We are excited to announce the new dates for the Freestyle/Slalom championship. The event will take place on August 1-5, at Sorobon Beach and this years event is open for all ages and levels. More information and updates will follow soon.

The Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) has announced that the Bonaire Freestyle World Cup, which was planned for June 2012, has been cancelled.

Despite the best efforts of all involved, a substantial cut in available government funding for the event has meant that the organizers have had to cancel their plans for 2012 and will now look ahead to bringing the event back for 2013.

In Aruba, the PWA stage has also suffered financial difficulties which has led to cuts in funding also.

As a result, the slalom aspect of the event has had to be cancelled for 2012. Work is still on going to secure the Freestyle event, but it is possible that the event dates may be moved to later in the year – either to the period previously occupied by Bonaire or potentially to the end of June.

For more information: http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=27

The 2012 PWA World Tour is gearing up and the provisional schedule has already been announced. The best windsurfers in the world will kick off another season of Freestyle, Wave and Slalom competition in Austria, between 27th April and 1st May.

 Aruba and Bonaire are also on this year schedule.

• Aruba (Freestyle + Slalom): 26th May – 2nd June.
• Bonaire (Freestyle): 4th – 8th June

More information will be available in the comming weeks.

Kiri Thode Winner PWA Bonaire World Cup 2011

On the fifth and final day of competition, Bonaire erupted into a freestyle frenzy, as the sailors brought everything they had to the table in an attempt to progress through the double elimination.

With the Bonaire trades blowing around 25 knots Phil Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine) exploded out of the gates in two consecutive heats, catching Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers (JP / NeilPryde) and Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / Simmer) off guard with his consistent switch flakas and perfectly polished burners. However Soltysiak’s winning streak came to an end when fell victim to Dutch freestyle whiz kid Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra) in heat 44. Scheffers sailed his routine of super smooth double manoeuvre’s and controlled konos ensuring the judges awarded him the highest marks.

On the other side of the elimination local hot shot Youp Schmit (JP / NeilPryde) ploughed through Julien Mas (Hot Sails / Patrik) and Amado Vrieswijk (Starboard / Hot Sails) performing enormous culos and shaka flakas in front of the judges tower to secure his place in 11th at this event. Schmit was finally stopped in his tracks in heat 45 against local hero Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra).

Tonky took the day by storm and blew the judges away with his diverse array of tricks and his Caribbean smooth style. Frans appeared to be unstoppable claiming victory in his heats against Jose ‘ Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North)  and Scheffers with a 5-0 decision from the judges each time. There was only one man that could put a halt on Tonky’s progress, and that was his brother Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic). Tonky fought hard with a Kabikuchi and a Future, but his efforts were not enough as Taty sailed the perfect heat, granting his pass into the next round.

It took an amazing routine from Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra) to put an abrupt end to Taty’s hopes, blowing him out the water with his trade mark air bob’s and the largest kono of the competition.

Men’s Final

The men’s final boiled down to two mind blowing two heats between local favourite Thode and Belgium contender Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra). Having won the single elimination Van Broeckhoven held the advantage over Thode and had to be beaten twice to lose the second double. Thode was hungry for a final victory and sailed the first final like a true champion pulling a series of mind boggling combination moves. Van Broeckhoven replied with his trade mark style throwing huge culo’s and a flaka ponch, however a crash on the reef left him on the back foot, leaving Thode with the advantage to take the first blood.

Motivated by his home fans and with event title already secured, Thode went on to earn his crown as King of the Lac Bay pulling a gravity defying Kabikutchi and an unbelievable Grubby Ponch.

Van Broeckhoven fought tooth and nail to hold his ground, but with his homes fans’ cheering his every move Thode was on an unstoppable roll and finished the event with an undisputed victory.

Winners Quote

Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra)

“I am ecstatic to have won on my home spot, it was an amazing event and the wind was perfect. A lot of the others competitors can do all the moves move here, I was really pushing myself to show everyone what I can do and I am extremely happy with my sailing. I am really excited for the next event in Aruba.”

