Thursday 29 July 2010

The 2010 PWA Sotavento, Fuerteventura Grand Slam – Day Five

The fifth and final day of slalom competition started off in a very similar fashion to day four, with the breeze teasing the competitors throughout the morning resulting in racing being on hold for much of the day.

As temperatures soared to new levels so did the tension between the competitors. And, as the day progressed it became apparent that only one race would be completed, leaving the 2009 world champion, Antoine Albeau fighting for the crown with the 2009 world rankings runner up, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra).

By mid afternoon the wind began to build, and race director, Juan Antonio Aragon made the call to start race ten. All eyes were on Albeau and Maynard to see if they'd progress through their early heats. And, as expected, there was never a moment when either looked likely to fail, with both sailors going through to the finals with ease.

At this point, Maynard had to pull something special out of the bag. He somehow had to win the final race and ensure Albeau was almost last – a tough maneuver to pull off in anyone's book! Maynard pushed hard right at the start, but milliseconds later the horn went again, signaling a recall for the final eight. Unfortunately for Maynard he'd put himself out of the race, and inadvertently handed the crown to Albeau on a plate.

Final Results After Ten Races

1st Antoine Albeau

2nd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra)

3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck

Overall Rankings After Three Events

1st Antoine Albeau

2nd Bjorn Dunkerbeck

3rd Micah Buzianis

4th Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra)

5th Cyril Moussilmani

SUP QUERCETANO

RRD Team rider Marco Bosi sent us some SUP action shots from his
Tuscany homespot
Well done Marco!

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Video of Finian winning

Hi Finian!
Congratulations for winning today!
Check out the full length video of Race Nr.9.



Feel free to use and spread it.

Cheers!
Kerstin + Chris

The 2010 PWA Sotavento, Fuerteventura Grand Slam – Day Four

Maynard claims line honours in an outstanding showdown of the world's
fastest, minus Albeau who fails to make the finals…

The spectators lining Sotavento's beautiful beach were awarded with some world-class racing on day four of the competition following a grueling five hours on standby for the sailors.

With all of the signs present that the usually consistent trade winds would kick in, the competitors were at the event site early, preparing their gear for battle. However, a competing breeze put the competition on hold for much of the day, allowing the fans to mingle with the PWA's stars until the wind began to build late in the afternoon.

With 14 to 20 knots out to sea at 15:30 race director, Juan Antonio Aragon made the decision to run one full round of frantic slalom. The down wind course was set close to the shore with four gybes to the finish, creating a spectacular site for the crowds lining the beach.

Finian On Form

Throughout the week former speed world title holder, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) has been one of the most consistent sailors, only falling out of the top 4 in one race. However, he hadn't quite tasted victory until today.

You could tell Maynard was gunning for glory from the word go with plenty of speed straight out of the blocks. He won every heat by a considerable margin, so when it came to the finals he was more than comfortable at the front of the fleet.

Flying down the first reach at full tilt, it was a three horse race right from the start with Maynard, Micah Buzianis, and Bjorn Dunkerbeck all heading straight for the mark. Maynard gybed just ahead
of Buzianis, with Dunkerbeck right on the American's tail.

It wasn't long before Dunkerbeck stepped on the gas and edged out in front of Buzianis, leaving just one sailor between himself and the finish. However, Maynard was in control of the race leaving Dunkerbeck fighting behind. It wasn't until the last leg that the Terminator went for the gap, hammering off down wind. His efforts were all far too late though, as Maynard powered off into the distance to claim his first well-deserved win of the season.

Results After Nine Races

1st Antoine Albeau 12.5pts

2nd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 17.7pts

3rd Bjorn Dunkerbeck 25.7pts

Tuesday 27 July 2010

New Andraz short video

ponch from Andraz Zan on Vimeo.


freestyle move, filmed in Fuerteventura during training for next event of PWA.

Seb: PKRA Germany Report.

It's now the end of the 5th PKRA Event we had in Germany – St Peter

Ording from the 17 to 25 July. It's a pretty long 9 days event in Northern Germany.
It's for sure the biggest event of the year in terms of Prize Money, Event Area, Quantity of Spectators and Riders Registered with more than 110 riders for All Disciplines (Freestyle, Racing and Big Air Board Off).

Due to the numbers of Freestyle riders, the 1st day was just for the trials to select the 32 riders of the main event. Thanks to my actual ranking I'm already in the main event.

The Single Eliminatio started on the 2nd day.

I had my first heat against a German Guy, « Van Der Kop ». I advanced this 1st heat in a pretty light on shore wind. I was on my 12 Obsession 2011 wich is very good for those conditions. That was it for the day, as the wind conditions were not suitable anymore for freestyle the race direction switched to Race Discipline.

On the 3rd and 4th day, we been waiting and chilling on the beach with real summer temperature like I never saw here in Germany !!!

