wiNZurf - news page 3

November 18, 1997
THE CEARA-WIND PWA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR FINAL
16th NOVEMBER.

THE FINAL DAY !!

The last day of the PWA world championship tour final provided an exciting
climax to what has been a very successful event here in Fortaleza, Brazil.
After a slow start to the week, the trade winds finally co-operated for the
final two days of the contest. Yesterday we had three course races and today
it was the turn of the wave sailors to entertain the crowds.

The first heat was held at 5.30 this morning only a few minutes after
sunrise and the action was intense right from the word go. Throughout the day
the surf ranged from 2-3 feet and although for the most part the winds were a
little on the light side, sailors coped extremely well and pulled off some
truly awesome manoeuvres.

In the men's elimination the focus was on Robby Naish and Jason Polakow who
both needed to reach the final in order to keep up their challenge for the
world wave title. Bjorn Dunkerbeck and Josh Stone in third and fourth also had
a score to consolidate their overall positions in the waves.

As the heats progressed it looked as though we were going to get the 'fairy
tale' ending to the year, as all four top seeds looked to be making their way
to the final. Jason Polakow, perhaps with the toughest draw, managed to
defeat Francisco Goya and Vidar Jensen to make it into the top four.
Dunkerbeck took out Ant Baker and his brother Nik on his way to the semi's,
and Josh Stone dispensed with Kevin Pritchard and Patrice Belbeoc'h. Robby
Naish was also delivering the goods and was sailing like a 'man on a mission',
digging deep into his repertoire of wave tricks. It looked like he was going
to be un-stoppable on his way to the semi's. After defeating Mathias Holmberg
he came up against Scott Fenton in the quarter finals. Fenton, sailing
particularly well, was pulling off some incredible push loops and in a close
heat the judges narrowly gave the decision to Fenton.

Everything was poised for a dramatic finish to the contest despite the fact
that with Naish out of the running, Jason Polakow was now already PWA Overall
Wave World Champion. As luck would have it, at this point the wind dropped,
being too light to continue competing. Although the stage was set for some
major confrontations, it was not to be.

In the women's event the same thing happened. The wind got too light to
continue. Nathalie LeLievre and Jutta Mueller had reached the final, and
Jane Seman and Sandra Gublemann were ready to fight it out for third and
fourth positions. The important consequence of the women's wave event here in
Brazil is the fact that Nathalie LeLievre now becomes PWA Overall Woman's
World Champion, stealing victory from Karin Jaggi who this morning would have
won the title. Now she has to settle for third position overall behind
LeLievre and Jutta Mueller.

So despite the slow start to the week, Brazil definitely came up with the
goods and the PWA World Tour Final definitely finished the year in dramatic
style. Bjorn Dunkerbeck consolidated his overall victory on the tour this year
by winning the event, whilst Scott Fenton proved himself to be the 'dark
horse' amongst the fleet by finishing the event in second place overall. This
in turn means that he overtook Matt Pritchard to move into third position in
the PWA Overall World Ranking. Anders Bringdal also has good reason to
celebrate. He finished the event in third place and finishes second in the PWA
Overall World Ranking.

The Brazil event got off to a slow start but made up for it this weekend. The
course racing was fast and furious and the waves were action packed and
spectacular. Sailors have definitely enjoyed coming to this exciting new
location and we can be sure that the world tour will return here in the
future. Tonight is the end of year party so we can guarantee after such a
gruelling year on the tour sailors will be celebrating and that there will be
a few sore heads tomorrow morning!

(C)SSM Freesports unless credited as source: SSM/John Carter

THE CEARA-WIND 1997 PWA WORLD TOUR FINAL
OVERALL EVENT RESULTS

Men
pos sailor sail
1 DUNKERBECK, Bjoern E-11
Neil Pryde, F2, Red Bull, Rip Curl
2 BRINGDAL, Anders S-10
Simmer,RRD,Liberty, Tectonics,Fiberspar
3 FENTON, Scott KZ-1
Neil Pryde,ACE, DSL 55 , Dirty Dogs
4 PRITCHARD, Matt US-93
Neil Pryde,Seatrend, Oakley,Team O'Neill
5 BAKER, Nicholas K-66
Gaastra, Oxbow, Red Bull,N.ShoreFins

Women
pos sailor sail
1 LELIEVRE, Nathalie F-12
ART,Fanatic,Rip curl,
2 JAGGI, Karin Z-14
Arrows, F2, Spin Out, Sohard AG, O'Neill
3 GUBELMANN, Sandra Z-3
Neil Pryde, Subaru, Red Bull, Chiemsee

PWA 1997 Race Ranking
Men
1 E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck Spain
2 US-34 Micah Buzianis USA
3 S-10 Anders Bringdal Sweden
4 KA-7 Phil McGain Australia
5 US-93 Matt Pritchard USA
6 S-39 Christoffer Rappe Sweden
7 US-933 Kevin Pritchard USA
8 KZ-1 Scott Fenton New Zealand
9 F-35 Robert Teriitehau France
10 KA-0 Steve Allen Australia
Women
1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre France
2 G-54 Andrea Hoeppner Germany
3 Z-14 Karin Jaggi Switzerland
4 G-680 Jutta Mueller Germany
5 Z-3 Sandra Gubelmann Switzerland