Women’s Fleet

Heat 46 in the women’s double elimination saw Xenia Kessler (JP / NeilPryde) and Mio Anayama (NeilPryde) work their way past Maxime Van Gent and Daniela Simal with a series of spock variations and an inspired clean flaka from Kessler.

Next up was Anayama versus Kessler; Anayama opened the heat with a spock 540 but then failed to land a number of critical moves. Kessler took the advantage with her forward loop securing her place in the next heat to challenge Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Dakine).

Kessler put up a great fight and attempted to match Aukes for every move; however Aukes played her consistent card and barely dropped a trick throughout the heat, earning her pass into the next round to face Yoli De Brendt (Fanatic / North).

De Brendt disposed of Aukes with her more varied repertoire of switch maneuvers and a double flaka to seal the deal, and then went onto face Swiss freestyle specialist Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North).

Treboux was on fire in the heat and left the water steaming. She garnished every manoeuvre with an extra element of style, nailing her moves one handed or fully planning. The judges recognised her efforts and rewarded her with a place in the final.

Women’s Final

Sarah-Quita Offringa(1), Laure Treboux(2) & Yolanda Freites De Brend(3)

Bonaire witnessed one of the finest women’s finals of all time. Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic) and Treboux took to the water for the fourth time this week. With one more opportunity to break Offringa’s stronghold on Lac Bay and the top spot, Treboux pulled out all the stops. On recognising Treboux’s effort Offringa decided it was time to reveal her big moves. The end result was a spectacular show and a final to remember as both women pulled out all the stops for the cheering crowds. Despite Treboux’s fighting every inch of the way, Offringa squeezed past Treboux with her incredible moves and took her fourth final win at this event and the title of event winner.

Winner’s Quote

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)

“I was quite nervous for this event and on the first day I didn’t sail as well as I wanted but I still managed to win. Slowly it got better even though the wind was light. Today was the cherry on top of the cake because the wind was really strong. In the final I was powered up on my 5.2 sailing against Laure; usually we have a really good time when we are sailing. I think it was my best heat ever I landed a double spock, a kono ,an air funnel and a funnel diablo. I was really happy, I saw that Laure was sailing really well and that motivated me even more so, I think this was one of the best women’s finals ever. I am really excited for Aruba, the forecast looks great.”

Super Session

Having completed the official competition and the wind still blowing a gale the judges took the opportunity to run a super session for the crowds on the beaches. The sailors were allowed thirty minutes to try perform their most outrageous and impressive moves. Alongside some big crashes huge culos, konos and burner’s went down. The victory was claimed by Anthony Ruenes with his super high and stylish no-handed flaka.

Results

Men’s Fleet

1st Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra)                         
2nd Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)              
3rd Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic)        
4th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North)                
5th Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra)                                   
6th Dieter Van Der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)           
7th Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra)                             
8th Choco Frans (F2)                                                   
8th Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails)                      
8th Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine)                   

Women’s Fleet

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra/ Mystic)       
2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)                                      
3rd Yolanda Freites De Brend (Fanatic / North)               
4th Arrianna Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Dakine)                   
5th Xenia Kessler (JP / NeilPryde)                                    
6th Mio Anayama (NeilPryde)                                           
7th Daniela Simal                                                             
8th Maxime Van Gent                                                        

Back on the Road

The PWA crew will now make the short trip over to the dazzling island of Aruba for round four of the freestyle and slalom world cup taking place on 19th-26th June.

Insufficient winds / Photo by PWA World Tour

With the forecast set to drop competition stormed into action at 8.15. However despite all efforts only two heats of the second double elimination were completed before the conditions dropped below the necessary level, leaving the sailors nervously on standby for the remainder of the day.

Heat 37 saw a major battle between Max Rowe (Fanatic / North) and Remko De Zeeuw (F2 / Gaastra), both sailors put in a consistent performance with Rowe concentrating on switch moves and De Zeeuw focusing on upwind maneuvers. The judge’s decision boiled down to the diversity of the tricks to separate the pair, with Rowe narrowly squeezing through into the next round. On the other side of the heat ‘Capoeira king’ Danilo Da Silva (RRD / RRD) fell to the hands of local hot shot Endro Finies (RRD). Finies pumped his way around an impressive display of maneuvers and claimed another impressive victory on his home spot.

