Check out this new vid focusing on North Sails/Fanatic freestyle maestro Gollito Estredo.

World Freestyle Champion Sarah – Quita gives us her ‘must know’ tips on landing the Willy Skipper.

Check out the vid…

PWA Slalom

Finian Maynard and Antoine Albeau stole a bullet a piece on the racecourse today, whilst freestyle world champion, Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo popped and styled his way to victory in an evening tow-in extravaganza!

On the penultimate day of competition, the crowds gathered on Sylt’s iconic golden sands witnessed two full rounds of spectacular racing throughout the afternoon, and saw two new race winners emerge from the mist.

The gusty offshore breeze once again proved tough for the world’s top ranked racers to tame, but with the help of a few caddies, and some patience from the race crew, everyone had a fair chance of choosing the right gear to match the conditions they were dealt during their heat. With gusts of twenty-five knots and lulls of fourteen, the wind tested the sailors skills to their maximum, and with a nastier chop than yesterday mistakes were easily made at the marks.

To add to the chaos, during the second race heavy rain moved in, and this coupled with board speeds of over 30 knots and temperatures of around 10 degrees created extremely harsh conditions for the racers to endure, many of whom are used to champagne sailing throughout the rest of the year!

Albeau’s Afternoon

After a disappointing previous day – for him – the current world tour leader, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde) fought back with a vengeance this afternoon to claim a second in the fourth race of the series, and more importantly, a bullet in the fifth to end the afternoon on a high, hoping for much of the same tomorrow.

Albeau’s second race final was by far the most impressive, not least because he won, but because he hit the pin end at full speed, and although not the first to cross the line, stamped his authority on the star-studded fleet with tremendous speed that saw him to the first gybe in pole position. From there on it was back to business for the modern day slalom champ, who led the fleet around the course in his usual dominant fashion.

His results from today have helped him to close the gap on event leader, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic), and two more bullets for the five times world champion could see him steal the show on the final day!

Finian’s Final

In the first race of the day Sylt’s many spectators saw a new character claiming line honours in the form of 2009 overall rankings runner up, Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra). Following a successful second day of racing yesterday, having enlisted the help of British Wave Champion and RRD team manger, John Skye (RRD, MFC) for a small fee, the Irish blooded British Virgin Island resident shot right up the rankings. Maynard’s caddy commented, “My boss has done an amazing job on the water today, but I’d have to say some of that success is clearly down to the team behind him (me). Just look at the results, I’ve helped him go from 30th to 3rd in the space of two days!” Maynard replied, “John’s help has been invaluable over these past two days, but he really needs to work on his slalom technique!”

Snapped

Following a smoking hot start to Sylt, cracks began to appear in the thirty-five times world champion, Bjorn Dunkerbeck’s armour today. It all started to go wrong with a failure to qualify for the first winner’s final, which unfortunately for him wasn’t down to sailor error. The mighty terminator was powering towards the final gybe in a qualifying position when his harness line snapped, causing an almighty explosion as the sail hit the deck at full speed, and Dunkerbeck fell in backwards!

With a discard in Bjorn’s bag, the top ranked sailors in the fleet are once again on a more level playing field, but windsurfing’s legend remains on top after a successful comeback in the second race of the day saw him hot on Albeau’s heels. However, the roles reverse if you look at the event results with Albeau chasing Dunkerbeck for the final event crown. If there’s more racing tomorrow, which is more than likely, it’ll be an exciting finale for the last race of the season.

Stand Out Sailors

Elsewhere in the fleet, Patrik Diethelm (Patrik, North) and Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard, North) exchanged winner’s final results with a 5th and a 3rd each to claim equal third in the race for sailor of the day behind Albeau and Maynard. Although not Moussilmani’s best event of the year, Diethelm is having an absolute corker, proving his own shapes to be a worthy investment for any wannabe racers.

Results After Five Races

1st Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard, Severne, Mystic)

2nd Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde)

3rd Finian Maynard (RRD, Gaastra)

4th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine, MFC)

5th Micah Buzianis (JP, NeilPryde)

Gollito – night tow-in

Panasonic Night Tow-In Freestyle

With the weekend parties in full force, freestyle’s elite threw two fingers up to the wind, and wowed the crowds with a floodlit display of tow-in trickery. Current freestyle world champion, Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic, North) leapt out of the darkness to claim the top cash prize, followed by current wave tour runner up, Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC), and 2010 Podersdorf freestyle champion, Taty Frans (Starboard, MauiSails, Mystic).

Keep In The Groove

For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

Here you can:

• View the live streaming broadcast

• View the live ticker service for heat-by-heat bulletins

• Check live elimination ladders

• Check results

• Read daily news summaries

• Browse awesome action photo galleries

There’s also a dedicated event website which can be found at www.windsurfworldcup.de

Bubble at Podersdorf 2008 (the last PWA Freestyle held there...) Photo: JC / PWA

Gear up for some explosive action as the PWA’s finest freestylers pile in to Podersdorf for the opening event of the 2010 Windsurfing World Tour…

From April 30th through to May 5th the world’s best freestylers will congregate on the shores of Austria’s Neusiedler See to show off all of the latest sail spinning and board sliding trickery in front of the huge crowds, world media, and of course the international judging panel.

