The 2008 PWA /EFPT Surf World Cup Podersdorf

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The 2008 PWA /EFPT Surf World Cup Podersdorf - Event Preview

Freestyle's Freshest Performers Get Set to Blow into Podersdorf and Spark up the 2008 Tour.

(Podersdorf, Austria. April 29th - May 5th 2008. ?30,000 Prize Purse. Top-32 Men-Only. Media Images available free of charge check www.pwaworldtour.com for 2006 Surf World Cup event archive gallery).

From April 29th through May 4th the PWA tour hits the mammoth beachside arena on the shores of Austria's Neusiedler See.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Podersdorf's Nordstrand?s packing in the curtain-raising 2008 PWA / EFPT freestyle event alongside a massive musical extravaganza.

Big Hitters

Topping the bill is current world champion Marcilio Brown of Brazil (Mistral / Gaastra). The 18-yr old snatched victory in the dying seconds of last season?s tour from archrival Jose Estredo - the ?06 winner from the hotbed of freestyle innovation in Isla Margarita, Venezuela.

And piling on the pressure from the Caribbean is 3rd ranked rider Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra) of Bonaire, who's got a whole new bunch of tricks up his sleeve along with team mate and training buddy Tonky Frans (F2 / Gaastra), and 3-times world champion Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde).

Plus, there?s the usual crew of homeboys such as Michael Rossmeier (Exocet / The Loft), Chris Sammer (F2 / North), ramp-master Tom Hartmann (Naish / Naish), and many more dedicated freestyle specialists who know this lake like the back of their hands.

But a sizzling winter of groundbreaking new moves from old hands and rookies alike will freeze out anyone who?s off the pace.

No Limits

Spectators at The PWA Surf World Cup can also expect to see the bar raised in the first event of the PWA's innovative new 'Best Moves' format.

With a maximum amount of tricks being set per heat, everyone's a winner as entrants are free to unleash the power moves, ditch the safe routines, and fully go-for-it without fear of falling.

Party Time

Famed throughout the region, the on-water energy in Podersdorf pumps on throughout the night as massive holiday weekend crowds roll into town to meet the stars and live the lifestyle.

Be sure to dial into www.pwaworldtour.com <http://www.pwaworldtour.com> throughout the week to:

? Use our live ticker service
? Check the elimination ladders
? View results
? Watch amazing video action clips
? Read daily news summaries
? Browse awesome action photo galleries

Š PWA

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The Heavy Hitters Of Freestyle Congregate On The Shores Of Neusiedler See Lake For Day One Of The 2008 PWA Freestyle World Tour

Day one of the 2008 PWA Surf World Cup has been greeted with warm weather and light winds, giving a casual start for the 48 strong freestyle fleet. With registration completed by 11 o'clock, riders were left to patiently wait on the hourly competition status updates to see if competition would commence.

The afternoon?s wait was broken up with an energetic capoeira display from Brazil?s Danilo Da Silva (Fanatic, North Sails). Unfortunately, it failed to summon the wind and head judge Duncan Coombs was forced to call an end to day one of competition at 5pm.

Waiting for wind are; last year?s Freestyle World Champion Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra), recent EFPT event winner Normen Gunzlein (JP, NeilPryde), new school sensations Gollito Estredo (Fanatic, North) and Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra), along side a list that reads like the who?s who of freestyle windsurfing.

The skipper?s meeting has been set for 9.00am tomorrow, leaving the sailors to relax at the events welcome party tonight in Podersdorf?s, Move Surfstore. Be sure to check back in to see what unfolds on day two of freestyle?s curtain raiser here in Austria.

Be sure to dial into www.pwaworldtour.com <http://www.pwaworldtour.com> throughout the week to:

? Use our live ticker service
? Check the elimination ladders
? View results
? Watch amazing video action clips
? Read daily news summaries
? Browse awesome action photo galleries

Š PWA

The 2008 Surf World Cup Podersdorf - Day Four

Another windy morning, and a promising forecast had everyone excited about the prospect of competition. Following the 8.00am skippers meeting, heat nine was scheduled to start at 8.30am.