PWA 1997 Wave Ranking
Men
1 KA-1111 Jason Polakow Australia
2 US-1111 Robby Naish USA
3 USA-6 Josh Stone USA
4 E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck Spain
5 KZ-1 Scott Fenton New Zealand
6 F-81 Patrice Belbeoc'h France
7 K-66 Nik Baker England
8 S-10 Anders Bringdal Sweden
9 G-16 Bernd Flessner Germany
10 N-44 Vidar Jensen Norway
Women
1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre France
2 G-680 Jutta Mueller Germany
3 KA-191 Jane Seman Australia

PWA 1997 Overall World Ranking
Men
1 E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck Spain
2 S-10 Anders Bringdal Sweden
3 KZ-1 Scott Fenton New Zealand
4 US-93 Matt Pritchard USA
5 US-933 Kevin Pritchard USA
6 K-66 Nik Baker England
7 G-16 Bernd Flessner Germany
8 US-34 Micah Buzianis USA
9 F-81 Patrice Belbeoc'h France
10 F-35 Robert Teriitehau France
Women
1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre France
2 G-680 Jutta Mueller Germany
3 Z-14 Karin Jaggi Switzerland
4 G-54 Andrea Hoeppner Germany
5 Z-3 Sandra Gubelmann Switzerland

THE WORLD CHAMPIONS.....IN THEIR OWN WORDS.....

E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck (1st Overall, 1st Racing, 4th Wave)
"First of all I think it is very important we had a competition in South
America. There is huge potential for the sport in this country. It is always
exciting winning a contest where you have never been before. The conditions
were not as strong wind as we hoped for but it is still better being in first
place in a light wind competition than being in second, of course.

As for winning the tenth title, it has been my goal all year long. It is
something I never even imagined five years ago would be possible for anyone to
do. This year has actually gone pretty smoothly. We have had lots of good
competitions, and I have been performing well and improving my windsurfing all
year so I am pretty happy with that. I have already decided I am going to
compete for three more years on the circuit. I think the sport is getting
better, we are getting more events, more sponsors and more new people in the
sport. It is good to see and very motivating, so we see how it goes and
hopefully the next three years are going to have lots of good conditions!"

S-10 Anders Bringdal (2nd Overall, 3rd Racing)
" I am very pleased, I have not been there for a few years even though
popular opinion has it that I am the main man chasing Dunkerbeck. In the
English magazine they said that 'the battle between Bringdal and
Dunkerbeck, is no more!'. You know what, they are wrong!"

KZ-1 Scott Fenton (3rd Overall)
"I must be pretty damn good I suppose, I did not know I was that good!
Seriously its unbelievable. I have devoted the last seven years to world
cup and finally I have made the podium for the overall. It is a dream come
true. I have worked really hard and it has paid off".

US-34 Micah Buzianis (2nd Racing)
"I am totally stoked! It came down to the last event and I had to perform well
here and I was able to do that and move up a place. Definitely stoked!"

KA-1111 Jason Polakow (1st Wave)
"I am pretty ****in happy! What can you say? Seven years of working hard
for it has paid off. I might go and buy a new set of golf clubs when I get
home!"

US-1111 Robby Naish (2nd Wave)
" Today was kind of an anti climax. We were expecting light winds but not this
light. It was really tough out there. If you ask me today if I am doing the
tour next year I would say absolutely not but who knows, I will probably
change my mind. I hope so!"

USA-6 Josh Stone (3rd Wave)
"That poser Polakow is up there in first and nobody can be stoked about
that... I am joking. I am pretty stoked. It is my best result yet and every
year is getting better. I have fought for it and hopefully next year I will
get up into first place".

Women

F-12 Nathalie LeLievre (1st Overall, 1st Racing, 1st Wave)
"I am super happy. Yesterday I could have lost everything, now I won
everything so it was great to win. It all came down to the last day of the
tour".

G-680 Jutta Mueller (2nd Overall, 2nd Wave)
" I don't know, it has been kind of up and down this year. I am quite glad for
being second behind Nathalie; she really deserves the title, she is the best
sailor overall in really light winds. In strong winds and in wave sailing, she
deserves it. I am happy anyway".

Z-14 Karin Jaggi (3rd Overall, 3rd Racing)
"Actually third is a pretty good place but as I was leading last night I am
not really happy. That can happen in sports and that is the way it goes and I
am going to try next year again".

G-54 Andrea Hoeppner (2nd Racing)
"It is my best result so far. It is the first time I made it into the top
three. I am pretty happy about it although after doing so well in Sylt, I
wanted to come first here, especially in light wind course racing. I was too
nervous and then I made a lot of mistakes.... I am still pretty happy though".

KA-191 Jane Seman (3rd Wave)
"I am pretty happy because it is my first year on the tour, so to come
third is all right. I still want to do better than third. If I can manage to
get some money next year, I will be able to do some events to get a better
result".

(C)SSM Freesports unless credited as source: SSM/John Carter

<100307.1707@compuserve.com>[ back to INDEX ]

November 03, 1997
THE 1997 PWA FUNDOLE BERLIN
31st October - 1st November

The 1997 PWA Fundole Eurotour has moved on to Berlin in Germany. This is the
first time that an indoor event has been held in Berlin but more importantly,
the first time that the PWA Fundole Eurotour has brought an event to Germany.
The Indoor World tour is surely one of the world's most unique sporting
events, allowing rock and roll and a spectacular light show to meet
windsurfing in an indoor arena before a capacity, 7000 strong crowd.

