk to Mark Boersma, USA 17, about some of his accomplishments - and to get a few tips as well. Even at a young age, Mark was a racer. In 1998, at the age of 10 yrs., Mark was the youngest person to compete in the Windsurfing Nationals and he tied for 9th place! This is a guy we gotta meet!

Will Splashtack (WS): Mark, I know we’re near the end of the semester, so thanks so much for taking the time from your studies to talk to Michigan Windsurfing. Before we get to your accomplishments, let’s start with where you grew up and how and where you first learned to windsurf.

Mark Boersma: I grew up in Grand Haven. My dad got me started windsurfing. When I was two years old, my dad put a baby boom on the mast, under his boom, so that I could hold on. We would sail around together on Spring Lake, Lake Macatawa and Muskegon Lake. When I was three, my dad took me onto Bear Lake and taught me to windsurf by myself. Of course, my mom used to windsurf and my sister windsurfs too!

WS: How about racing? If you were already competing in US Nationals at age 10, how did you get to that ability level?

Mark: My first race was in Michigan at Higgins Lake when I was 9 - I think? It was a long time ago. I was able to travel because my dad was a teacher and he had summers off. It also helped that my dad would only go on vacations if they had a good windsurfing spot. I have raced on Maui, in the Gorge, British Virgin Islands, American Virgin Islands, San Francisco, Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Portugal, Thailand, Belgium and New Zealand. Everywhere I have windsurfed I have raced except for some places in MI. I have been teaching windsurfing on Maui for Hawaiian sailboarding techniques for 8 years. I have been racing for 11yrs in the Maui Race Series.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH MARK BOERSMA AT MICHIGAN WINDSURFING!

AWT Santa Cruz Goya Festival Best Move Winners

Sat, 12 May 2012 17:12:00 -0400

The first event of the 2012 AWT season was the epic Goya Windsurfing Festival held at Waddell Beach just north of Santa Cruz. Prize money was on the line not just for the Pro Men and Women but also to the Best Move for Men, Women and Youth.

Fiona Wylde of Hood River, OR took home the Youth Best Move award for getting smashed by a monster wave and getting right back up to ride another huge one only minutes later.

Ingrid Larouche took home the Women's Best Move award, along with winning the Women's title, for an incredibly memorable "big wave hack" on the first day of competition when the conditions were at their best.

Marcilio "Brawzinho" Browne was awarded the Men's Best Move prize for sticking an impressively clean Double Forward. What is even more amazing is that he had previously landed a Double earlier in that same heat but felt he could land it better... and he did!

Sign Petition to Keep Windsurfing in the Olympics

Tue, 08 May 2012 08:22:00 -0400

You've probably have already heard the bad news that windsurfing was not selected by ISAF to be part of the 2016 Olympic Regatta in Brazil. Internationalwindsurfing.org is working on a plan to reverse this decision… In the meantime, we will not stand a chance without windsurfers taking action.

Please click the following link and sign the petition...

http://www.change.org/petitions/isaf-keep-windsurfing-as-olympic-discipline?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=share_page_mobile

AND ask all your friends to sign as well...

AND ask them to ask their friends...

AND ask them to ask their friends...

and so on until we have 100,000 signatures or more.

That is our first target and with your help we can do it. There are other plans in the works but if you can sign this online petition then you will have done your part… for now!

Is Windsurfing out for 2016 Olympics?

Sat, 05 May 2012 10:13:00 -0400

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has confirmed the final event and equipment selections for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The ISAF Council voted that Kiteboarding will replace Windsurfing for the men’s and women’s board events and confirmed the equipment that will be used for the Women’s Skiff and Mixed Multihull Events.

The Mackay FX, referred to as the 49er FX, was selected yesterday as the two person women’s skiff and today the Nacra 17 joins the Olympic equipment family after being selected for the two person mixed multihull event.

The 49er FX received the majority of votes from the ISAF Council in the first round after the six evaluation trial entries were narrowed down to just three; the 29erXX, the RS900 and the 49er FX.

There was an equally animated debate on the final morning of the Council meeting at this year’s ISAF Mid-Year Meeting to decide the equipment to be selected for the mixed multihull event. After discussing the recommendations from the Evaluation Panel, the Equipment Committee and the Events Committee, Council voted between the Nacra 17 and the Viper with the Nacra 17 securing the majority.

