суббота, 22 марта 2008 г.

Kitesurfers fighting against Power

 
 
 
Kitesurfers feel that OÜ Nelja Energia puts their lives at risk.
 
 
The company has set in place kaytserferov favourite, on the northern cape Ristna in Hiiumaa, with the mast anemorumbometrom. Against the mast no one has danger fastening ropes, which may add kite surfers.
 
If someone still does not know Kite Surf - so if simplistically say, when people dressed in suits on the board for surfing on the waves slide and pulls his kite, or air snakes.
"First of all, it's dangerous so long straps that can be entangled in Dublin tether mast, and then the kite becomes impossible to manage. He can draw on track for a "ropes - has expressed concern kaytserfer Yaano Martin Ots.
 
In a more three-page treatment steam tens unions investigates why when installing masts not taken into account the requests and suggestions of experts on safety surfers.
 
Power workers argue that they did not receive any offers, the more so that the mast is installed there, for two years, and its installation consistent with the service of environmental protection and township government. Try, razberis those rights.
 
"We contacted the Estonian Union Kitesurfing lessons and trying to find a compromise, especially on the issue of security - noted director of the company has approved the mast Martin Kruus. -- As one of the steps we are prepared to reduce the period to one year of measurement, and to enhance the security necessary to install warning signs. "
 
"It is clear that the responsibility for the safety of himself kaytserfer, evaluating potential risks. Our mast is a factor that must be taken into account. Other facilities located on the bank of trees, rocks, buildings, electric lines, parked cars, even when other people have also provided a threat "- adds Kruus, who hoped to find a common language with surfers

Kitesurfers fighting against Power

 
 
 
Kitesurfers feel that OÜ Nelja Energia puts their lives at risk.
 
 
The company has set in place kaytserferov favourite, on the northern cape Ristna in Hiiumaa, with the mast anemorumbometrom. Against the mast no one has danger fastening ropes, which may add kite surfers.
 
If someone still does not know Kite Surf - so if simplistically say, when people dressed in suits on the board for surfing on the waves slide and pulls his kite, or air snakes.
"First of all, it's dangerous so long straps that can be entangled in Dublin tether mast, and then the kite becomes impossible to manage. He can draw on track for a "ropes - has expressed concern kaytserfer Yaano Martin Ots.
 
In a more three-page treatment steam tens unions investigates why when installing masts not taken into account the requests and suggestions of experts on safety surfers.
 
Power workers argue that they did not receive any offers, the more so that the mast is installed there, for two years, and its installation consistent with the service of environmental protection and township government. Try, razberis those rights.
 
"We contacted the Estonian Union Kitesurfing lessons and trying to find a compromise, especially on the issue of security - noted director of the company has approved the mast Martin Kruus. -- As one of the steps we are prepared to reduce the period to one year of measurement, and to enhance the security necessary to install warning signs. "
 
"It is clear that the responsibility for the safety of himself kaytserfer, evaluating potential risks. Our mast is a factor that must be taken into account. Other facilities located on the bank of trees, rocks, buildings, electric lines, parked cars, even when other people have also provided a threat "- adds Kruus, who hoped to find a common language with surfers

четверг, 20 марта 2008 г.

Timo Mullen

Speed is so hot right now!!!!
It has just been confirmed that Timo Mullen equalled the Irish Speed Record going at 40,44 knots, the same speed than the current one hold by John Kenny.
Timo knew he was going really fast (he was only on 4,7m Severne Red Code, what shows how hard the conditions were), but he had to wait all week for the confirmation from the WSSRC.
It took a while for the WSSRC to confirm it. The day of the run the weather was pretty miserable, with loads of rain that made really difficult to get good video footage from the sailors, which is necessary for the official confirmation, but finally it could be confirmed. Now John Kenny and Timo Mullen need to fight to get ahead in the Irish Speed Record competition.
With this new achievement, the Driven by the Wind event at "the Ray", in Southend, is getting all the attention from the speed sailors.

Maui Sails Team

February has been an intense and happy month for all the members of the Maui Sails Team.
 
Josh has been flying in and out of Maui to pick up all his new babies: sails, masts, extensions, etc… Lucky guy, he managed to get some of the best Hookipa sessions in a while, allowing him to test his new wave sails, the Legend and the Global. He scored one of the biggest sailable days at Hookipa in a long time. Only him and Alex Aguera out, getting flash backs from when they sailed Jaws for the first time on their own. He also started tuning everything for his upcoming season in Slalom, in which he we'll be using Tabou Slalom boards.
 
Back in Cape Verde he rushed around between flights to Boa Vista, Sao Vicente, just like a proper businessmen, organizing the last details for the Cape Verde PWA event. At this moment, Josh is second at the Cape Verde event, with still the double elimination to run, so he could still have the victory in his first event sailing with Maui Sails.
 