On the 5th day, the weather forecast were not that good, but some nice side off shore wind picked up on the late morning. On my first heat of the day (for the 2nd round of the single elimination) I was up against Mario Rodwald (Germany). I was perfectly powered on my 10,5 Obsession.
I could ride really powerfull on the heat, without crashing any trick and I logically advanced to the ¼ final.

Now I was up against Alex Pastor. As the wind dropped, I took my 12. I had a really good heat again, with 17 tricks (and 5 just on the 1st Tack !!!), 5 switch tricks and one front mobe to blind, just missing a bit of power. And that's the reason why I lost. Alex 11 tricks were enough to take the win. Judges said he had a better kite position, and a nice KGB to Blind.

I've been pretty pissed about this result, but it seems that Judges really want to see quality over quantity right now. We had a meeting about judging criteria here in Germany, and it said that from now « In case of close heat (most of time technical difficulty vs power) the quality of the execution (determined by power, risk factor and speed) will be the key factor to decide the winner ».
I've been the first « victim » of this new criteria, and from now I will need to change a bit my style of riding and go harder, bigger and faster on every single trick…. !

Still no action for me on the 6th and 7th day. Just the beginning of the double elimination started on the 7th day, but I didn't had to go, as they runned only the 1st rounds.

8th day : End of the double Elimination.

I had to wait and see who's coming up against me. And Logically, it's Mike Shitzhofer (AUSTRIA) that I met in my first heat of the double elimination. I had a good heat on my 10,5 and advanced to the next one.

This time I was against Brasilian Rider, Reno Romeu. Still on my 10,5 I had a really good heat with good power and nice tricks.

Then the wind dropped a little bit, for my next heat for a 5th place. I was against Rondina (ITA) this time. I put my biggest kite, my 12. The wind was really light, too light most of my heat. I could make few tricks but not that powered. I only got some good gusts on the 3 last minuts where I could go pretty big. But that was not enough against Rondina tons of tricks he could make getting a bit more gusts.

I stopped at the 6th place in Freestyle. It was pretty disapointing to run in such a low wind where I couldn't express myself. Moreover, 10-15 minuts later, the wind picked up!!!

And the wind didn't stop to pick up to finally reach a good 25 knots. PErfect side on wind to start with the Big Air BOard Off Competition. Judging Critera are : 80% hight, 20% Technical Difficulty.

I was on the 1st heat and I went on the water with my 10,5 perfetly overpowered to go high !!!

And I went high, doing some huge board off like board flip, back loop board off, or tail board off.

And like this, I won all my heats until the final were I was against Langeree (Netherlands), Permien (Germany) and Van Der Vlught (Netherlands).

I went in this heat really confident with what I did in the previous heats.
I started the heat with a big board flip to get some points. Followed by a big back loop board off.

As only the best trick count, I could now take some more risk to take the win.

I took a good gust and went pretty high and I could performed a double board flip pretty high with a perfect landing. That's the trick I really wanted to show to the judges. I was on fire now really
thinking I would win with that trick. I finished my heat with a back loop board flip.

And like I expected, I won the Best Tricks ! So Happy !

Final Results for me are :

6th in Freestyle and 1st in Board Off Best
Trick.

The 2010 PWA Sotavento, Fuerteventura Grand Slam – Day Three

The scene was set for the ultimate showdown with a perfect 15-20 knot
breeze, clear blue skies, and a backdrop of beachgoers watching on in
anticipation. With two full races scheduled for the day

Although the day belonged to Dunkerbeck, there were also many other
sailors that put in some rock solid results to consolidate their
positions at the front of the fleet. The first of these was Finian
Maynard (RRD, Gaastra)
who's now lying in 2nd overall after a 4th and
3rd saw him creep past day one leader, Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard,
North).

It wasn't just the sailors at the front of the fleet who were upping
their game today, many of the mid fleet sailors showed plenty of
promise.

The first of these was the French all rounder, Julien Quentel (RRD,
NeilPryde) who sailed outstandingly to qualify for the winner's final
in race seven. This wasn't his first taste of battling with the best
though, he actually qualified for the same heat in race six, which
definitely makes him one to watch for the future.

The forecast for tomorrow looks similar to today's so we expect racing
to continue for the remainder of the event.

Results After Eight Races

1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 5.5pts

2nd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 17pts

3rd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) 17.7pts

4th Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic) 23.7pts

5th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine) 30pts

11th Julien Quentel (RRD, Neil Pryde) 72pts

18th Pascal Toselli (RRD, P7) 86pts

23rd Andrea Rosati (RRD, Neil Pryde) 135pts

28th Jesper Orth (RRD, KA Sails) 160pts

35th Tine Slabe (RRD Challenger Sails) 193 pts

Monday 26 July 2010

The 2010 PWA Sotavento, Fuerteventura Grand Slam – Day Two

With Albeau claiming every win, the race for second began to heat up. Yesterday’s champion, Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) failed to qualify for the first winner’s final, which not only meant handing the day to his fellow Frenchman, but also allowed the 2009 world title runner up, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) to close the gap with a second place.