The final discussion on the events and equipment for the 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition was about the men’s and women’s board events with Council voting in favour or kiteboarding.

In November 2011 an evaluation group was appointed to examine kiteboarding formats with the board events for Rio 2016 defined as ‘windsurfing and/or kiteboarding’. The Evaluation Group recommended that kiteboarding be included in the ISAF Event family including the ISAF Sailing World Cup and the ISAF Sailing World Championships but Council went one step further and selected kiteboarding for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition as well.

The ISAF Windsurfing and Kiteboarding Committee will consider and make further recommendations to Council on the implementation of the inclusion of kiteboarding at their meeting in November 2012 at the ISAF Annual Conference.

ISAF President Göran Petersson said, “These announcements mark a new era for sailing and we welcome the new classes into the ISAF family. The equipment selections have fulfilled the criteria set out by the Evaluation Panel and we look forward to seeing the boats not only at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but the ISAF Sailing World Cup and ISAF Sailing World Championships.

“Kiteboarding has proven to us that it is ready to be included into the list of prestigious ISAF Events and it is a fantastic addition to the sailing programme for the 2016 Olympic Games.”

The events to be contested at the 2016 Olympic Games are confirmed as:
Men’s Kiteboarding
Women’s Kiteboarding
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Men’s One Person Dinghy (heavy) – Finn
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy - 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s skiff – 49er FX
Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 17

These ten events will be featured in the 2012-2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup which kicks off in Melbourne in December and will come together in Santander, Spain in 2014 for the ISAF Sailing World Championships.

ISAF Council also approved applications from Kosovo (Group C) and Vietnam (Group K) for full member status.

Follow Windsport at the Santa Cruz Goya Festival

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:37:00 -0400

Windsport editor Pete DeKay is at the AWT Goya Windsurfing Festival in Santa Cruz and will be broadcasting action live from the beach on Facebook and Twitter (we will be testing this this morning and hopefully it will work). To not miss a thing be sure to 'LIKE' and 'FOLLOW' both Windsport Magazine and the AWT on their social media pages:

Here are the heat brackets for the first round of action...

PRO MEN:

WOMEN:

AMATEUR:

MASTERS:

YOUTH:

The Red Bull Storm Chase is back for 2012

Tue, 01 May 2012 07:43:00 -0400

Three fat storms above 10 Beaufort, 10 sailors, and the entire planet as a stage. These are the breathtaking ingredients for the most-challenging windsurfing contest of all time. From now on you can suggest your favourite spots as competition grounds on redbullstormchase.com. You can also register to take part – if you dare. 10 Storm Chasers will be voted by the windsurfing community around the world between July 2nd and July 16th. From August 1st until November 30th the Red Bull Storm Chase is on.

What does it feel like in the eye of a raging storm? The 2006 Red Bull Storm Chase Europe created the concept of windsurfing genuine storm conditions. This time it’s going global. By hunting down 3 massive storms anywhere in the world, the 10 best athletes will battle for the crown of ultimate storm windsurfer. The contest format is simple: 10 riders compete in the first mission. Six of them advance to mission number two. In the final mission the top 4 riders will battle for the ultimate Storm Chaser’s crown. To guarantee raging conditions, Red Bull Storm Chase 2012 will be mobile to the max, with a 4-month holding period and just 48 hours to mobilise riders and global contest crew on-site before the storm strikes. The starting flag goes up when the winds exceed 10 Beaufort (54 knots / 100 kmh / 62 mph).

From now on anyone who dares can apply for a starting place at the event website: http://www.redbullstormchase.com. Heavy weather skills, gear and full commitment to the event are required. When the storm calls there can be no excuses! But we don’t need to tell you that, do we?

By submitting spots and voting the riders, anyone can be a part of the Red Bull Storm Chase without even getting wet. Your choice of mission locations is critical. Until the end of May you can suggest spots for the three missions. In early July a distinguished panel of experts will nominate the top 50 candidates from the submitted riders for the public voting stage. During a 2-week online voting period, you can pick your favourite high wind wave specialists from the pro and amateur windsurfing scenes. The 10 athletes with the most votes will be battling for the ultimate Storm Chaser‘s crown.