Gabriel Browne (BRA-50) has now signed with the brand, and at only 17 he is one of the hottest up and coming sailors in the PWA Slalom 42 fleet.
Gabriel comes from a long line of Champion Windsurfers. He is Marcilio Brown's brother (Brawzinho), current Freestyle World champion, but also his dad and his uncle were Brazil Windsurfing Champions.
He is now in Maui, training and testing together with Barry Spanier, how says about Gabriel "We have been looking for a young racer for some time and Gabriel fits the role. He has shown some promising results over the past 2 years and we look forward to supporting him as he grows into a premier racer".
This season Gabriel will be focus on the PWA Slalom 42 and some specific Formula events. He is stocked about been with Maui Sails, saying "Joining the Maui Sails team is a dream for me and now I have great opportunity to learn more about windsurfing from some of the best people in the sport. I'm looking forward to some serious training on Maui over the next few months and then heading off to compete on the PWA World Tour Slalom 42 events. I now have all the support I need and together with my effort I'm looking forward to an exciting year".
So far, he took part in the Calema midwinters, and the young sailor finished 5th on the event (quite impressive as he was fighting with big names like Antoine Albeau, Jimmy Diaz, Gonzalo Costa) and he was really happy about the performance of his rig
 

At the same time, on the other side of the World, Martin van Meurs was recovering from a broken leg, wishing he could be out trying to break some speed records. But while he was recovering, his team mate Dirk Doppenberg was breaking the Doutch speed record  with a 44,57 knots blast.
 
For both Barry Spanier and Artur Szpunar, it was an intese and happy month. With loads of testing and really good feedback from the testers, new materials to try and test and loads of motivation towards the new 2009 Maui Sails Designs.

The Pritchards

Since a while ago, Kevin Pritchard has been blogging a lot, sharing his life with all his fans, showing his pictures and even getting in trouble for being too honest (good on you, it is your blog, say what you want).
But now the two brothers have just release their new website. There you will find a lot of information about renting gear in Maui, accommodation, how to get private lessons (for real, with Kevin or Matt!). Even they give advice about training and how to get fit for the upcoming summer season. Check it out here.

среда, 19 марта 2008 г.

Raceboard Euro Champ hits Civitavecchia

Raceboard masters arrive in Civitavecchia, near Rome, this week for the eagerly awaited 2008 European Championships.  This early season event gives the opportunity for rivals for this year's world titles to test the strength of the opposition!
 
This year's championship fleet may be small - but it is very competitive!
 
Three of the top 4 finishers from the 2007 Worlds will be battling it out for the European Masters title including World Champion Paco Wirz (ITA 1), runner up Alex Buchau (ESP 36) and 4th placed Guiseppe Castelli (ITA 6).
 
Competing in the masters division for the first time will be Patrik Pollak (SVK 1), the 2006 Raceboard World Champion.
 
Seven nations have sent teams to Ciitavecchia - ESP, FRA, GBR, GER, ITA, SUI, and SVK.
 
Lega Navale, the host club, situated in Civitavecchia, a busy commercial port north of Rome, can boast a wonderful bay in front of the club that is perfect for hosting sailing regattas.  Steeped in history, dating from the Etruscan Age, the city has a lot to offer the tourist as well as competitor!
 
The event is scheduled from 20th to 24th March 2008 - daily reports will be posted on the class website: www.raceboard.org and on the event website: http://www.trecc2008.it/
 

SOURCE: International Raceboard Class

Kauli Seadi wins PWA Cabo Verde '08

Kauli Seadi kicks-off the season with a critical victory over local favorite Josh Angulo and wavesailing legend Jason Polakow
 
The historic 2007 Cabo Verde event set the bar to an all-time high for PWA wavesailing, so it was a full house once again for the top names in the sport on the island of Sal.
 
A strong forecast for early in the event stayed true and a good swell with mast-high waves reeled down the racetrack at Ponta Preta on day 1
 
Single Elimination
 
The crew made no delay in getting the single elimination underway, and by sunset the judges had filtered-out four riders for a final that would go ahead on day 2.
 
A trend was also set on the first day for some impressive performances from riders making it through from the qualifying contest.
 
Dany Bruch (F2 / Gaastra) and Francisco Porcella (Mistral / Simmer) stood out from the trialists on day 1 with superb wave-reading skill and expertise to knock out some top players from this 32-man limited entry event.
 
The final was completed on day 2 in slightly smaller surf, and much lighter wind.
 
25-yr old Brazilian Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) thundered into the lead with a skilled display in tricky, light wind conditions, to give an instant return on his new sponsor's investment.
 
During a 40-minute heat, counting the best two waves rides each, the fluky wind truly tested the finalists' fitness and ability to catch waves and not get caught inside on the razor sharp reef.
 
Jason Polakow (JP / NeilPryde) went for it with his aggressive vertical attack, but paid the price for pushing it with a couple of trips to the rocks.
 
Polakow's big-wave partner Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) pressured his team mate hard for third position with a smoother style, but in truth he also struggled in the smaller swell.
 
Josh Angulo (MauiSails) was also always going to be a major threat here after his historic victory last season.
 
'It was a total battle out there' he explained. 'I tried to go for a really powerful and vertical attack and look for the shorter rides and big hits on the main peak where I was hanging out.
 
Everyone was scratching around to catch the good sets and outdo the other to lock into a decent wave.
 
