The 2008 PWA World Tour - Season Summary

Windsurfing

The 2008 PWA World Tour - Season Summary

03.11.08 - By: Andrew Buchanan

With the 2008 season now done and dusted, and some time taken to reflect on yet another magnificent year of competition, here's a run down of the trials and tribulations of the epic 2008 PWA World Tour.

Ross Williams in Cabo Verde

Victor Fernandez throws a pushy in GC

Antoine Albeau in Sylt

Sarah-Quita ripping in Fuerteventura.

The 2008 PWA World Tour At A Glance

Events: 9.
Days of competition: 71.
Competitors: >200.
Disciplines: Wave, Slalom, Freestyle.
Prize money: A combined total of $670,000 USD shared between men and women.
World Champions Crowned: 6.
Constructors Champions Crowned: 3.

The Season

Stop 1:Sal, Cabo Verde.
Discipline: Waves (Men).
Dates: March 07 - 16.
Prize fund: ?30K.

Igniting the flame of the 2008 PWA World Tour, the Cape Verde island archipelago made a bold statement for the season's opening event, firing up the now infamous Punta Preta point break, and delivering truly world-class conditions once again.

The event took place over a ten-day period, and saw the PWA utilize the roving competition format, to complete a full single elimination and the majority of the double elimination.

Fighting through the ranks of the single elimination, Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde / Mormaii / MFC) emerged victorious after staving off the local favorite, Josh Angulo (MauiSails / Dakine), to place him in waiting at the end of the ensuing double elimination.

Advancing into the double elimination, the contest roamed Sal's exposed beaches to take in the finest waves on offer, and ultimately hand the first decisive victory of the season to Brazil's finest, Kauli Seadi, after he avenged his previous years defeat at the hands of Josh Angulo.

Stop 2: Podersdorf, Austria.
Discipline: Freestyle (Men).
Dates: April 29 - May 04.
Prize fund: ?30K.

Providing the first outing for the men's freestyle fleet, the Podersdorf World Cup is an explosive mix of windsurfing, music and partying, set to the beautiful backdrop of Neusiedler See Lake.

Renowned for testing and variable conditions, Podersdorf stayed true to form in 2008, and challenged both the mental and physical strength of all the competing sailors. The competition also bore witness to the first entire event judged via the innovative ?best move' format, which has now been fully adopted by the PWA judging team.

After six days of competition in storms, squalls, and thermal breezes, the event came to an exciting conclusion, as the 2007 Freestyle World Champion, Marcilio ?Brawzinho' Browne (Mistral / Gaastra) dueled with Jose ?Gollito' Estredo (Fanatic / North / MFC) to decide upon the event winner in the last dying minutes of the competition.

The tense spectacle ultimately handed victory to Estredo, after a series of killer blows culminated with a merciless no handed flaka up the beach, leaving Browne silent in response. Champagne showers, huge crowds, and an electric prize giving ceremony provided a fitting farewell to Austria's picturesque shores, before the tour undertook the 5000 mile journey to Korea's, Jinha Beach.

Stop 3:Ulsan, Korea.
Discipline: Slalom.
Dates: May 12 - 17.
Prize fund: ?45K.

Luring slalom's biggest hitters to the shores of south east Korea, the PWA Ulsan World Cup is a glamorous collision of rich eastern culture, and windsurfing's dynamic slalom racing discipline.

2008 marked the PWA's second year of competition on Ulsan's idyllic, Jinha Beach. Unfortunately, however, the event would fall victim to the single variable that was impossible to control, the wind.

Six days of nerve wracking stop-starting ultimately produced no official result, though the event will long live in the memories of all those lucky enough to take part in this cultural odyssey into the heart of Korea's beautiful Ulju County. Special thanks are extended to the Ulsan Broadcasting Corporation for their sponsorship and support of this event.

Stop 4:Costa Brava, Spain.
Discipline: Slalom.
Dates: June 10 - 15.
Prize fund: ?45K.

Situated at the foot of the breathtaking Pyrenean mountains, The Bay of Roses welcomed slalom's elite athletes to its shores to celebrate a decade of competition at the event's title sponsor, La Ballena Alegre 2 campsite, and kick start the second race event of the season. Hitting the history books from the outset, the event boasted the biggest slalom fleet in eight years of PWA competition.

