WINDSURF NEWS BULLETIN
WINDSURF NEWS BULLETIN
WINDSURF NEWS BULLETIN
The news has been dropping thick and fast this week with lots of competitions wrapping up and some new exciting ones on the way! Meanwhile, over in Maui, Jaws delivered a late season surprise with Kai Lenny showing his all-round expertise, shredding the waves on a variety of craft, while Takara Ishii snuck in an early session at the peak of the swell!
Unfortunately, not all the news is good; Antoine Martin took a heavy hit while training for the upcoming MFC Maui ProAm, suffering a nasty injury to his ear and Lina Erpenstein looks to be off the water for a while after twisting her foot in Chile and Steve Thorp fell off his bike and hurt foot pretty seriously! Ok, lets get down to it…and find out the good, the bad and the ugly of what has been happening in our wonderful windsurfing world!
Photos: Erik Aeder, Fish Bowl Diaries, Sailing Energy and John Carter.
COMPETITION WRAP UP
CHILE
What an amazing few weeks for the WWT / PWA wave tour down in South America! There were some huge swells right before the event and then after a little break in conditions where the surf (and the fishing) was firing, the wind and waves came back with a vengeance and all fleets competed in amazing conditions. The men’s and women’s final were moved away from the event HQ in Matanzas in exchange for beautiful half-mast high waves and screaming Surazo winds down at Topocalma!
Fair play for the livestream for rallying and managing to put on a show live from Topocalma which is quite a remote location compared to Matanzas. Most of us have heard the news by now that Marcilio Browne won the men’s pros with Aussie wave charger Jane Seman taking the honours in the women’s fleet!
In the men’s final Simmer / O’Shea rider, Marc Pare produced some moments of magic as he shredded one of his waves to pieces with a big air, a nice carve straight into another air and then bosh…a perfect goiter to put the icing on the cake! That wave alone clocked him up a monster 8.83 score which looked like it could be enough to seal the deal if he could back it up with another bomb!
But fair play to Marcilio Browne for holding his nerve and fighting back with two incredible waves scoring a 7.17 and 7.97, the combined tally enough for him to clinch victory! That was a real champions performance to nail those rides under the intense pressure of the final.
Over to the ladies and Jane Seman decided to charge the waves with no remorse at Topocalma and her no holding back attitude paid off as she romped home to victory in front of Alexia Kiefer Quintana and Sarah Quita Offringa who finished in second and third respectively.
LINA ERPENSTEIN
Unfortunately, last years event winner, Lina Erpenstein was injured during one of her heats and it sounds like a while before she will be back on the water! We wish her a fast recovery!
Lina commented on social media: “Sad ending to the Chile World Cup for me. I had a harmless looking crash, where a small wave broke onto my board and twisted my foot in a strange way.
It turns out to be a torsion in the Lisfranc joint line and partial rupture of the ligament. Will be walking in the moon boot for a while now, but there’s hope I can be back on the water for Pozo in time. ????????????????
Back home now so recovery starts now ????????
Thanks to everyone who helped me on the beach and also to the clinicamatanzas for the first aid. Also, thanks for the many support messages I’m getting – I’ll be back stronger ????????????????”
As the Chilean dust settles in South America after another epic show down on the beaches of Matanzas and Topocalma the next stop for many riders will be the hollowed shore of Maui for a 4-Star event at Ho’okipa.
ANTOINE MARTIN
Well, Antoine Martin arrived early on Maui and headed straight out at Kanaha for some pre-event training, but things didn’t go quite as planned…It sounds like he had a nasty injury to his ear but is hoping to be back on the water in time for the MFC Maui ProAm! We wish him a speedy recovery!
STEVE THORP
Talking of injuries, poor Steve Thorp, who is probably one of the wave sailors that clocks up the most water time in the UK suffered a nasty injury after a cycling crash! The pictures do the talking here!
Steve commented: “Went for a nice family Mothers Day bike ride at Lanhydrock yesterday and finished by having to put my foot back on the right way round!
Thanks to my wife Trudy Thorp for driving me to A and E again, sorry about the meal out and next few weeks of me being useless!”
JAWS!!
KAI LENNY
The conditions in Maui have already been hooting up and Jaws even started snapping on Sunday with some hefty waves. Of course, no Jaws swell goes unridden in Maui, especially when Kai Lenny is on hand with his quiver of water sports toys! By the looks of things, he managed five different sports in one day on his latest encounter with Pe’ahi!
Kai looks back on the day:
“It’s already April and my expectations for another big Hawaii swell was non-existent. So, to my great surprise a large swell showed up on the maps. Immediately I made a list of what I wanted to do out there. Since there was going be wind for the first time since last season. I was ready to Windsurf, Wing, Parawing and Kite. On top of all the other sports I had been doing this past winter.