The global hunt begins on August 1st and will run for a period of four months until the end of November. At the event website you can be involved in all stages of the event and view all daily updates, rules, results, photos and videos. So don’t miss the chance to be part of the event. Hook yourself into http://www.redbullstormchase.com and enjoy the ride. One thing is for sure: 2012 will be the year of the Storm Riders.

Red Bull Storm Chase 2012
May 1 - May 30:                    Spot submission: http://www.redbullstormchase.com/
May 1 - June 28:                   Rider Registration: http://www.redbullstormchase.com/
July 2 - July 15:                     Top 50 Online Voting for the 10 finalists
August 1 - November 30:    Contest, 3 storms

Website: http://www.redbullstormchase.com/

PWA Fantasy Pool Standings (after Italy Slalom)

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:10:00 -0400

Here are the results for the Makani Fins 2012 Pro Windsurfing Fantasy Pool after the first PWA event of the year in Italy last week. Thanks for entering! Special thanks to Makani fins for donating the grand prize (and note that JR Wilhelmy of Makani fins know what he's talking about as he sits in 10th place). If you have any questions about your team please e-mail me at info@windsport.com!

(Note: I apologize to anyone that missed the contest as we only launched it a week before the start of the PWA tour.)

Rank	Team Name	Name	Country	Team Point Total	Slalom Men	Slalom Women
1	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	13167	9214	3953
2	Cabrillo Blasters	Bruce Allen	USA	13133	9131	4002
3	Speed & Fun	Arnoldas Jasiunas	Lithuania	13084	9148	3936
4	Underpaid Athletes	Mike Burns	USA	13067	9230	3837
5	In Theory	Mats Nilsson Hahne	Sweden	13002	9115	3887
6	Antoszka Team	Bart Kornas	USA	12936	8983	3953
7	Babyglisse	Guillaume Sibois	Belguim	12902	8735	4167
8	TZH	Paul van der Kaaden	Netherlands	12869	8768	4101
9	Rig it Right	Eric Raven	USA	12803	8636	4167
10	Makani	Jean-Robert Wilhelmy	Canada	12787	9065	3722
11	Dutch Gun Sails	Daan Meily	Netherlands	12721	8719	4002
12	World Riders	Tomasz Wojkowiak	Canada	12523	8570	3953
13	Silversand Surf Team	Pentti Toivonen	Finland	12473	8504	3969
14	The Supporters	Dirk Van der Eyken	Belguim	12457	8504	3953
15	Oufriders	SIBOIS Francis	France	12391	8504	3887
16	Team Fanø	Jens Wohlert	Germany	12358	8521	3837
17	Flying Dutchmen	Tom Kettler	Netherlands	12259	8158	4101
18	Rudeboys!	Rudie van der Weij	Netherlands	12176	8009	4167
18	GoGo	Go Ishikawa	Japan	12176	8339	3837
20	Hang Loozers	Jeroen Nolden	Netherlands	12078	7911	4167
20	Van der Velde	Joram van der Velde	Netherlands	12078	8158	3920
22	Aerial	Tomas Bakker	Netherlands	12012	7977	4035
23	Rig it Up	Bjorn Drogtrop	Netherlands	11979	7977	4002
