Beach Telegraph

Firing

The Double Elimination's already underway at Pozo for the final day of the PWA Gran Canaria Grand Slam. 

Yesterday's video is on the PWA website, so let's see if Seadi can fight his way back up the ladder or if local hero Koester can defeat event leader Victor Fernandez.

In the meantime here's Robby Swift's Pozo 2010 video update.

Party time in the Gorge tomorrow night.Details of the EpicSessions.tv ShadowBox JumpOff prizegiving party at the Waucoma Club in this clip

Windsurfing Magazine declare the best light air boards for speed.

Plus, they and Naish are inviting you to Baja for the 'Naish Bash' this September!

Ant Baker reminisces about the '97 Fiji O'Neill PWA World Cup on Namotu.

It's been firing here on the Irish West Coast - Oisin Van Gelderen got some more shots of the past week's sessions.

I love the Chile video on JP Australia's website.

Klaas' Quake Story

 PWA Star Klas Voget writes from Chile on the terrifying ordeal during the Chile earthquake. As in the posts yesterday, please donate what you can via the Charity link below set up by David Swift and pass it on to your friends, family and contacts via mail, social media and word-of-mouth. It's critical that people get help and also that windsurfing plays a part in rebuilding the welcoming community at one of it's most exciting destinations. Thanks. Over to Klaas:

We are all right, in Santiago since Sunday night. The earthquake was absolutely frightening. I was alone in a house in Matanzas that is sitting on quite a steep hill. Victor was arriving at the evening in Santiago and wanted to come down to Matanzas the next morning. Robby Swift and his girlfirend Heidi were in a house 300m away from me. Around 3:30 in the night i woke up, as my bed was sliding around the room and i realized the earthquake. It took me three seconds to have my hand on the doorhandle of the front door, but i had the doors locked. 

 The house started to shake in all directions like a bull that just wants to throw you off. It was cracking and i heared glass exploding in the living room. From second to second it got stronger and stronger while i was hecticly trying to stick the right key into the lock of the shaking door in the darkness. There was a moment when i realized that this could be the end, as a concrete wall of the house broke and a part of the houses structure got disconnected and was flapping and hitting the side of the house. The power of this earthquake was just unbelieveble. Afer a minute i managed to unlock the door and flew out onto the road, shivering from the adrenaline...

 I ran over to Robby and Heidi who were also outside their house with the eyes and mouth wide open. From the village down in the bay we heared people screaming and saw cars coming up the hill. Just a minute later we saw the wave going through the bay in the moonlight. It was a mass of whitewater that didn't even look that scary from the hill, but a little later people came running up the hill under shock with wet clothing that was ripped and injuries in their faces. There was no electricity and no reception for the cellphone. With the first light we saw the destruction. The wave destroyed some of the buildings in the bay completely. 

 Cars got washed out to sea and the mainraod is just covered with black sand and all kind of things from the houses. The road going north is blocked by a huge landslide. The water went out of the bay and filled up again a few times during the day. Also we had around 100 more or less strong aftershocks during the next day and night making it impossible for us to rest or sleep. Every time the houses started cracking and moving in unpredictable directions... A lot of the people slept outside or in tents the next nights. Sunday in the morning also the watersupply broke down and we decided to make our way to Santiago to get water, food, petrol and a power generator for us and the people of Matanzas. 

 Lots of the bridges are down, which turned the drive to Santiago into a longer journey, as we couldn't take the usual route. Santiago seems to be less affected be the earthquake, but also Victor reported us from his scary experience in the 6th floor of a 22-stories building and a huge panic everywhere. Today we'll drive back to Matanzas to bring water, help with the cleanup and start fixing the houses...

 Robbys brother David has set up a donation account to help to rebuild the infrastructure for the friendly local people of Matanzas. We hope the windsurf world can help to give something back to the warm welcome the windsurfers from around the world always experience by the locals here.

Here the link: http://www.justgiving.com/ChileEarthquakeResponse 

We hope water and electricity will be back soon.

Best regards from Chile,

Klaas

Show us a Sign

The “DWC – German Windsurfcup” tour has scored a lucrative sponsorship deal with Aussie brand Roadsign.

This is great to hear during a time of cut budgets. (Click here for details in German.)

Steve Gibson's spent 14 years living and teaching windsurfing in Fuerteventura and is available for tailor-made video clinics.

Check out his page for details and great technique sections.

Josh Angulo's Center Manager's get some water time at Ponta Preta.

A nice Chile movie from Continent Seven.

C7 also report that the Podersdorf Slalom event entry list was over-subscribed and has been raised from 64-man to a mammoth 80-man fleet.

There are still 5 or so wild cards available via long-distance race qualification.