Famed for its thrilling atmosphere, the event attracts fans from all over Europe, who come to rub shoulders with their idols at the weeklong windsurfing extravaganza. Over the duration of the competition, three race eliminations were completed in both the male and female slalom fleets.

Rising up through their respective ranks, Antoine Albeau (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Karin Jaggi (F2 / North) gritted their teeth to edge past the opposition and take the season's early lead, in conditions ranging from howling Tramontana trade winds, to light and marginal breezes.

The Costa Brava will be remembered for Albeau's awe inspiring racing that saw him systematically demolish his rivals, and the rise of one of Slalom's future stars, Lee Korzitz (Tabou / Gaastra), who placed an impressive third in her first ever event.

Stop 5:Costa Teguise, Lanzarote.
Discipline: Freestyle.
Dates: June 23 - 28.
Prize Fund: ?45K.

Launching into the inaugural event on the Canaries leg of the World Tour, Costa Teguise always delivers mammoth quantities of hard hitting action, thanks to the super consistent local trade winds, and the little known offshore reef, which sits directly in the centre of the competition area and frequently jacks up mast high sets.

Over the course of the event, both the male and female freestylers hit the water to complete two full double eliminations, a grueling undertaking. With well over 100 heats sailed in battering 25-40 knot winds, the event winners Jose Estredo, and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde) could deservedly revel in their comprehensive victories, before regaining focus for their next Canarian showdown.

Stop 6:Pozo, Gran Canaria.
Disciplines: Slalom (Men) / Wave (Men and Women) / Freestyle (Women).
Dates: July 3 - 12.
Prize Fund: ?90K

Pozo's brutal proving ground can always be relied upon to deliver turbo charged winds and a bounty of ramps, with 2008 being no exception. Churning out wind and waves from day one, it wasn't long before the wave fleet were soaring high above the foaming Pozo waters, and into the iconic, death defying jumps that typify this unique location.

Taming the high seas, Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC) laid waste to Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) in the men's wave double elimination final, marking a memorable third successive victory in Pozo, with not a single heat dropped.

In the women's wave double elimination, a characteristically slick performance from Daida Moreno (North) earned her victory ahead of fellow finalist, Karin Jaggi, to add to her unprecedented run at the top of the podium over her years on tour.

The slalom fleet completed an impressive nine eliminations over the course of the event, including one full fleet race. The headline story once again came from Albeau, who flexed his muscles to win eight of the nine races, in arguably one of the most decisive racing displays ever witnessed on the PWA World Tour. Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / Gaastra / MFC / Dakine) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / North) chased the domineering Frenchman in second and third respectively.

In the women's freestyle contest, Offringa hit the ground running after her previous victory in Lanzarote, effortlessly winning both single and double eliminations to give her a colossal lead en route to the final women's freestyle event of the season, in Fuerteventura. In second, Daida Moreno utilized her local knowledge to fight her way passed fierce rivalry from Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) and Junko Nagoshi (Tabou / Simmer).

However, Pozo 2008 will forever be remembered for the first triple forward loop ever attempted competition. Ricardo Campello was the man, and the story received media coverage in all four corners of the world.

Stop 7:Sotavento, Fuerteventura.
Disciplines: Slalom / Freestyle
Dates: July 18 - 28.
Prize Fund: ?90,000

Swapping the stones of Pozo for the sands of Fuerteventura, the PWA circus rolled into Sotavento, in the southeast corner of the island, to embark on ten days of adrenalin- fuelled, multi discipline windsurf action. Boasting a wealth of heritage, Fuerteventura proudly lays claim to being one of the most enduring fixtures on the World Tour, with a history of competition at the title sponsor, Rene Egli Pro Centre, that extends back over two decades.

Dividing the action into two, five day slots, the racers took centre stage for the first half of the contest. In total, a muscle trembling 14 slalom eliminations were sailed in both the men's and women's divisions, which included two spectacular full fleet races.

Reinforcing his magnificent run of form, Albeau once again raised his game, and excelled in the powered- up conditions to win seven of the fourteen races, and firmly cement himself at the top of the overall podium.

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