There was a sense of déj? vu when, just as the previous day, the wind backed off within minutes of the heat getting started. The riders of heat nine one again had to leave the water without a result.

The familiar wait for wind ensued under blue skies and in warm temperatures. The morning passed without any suggestion of the wind building, and with a windless afternoon on the cards, 2007 freestyle world champion Marcilio ?Brawzinho? Brown took some time out to chat to us about freestyle and the event.

PWA: What are your tactics for this event?

Brawzinho: ?I think in this event I will try to save energy and time to make all the higher level tricks, and not waste time with the older tricks now we have this new format. And I bet many of the other guys will try to do the same.?

PWA: What moves do you think you?ll be pulling to get through the heats?

Brawzinho: ?It depends on the conditions, if we have light winds like the first day it might be really hard. I might try shakas, switch stance moves, burners, air flakas and cana bravas. If the wind picks up, then maybe we can try something else.?

PWA: Have you learnt any new moves over the winter?

Brawzinho: ?I tried Kiri?s new move, the kono, but I?m still learning it. I was improving my burners and one handed burners, that?s what I tried the most.?

PWA: Who do you think is in the running for the 2008 freestyle title?

Brawzinho: ?All of the competitors, everybody?s so good. I would say definitely a few guys are pretty good, Gollito, Ricardo, Kiri, Paskowski, Normen, Taty, Tonky, many guys.?

PWA: Do you think you?ll be able to stay as focused on freestyle now you?re pushing for the wave title?

?I don?t know if I?ll keep training as hard, but I will keep doing freestyle, for sure. My main goal now is to do well in waves. I?m spending much more of my time in places like Cape Verde and Maui, so I end up training much more for waves.?

Sadly, the afternoon remained sunny and windless. The Brazilian contingent used the time to stage a beach side football game, and Danilo ?Chico? Da Silva performed another of his, now notorious, capoeira routines on the main event stage.

You can follow every stroke of action at www.pwaworldtour.com to:

? Use our live ticker service
? Check elimination ladders
? View results
? Watch amazing video action clips
? Read the daily news summaries
? Browse awesome action photo galleries

Or, for more information, please contact the PWA office via info@ pwaworldtour.com

Š PWA / Andrew Buchanan

The 2008 PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf ? Day Six

Entering day six of competition, the majority of the single elimination had already been completed, leaving only 6 heats to be run in order to declare an official event winner. Following the skippers meeting, the last of round three?s heats got underway in a steady force 4 breeze.

Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) put up a stellar fight against his rival, Frenchman Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard, Gun Sails) but failed to provide an answer to Nicolas?s smooth repertoire that, including a super tech voquech diablo, granting Nicolas passage into the quarterfinals.

The first quarterfinal pitched Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra) against teammate, Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) and Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) against his teammate, Gollito Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails). The steady breeze allowed the riders to throw down their full arsenal of moves. Kiri unleashed his signature kono, but failed to take down an on form Tonky Frans, who was killing all his moves.
Gollito took no prisoners as he ended Taty Frans?s campaign with a run including no handed flakas and a burner.

The second quarter final saw the exit of Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde) to stable mate Spaniard Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde), and current world champion, Marcilio ?Brawzinho? Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) defeat Nicolas Akgazciyan to advance them into the semi final.

The semi final got off to a shaky start after it was cancelled within the first minute and re-run four hours later, only to be cancelled again. For two hours, the entire lake glassed off, making many believe the event would run out of time before the final two heats could be completed. Following a windless two hours, a line of dark clouds emerged on the far side of the lake, and a line of wind started to move towards the competition area. The riders scrambled to the water and minutes later the semi final started in a gusty 17 knot breeze.