24	Winning	Matthijs van 't Hoff	Netherlands	11930	7977	3953
25	irishtralian	Adam Hatfield	Australia	11824	7888	3936
26	Pjotr675	Pjotr de Boer	Netherlands	11814	7977	3837
27	Ventis Secundis	Marc Wuyts	Belgium	11748	7795	3953
28	Romeinen	Fer van der Plas	Netherlands	11732	7779	3953
29	The Lithuanians	Rytis Jasiunas	Lithuania	11698	7811	3887
30	Local Bastard	Romain SIBOIS	Finland	11692	7805	3887
31	Beach Club Ruissalo	Marko Rantanen	Finland	11665	7828	3837
32	Team Windsport	Pete DeKay	USA/Canada	11632	7580	4052
33	Surfsup	Huub Langendonk	Netherlands	11616	7663	3953
34	Team Watto	Peter Watson	Australia	11368	7415	3953
35	Windsurf Team	Dennis Littel	Netherlands	11182	9115	2067
36	Just for Fun	Mike Bergstrom	USA	11165	9098	2067
37	Aeolus Dream Team	Alfie Hart	Wales	11116	9049	2067
38	SC Purje	Petteri Toivonen	Finland	11067	9214	1853
39	Go Getters	Vincent Fallourd	USA	11066	7179	3887
40	East Coast	Peter Roesch	USA	11050	9197	1853
41	Team HRV	Marc Hure	USA	11049	8949	2100
42	Board Kings	Peter van Griethuijsen	Netherlands	11034	8934	2100
43	Surfdudes	T. Dijkstra	Netherlands	11017	9164	1853
44	The Killers	Bart van den Boogaart	Netherlands	10984	9131	1853
45	KaiKu	Kai Kuoppa	Finland	10918	8851	2067
46	MV	Tobias Boese	Germany	10885	8818	2067
47	Sabbies	Bas Karreman	Netherlands	10868	8801	2067
48	GEOF	Fernando Liguori	Argentina	10852	8950	1902
49	ABK	Andy Brandt	USA	10786	8719	2067
50	Wellington	Ken Tildesley	New Zealand	10720	8867	1853
50	Corm	Claude Cormier	Canada	10720	8867	1853
52	Levee Breaks	Kolin Wisner	USA	10670	8636	2034
53	Carve Jiber	Jari Lahdenperä	Finland	10604	8504	2100
53	Gangaro	ivan juran	Croatia	10604	8669	1935
55	PWA back in Holland	Michel Kuipers	Netherlands	10588	8686	1902
56	Duncan's Donuts	Duncan Slater	UK	10572	8719	1853
57	The Inside View	Dieter Van der Eyken	Belgium	10390	8537	1853
58	Team Rectum	Mike Fischer	Canada	10374	8637	1737
59	What is windsurfing? NC	Niels-Chr. Outzen	Denmark	10324	8257	2067
59	BEAR	Christian Olesen	Denmark	10324	8471	1853
59	Flying Fish	Chris Grover	Canada	10324	8257	2067
62	Team Windsurf	Joe Tildesley	New Zealand	10258	8405	1853
63	Team Chachi	Jon Sassone	USA	10223	6336	3887
64	Welle	Mick Well	Netherlands	10209	8356	1853
65	Rautio C-Team Supports	Antti Peltola	Finland	10153	8119	2034
66	Gringo	Siim Reinvald	Estonia	10142	8240	1902
67	Inland Lake Leapers	Peter Badra	USA	10137	8284	1853
68	Jippie	Meindert Schuitema	Netherlands	10110	8043	2067
69	Zilian	Fernando Bocciarelli	Brazil	10103	8003	2100
70	Hit Them Hard	Jeroen van Leeuwen	Netherlands	10077	8043	2034
70	Dream Team	Max Rowe	UK	10077	8010	2067
72	WndSrfn	Eric Doremus	USA	10071	8086	1985
73	Surfers United	Jens Maandag	Netherlands	10011	8109	1902
74	The Winning Team	Rolf van Nassau	Netherlands	10010	7943	2067
75	Dailybits Team	Herman Maes	Belgium	9977	7910	2067