The 2.5 million litres of water, the 30 turbine fans and the 70 x 30 metre
pool were transported form the Milan event, two weeks ago, to the Velodrome at
Landsberger Allee in East Berlin. The brand new stadium is almost completely
built underground, with only a few steps visible at ground level !

Windsurfing in Germany has always had strong support, with some of the world's
top sailors coming from Germany : G-16 Bernd Flessner, G-93 Andy Laufer are
here, competing for Team Germany along with 1996 Wave World Champion Jutta
Mueller the current leader in the 1997 PWA Overall World Rankings and G-54
Andrea Hoeppner, currently placed third in the world in race. G-303 Steffi
Wahl is also in Berlin, Steffi is competing in her first season on the PWA
World Tour and at her first indoor event after winning the Super8 youth
championships in 1996. The only member of Wash and Go Team Germany not present
is G-307 Robby Seeger who was unable to attend due to injury.

Along with Team Germany, the international stars are all here in force to
compete in the Fundole Eurotour as the competition hots-up to see who will be
the 1997 PWA Indoor world champion.

Britain's Nik Baker is currently leading the indoor rankings with a slim lead
from US-1111 Robby Naish. In the women's indoor rankings, F-12 Nathalie
LeLievre is currently leading both the jump and race categories ahead of Karin
Jaggi.

Big stars from the outdoor rankings are also sailing here in Berlin. E-11
Bjorn Dunkerbeck, the newly crowned 10 x PWA World Champion arrived to compete
in the racing in a country where a Nutella TV advert has made him a household
name. Bjorn arrived in Berlin with new indoor boards and new indoor sails and
quickly dispelled all myths about heavy sailors being un- competitive in the
indoor arena.

The Trials
For the second event running, K-66 Nik Baker won the timing trial, completing
2 laps of the pool in just 35.26 seconds. Baker's time was almost 1 second
faster than his fastest opponent, US- 1111 Robby Naish. I-99 Cesare Cantagalli
proved himself to be a very fast learner in the time trial. Cesare, who failed
to qualify for a place in the racing in his home country of Italy did qualify
here in Berlin. However, not only did he qualify for a place in the race
contest but he did so in 5th position ahead of many famous indoor competitors.

The Racing.....
There were a few upsets in this first round. In the first heat, Germany's
Bernd Flessner flew out of the start ramp from the un-favoured upwind gate and
straight into the lead of his heat. Unfortunately, Flessner missed his
opportunity when he fumbled his gybe allowing F-35 Robert Teriitehau and F-192
Antoine Albeau through to the semi's.

In the next round F-81 Patrice Belbeoc'h did just the same thing, flying out
of the upwind starting gate and rolling over the entire fleet. This time,
Patrice made no mistakes as he took a clean first gybe and pulled out a lead
ahead of E-66 Stephane Etienne. The two higher seeds, Z-62 Jerome Bouldoires
and I-99 Cesare Cantagalli found themselves trailing and out in the first
round.

The number 1 seed, Nik Baker made no mistakes as he cruised to victory almost
a lap ahead of 2nd place sailor E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck.

In the first semi final, F-35 Robert Teriitehau led from the 1st gybe ahead of
F-192 Antoine Albeau with US-1111 Robby Naish trailing in third after a crash
on the first mark. Robby closed the gap on Albeau every lap before finally
sneaking past the newly crowned French National Champion on the penultimate
gybe.

K-66 Nik Baker had no such problem qualifying. He led into the first gybe came
out of the gybe fully planing, had a second great gybe and then had to be
careful not to get into trouble with E-66 Stephane Etienne and Patrice
Belbeoc'h whom he approached to lap ! E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck, who was
obvoiously improving every round in the pool, broke free from Etienne and
Belbeoc'h to qualify for the 4man final.

Change in format
There was a slight change in the competition format here in Berlin. The 4
sailors who progressed to the 4 man final had to undergo a second timing
trial, in front of the crowd, to decide upon their seeding position on the
ramp.

First to go was E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck. The World Champion showed his capacity
to pick-up a new style of sailing by setting a time of 36.00 seconds. Next to
go was F-35 Robert Teriitehau with a time of 36.61 seconds followed by US-1111
Robby Naish who was looking like setting the fastest trial test until he
dropped in on the last gybe, scoring a time of 36.83 seconds including the
fall ! K-66 Nik Baker was faster still than Robby around the course but also
blew his last gybe badly and finished with 38.00 seconds.

4 man final
The four man final saw E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck starting from pole position with
Robert Teriitehau, Robby Naish and Nik Baker placed 2, 3 and 4. Baker had a
flying start from the upwind position on the ramp and was clear ahead to enter
into the first gybe. As Baker exited from one of the fastest gybes ever seen
indoor his board tripped a little on the wake of the other sailors and his
momentum sent him straight 'over the bars' and around the front of the mast in
a truly spectacular wipe-out ! Dunkerbeck took full advantage and moved up
into the lead ahead of Robert Teriitehau and Robby Naish. Dunkerbeck stretched
his lead as Teriitehau and Naish fought for second position. On the final
gybe, Naish overpowered Teriitehau and crossed the line in second position to
qualify for the super final.