Moussilmani didn’t make the same mistake in race five, and instead followed in Albeau’s wake all the way over the finish line, which left Maynard fighting for third with the many times world champion, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic). In an awesome display of outright speed, the two battled it out down the final sprint, with Dunkerbeck finally edging out in front.

In the final race of the day, the tables turned once more with Maynard blasting ahead of Moussilmani and claiming honours behind Albeau. Moussilmani had other issues in race 6 though, which included the American racing legend, Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde) who, following a rocky start to the event, has begun to make a comeback. Unfortunately for Moussilmani, Buzianis stood between him and Maynard in the final race of the day, reducing the gap overall.

Moussilmani remains in second place for now, but Maynard is showing no mercy. With plenty of racing still to go, everything could change at the top!

Finian Maynard:

“I held on to my 7.6 Gaastra Vapor all day which was a bit bigger than everyone else, but it was working really well for me so I stuck with it. There’s a huge battle at the front now between some really good sailors, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the following few days.”

Results After 6 Races

1st Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) 4.8 pts

2nd Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) 11.7 pts

3rd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) 14 pts

The 2010 PWA Sotavento, Fuerteventura Grand Slam – Day One

Cyril Moussilmani claims an early event lead, whilst the long-standing legends fall by his wayside after three action packed rounds of Sotavento style slalom.

In an incredible first day in Fuerteventura the Frenchman, Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) sailed flawlessly in the tough conditions to create an amazingly consistent set of results which
includes a first, second, and third. His nearest rivals failed to match his slalom prowess putting him 5 points clear at the top.

The idyllic racing conditions found on the southern shores of Fuerteventura today provided the perfect start to this very special 25th anniversary grand slam. From first light, the wind showed great promise with the North Easterly trades guaranteeing the action. The course was set early enabling the sailors to commence battle on schedule at 10:00 in front of the many spectators lining the shore.

Throughout the morning the wind increased with gusts of around 30 knots sweeping across the course. Most of the competitors began the day on their 7.0s with a medium sized board. But, late in the afternoon many were holding on to their 6.2s and smallest boards often commenting that they should have been on something smaller.

Finian On Form – But Broken…

Although currently missing from the top ten overall the 2009 world rankings runner up, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra) deserves a mention. He was without a doubt one of the fastest sailors on the water, and in the first two races was more consistent than Kev with two thirds to his name. Unfortunately for him, the strong winds took their toll on his equipment, and he broke a harness line just before one of his heats began in race three. He actually made it back out after coming in to change it, sailed his heat after starting last, gained momentum around the course, and finally finished in a qualifying position. However, whilst he'd sailed back to the start line it became apparent that he'd broken a rule – sailors are not allowed to sail in the triangle between the start line and the first mark in the minute leading up to the start - and was therefore automatically disqualified from that heat. When a discard kicks in, expect to see Maynard move up the results sheet.

Palmolive Kitesurf World Cup 2010

Palmolive Kitesurf World Cup wraps up for another year

This year has been the most fantastic year for wind and weather
conditions here in St. Peter-Ording, Germany. The sun has been out
nearly every day and record-breaking temperatures have embraced
hundreds of fans, spectators, locals as well as vacationers from all
around the world.

More than 114 competitors from 20 different nationalities competed in
a total of 3 disciplines such as freestyle, race and board off.

RRD Team riders Seb Garat and Abel Lago gave a great fight in
Freestyle and Racing discipline finishing 6th and 5th respectively.

Then Seb scored a great victory in the board off competition, showing
he got numbers to do much better in next event!

For complete event results please visit: http://www.prokitetour.com/detailed-results.php?IdEvent=89

The closing ceremony was held on the beach where hundreds of people
had the chance to see the best kiteboarding riders in the world.

COMPETITION RESULTS

RACING

MEN

1. Bruno Sroka (FRA)

2. Julien Kerneur (FRA)

3. Rolf Van Der Vlught (NED)

5. Abel Lago (RRD, NED)

FREESTYLE DOUBLE ELIMINATION RESULTS

MEN

1. Alex Pastor (ESP)

2. Andy Yates (AUS)

3. Kevin Langeree (NED)

6. Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA)

BOARD OFF RESULTS

MEN

1. Sebastien Garat (RRD, FRA)

2. Kevin Langeree (NED)

3. Rolf Van Der Vlugt (NED)

Friday 23 July 2010

Skyeboy @ Boardseeker "Day in the Life"





Straight after the Pozo contest Boardseeker video guru, Alfie Hart, came to stay for the day and shot a "Day in the life of John and Nayra" video. It worked out pretty well because it wasn't exactly a normal day and ended with Spain winning the world cup. Anyway check it out on Boardseeker.com.
---
Posted By Skyeboy to johnskye.com News Blog on 7/23/2010 11:34:00 AM




Flo SUP in Venice...