Tonky Frans challenged Gollito in the top half of the draw and Antxon Otaegui battled it out with Brawzinho in the bottom half. Highlights of the heat included Gollito?s now trade mark no handed flaka and Brawzinho?s huge ponch in front of the judging area. Underdogs Antxon and Tonky gave all they had, sliding into regular stance chachos and flaka 720?s respectively, but failed to match the caliber of Brawzinho and Gollito.

After a quick break to collect the semi final results, the final got going in testing conditions. Gollito and Brawzinho went head to head in the winners final and Antxon and Tonky dueled in the losers final. Brawzinho wasted no time, laying down a mix of switch stance chachos, one handed bobs and a massive port tack ponch. His rival, Gollito, replied with an assortment of ponch combinations, more no handed flakas and starboard tack burner.

On the other side of the heat, Tonky threw down an aggressive array or Culos, flaka 720s and switch stance chachos. Antxon struggled to get to grips with the heat, crashing many moves that he was consistently making earlier in competition.
Following ten minutes of epic freestyle the horn blew, ending the heat, and signifying the end of the first stop on the freestyle tour. The crowd rushed to the main event stage to hear the final results announced. First place went to Gollito, second to Brawzinho, third to Tonky and forth to Antxon. We caught up with Gollito and Brawzinho:

Gollito ?Really, really happy! My final was really good, I competed with Brawzinho. It was really physical with the light wind, but I got my best moves in, I?m just really happy!?

Brawzinho ? I?m pretty happy, I?ve been training a lot for waves in these last few months, so I was pretty anxious about how this event would go, especially when it comes down to light winds and cold conditions, but I?m pretty stoked!?

That concluded the day?s action and the 2008 PWA surf world cup in Podersdorf. The PWA?s next stop is in Korea for the first leg of the slalom 42 series starting on the 12th of May.

PWA / Andrew Buchanan

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The 2008 Surf World Cup Podersdorf ? Event Summary

Jose ?Gollito? Estredo scoops first victory of the freestyle season ahead of former world champion Marcilio ?Brawzinho? Browne in epic style on the final day of competition.

Following a year?s break from the PWA calendar, the Austrian town of Podersdorf once again played host to the first stop on the men?s freestyle tour.

Day 1

The light wind forecast for the first day of competition stayed true, meaning besides registration and rigging, the sailors could take some time out to explore the multitude of other attractions on offer. In the evening, Move Surfstore hosted the event?s official welcoming party.

Day 2

In a similar style to the previous day, riders were welcomed to the event site by light winds and blue skies. Competition got underway late into the afternoon, with race officials running heats several hundred meters offshore, where the gusts were strongest.

Move of the day went to Swede Niklas Str?hlen (RRD, Simmer), who landed a regular stance chacho diablo. The day finished up with the final heat of round 1 being completed as the sun went down. The 16 winners advanced to round two of the draw, where they?d do battle with the top 16 seeded riders the following day.

The evening saw all 48 sailors grace the huge Bacardi soundstage and be individually announced to the massive crowd, before a night of revelry unfolded.

Day 3

An ominous bank of dark clouds moved over the event site on day 3 of the contest, delivering a welcome breeze to the shores of Lake Neusiedler. The race committee wasted no time, scheduling heat 9 to start directly after the skippers meeting. Sadly, hopes of getting the heat going were dashed when the wind dropped just as the sailors were hitting the water. The afternoon was spent relaxing, as the wind teased but never built sufficiently to allow competition to go ahead. Hopes turned to day 4, which showed a promising forecast, and the possibility of an entire day of competition.

Later that evening, riders had the chance to let their hair down and party alongside thousands of Austrian locals. Each night of competition boasted its own bands and line up of deejays playing on three different stages, in addition to numerous bars, stands and food outlets, which combined with the windsurfing action created a perfect lifestyle blend of sport and music.