With the wind fading fast, all four sailors worked really hard to stay on the plane throughout heat 38. Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails) put an end to Yarden Meir’s (Fanatic / Simmer) progress through the double elimination with an amazing culo and clean burner despite the marginal conditions. Meir replied with an e-slider and a clinical lollipop but it wasn’t enough to see him advance.  Meanwhile, French freestyle wizard, Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / Simmer) managed to edge ahead of Andraz Zan (F2 / Hot Sails), pumping his way into a spectacular no handed flaka in the final moments of the heat.

Heat 39 was canceled due to insufficient winds, leaving the sailors on standby for the remainder of the day.

The PWA took advantage of the down time to catch up with the world’s finest freestylers to find out which moves they find the hardest to complete under the pressure of competition in Bonaire.

Phil Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine)

“In Bonaire and in the light winds I find the ponch really difficult, because you need a lot of speed and a little bit of chop to give you the extra pop.”

Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)

“This is a difficult question everyone is different. The last move I learnt, the barracuda is really tough because it is very risky. The new moves like the flaka shaka and the kabicutchi are also really hard to complete in your heat as you need perfect conditions to complete them”

Andy ‘Bubble’ Chamber (JP / NeilPryde)

“The burner, once I duck the sail I struggle to keep my speed for the sail throw, it is really annoying me.”

Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)

“I don’t know there are so many moves; so far I have found the switch kono impossible because I don’t have enough power. Usually I can do them pretty good; if it picks up a bit more I will do one in my heat.”

Dieter Van Der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)

“It is a tricky question, I think the Kabicutchi is one of the top moves and it is really hard to go high on it. If you see Kiri going high it is purely technique and not because the wind is really strong. You have to have perfect technique to duck the sail.”

Yegor Popretinskiy (JP / NeilPryde / MFC)

“I don’t know, for me all the moves are hard here, I haven’t been trying the crazy moves in my heats. I like the regular chachoo, for me it is one of the easiest moves but for the other guys they find it difficult. I don’t like to do culos here because the water is so shallow and I care about my board.”

Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra)

“The hardest move here is the push loop, or the flaka ponch, the wind needs to be really strong for these moves. But because it is so flat I find every move easy here compared to other spots on the tour.”

Max Rowe (Fanatic / North)

“I found the shaka the hardest move here, I always struggle in the light winds and the small chop. I have had to train them really hard to be able to do them in the light flat conditions.”

Andraz Zan  (F2 / Hot Sails)

“I think the kono is really challenging when the wind is really light because the rig duck has to be perfect and you have to jump really hard to achieve any height”

Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails)

“All the moves are quite tricky and take a while to learn, all the sailors are performing really well at the moment, so the heats are really difficult”.

Choco Frans (F2)

“I am not so sure, my favorite move is the culo but I think the hardest is the air chachoo. I have seen Taty do it on the flat water and Gollito in Fuerteventura, It looks awesome and I would love to be able to do it!”

Steven Max (Starboard / Hot Sails)

“I am not doing the really big moves yet but my favorite move is the shaka, I really like the way you float when you do the move”.

Paul Zeper (Patrik / Hot Sails / Dakine)

“I think the hardest move really depends on the person; I can now do burners easier than punetas. I find the puneta really testing and it is not a move I like doing. I think most people struggle with the normal stance duck because it has to be perfect especially for the kono”.

With just two heats completed results remain untouched for today. The forecast is looking promising so it looks like the battle for victory here in Bonaire will go right down to the wire! Skippers meeting will take place at 8:00 am tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 8:30 am. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the final day of action from the 2011 Bonaire world cup.

Results

Current Overall Men’s

1st Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra)
2nd Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic)
3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)
4th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North)
5th Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra)

Current Overall Women’s

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)
2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)
3rd Yolanda de Brendt (Fanatic / North)
4th Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer)
5th Xenia Kessler (JP / NeilPryde)

Steven v. Broeckhoven / Photo by PWA World Tour

The third day of competition saw Bonaire’s winds take a turn for the worse from consistent cross shore to frustrating fluctuations, putting the sailors on and off standby throughout the second single elimination.