Hey,

I had a long car trip last week, the trip was pretty good so far and
it's going to be a big tv report in german tv about it.
We drove to venezia, genova, marseille and so on.. I' ll send you some
photos later on.

Right know i am in sylt for the german championships.
This was a pretty bussy week-

Thanks and all the best

Flo

Morocco Wave Camp-Week 1

Back in May we had an amazing 2 weeks in Morocco running a Wave Camp. Not only did we get great conditions, but we also had a really good crew of people. This is the video from the first week, with Matt, Luke, Dominc and Harry. Week 2 coming soon! More Windsurfing Videos >> -- Posted By Skyeboy to johnskye.com News Blog on 7/22/2010 06:31:00 PM

DAY 6 Palmolive Kitesurf World Cup 2010

Abel Lago still fighting on German Racing fields

At 3:00pm, the red flag went up marking the start of the racing
discipline. Racers rushed out on the water for the 8th as well as 9th
race of the competition. French racer Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA)
finished first in both races today. Julien Kerneur (Takoon, FRA)
placed second in the first race of the day while Spanish rider Abel
Lago (RRD, ESP) takes third. In the second and final race of the day,
Bruno Sroka (Cabrinha, FRA) finished yet again in first place followed
by Olivier Dansin (North, FRA) in second and Julien Kerneur (Takoon,
FRA) in third.

It was a challenging day for the women racers due to the stronger wind
conditions. Katja Roose (Airush, NED) injured her foot during the
race. The ambulance drove on the beach to care for her minor injury.
In a short interview with Norwegian rider, Kari Schibevaag (Ozone,
NOR) she mentioned that she only had a light wind board amongst her
material and due to her extremely petite size, it was impossible for
her to finish the race. Steph Bridge (North, GBR) finished in first
place in both races today followed by Caroline Adrien (Cabrinha, FRA)
who finished second in both races and German rider Kristin Boese
(Best, GER) who finished third on both races.

Tomorrow's mandatory skippers meeting is scheduled for 10:00am

For all main live results please visit:

http://www.extremeelements.tv/live_results/results.php?TNID02=59&TYPE04=SINGLE&SEX01=M
http://www.extremeelements.tv/live_results/results.php?TNID02=59&TYPE04=SINGLE&SEX01=F
http://www.extremeelements.tv/live_results/results.php?TNID02=59&TYPE04=DOUBLE&SEX01=M

The St. Peter-Ording Kitesurf World Cup is supported in part by:
Palmolive, Prosieben, tv14, St. Peter-Ording-Nordsee, Jever,
Quicksilver, Lufthansa, Naish, Havaianas, Pentax, N-Joy, Coke, Moebel-
Kraft, Yamaha, Sport1, Kitelife, x-h2o, Splocs, PKRA, International
Kiteboarding Association.

FREESTYLE SINGLE ELIMINATION RESULTS

Gran Canaria

Hey

The last weeks we´ve been to canary islands. Chillin out and having a
lot of fun with the strong winds and waves ;).
We also took some pictures for the german RRD brand distributor to get
some promotion for the new RRD SUP Boards. Luca, the owner of the
local RRD shop provided us the boards and our friend Eduardo helped us
to find some nice locations. The first day we´ve been at Amfi del Mar
a very nice place in the South of the island and the second day we had
the chance to test the 11ft in wavy conditions. It was great fun...

Check out some pics, hope you like.

Cheers Oli and Micha
www.comocean.de

Wednesday 21 July 2010

KayakSurf & SUP

Manifestazione 18 Luglio KAYAK TEAM DONORATICO ASD.

.....KayakSurf & SUP.....

Gerard: photos

Hello Family: This week I am working with the topic of photography. At
the moment are coming out good pictures, I leave a couple of pictures...

Regards

Gerard Sanchez

Tuesday 20 July 2010

Skyeboy BS 360

Got a few more shots from Varags from a good friend Manolo. Included was a nice Backside 360 sequence. Some moves you just get really easily and others become a nightmare. The Backside 360 has been a nightmare for me to learn. Not sure why, but its taken a very long time, so it feels good to get a good one on sequence. Check out the movie sequence.


MPORA Action Sports >>


MPORA Action Sports >>

I also got a frontside 360, but its was not so pretty. The beginning looks good, but when you see the middle shot its not quite so impressive. I somehow managed to get upright and sail away still on
the wave though, so it counts!

Thanks for all the shots Manolo!

--
Posted By Skyeboy to
johnskye.com News Blog on 7/20/2010 10:16:00 AM