Day 4

Day 4?s skippers? meeting was arranged an hour earlier than the previous days, to take advantage of what looked to be a promising day ahead. Heat 9 was given the go ahead and the riders hit the water to warm up for the much-anticipated heat. To everyone?s disappointment, the wind seemed to have other plans, and again the riders of heat nine had to leave the water without a result. Another day of competition came to an end under clear skies, and with an apparent air of frustration as the wind continued to thwart competition.

Over the course of the sun-drenched afternoon, many of the riders used the downtime to spruce up their pit tents in preparation for the pit walk later in the competition. The six man pit tents were to be judged on their general ?look?, with the winning pit taking home 1500 euros. Needless to say, creativity was running high, with some tents boasting fully rigged sails extended 5 meters into the air on poles, an others with their own private beaches inside!

Day 5

The morning of day 5 kicked off with the re-run of heat 9. With the wind blowing consistently, the day was poised to deliver some radical action. The following seven heats of round two were run back to back.

Local boy Michael Roßmeier (Exocet, The Loft) sailed exceptionally, and was unlucky to be defeated by an on form Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC), who took no prisoners with his routine of no handed flaka diablos and burners.

Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) and Frenchman Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard, Gun Sails) played host to arguably the finest action of the round, defeating rivals Maarten van Ochten (JP, NeilPryde) and Mattia Pedrani (Mistral, North Sails) with a selection of flaka diablos and switch stance chachos.

Following directly on from round two, round three got going immediately. Without upset, the big names continued to advance. Moving into the first of the quarterfinals were teammates, Tonky Frans and Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) who successfully defeated Steven van Broeckhoven (F2, MauiSails) and Michael Sumereder (RRD, North Sails).

Also moving into the quarterfinals were Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) and Jose Estredo, who dispatched Egor Popretinskiy (JP, NeilPryde) and Michael Roßmeier.

Stable mates Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde) and Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde) advanced to the second of the quarterfinals, defeating rivals Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde) and Andreas Olandersson (Fanatic, Simmer, MFC) before the wind called an early end to the day?s proceedings.

Day 6

A sunny final day of competition quickly whittled the field down to the final four riders, Tonky Frans vs. Jose Estredo and Antxon Otaegui vs. Marcilio Browne. However with only 2 hours remaining of competition, the entire lake had glassed off, and hopes of running both the semi final and the final looked slim.

Luck turned out to be on our side. In the final hour of the contest, the wind picked up and the semi final could be completed. Advancing into the winners final were Estredo and Browne, and into the losers final Otaegui and Tonky Frans.

The event?s final showdown was a spectacle to behold. The four finalists were giving everything they had, launching into huge aerial moves within touching distance of the ecstatic local crowd.

Standout moves included; Browne?s massive ponch directly in front of the judges, Estredo?s no handed flaka virtually on the beach, Tonky Frans?s flaka 720 and Otaegui?s smooth regular stance chacho.

Following ten minutes of epic freestyle, the horn blew ending the heat, and signifying the end of the first stop on the freestyle tour.

Almost as soon as it had arrived, the wind was gone, leaving only the final?s results to be announced. Hundreds of excited fans flocked to the main stage where the four finalists waited patiently on the judges? decision. The tension was broken as the final standings boomed around the event ground, and within seconds the crowd was being treated to a champagne shower courtesy of event winner, Jose ?Gollito? Estredo.
The final heats results were as follows:

Jose ?Gollito? Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC)
Marcilio ?Brawzinho? Brown (Mistral, Gaastra)
Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra)
Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde, MFC)

That concludes the first freestyle event on the PWA calendar. The tour now rolls on to Ulsan, Korea for the first stop on the slalom tour, on the 12th of May. Be sure to check www.pwaworldtour.com from then to follow the action with our live event ticker, daily news summaries, video footage, awesome photo galleries, online elimination ladders and more!

Or, for more information contact the PWA office via info@pwaworldtour.com

Š PWA / Andrew Buchanan

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