Gentlemanly conduct...
The first of the man-on-man super finals got off to a 'false start' when Bjorn
Dunkerbeck hit the water, pumped his sail once and his mast snapped
immediately. Dunkerbeck's opponent, Robby Naish, saw the mast snap and rather
than take the victory, returned to the shore and asked Race Director Didier
Lafitte to re-sail the heat.

In the re-run of the 1st man-on-man final Naish took the lead, then lost the
lead when his boom slipped. Dunkerbeck slowed to return the sporting nature of
Naish's earlier gesture, and allowed Naish to take a victory neither sailor
really wanted ! 1 - 0 Naish

Dunkerbeck made no mistakes about taking the second super-final victory to
level the score at 1 - 1.

In the third and last, super final Robby moved into 1st position off the ramp
and took the lead at the 1st gybe. Dunkerbeck almost blew his 1st gybe and was
forced to perform the most incredible lay-down recovery. Dunkerbeck then
closed the gap between himself an Naish over the next lap and after the
penultimate gybe caught and came up to almost level with Naish. The crowd
roared with delight and rose to their feet as Naish with the inside line gybed
well and finished just a fraction ahead of Dunkerbeck.

With three German sailors in the first women's heat, the were sure to get at
least one sailor into the 4 man final. However, both G-54 Andrea Hoeppner and
G-680 Jutta Mueller qualified for the final to join F-12 Nathalie LeLievre and
Z-14 Karin Jaggi.

Unfortunately, the German girls did not progress any further as LeLievre and
Jaggi stormed to an easy 1, 2 victory and on into the super final which was
eventually won by current Indoor World Champion Nathalie LeLievre.

Race Results - Friday 31st October

Men
1st US-1111 Robby Naish
2nd E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck
3rd F-35 Robert Teriitehau

Women
1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd G-54 Andrea Hoeppner

Jumps
F-35 Robert Teriitehau qualified for the jump final with a high, end-over-end
forward loop and a semi-landed back loop. K-66 Nik Baker qualified in second
position ahead of US-1111 Robby Naish and F-808 Erik Thieme. The fifth sailor
to qualify for the main final was E-9 Eduardo Bellini just a fraction of a
point ahead of Stephane Etienne.

Robby Naish opened the jump final with a huge, tweaked table top and just like
Scott Fenton two weeks earlier was forced to crash land the jump just to get
down in the pool! Nik Baker jumped straight into second position of the men's
jump final with a high, stalled forward loop, leaving the opposition to catch
up. However, the inspirational Robert Teriitehau opened the second round of
the jumping with a huge, landed back loop, leaping straight into the lead
ahead of Baker. Robby replied to his opponents with high scoring back loop but
missed out on the lead by 2 points. Nik Baker finished the round with a back
loop, but was unable to pass Naish and Teriitehau and finished 3rd.

Nathalie LeLievre performed another clean-sweep, winning the women's jump
contest with three huge forward loops. LeLievre's forward loops were easily
scoring high enough for her to finish in the top 5 of the men's contest !

Results - Friday 31st October

Men - Jump
1st F-35 Robert Teriitehau
2nd US-1111 Robby Naish
3rd K-66 Nik Baker

Women - Jump
1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd E-77 Nicole Boronat
3rd Z-14 Karin Jaggi

Saturday 1st November, Day 2 of the 1997 PWA Fundole Berlin
As always, the show opened with the men's quarter finals. Bjorn Dunkerbeck,
opened the first heat by showing the same form as the previous night, taking
an easy win to qualify for the semi finals ahead of F-808 Erik Thieme. In the
second quarter final, G-16 Bernd Flessner delighted the capacity crowd by
converting a fantastic start into a place in the semi-finals, by finishing
second behind F-35 Robert Teriitehau. In the following two heats, both US-1111
Robby Naish and K-66 Nik Baker won their heats to take a place in the semi's.

G-16 Bernd Flessner found himself in a tough semi-final heat against
Dunkerbeck, Teriitehau and Thieme. Dunkerbeck charged into the lead from the
ramp for the second time. Bernd Flessner who was obviously getting used to the
pool again got away to a great start and the all-important first gybe leaving
Teriitehau and Thieme to attempt to catch up. Dunkerbeck and Flessner made no
mistakes and finished 1, 2 leaving a disappointed Teriitehau to finish 3rd.

In the second semi-final, US-1111 Robby Naish got off to a great start from
pole-position as did F- 192 Antoine Albeau, in third position on the ramp.
However, K-66 Nik Baker, the no.1 in the 1997 Indoor World Ranking was left
trailing in third position and completely unable to do anything about Naish
and Albeau.

Naish sets a blistering pace...
As with the previous night, the seeding for the sailors on the ramp for the
4man final was taken from a second timing trial. First to go was F-192 Antoine
Albeau, setting the standard for the other sailors to follow with a time of
38.69 seconds. Bernd Flessner moved into second position with a time of 39.42
seconds. Third to go was Bjorn Dunkerbeck who came out with his fastest time
trial of the contest so far with a time of 36.42, leaving Naish with all the
work to do just to qualify in pole position. Naish came out fighting and
produced the fastest qualification time of the entire contest, 34.23 seconds,
shaving an entire second off Nik Baker's previously fastest time.