Lighter winds meant that pleas to cancel heats were high, and the sailors had to work extra hard in order to make the moves that would put them ahead of their contenders.

Alongside lighter breezes, a lower than usual tide meant the competition area was really shallow playing havoc with the day’s opening heats. Yegor Popretinskiy (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) was first to fall victim to Bonaire’s change in conditions losing out Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra). Close behind Andy Chambers (JP / NeilPryde) suffered as his fin caught the sea floor numerous times during his heat, opening the gates for Deivis Parternina Teran (Fanatic / North) to move into the next round.

Parternina Teran went on to challenge fellow Venezuelan and team mate Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North). However Estredo didn’t go easy on his travel partner, quickly taking the upper hand using this heat to show he meant business after a 4th place finish in yesterday’s double elimination.

Heat 21 saw brothers Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic) and Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra) fight it out for a place in the semi-finals. The Bonaire boys put on a show like no other trying to outdo each other on the style front as well as the complexity of their maneuvres. Taty managed to sail his way through the heat without dropping a single move whereas Tonky failed to match his brother’s consistency and dropped several vital moves.

The action really picked up in the semi-finals as the sailors decided it was time to raise their level. Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra) pumped his way to victory ahead of Taty Frans with an outstanding display of aerial maneuvres. On the other side of the draw, Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra) disposed of the reigning world champion Gollito Estredo using his home knowledge to drive home his advantage.

Men’s winners final

The second single elimination saw a changing of the guard as Van Broeckhoven stepped up to the table to challenge Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra). The lighter winds had minimal effect on both parties as they both pumped their way into massive maneuvres. The sailors both chose to open the heat with perfect Culos shortly followed by a succession of double moves. Van Broeckhoven pushed the level higher with a Spock Culo but was quickly matched by Thode’s enormous air bob. The heat was incredibly close; Van Broeckhoven managed to snatch the victory by just half a point.

The PWA caught up with Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra) to find out about his momentous day.

“Today was super light winds; my first few heats were on the edge of the wind line.

I was against Taty Frans (Starboard /MauiSails / Mystic) in the semi-finals, he was planing the whole time and I wasn’t, but I sailed my best. We then had to re-sail the heat due to the changing winds, I had nothing to lose so I went 100%. In the final I made my three moves on each side then I tried to perform to the highest level, a few of my maneuvres were not really clean but the judges chose me and I am really happy.”

Women’s second elimination

A difficult day for the ladies saw their heats being re-run several times as the wind refused to play ball. Mio Anayama (NeilPryde) delivered a seriously impressive display of powerful moves, from fully planning Grubbys to smooth spock 540’s but it wasn’t enough to defeat the all mighty Venezuelan Yoli De Brendt (Fanatic / North). De Brendt sealed the deal ensuring every move was completed with as much style as possible, often one handed.

Laure Treboux / Photo by PWA World Tour

In the semi-finals Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) and De Brendt blitzed through their heat making the best use of every gust. Treboux displayed perfect one-handed e-sliders and floaty flakas providing her with the advantage and enough points to make it into the winners final.

Women’s winners final

For the third consecutive day it came down to arch rivals Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic) and Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) to out-style each other first place. With lighter winds a new set of tactics were needed, Treboux chose to work her way down the whole competition area quickly in order to maintain speed and rack up her moves, whereas Offringa played it more cautiously. She maintained her ground upwind and performed her moves directly in front of the judge’s tower. Despite Treboux’s spectacular performance Offringa’s diverse range of maneuvres proved, once again to be too much to contend with.

Results

Men’s Single Elimination 2

1st Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)
2nd Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra)
3rd Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic)
4th Jose ‘ Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North)

Women’s Single Elimination 2

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic)
2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)
3rd Yoli De Brendt (Fanatic / North)
4th Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Dakine)

Courtesy of Ed Sinclair

Kiri Thode / Photo by PWA World Tour

Bonaire PWA World Cup: Kiri Thode and Sarah-Quita Offringa fly into first place

Monday, 13 June 2011 Day 1: Bonaire is blessed with outstanding conditions for the opening day of competition seeing Kiri Thode and Sarah-Quita Offringa fly their way into first place. Consistent cross-shore winds and blazing sun allowed the competitors to explode into action from the word go.

