Well known for their huge winter swells, the Canary Islands always seem to deliver during the winter months. For those that live there it is a rare chance to ride some of the largest waves in the world. Home to the likes of Dany Bruch, John Skye, Nayra Alonso, the Moreno twins and Philip Koster it is highly likely that none of these swells will be missed. Over to Dany Bruch for his account of the day…

‘On the 4th of January we had a pretty good wind and swell forecast for the north of the island. As I got there, the wind was pretty funny; light on the inside and even coming from the wrong direction on some parts of the wave itself, this was because it was blowing off-shore down the mountains… So we decided to take out the Red Bull Jet-ski (that my tow in friends own) to take me to the break.

Once there the wind kicked in properly and everything turned out sweet! I sailed for 3 hours on my own, on my 5.3 S1 Severne and my 81L Evo. Unfortunately the guy that took the footage (seen below) only managed to capture my first 4 waves, he then ran out of battery ;-(.

I had some pretty sick airs and wipe outs, until at the end where I got caught by a set on the inside and lost my gear… A 30 minute swim was on the program, as well as a broken sail on the rocks as a result, but that is always part of it up there. Lot’s of gear get’s damaged almost every session.

That day was more like an average day, up there we get pretty big swells and this was just one of the first sessions this winter. So hopefully, now that we have ourselves proper camera gear, more footage will come through soon…;-)…so stay tuned!

See you on the water!!!
Dany’

Objective competitions, enhanced on site reports, training analysis, legitimate bragging rights, and more, this new twist of having 3D information about a rider brings to light endless possibilities. How this information will be used in reality and to what extent will it have value has yet to be fully determined, but one thing we know for sure is it’s pretty fun to jump head to head against your friends knowing exact heights! Just to double check, we headed down to Hookipa for a live test to see if others felt the same way on the 27th, while waiting for the right conditions for Oxbow’s Ride The Sky, the first competition to feature this new format.

www.epicsessions.tv

Bjorn Dunkerbeck

FWC: You are on the event poster of the Fuerteventura Wave Classic? Will you join the event and what´s the reason for this surprising comeback at an wave event?

Björn: I´ll do wave sailing, when the waves are good. So this event will be a fun one to do for me!  Also I want to test some Starboard speed boards and iSonics and sails in the South of the island at Sotavento. I also want to sail with the Reflex II,  which I am very happy with and I am sure every one, who will try one would like to have one.

FWC: Will you compete if the conditions should fit at the North Shore of Fuerteventura and did you find some days to prepare for the event?

Björn: I will be there the first 4-5 days and compete, if the waves are good , but just for fun!

Bjorn again

FWC: Do you like the concept of the Fuerteventura Wave Classic with a mobile structure?

Björn: Yes, it is a great concept, which makes sure to get the best conditions. There are a few great places like Rocky point, Mejillones, Majanicho. We will see which one works best!

FWC: This location often gets compared with Hawaii. Would you say this is a fair comparison or offers Hawaii much better conditions?

Björn: It can be as good as Hookipa and the outer reefs like Lanes and Spreckelsville!

Bjorn free(sailing)

FWC: Would you say that February is a good period to run a wave event?

Björn: Yes, its a good month for sure out of my view!

FWC: At which spot at the North Shore of Fuerteventura did you windsurf or surf the biggest waves in your career so far?

Björn: I think it was Mejillones long time ago.

FWC: What do you expect out of your personal view from your participation in the event?

Björn: To get good waves and enjoy them.

Bjorn suppy

FWC: Will you bring your surf- or SUP boards?

Björn: I always bring my SUP board. It is a great way to get many more days on the water, both in waves and also downwinders.

More at www.fuertewaveclassic.com

Daida Moreno

The wind and waves finally arrived on the North Shore of Fuerteventura yesterday . All the riders were ready to go sailing at 10:00. At first the wind was a bit shy, but it quickly came in and the organisation saw the opportunity to run the first heats. All day the wind was quite offshore, blowing from 13 to 20 knots, with good sets of 2m waves. The riders prepared their bigger board and sails from 4.5 to 5.3m for the heaviest, and they were all well powered during their heats. There were only few guys and girls on the water at any one time, and this was great for riders to take full advantage of the break. The heat duration was 25 minutes to give everybody enough time to express their talents, and two waverides were taken in account into the judging process. Heat 1 was judged by competitors from heat 3, heat 2 by heat 4 and so on, so that the notation relies only on every rider’s point of view, based on the general impression they got on every surf. The only rule is that you can’t judge your team-mate!

On the water, the girls were really good, and they impressed more than some of the guys! Nayra finished 3rd in her heat, beating one guy, Nicole took some of the best waves of her heat and finished 3rd with as many points as 2nd, and Iballa went 3rd! Jules, the french young talent, sailed very well during the contest by landing some big aerials and riding nice waves. As ever, Thomas was very good in these light wind conditions, with radical aerials that lead him to win his heat. Nice moves from Dario, Martin, Albert, Stephan, JB and Fabrice notably. Jonas always tried to push the limits, and quite a few times the end was unlucky but still he was hardly looking to rock the waves! Alex, or ‘Musso’, showed up with some of his sick rollers, scoring to the maximum. Great action in La Caleta, a taste of what North Shore Fuerteventura can offer waveriders. The forecast is good for today with some stronger wind and bigger waves, stay tuned to fuertewaveclassic.com/2010/ to follow the action.

The teams were all very close:

1) 14.5 points, Iballa / Albert / Musso / Jules / Patrick

2) 14 points, Stephan / Martin / Nicole / Jonas / Eleazar

3) 13 points, Nayra / Fabrice / Ilya / Adam / Dario

4) A bit far way behind, but haven’t said their last word yet: Thomas / Corky / Antony / JB / Daida

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