Naish came out of the ramp with tremendous speed in the man final, ahead of
Flessner and Dunkerbeck. Robby pulled out a three board length lead from
Flessner who was obviously improving every race whilst Dunkerbeck fought to
close the gap. An epic duel ensued between Flessner and Dunkerbeck who was
obviously pushing to get closer and closer. On the penultimate gybe,
Dunkerbeck moved to within striking distance and passed Flessner, to move
into second position and qualify for a duel with Robby Naish in the man-on-man
super final.

Dunkerbeck went 1-0 ahead in the first man-on-man final leaving the pressure
on Naish to win the second heat from the upwind position in the second super
final. Naish, pulled away a slim lead from Bjorn, who was able to pull almost
level on every reach but just unable to take the initiative on the gybes. On
the final gybe, Dunkerbeck gybed literally 'underneath' Naish, exited the
turn with more speed and was able to roll over Naish to finish in 1st
position.

In the women's racing, the same four women as the previous night made the 4
man final; Z-14 Karin Jaggi, G-54 Andrea Hoeppner, F-12 Nathalie LeLievre and
G-680 Jutta Mueller. It was F- 12 Nathalie LeLievre who made the best start
ahead of Jaggi and Hoeppner. However, when several of the women fell at the
1st mark , it was LeLievre and Mueller who appeared from the melee in 1st and
2nd position. Jaggi and Hoeppner both attempted to catch Mueller but were left
several board lengths behind after the 1st gybe and subsequently losing ground
downwind. LeLievre and Mueller qualified for the final 'duel' with Jaggi third
and Hoeppner back in fourth.

In the duel between LeLievre and Mueller, LeLievre started cleanly but caught
a rail at the first gybe allowing Mueller to gybe tightly and come around on
the inside. From that moment on, LeLievre was forced to watch a view that she
is certainly not used to, having her opponent in front of her ! Mueller held
it all together and was able to take the race victory even, after a slip on
the final gybe.

Results - Saturday 1st November

Men - Race
1st E-11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck
2nd US-1111 Robby Naish
3rd G-16 Bernd Flessner

Women - Race
1st G-680 Jutta Mueller
2nd F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
3rd Z-14 Karin Jaggi

Jump
In the women's jump qualifying rounds, LeLievre and Jaggi went straight
through to the jump final when E-77 Nicole Boronat fell on her second
qualifying jump and chose to pull-out of the jump contest.

In the men's jumping, the 'go big or go home' approach was the order of the
day with Teriitehau, Etienne, Baker and Naish all pulling off huge back loops
to qualify for the jump final along with Eduardo Bellini who performed a
massive forward loop, which he landed from such height and with such speed
that he was flung straight over the nose of the board !

The three jump final saw 4 out of 5 sailors open their account with a forward
loop. However, the final sailor to jump, Robby Naish chose to open his jump
final with a floaty, high, fully tweaked table top which scored highly with
the judges and the crowd but left him in second position behind Teriitehau.
Teriitehau really put the nail in the coffin of his opponents with his second
round jump as he landed a killer back loop to pull 8 points clear of the
opposition. Teriitehau then finished the jump final with a hooked-in forward
loop a super-risky manoeuvre when attempting to hit a 4" gap for your fin at
over 30 knots !

Bellini and Naish finished second and third respectively, a huge 12 points
behind Teriitehau, leaving the crazy Frenchman the undisputed jump champion on
the second night.

Results - Saturday 1st November

Men - Jump
1st F-35 Robert Teriitehau
2nd E-9 Eduardo Bellini
2nd US-1111 Robby Naish

Women - Jump
1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd E-77 Nicole Boronat

OVERALL RESULTS

MEN
1st US-1111 Robby Naish
2nd F-35 Robert Teriitehau
3rd K-66 Nik Baker

WOMEN
1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd G-680 Jutta Mueller

(C)ssm freesports unless credited as source: SSM / Dan Atkins

<100307.1707@compuserve.com>[ back to INDEX ]

October 21, 1997
THE FUNDOLE 1997 PWA MILAN INDOOR - NZL-1 is up there!
17-18th October

The Fundole 1997 PWA Milan Indoor is the second leg of the 'Dole' Eurotour,
the World Indoor-Windsurfing World Championships. The first leg of the indoor
tour began back in March in Lyon, France where Nik Baker narrowly took the
overall victory over Erik Thieme and Robby Naish. This leg of the Indoor tour
sees the pool, the 30 fans, the rock and roll show and the infamous indoor
jump ramp move the FilaForum in Milan, Italy.

Indoor windsurfing provides a perfect opportunity for windsurfing enthusiasts
to see their idols at first hand and this year all of the stars are here again. Top
sailors from the PWA Race and Wave rankings are here to do battle including
S-10 Anders Bringdal , US-34 Micah Buzianis, F-81 Patrice Belbeoc'h and
KZ-1 Scott Fenton are all present. The indoor specialists are here also, US-
1111 Robby Naish, sporting a peroxide white haircut is here along with arch
rival K-66 Nik Baker, the 3 times World Indoor World Champion and jump
specialists F-35 Robert Teriitehau and F-808 Erik Thieme. Two Italian heroes
are also here in Milan, Olympic medallist Alessandra Sensini is here as is
Cesare Cantagalli, an ex tour sailor and a legend for Italian windsurfers.