Boujmaa Guiloll's 'Bouj Adventures' center in Morocco is open for the 2009 season.

Yoli de Brendt says there are also still places available on the Fanatic 'Windsurf Labor Wave Special' camps in Morocco.

Taty Frans' pre-season Slalom preparation is off on the right track.

The Four Dimension movie team posted an interview with 'Brawzinho' on their Blog.

Nice shot from Vandal.

PWA wavesailor Phil Horrocks has signed with Plasma.

The Down-Low

Ready? Let's go. WSJ have left the office and are livecasting (French language) from the French AFF Windsurfing Tour in Almanarre /Hyeres today.

The conditions are set to be so awesome that they're planning to run waves at this famous location known mainly for slalom.

Andre Paskowski sent around his pre-release trailers for the upcoming free movie 'Samba' You can view those at many sites but WSJ also have all the links you need,

John Skye's winter roundup video offering.

The Guys at the UK's roaming wave comp series WaveJam have uploaded all the pics from WaveJam 5. There's more action in the gallerioes section too.

Some news from Diony Guadagnino's visit to Chile and Argentina.

First asymmetrical boards and now asymmetrical fins...

A new-look website from Reptile masts.

Top ladies PWA Freestyler Laure Treboux's announced two camps - 'Elevate' in Dahab, Egypt in May, and a Girls camp in Rhodes, Greece, in June.

Elsewhere Tatiana Howard's confirmed the Butterfly Effect Maui will go down on April 11th.

Those PWA ladies sure have been busy - Nayra Alonso tells you about her trip to Morocco.

Nothing's going down yet at the Furteventura Wave Classic, but keep an eye on the event website during the day for updates as the forecast is good.

Cutting Lines

Another video of wavesailing in Chile with Fanatic Team Riders Klaas Voget and 08 PWA Tour runner-up Victor Fernandez.

Doh! Hope that mends soon Matt.

Here's a movie made in South Africa by Czech PWA rider Tom Malina.

Tom said "Sorry about the interviews in Czech language but that was part of the deal with the sponsors."

The PWA's negotiated a special offer on insurance for pro windsurfers. You can find out more via info(at)pwaworldtour.com or see more at www.sportsinsurance.com

Coaching guru Jem Hall's posted a trailer to his soon-to-be-released 'Winner to Wavesailor' DVD. (See list on right-hand side of page.)

Have a look at this vintage footage from Ho'okipa of Dave Ezzy and many other 'back in the day'. Classic.

I thought it was interesting in this interview that Kauli Sead doesn't think that the judges are 'ready' for the sailing style his Quad fins might lead to.

What do you think about the surfing style vs. traditional windsurfing style? Is a surfing line for surfing and windsurfing a different turning approach?

Why should windsurfing always copy surfing? Maybe surfers should take a more aggressive line by watching Angulo or Polakow on a wave at Ponta Preta? Please leave any comments below. Thanks.

Also, if you haven't voted in the new PWA World Tour Webcast Poll I'd be grateful for your views.

Kicking Off

Let's push-start the what's hopefully going to be a big-action week online and on the water.

The Fuerteventura Wave Classic holding period has begun. The teams have been announced and so far the conditions look good for Tuesday onwards, and even better for the weekend.

Check out the event website for updates and interviews et cetera.

Here's some updates on event dates from the PWA:

The planned Indoor in Madrid will now not take place in April. The event is now expected to take place towards the end of 2009.
 
The Austria Slalom World Cup will now run from the 5th May until the 10th.
 
The Korean Slalom World Cup will take place from the 16th May until the 22nd.
 
The proposed Guincho Wave World Cup is now provisionally scheduled for the 16th to 21st June.

WSJ interview a super-philosophical Francisco Goya after his comeback appearance at The PWA Cabo Verde World Cup. Here's the Google Translated page.

Simmer report that their PWA Slalom star Ben Van Der Steen is in Chile filming a documentary.

Shark!

Jellyfish!

GP Cammaro needs a day off but he stuck a little Go Pro video of sideshore Kanaha online for you.

Tatiana Howard scored Honolua Bay with just a couple of mates.

Boards posted news of 2009 Pro Clinics with European windsurfing tour operator Club Sportif.

CaboVerdeWorldCup.com  posted a video interview with runner-up Kauli Seadi.

It's windsurfing movie night on Friday in Wellington, New Zealand.

Ola left an interesting comment and link after reading about Kelly Slater's event-winning 'self-shaped' board in a post here last week.

Can you imagine what would happen if we left GP alone with the shaping software?

More later. Please leave any links to good stuff in the Comments section below - no sign-in required. Thanks.

Bonaire Beats

Another windsurfing MC. This time Bonaire PWA Freestyler Ruben Petrisie is laying down tracks and has dedicated a tune to top lady competitor Sarah-Quita Offringa from the neighbouring island of Aruba.

