From 10th to 17th of March a great event was held in Dahab which is 100km NE of Sharm el Sheikh/ Egypt- DAHAB FREESTYLE WEEK. A friend Vladimir Morozov was telling me few months ago that some good competition has to happen in Dahab. Everything came true. Russian Center 5 squares sponsored the event and everything was perfect. There was not only one competition, but three on three different spots. The wind was on our side as we were using 5.0 m2 sail maximum. Competition was based on PWA rules “New Format” and minimum wind speed had to be 20 knots. 18 freestylers from 6 countries (Russia, Ukraine, England, Egypt, Slovenia, Turkey) took part in this competition.
The first spot was already well known to all- Baby bay. There are super good conditions for freestyle - flat water with some small chop on the corals. I won in single elimination, but in the double the wind dropped as well as my concentration and so I lost the first heat. Better was Andy Bubble Chambers K 540 from England. He had to win one more time if he wanted the title. This time I was better again and the title of Baby bay was mine.
The second spot was a well known "wave" spot in Dahab called Lighthouse. The waves were big there but choppy and not steep, so it was really hard to jump high. It was time for wave/ freestyle competition. Wave moves were scored very high. Most of the guys, me as well, were sailing in Lighthouse first time and just 40min after arrival my heat was on. Here everything was different. Riders from Russia - Shamil Ageev, Evgeny Yurtaev and Danila Isichenco were ripping full power, doing high frontloops, backloops, cheeserolls, tabletops…They have been sailing there for a long time … it’s their home spot. They came totally on top. I was stopped by Shamil in the second heat already, but no worries. I had two hours to check the spot and concentrate again. In double elimination I showed I can rip also in wave conditions. I won heat by heat, six heats in a row and my power was almost finished. In final I was against Bubble again. The wind dropped and I didn’t sail my best so Andy K 540 won. I finished on second place and I was very happy.
The third spot was the new spot in Assalah called “the Rocks”. Danila, Evgeny and Shamil were the first guys who sailed there. They live there and they told me few months ago: «Man, we found a new spot, it is just 5 meters from our garden. Really perfect spot for freestyle (organized chop) and on the reef – side shore conditions 2m or more, it is crazy, you have to come! It is just one problem, when there is low tide you can destroy your equpment and yourself (corals of course)». Everybody was really excited and a bit scared of the corals. We decided to do a single elimination one day and a double another day, forecast was good anyway. Vladimir said: “The meeting is at 8 am and the first start at 9 am”. Oh nooooo! But there was no other way, water was high enough just 3 hours. When we came there it looked so good, everybody went fast on the water and we were enjoying so much. Doing really cool freestyle and the waves were similar to Pozo. You can’t find such a good wave spot in Egypt. I won some heats then Andy showed better moves and I lost the heat. The concentration was not present, I only enjoyed sailing and didn’t do enough moves. Two days later, we started the double elimination. We waited for the wind until 10 am and we were about to leave. At 10:10 am the wind kicked in full power and we started the double. I was again on 3.9 and in final on 4.7 really powered up. I was sailing very good against the winner of single elimination Andy K 540 and I won! We had to go one more time. I don’t know why but I was crashing a bit so the title of Assala went to Andy. All in all I was happy, many thanks to Vladimir Morozov and Russian center 5 squares for everything, there was really an awesome organization, good wind, good conditions, new experience. I hope they will do it next year because everything was top. I almost forgot….
You can check the trailer from competition here:
and soon there will be full dvd Dahab freestyle week 2009 avaliable,
so stay tuned.
Best regards Andraž Žan SLO 49
Photos by Valera Pistry !
Sponsors: RRD, The Loft, Prosurf, Quiksilver windsurfing school, Pharmagan
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