Trials
As usual, an indoor contest begins well before the doors open to the public,
when 30 hopeful competitors arrive for the competition time-trials to try and
qualify for one of the handful of starting positions left free on the indoor starting
ramp. There was no surprise to see a large contingent of Italian sailors all
attempting to qualify for the main event and several were successful: I-31
Paulo Ianetti, I-33 Matteo Bof an I-5 Piettro Pacitto all qualified for the slalom
along with E-9 Eduardo Bellini and Z-62 Jerome Bouldoires. Unfortunately for
the local crowd, I-25 Alessandra Sensini was narrowly pipped to a place by
GR-1 Antonia Frey in the women's slalom qualification.

Ramp Start
The Milan indoor sees the return of the starting ramp, the infamous 4 gate
starting system which releases the sailors down a roller-ramp into the water at
staggered intervals. The highest seeded sailor takes the furthest downwind
position on the ram and is released a fraction of a second ahead of the second
seeded sailor etc.. This means that if all four sailors have a perfect start, they
will all meet at the first mark at the same time and the sailor in 'pole position'
will have the inside line on the gybe.

To allocate the positions on the starting ramp, the 16 men and 8 women who
are qualified for the show must perform a timing test in the pool. The outcome
of this time-trial saw K-66 Nik Baker placed as no.1 seed ahead of US-1111
Robby Naish, E-9 Eduardo Bellini and S-10 Anders Bringdal. Anders Bringdal,
not normally an indoor specialist, was really flying in practise, using a new
Simmer Style indoor sail and RRD indoor custom.

Friday 17th October

Slalom
The first round of the men's slalom saw the top 4 seeds progress to the semi-
finals along with KZ-1 Scott Fenton, F-35 Robert Teriitehau and F-81 Patrice
Belbeoc'h. It was not a good first round for the Italian sailors however as Bof,
Ianetti and Pacitto were all eliminated. In the women's first round the top 4
seeds, F-12 Nathalie LeLievre, F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo, Z-14 Karin Jaggi and
F-32 Valerie Salles all qualified for the final.

F-808 Erik Thieme had an incredible start and first gybe in the first men's
slalom semi-final passing Bellini and Fenton at the first mark as they became
entangled and flying through into second position behind US-1111 Robby
Naish. Naish cruised home to an easy victory having clear water at every gybe
whilst Fenton fought to catch Thieme who rarely makes a mistake in the indoor
pool. In the second semi-final, K-66 Nik Baker held his nerve after a timing
error caused a false start and flew out of the ramp for a second time. S-10
Anders Bringdal also had a flyer from the start and rolled straight over F-35
Robert Teriitehau into second position. Anders often struggles indoor but his
new sail and board combination appear to be working perfetly as he stayed
ahead of Teriitehau, probably the best tactician in the indoor pool, to finish in
second position and gain a place in the final with Naish, Thieme and Baker.

S-10 Anders Bringdal has got the start ramp here in Milan 'dialled', he left the
start ramp in the men's 4 man final from the furthest upwind position and was
able to catch and pass F-808 Erik Thieme to move into second position within
seconds. K-66 Nik Baker took the lead into the first gybe mark and barely had
the nose of his board ahead of US-1111 Robby Naish for the first lap. On his
second outside gybe Robby lost a little board-speed and allowed Baker to
pull out a slim, two board length lead. Baker capitalised on this advantage
which allowed him to set-up for his gybes rather than being forced to 'defend
his position' and he pulled out a little further to take his place with Naish in the
'Super Final'.

The super final is a concept unique to indoor windsurfing where the first two
sailors from the 4 man final continue on to fight it out in a best-of-3, man-on-
man final. Baker, having won the 4 man final took pole position in the first two
man final and made it count as he gave a flawless demonstration of indoor
windsurfing under-pressure. 1-0 Baker.

In the second super-final round, it was Naish who took pole position. Both
Baker and Naish had a perfect start, placing both sailors side-by-side at the
first gybe. Naish gybed wide for speed and Baker went for the inside line. Both
sailors exited the first gybe side-by-side once more and again the two sailors
emerged dead level with Naish still holding onto the right-of-way at the gybe
marks. On the final lap, something had to give, the two sailors had
demonstrated the most incredible board control as they sailed, almost
touching for two and a half laps of the three lap course. Finally , something
gave-way and Robby stalled fractionally coming out of a gybe. In any other
heat it would have made little difference however, in a battle this tight it,
allowed Baker to take the inside line into the final gybe and cross the line in
first position.

In the women's final, F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo took advantage of a rare mistake
from Nathalie LeLievre to take a half-leg lead in the final which she defended
with skill from the current indoor and Overall World champion, who will be
looking for revenge tomorrow night.....

1st K-66 Nik Baker
2nd US-1111 Robby Naish
3rd S-10 Anders Bringdal
4th F-808 Erik Thieme

1st F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo
2nd F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
3rd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
4th F-32 Valerie Salles

Jump
Following the initial round of the slalom, the fans wind-down, the lights dim
and the infamous indoor jump-ramp is gently lowered from the roof. Ten
sailors jump in the first half of the show and first sailor down the ramp is Z-62
Jerome Bouldoires from Switzerland. Jerome always finishes well in the jump
competition and was used at the Silvaplana Grand Prix in August to
demonstrate the indoor jump ramp outdoors on Silvaplana Zee in August. The
Swiss sailor hit the ramp and pulled of a high forward loop, with a perfect
landing and set-up the standard for the other sailors to match. It was only KZ-1
Scott Fenton who could out-do Bouldoires on the his first jump with and
incredibly high forward loop which left Fenton only a couple of board lengths
of pool left to land in! However, the biggest cheer of the first round went to I-99
Cesare Cantagalli, who came off the indoor ramp and went straight into a
'cheese roll' the manoeuvre which was named after himself.