75	Team RG	Rene Glasz	Netherlands	9977	7910	2067
77	Silent Sports	Simon Johnston	Canada	9962	8109	1853
78	Team #1	Jan van Dieren	Netherlands	9961	8224	1737
79	Team Norh-East	Eric Boisvert	Canada	9955	8102	1853
80	DaNews	Clyde Giesenschlag	USA	9928	8075	1853
81	COF	Casper Folkerts	Netherlands	9896	8043	1853
81	Wind Addict	Kevin Backus	Canada	9896	8043	1853
83	Windsurf TV NL Team	Mark van Osch	Netherlands	9878	7976	1902
84	O rei do río	Miguel Moledo García	Spain	9863	8010	1853
85	Opsterlawn	Andy Bjilsma	Canada	9862	7795	2067
86	Sailworks	Alex Nielsen	USA	9830	7977	1853
87	Totally Mixed Up	A.J. Geesink	Netherlands	9812	7910	1902
88	Team Aeolus	Koen v Jaarsveld	Netherlands	9796	7729	2067
88	Team Triple Loop	Brian Haig	Australia	9796	7943	1853
90	Triple Forward	Pim van der Borgt	Netherlands	9764	7911	1853
90	Three Stars	Bas van der Sterren	Netherlands	9764	7911	1853
92	Bures.it	Gediminas Gresevicius	Lithuania	9741	7888	1853
93	Over Early	Fiona Wylde	USA	9731	7746	1985
94	Bewater	Mikel Alvarez	Spain	9708	7723	1985
95	Team Jurf	Jeroen van Gessel	Netherlands	9698	7845	1853
96	Fast-Free-N-Crazy	Lawrence Stewart	Canada	9664	7564	2100
97	Da Invincible Windsurfing Gods	Sjoerd	Netherlands	9648	7795	1853
98	On a Plane	Jake Martell	Canada	9641	7574	2067
99	Awesome Sauce	Adam Wojtkowiak	Canada	9615	7680	1935
100	Windsurfing in the mountains	Eric Whittle	Canada	9598	7498	2100
101	BvE	Bart van Es	Netherlands	9582	7729	1853
102	Boom Bulls	Harri Siirtola	Finland	9499	7465	2034
103	WBL	Eric Steffen	USA	9483	7746	1737
104	Grondjes Dream Team	Marcel Grondman	Netherlands	9482	7745	1737
105	Bikkels	Jeroen Lenes	Netherlands	9394	7657	1737
106	The Dutchies Rule	Arnout den Boer	Netherlands	9384	7482	1902
107	Porrrr	Niels van der Kaaij	Netherlands	9351	7498	1853
107	Prancing Ponies	Peggy Giesenschlag	USA	9351	7498	1853
109	Double Dutch	Stefan van Harn	Netherlands	9218	7283	1935
110	Winners	Jay Watermeyer	USA	9197	7344	1853
111	Team Canada	Thomas Soltysiak	Canada	9131	7278	1853
112	No Wind No Waves No Worries	Brian McDowell	Ireland	9098	7031	2067
113	3t	Thewes de Boer	Netherlands	9097	7244	1853
114	Rautio Sports	Jarno Rautio	Finland	9081	7344	1737
114	Power	Jurrien Perdok	Netherlands	9081	7344	1737
116	Team Vegas	Jeff Ward	USA	9070	7217	1853
117	Canigo5.0	Derek Rijff	USA	9053	7151	1902
118	Flying Fish	Becky Ellis	UK	9049	9049	0
119	J MacRae Wylde	MacRae Wylde	USA	9037	7300	1737
120	Surfing the Life	Troels Bech Hansen	Denmark	8999	7146	1853
121	PWA	Jacques van der Hout	Netherlands	8905	7052	1853
122	Brouwersdam	Rick Jendrusch	Netherlands	8868	8868	0
123	The Triangulare Sails	Rene Pedersen	Denmark	8736	8736	0
124	South Bay	Ross Whitlock	USA	8257	8257	0
125	Chillsters	Rokas Adomaitis	Lithuania	8108	8108	0
126	NED-118	Robert de Leeuw	Netherlands	8053	8053	0
127	Team Flapie	Menno	Netherlands	7911	7911	0