I know it was close and I didn't even look at the scores. It's tough you know.
 
You always strive for first and it kind of tastes a little strange to come second, especially after last year.'
 
Seadi chose different tactics to Angulo to wrap-up the victory, including one spectacular aerial over Swift who was swimming in the impact zone.
 
'I tried to go for the ones that opened-up into longer blowier sections and to do a mix of turns and connect the ride all the way down the reef', said the 2007 World Champion.
 
 
Double Elimination
 
As soon as the double elimination got started some big names spewed out by up-and-coming talent.
 
Levi Siver (Quatro / NeilPryde) was the first victim of an on-form Jonas Ceballos (Fanatic / Simmer), and Marcilio Browne (Mistral / Gaastra), who fully made-up for a stuttering start in the single elimination.
 
Next to fall was Nik Baker (Mistral / North) who had a tough time in the fading conditions against light wind specialists Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) and Camille Juban (Quatro / GUN).
 
Boujmaa Guillol (Starboard / Severne) was also ejected in that heat despite throwing some outrageous Goytas right onto the rocks.
 
But Traversa scored wave of the day with perfect timing and a flowing rhythmic groove connecting all his turns together.
 
The remaining second round heats had to wait until day 3 when the event moved up to the west coast to a spot known as 'Little Ho'okipa'.
 
25-minute heat duration was set with the best 2 waves counting and the best 2 riders advancing at a time.
 
The action was hot once again and competition was tight for spots in every following heat.
 
Trialist Kai Katchadourian (Quatro / Simmer), a regular Cabo Verde visitor, really got the chance to show-off his knowledge of the islands breaks.
 
The American survived a tough encounter against Scott McKercher (Starboard / Severne), John Skye (F2 / Naish) and Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) before getting on a roll to reach the top 8.
 
Things got serious in the third round when more top names fell by the wayside.
 
Both 2007 season runner-up Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Simmer), and former world champion Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / Gaastra) were axed by fiery performances from Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra), and Marcilio Browne – the reigning freestyle world champ.
 
Traversa shone brightly with his radical vertical riding style, which that saw him launch tweaked airs and show aggressive gouging of the steep head-to-half mast-high wave faces.
 
And Browne pulled a perfect air taka and looks set to fulfill another prophecy to reach the top of the wave sailing rankings just as he has in freestyle windsurfing.
 
But the star of the day had to be Alex Mussolini (RRD / NeilPryde) who clocked a 9.0 for a Goyta and big aerial back-to-back on the same ride.
 
But fading light and dropping breeze brought the day to an end before 6 agonizing days were spent on hold waiting for new swell and wind.
 
Eventually time just ran out and Kauli Seadi breathed a sigh of relief.
 
'It's the perfect start to the season for me', grinned Seadi at event HQ today.
 
'New year, new gear and a win to polish it off.
 
I'm especially happy that I can pay my new sponsors back so soon for their faith in me, plus it means a lot to beat someone as talented as Josh in waves of such quality.
 
Runner-up Angulo was instrumental once again in organizing this event in his back yard. 'I'm glad we got this event together again. It means everything to me to have riders of this quality here, plus I'm happy for Kauli as he's an exceptional sailor, so I'm just looking forward to seeing the contract signed to have the PWA back in 2009.'
 
Our special thanks go to the event sponsors and the people of Cabo Verde for welcoming us back once again, and our congratulations to Josh, Kauli and Jason for their achievements.
 
 
The 2008 Cabo Verde PWA World Cup Results
 
1st    Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) Brazil
2nd   Josh Angulo (Maui Sails) Cabo Verde
3rd    Jason Polakow (JP / NeilPryde) Australia
4th    Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) Great Britain
5th    Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra)
5th    Alex Mussolini (RRD / NeilPryde)
7th    Kai Katchadourian (Quatro / Simmer)
7th    Marcilio Browne (Mistral / Gaastra)
9th    Peter Volwater (F2 / North)
9th    Kevin Pritchard (Starboard / Gaastra)
 

SOURCE: PWA

KPWT or PKRA?

You have probably asked yourself why are there two governing bodies in kitesurfing/kiteboarding?
KPWT stands for Kiteboard Pro World Tour and PKRA for Professional Kiteboard Riders Association.
Their goal is exactly the same - working out a world kiteboarding tournament.
 
An easy Google search will help you understand why KPWT and PKRA are running in different paths.
 
There a lot of kitesurfers looking for those answers.
 
The question is: having different competitions and ruling formats, wouldn't it be possible to join both 'brains' and bring up the best competition ever made like ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) has been doing for a long time?
 
The sponsors would get a focused attention, the running custs would be cut to half, the KPWT/PKRA would strength one unique tour brand, the merchandising turnover would rise quickly and the public eyes would be focused on one single tour. Oh, and by the way, the professional kitesurfers would certainly be sure that they would be trying to be the absolute best athlete of their sport.
 
Not the X or Y champion in a determined category.
 
Joining KPWT and PKRA is not easy. But, isn't waveriding a tough challenge by itself?
 

Regards,