Cesare continued to please the crowd once more with a stalled back loop
attempt , which saw him travel so far along the pool that he put his board down
on the inflatable crash pads at the pool end, just inches away from the first row
of the crowd. KZ-1 Scott Fenton, continued to dominate with a massive,
tweaked table-top. The shock of the first round of the jumping was that US-
1111 Robby Naish, failed to make the final ! Naish performed an epic, high
table top for his first jump and looked certain to qualify with one of the highest
first jump scores. However, he hit the ramp very badly on his second jump and
had so little speed as he hit the ramp that he was unable to rotate his second
jump at all. A similar fate befell F-35 Robert Teriitehau, the man who scored an
incredible 11.0 pts for a huge, dry-landed back loop in practise behind closed
doors earlier on in the day but crashed and burned on the same manoeuvre in
the show.

The jump final
Five sailors progress to the jump final, KZ-1 Scott Fenton, Z-62 Jerome
Bouldoires, F-808 Erik Thieme, E-66 Stephane Etienne and K-66 Nik Baker.
KZ-1 Scott Fenton came out for the second time and pulled off another huge,
forward loop, which was received with huge cheers by the near capacity
crowd in the FilaForum. Only F-808 Erik Thieme could compete with the
standard that Fenton set on his first jump. Dressed in a yellow and black
spotted 'leopard' suit, complete with mask, Thieme executed another huge
forward loop putting him into equal first with Fenton at this stage. K-66 Nik
Baker had to abort his second jump when his fin hit a bag in the pool and
caused him to spin out at over 30 knots just metres away from the ramp.
Fortunately, Baker was able to stall his board and race officials allowed him to
jump again from a standing start at the bottom of the ramp. Baker did well to
execute a clean forward roll with a much lower board-speed although his
chance to win the jump contest had passed. Fenton hit the ramp on his second
jump and went into a huge, high , tweaked table top which put him at the top of
the scoreboard. Thieme was forced to go big, or go home and went for back
loop. Thieme under-rotated and crashed out. The final jump results were as
follows:

1st KZ-1 Scott Fenton
2nd F-808 Erik Thieme
3rd K-66 Nik Baker
4th Z-62 Jerome Bouldoires
5th E-66 Stephane Etienne

Nathalie LeLievre took a victory in the women's jump final with two crowd
pleasing forward loops, which her opponent, Z-14 Karin Jaggi had no answer
for.

1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd I-25 Allesandra Sensini
4th Z-14 Karin Jaggi

Day 2 - Saturday 18th October

Slalom
The heats for the second night slalom are taken from the results of the first
night and so the sailors are all re-shuffled according to how they performed
under pressure. In the first two heats, Naish, Bellini, Bringdal and Fenton all
progressed with ease to a place in the semi's. Whereas F-81 Patrice
Belbeoc'h a semi-finalist yesterday was overtaken on the starting straight by
E-8, Ivan Aguado, who carried more board-speed off the ramp and straight
into second position ahead of Belbeoc'h and I-33 Matteo Bof.

There was much more position changing in the semi-finals. S-10 Anders
Bringdal came out of the ramp in second position behind Naish and ahead of
KZ-1 Scott Fenton and E-9 Eduardo Bellini. Bringdal caught a rail on his first
gybe and fell, allowing Bellini and Fenton to move through on the inside.
Fenton and Bellini then battled out for second position behind Naish who had
a comfortable lead. At the finish, it was Robby Naish and Eduardo Bellini who
qualified for the final.

In the second semi, the top 2 seeds K-66 Nik Baker and F-3 Robert Teriitehau
both qualified for the final ahead of E-8 Ivan Aguado and F-808 Erik Thieme.

The 4 man final was incredibly spectacular. K-66 Nik Baker left the ramp well
and was the first sailor at the first mark, ahead of Robby Naish and Robert
Teriitehau who arrived at the same time. Naish and Teriitehau collided,
allowing E-9 Eduardo Bellini through into second, while Teriitehau and Naish
recovered. Just two gybes later, F-35 Robert Teriitehau had caught and
passed E-9 Eduardo Bellini and US-1111 Robby Naish was closing the gap
also. With Baker leading from Teriitehau, Bellini rounded the final mark and
caught a rail to windward, giving Naish the opportunity to pass. However,
Naish fumbled the boom as he was forced to bear away and sail around
Bellini, allowing the Spanish sailor to recover and take 3rd position as Naish
was left in 4th a position he is not accustomed to.

There was much drama in the man-on-man super final with Baker vs.
Teriitehau. In the first final, Baker was slow away from the starting ramp
allowing Teriitehau to move level with him up the first straight. With Teriitehau,
literally on top of him, Baker was unable to luff-up and set himself up for the
first gybe correctly. Baker made the gybe with no problem but was unable to
stay close-in to the mark and allowed Teriitehau that all-important gap to move
into the upwind position. On the second leg, Teriitehau, sailing upwind of
Baker was able to pull out an overlap and gain right of way at the next gybe.
Robert made no mistakes and finished ahead of Nik Baker. 1-0 Teriitehau.