Dunkerbeck and Jaggi win in Italy

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:00:00 -0400

The final day in Reggio Calabria delivered wind late in the day, as it had the previous evening. It wasn’t until 17:30 that the north wind kicked in to allow the conclusion of the men’s first elimination, and the completion of the women’s second elimination. It was a great way to end the event with dramatic finishes for both divisions.

Men

The second semi-final was the first heat of the day to be sailed. Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7) got away to the best start but he couldn’t hold onto the lead for the duration of the course. In the end it was Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Dunkerbeck Eyewear, Mystic) who came out on top, followed by Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North), Antoine Questel (Starboard / The Loft ) and Angulo, all qualifying for the first final of 2012.

Losers Final
The losers final instantly lost two sailors as both Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / The Loft, Mystic) and Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne) were a little too enthusiastic and were disqualified for crossing the line early. On the restart it was Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) who burst into the lead after a perfect start. Frans was chased by Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) as the race quickly became a three way battle. As they rounded the third gybe mark it was Toselli who managed to break into the lead after a superior turn. Toselli then wasted no time in stepping back on the power to storm home to victory. Frans eventually finished in third place, with Quentel finishing just ahead of him.

Winners Final
Rewardingly the winners' final would prove to be the best heat of the day, in what was an extremely close fought encounter. From the start line, it was Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North), Costa Hoevel and Antoine Albeau ( RRD / NeilPryde) who ld from the rest of the pack. Even though Dunkerbeck didn’t get off to the best start he was quickly in hot pursuit of the top three sailors, as he once again demonstrated his blistering top speed and faultless gybes, to put himself right in contention. The final saw history repeat itself, just as in Vietnam last year, the race for the finish line would involve Dunkerbeck and Costa Hoevel. In Vietnam Dunkerbeck beat Costa Hoevel by a matter of inches to claim the event win in the final race, and the same happened again today. The super calm Dunkerbeck kept his cool under severe pressure and in doing so created a strong start to the defense of his title. Costa Hoevel led from start to within feet of the finish until Dunkerbeck just edged ahead to leave him in second. Meanwhile the big French man Antoine Albeau had to settle for third place not managing to take any real distance from the two front-runners.

Women’s Second Elimination
The first semi-final was interesting to say the least. As the heat began, four out of the seven sailors involved crossed the line early. This gave Maria Andres (Starboard / Gun Sails / Mystic) and Lena Erdil (Patrik / The Loft / AL360) a bypass into the winners final. The second semi-final saw the top two seeds of the competition sailing against each other, but there was no drama as both Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) and Valeria Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra / Mystic) comfortably secured their places in the winners final. The remaining two places went to Delphine Cousin (JP / NeilPryde) and Laura Linares (Challenger Sails).

Losers Final
Two women in particular got off to a flyer; Fanny Aubet (JP / NeilPryde) and Dilara Uralp (JP / NeilPryde), but as the heat progressed they slowly fell down the pecking order. In the end it was Cagla Kubat (Starboard / North) who came storming through the pack to lead from the first mark and claim victory and sixth place overall for the event. She was closely followed by Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North), Greta Benvenuti (Patrik / Point-7 / AL360) and Uralp.

Winners Final
After dominating yesterday proceedings Jaggi was in confident mood, especially after winning her semi-final today as well. But Jaggi was up against a super motivated Arrighetti who was keen to make a mends after previously missing out on the winners final. Jaggi and Arrighetti were very close in the last heat, and the final proved no different as they both got off to fantastic starts. Arrighetti was sailing flawlessly, both in a straight line and through the corners. On this occasion Arrighetti proved too much for Jaggi, and the evidently delighted French woman came out on top. Linares sailed a much stronger final this time around managing a third place finish in her inaugural PWA event in her homeland, whilst fourth went to Cousin.

The 2012 PWA Reggio Calabria Overall Standings : Men’s Slalom
1st Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic /Dunkerbeck Eyewear)

2nd Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North)

3rd Antoine Albeau(RRD / NeilPryde)

4th Peter Volwater(Fanatic / Avanti)

5th Jimmy Diaz(Starboard / North)

The 2012 PWA Reggio Calabria Overall Standings : Women’s Slalom

1st Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)

2nd Lena Erdil(Patrik / The Loft / AL360)

3rd Valeria Arrighetti (Tabou / Gaastra/ Mystic)

4th Alice Arutkin(Starboard / North)

5th Laura Linares (Challenger Sails)

Scope the action

For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

Pro Windsurfing Fantasy Pool 2011 Winner's Prize

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:58:00 -0400

Troels Bech Hansen of Denmark won the 2011 Pro Windsurfing Fantasy Pool and won his choice of board from Starboard. He picked a Starboard Quad IQ 69 and here he is receiving his brand new board from Denmark's distributor.

We'd like to thank Starboard for putting up such a great prize for the contest... and we know Troels will enjoy his prize on all of Denmark's epic days!

CLICK HERE to sign up for the 2012 Pro Windsurfing Fanatsy Pool...join in on the fun and follow your team for the entire 2012 PWA tour season!