Competition continued throughout the afternoon and the world best freestylers wowed the Caribbean crowds all the way through the first single elimination. Once the formalities of registration were out the way and the skippers meeting completed, head judge Duncan Coombes wasted no time in getting the 39 men and 8 women onto the water and the heats underway.

Kicking off the day it was down to many of the un-seeded local sailors to make their debut performance on the PWA world tour. Choco Frans (F2), Amado Vrieswijk (Starboard / Hot Sails) and Hendryck Balentien (JP) took down their opponents and made it through to the second round, displaying a whole array of new school moves and proving that living in paradise does wonders for your windsurfing.

The big drama of the day came from heat 9 between Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine) and Caesar Finies (Starboard / NeilPryde). The sailors put up a fair fight each pulling big Culos and Konos ensuring the points were going to be tight. When the results were revealed it was announced that Soltysiak had not made it through to the top 16. Unhappy with his performance Soltysiak confronted the judges for answers, and discovered that it was not his sailing that had been at fault but a miss calculation on the score sheets. Soltysiak continued his rampage all the way to the top 8 The action really picked up as the heats went on seeing Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers (JP / NeilPryde) put in a consistent performance against Andraz Zan (F2 / HotS ails). Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra) stole the show against Julien Mas (Patrik / Hot Sails), and Max Rowe (Fanatic / North) fought hard for first place against Ian Mouro Lemos (JP / NeilPryde), sealing the deal with a perfect Bob.

Special mention has to go to Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne). In round three he sailed like it was his last time, and managed to clock up a huge variety of moves in his heat against Scheffers, granting his passage into the top eight. As the semi-finals approached the regular big names featured in the top four. Having breezed through their earlier heats it was time to take things seriously. Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra) took on the mighty Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra), both sailors worked hard as the wind dropped off slightly. Van Broeckhoven pumped his way into a Culo, only motivating Thode further, forcing him to bring out a perfect Burner 900. Estredo racked up his points but it wasn’t enough against Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails, Mystic) on his home turf.

Men
Winners Final It came down to two local sailors Thode (Starboard / Gaastra) and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic) to fight it out in front of their fans, both comfortable on their playground and not wanting to disappoint the home crowds it was time to turn their sailing up a notch and bring out the big guns. In an attempt to outdo each other the moves got more and more daring, Thode opened with a Culo, followed by a double e-slider from Taty. The game of one up man ship went on until Thode claimed the move of the day with a huge Kabikuchi securing his place as best in Bonaire.

Sarah Quita / photo by PWA World Tour

Women
The female fleet made up of 8 sailors got off to a flying start. Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) looked dialed into the conditions from the very beginning steaming her way through her first and second heats taking down Mio Anayama (NeilPryde) and Yoli de Brendt (Fanatic / North) with her fully planning spock 540’s and Grubbys. New girl to the world tour Maxime van Gent put up a great performance but it wasn’t quite enough to work her way past 3 times world champion Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic). Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Dakine) displayed a stunning array of slidey maneuvers securing herself a 4th place finish, behind experienced competitor De Brendt. Women’s Final Treboux and Offringa made their way to the winner’s final, having posted consistent performances throughout the competition.

Treboux reeled out her moves like clockwork whilst Offringa went for the high-risk power moves. Crashing hard Offringa allowed Treboux to open the gap early on, and take the lead with her consistent spocks and switch stance maneuvers. However the high risk strategy came together when she bagged herself a perfect Kono and Bob in the closing seconds, squeezing her way through to seal the victory. Competition continues into the double elimination tomorrow with another perfect forecast promised. Be sure to tune back in tomorrow for more radical freestyle action from 9:00am onwards (skippers meeting / first live ticker update @ 8:30am). Vivienne Masters Results Men’s Elimination 1 1st Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra) 2nd Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic) 3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra) 4th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North) Women’s Elimination 1 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / Gaastra / Mystic) 2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) 3rd Yoli De Brendt (Fanatic / North) 4th Arrianne Aukes (RRD / Simmer / Dakine).

Courtesy of Viviene Masters