In the second super final, it was Teriitehau's turn to take pole position. Both
sailors entered the first gybe simultaneously. Teriitehau went a little wide
allowing Baker to come inside carrying more board speed than his opponent.
As both sailors approached the second gybe, Baker turned-in, Teriitehau tried
to sail through a gap that didn't exist and 'nailed' Baker, leaving him in the
water, dazed and looking at the judges in appeal. Sure enough, the PWA
Direct Referees on the beach witnessed the infringement and declared F-35
Robert Teriitehau disqualified. 1-1 all even.

The two sailors tossed an coin to see who would receive the pole-position in
the last super-final. K-66 Nik Baker won the toss and took the opportunity of
the inside line at the first gybe. Both sailors started well and Nik Baker took a
lead of literally 'inches' into the first gybe. However, Teriitehau blew it ! He
dropped his first gybe just before the rig-flip and Baker was long-gone. In his
favoured indoor arena you can trust Nik Baker to capitalise on any opportunity
and the current indoor no.1 made no mistakes as he cruised to victory in the
third super final. Baker 2 - 1 Teriitehau. Nik Baker took his second slalom
victory in two nights!

In the women's slalom, F-12 Nathalie LeLievre, Z-14 Karin Jaggi, F-32 Valerie
Salles and F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo all qualified for the final. However, Salles
had finished ahead of Ghibaudo effectively 'stealing' the pole position on the
ramp. All four sailors went down at the first mark and the first to recover from
the melee was F-12 Nathalie LeLievre ahead of F-32 Valerie Salles. The two
French sailors held their positions and moved into the super final for the
women.

It was F-32 Valerie Salles who took the lead into the first gybe ahead of
LeLievre. Salles clung on to the lead for two laps from her counterpart who
began to apply more and more pressure. Finally, on the last gybe, Salles went
fractionally too wide on the exit. LeLievre seized the opportunity and gybed
tightly, stealing her opponents wind momentarily and diving through the
inside, leaving Valerie Salles to finish in second position.

MEN
1st K-66 Nik Baker
2nd F-35 Robert Teriitehau
3rd E-9 Eduardo Bellini

Jump..
The standard of jumping in the show tonight was a little higher than last night
and the judges looked down at their score-sheets after all the silo's had taken
their first jump to see all 10 competitors almost equal ! It was the old-master,
US-1111 Robby Naish who qualified for the jump final in first position. Robby's
first jump was the high, 'tweaked' table top that he is so famous for followed by
a back-loop. Erik Thieme, qualified in second position ahead of E-9 Eduardo
Bellini whose jumping was improving with every jump. The next three places
were all un-believably close. Z-62 Jerome Bouldoires, KZ-1 Scott Fenton and
F-35 Robert Teriitehau were all separated by just 0.1 of a point each. However
their are only 5 slots available in the final and Robert Teriitehau missed the cut
for the first time in many indoor contests.

The format of the jump final was altered slightly with each sailor being
permitted three jumps, all three to count but only if they are a different
manoeuvre. KZ-1 Scott Fenton, the first night jump winner opened the final
with a huge table top, that he was forced to crash land, just to keep himself in
the pool. The standard was set!

Eduardo Bellini quickly built up a good rapport with the crowd and was
obviously inspired by their cheers, opened his final with a sweet, high-scoring
forward loop. US-1111 Robby Naish decided to perform his hardest jump first
and went for a back loop. Unfortunately, his foot came out of the back strap
and he was unable to land the jump.

Scott Fenton's second jump pushed the boundaries yet further, the Kiwi sailor
hit the ramp and then pulled off an awesome push loop with an almost dry
landing, good enough for 11.0 points and for the crowd to go wild and leap to
their feet cheering !!

The crowd also gave Robby Naish a standing ovation for his second jump,
chanting 'Robby, Robby' as he sailed down towards the ramp. He hit the ramp
and moved straight into a 'sick' table top, much to the pleasure of the crowd.
This left three sailors all with the opportunity to win the contest, the last jump
was crucial. Scott Fenton had saved his forward loop until last and pulled out
the highest and cleanest forward of the entire contest, laying down the
gauntlet to Naish and Bellini. It was Bellini who answered. The Spanish sailor,
hit the ramp at speed flicked up into the table-top position and the rotated for a
full back loop and landed !! The first time a table-top back loop had been
completed indoors, a historic moment, all 5 judges immediately awarded 12.0
pts, the maximum score possible.

The final results in the jump were as follows:

Men
1st E-9 Eduardo Bellini
2nd KZ-1 Scott Fenton
3rd US-1111 Robby Naish

Women
1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd I-25 Alessandra Sensini

OVERALL RESULTS - over two nights

Race Overall
1st K-66 Nik Baker
2nd US-1111 Robby Naish
3rd F-35 Robert Teriitehau

1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo
3rd F-32 Valerie Salles

Jump Overall
1st KZ-1 Scott Fenton
2nd F-808 Erik Thieme
3rd US-1111 Robby Naish

1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd I-25 Alessandra Sensini

OVERALL MEN
1st US-1111 Robby Naish
2nd K-66 Nik Baker
3rd KZ-1 Scott Fenton

1st F-12 Nathalie LeLievre
2nd Z-14 Karin Jaggi
3rd F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo

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