You can  listen to Ruben's music at his MySpace page.

Here's a great new [Spanish language] website for Chilean windsurfers and visitors to Chile.

Speaking of windsurfing in Chile, Tine Slabe has some nice pics of his time there so far at the RRD Insider Blog.

Tatiana Howard's been filming for Conde Nast Video magazine.

If 9 World Titles aren't enough, now Kelly Slater's pushing for a 10th on boards he's shaped himself.

Imagine Seadi or Fernandez sweating over some blocks of foam? Angulo and McKercher have board-building skills though I guess.

U-Ride have clips of Angulo vs. Pritchard and Angulo vs. Seadi on their front page, as well as PWA wavesailor Klaas Voget's latest movie from Cape Town.

WSJ check out AHD's new Concept Wave multi-fin board line. (Google translated page link.)

Planche Magazine's March special test issue is on newsstands now.

I'm out on a training course all day but please check out the Links Page for more or leave any hot URLs in the Comments section below. Thanks.

Hot Content

First-up is a nice shot sent in by George from the Live2Sail Blog. Thanks George.

Here's a really short interview with PWA Wave Tour leader Josh Angulo on Maui.ee.

A Chilean adventure on video with Fabrice Beaux.

Some boom-Cam action from Seatex Boards on Windsurfmag.it.

After scraing some seals, GP is being cruel to Oceanic mammal life. Again. This time he's taken on a Sea Lion.

Don't you just love these vintage magazines. I love the smell and feel of these old issues crammed with great stories and less ads than in many you see today. (Even with the recession.) Check out the great surf books there too.

Speaking of Surf books, PWA and legendary surf scene photographer Alex Williams has launched a new book of some classic  shots of British Surfing in the 70s in a new publication titled 'Atlantic Surfers'. (You can preview the first 15 pages online.)

The March issue of Boards is out and I've got two articles published.

(That's Canadian PWA Freestyle rider Phil Soltysiak on the cover by the way.)

First up I've a review of the career of Scott McKercher followed by an investigation into the new Freestyle Classix format.

If you've read these I'd love some feedback on either the articles or the subject. Thanks.

WIND Mag issue 333 is also out now and it's a monster test issue. Check out the huge list of gear they've tried out.

Any other new issues of magazines out? Please leave the details in the Comment section below. Thanks.

U-Ride have a link to some video of Slalom racing action in The Gorge.

With the Fuerteventura Wave Classic a few days away, WSJ have posted a link to video of Spew Pits cranking on the island from last week to whet your appetite.

UK Windsurf and SUP pro John Hibbard wrote in; 'The main right peak at this beach is rammed with Surfers everyday and is a  100% No Go Zone for SUPers. 

The left in between the main break and the rivermouth is empty but it's hard to catch - not on my Starboard 8' 5" though!'

And finally. The Hustle Project. We've got a winner of the Fanatic T-Shirt contest.

So congratulations to Rudie from Holland correctly answered that Fanatic won 4 World Cup events in 2008 - World freestyle champ Gollito won Podersdorf and Lanzarote and world number 2 wavesailor Victor Fernandez won in Pozo and Sylt.

Rudie said 'I really like Fanatic because one of their boards got me back in to windsurfing big time!! And they are not through with me because I still want the freewave 86 ltr!'

Rudie - I'll be in contact about the details. Let's see what the rest of the industry can come up with for you guys? I guess you'll shout loudly about what you got from them at the beach  hey? Power to the people! Lets get you some stash.

Quadimoso

Here's some news from Kauli Seadi in Cabo Verde.

And here's what Josh Angulo says about Kauli and those much talked about Quatro/JP Quad-Fin boards. "Kauli showed up early in Cabo Verde. His hunger to win here again is evident and his sailing is looking up to the task.

Just  as most people are striving to try and mimic his unique style by riding similiar twin fins, Kauli has been sailing here on a  little Quad.

He's shown some clear moments of brilliance on it and looks as though, when he gets them in the groove, that he's got great drive to propel him to where he wants to be on the wave.

All in all , I'd say Kauli is definitely on the extreme edge of R&D, and here in Cabo Verde he will be the main challenger for the title."

Windsurf Journal (French language) have a great story on a great achievement by a great man. (Google translated version here.)

Some nice pics of Chile on the Ezzy Blog.

Nayra Alonso's still in WA on the Starboard shoot. Is McKercher letting one rip in that underwater shot?

Phew. It's hot in here.

Gulp. These'll cool you down.

Hee's some information on the 2009 Raceboard and Mistral One-design World Championships.

Please check back in for more later - and who knows? Maybe I'll announce the first winner of the Fanatic T-Shirt quiz?