Movers and shakers We’ve heard via the grapevine that the current PWA freestyle world champion of Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic, North) has been putting in the hours on the water this winter and is firing on all cylinders. Hailing from the so-called ‘freestyle capital of the world’, a.k.a Margarita, Venezuela, he’s a born and bred styler, and also a serious contender having claimed the overall world title on numerous occasions now. The boys from Bonaire will also be snapping at Estredo’s heels, and making the most of every opportunity they can in order to gain some points and take the overall title back to the Caribbean at the end of the year. Taty Frans (Starboard, MauiSails), Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra), and Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra) made it a 1,2,3 at the final event of 2009, where Thode very nearly stole the overall show from Estredo. All three of the sailors can pull off the latest moves on demand, and often throw them with a unique style that wins over both the crowds and the judges. Another name to watch is Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2, Gaastra). He put in a great performance last year, and is feared by the very best of his peers. He’s also got the advantage of being used to sailing in the cold, so we could see the young Belgian step it up a notch here. The only top 20 ranked sailor missing from the scene is the extremely talented 2007 PWA freestyle world champion, Marcilio Browne (Fanatic, North, MFC). After injuring his foot this winter he’s decided to concentrate solely on the wave tour.

In it to win it With a €30,000 prize purse up for grabs, expect the very best sailors to be pushing the limits with as yet, unseen in competition, combination moves that’ll blow both the pros and rookies off the water.With a slight change to the PWA rule book, this season competitors will only be allowed to compete on models of production board that have been registered with the PWA.

Shore side World renowned for its huge parties, and beach side activities, the Surf World Cup Podersdorf is bound to set the tour alight, and get the season going with a bang. If you’re looking for a festival atmosphere, mixed in with some extreme windsurfing competition at the highest level, this really is an event not to be missed. We guarantee you’ll be psyched up for the season after watching these guys strut their stuff.

Keeping in the groove For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com Here you can use our:• Live ticker service for heat-by-heat bulletins• Check live elimination ladders• View results• Read daily news summaries• Browse awesome action photo galleries There’s also a dedicated event website for fans at www.surfworldcup.at Or for more information, please contact the PWA office via info@pwaworldtour.com

And in the interests of fair representation, here's new British hope Max Rowe, K-448 ... in Dahab! Photo: Dave White

Photos: JC

2007 PWA Freestyle World Champion, Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne has retired from the PWA Freestyle discipline to concentrate fully on his quest for a Wave World Title! Over the last four years, there have been only a handful of sailors able to beat Gollito Estredo (V-01) in the PWA Freestyle Tour, Brawzinho has been the only rider to take a World Title in front of Gollito in the last four seasons. Brawzinho has also been developing his already impressive wave skills year on year, to the point where he has been able to challenge for podium positions in both disciplines. Brawzinho has also been at the forefront of pushing new manoeuvres in the waves, taking some freestyle moves over into the big waves of Hawaii, whilst at the same time raising the bar in flat water with some very technical and inspiring performances.

After four seasons of successfully competing in both disciplines, Brawzinho has decided to fulfil his long-term ambition of focusing on his favourite discipline, wavesailing. An unfortunate injury in Cape Town in January this year put a break to his freestyle training and preparation, which wasn’t ideal considering the current freestyle level in the PWA and the fact that Brawzinho is one of the only riders competing and training for both disciplines. After some discussions with his sponsors, friends and family, Brawzinho reached the decision to focus 100% on the Wave discipline for 2010, an idea he had actually already planned from 2011 onwards.

Photos: JC

Brawzinho explains: “During the past couple of years I was focusing a lot on freestyle, as where I live was nothing more than strong winds and flat water pretty much all the time. I’m really happy with what I have achieved in freestyle, also by competing in two disciplines at the same time. But during the last couple of years I have just been really motivated to sail in waves, and haven’t had as much time as I wanted to, as I had to be always travelling and training freestyle. Right now I really feel that I want to spend more time sailing port tack, searching for good waves and improving my skills. I will work as hard as I can to improve my results and keep having fun doing it. My long-term goal is definitely to win the PWA Wave Title in the future.”

Craig Gertenbach, Fanatic Brand Manager: “Having spent a couple of weeks sailing and living every day with Brawzinho in Cape Town in January this year, I can truly say this is the most motivated rider I have ever seen. We knew sooner or later his decision would come to switch his focus on the Wave discipline, he already has excellent skills in the waves on starboard tack, shown by his impressive 4th place last year in Cabo Verde. His port tack sailing is improving daily by leaps and bounds, which was very clear in the challenging Cape Town conditions we experienced. Having team-mates like Klaas Voget (G-4) and Victor Fernandez (E-42) doesn’t hurt and certainly Brawzinho has a bright future in our team. We look forward to watching his progress in the waves and are sure that his talent and motivation which saw him win his first PWA Freestyle title at the age of 18 is only a sign of greater things to come. We have given Brawzinho our full support and re-signed him until the end of 2011 already, I’m sure this is just the first few years of a long and successful partnership.”