I was so close to strike missioning it down to Chile to join the other Pro’s. But when I saw Mavericks and Jaws were going to be breaking, I decided to stay back so I could ride some big Surf. The Jaws forecast was definitely not ideal, the winds were a bit side onshore and the swell direction wasn’t making the waves line up on the reef perfectly. That being said, any big wave is a good wave. I was just stoked that I could actually ride a couple waves in the 40-foot range.
CRAFT
I started with Tow-in Surfing, then went to my Wing Foil, then swapped the Foil board out for a Tow-in Board with the Wing. The evening before I Tow-in surfed and used my Parawing. After I launched my Kite and finished with Windsurfing. By the time I was sailing the wind had lighted up a bit but there wasn’t anyone around, so I had the place to myself. It was really nice because if I wasn’t able to get on the wave I could fade into the one behind and ride that one.
GOALS
I have so many little goals with all the different sports for big Wave riding I did in fact tried to squeeze it all in. I figured this would be the last hurrah for Jaws this season and the next opportunity might not be until next October – November if we’re lucky. I could not imagine waiting all summer long and have these different ideas floating in my head. For example, Tow-in surfing I wanted to land a bunch of front flips down the wave. As well as test my latest design and fin configuration. With Winging it was to ride the biggest wave I have ever ridden on that craft. Wing Surfing was to fly like a pelican, Kitesurfing was to do the most powerful top turn I could, to test the limits of my new tow-in board and fins. Parawing; to simply try it and see if it would be the ideal vehicle for the future on a foil. Windsurfing was to train for the Maui Pro/Am and ride one my latest windsurfing shapes on a big Wave. It goes on and on.
THE PARAWING
Initially my first wave I tried flying the wing and collapsing it. I got way too overpowered and exploded halfway through the wave. The next one I was just able to lock into a bomb and quickly tried pulling the wing in. Once I was dropping in it was completely out my way which is exactly what makes the Parawing awesome. How you can use it catch a wave and then pack it up, so you have a bit more freedom.
MOMENTS
There are always intense moments out there. For one, trying new things you never really know what’s going to happen so in the back of my mind and waiting to maybe explode halfway down the face. That being said I usually testing the idea in smaller surf beforehand. Once you are on that big and fast-moving wave anything can happen. I didn’t end up falling the entire swell. For most intense moment it must’ve been the Parawing and packing it up in time before I dropped into the wave.
CREW
I was with my brother Ridge, my friend Tucker Ingalls and Otis Buckingham and our safety driver Ola Curnan. My Dad was on our boat with some friends as well. There were others out there doing their thing.”
TAKARA ISHII
Not to be outdone by the Kai Lenny show, new Goya signing, Takara Ishii turned up early and scored the peak of the swell at Jaws! Luckily ace Maui photographer Erik Aeder was on hand to shoot these epic waves!
MALLORCA: 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels – iQFOiL
The British Sailing team were firing on all cylinders in Mallorca taking nine medals across the 10 categories, and five of those were gold. Emma Wilson was crowned outright champion of 54 Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca by FERGUS Hotels. She received the spectacular trophy after her results across the regatta produced the highest score in the formula that is used to compare the relative performances of the gold medal winners across all 10 racing categories.
EMMA WILSON
“Yeah in Palma we had a big range of conditions anything from 6 knots to 22 , so it was good to try the new sail size in the lighter winds. I’m really happy to take the win, I really wanted to put a good week together and show what I’m capable of and feel like I did that this week. The new format was good to try again, I think it is definitely better than the old format from last cycle. They are still testing some formats but I feel like it’s definitely improving for the better. I don’t think there’s a massive secret to being at the top, the first time I did Palma was in 2014 with my mum and 11 years later here I am, it takes a lot of time and experience and you lose more than you win but when you win it’s 100% worth it. The British team did amazing, we won 5 out of 10 classes, and a lot of other medals too. It’s really nice to see after a bit of a disappointing games I think we are all on a mission now!”
PWA GUADELUOPE
2025 Guadeloupe World Cup
We caught up with event organizer Tristan Algret to learn more about this exciting new addition to the PWA tour calendar.
Set to take place from April 22nd to 26th, the event will be hosted in Le Gosier, a stunning location in Guadeloupe. Situated on the south side of Grande-Terre, Le Gosier is known for its pristine white sandy beaches, consistent trade winds, and incredible turquoise waters. The Guadeloupe archipelago consists of five islands, offering a spectacular setting for exciting PWA foil racing.
Competitors and crew will stay at the Zenitude Le Salako Hotel, with the beach and rigging area just a short walk from their rooms. Just offshore, the picturesque Îlet du Gosier will serve as a stunning backdrop for the competition.
The event will feature 48 men and 24 women on the entry list, with plenty of local sailors eager to test their skills against PWA’s elite.
Although Tristan Algret is a fierce competitor, he has chosen to focus entirely on event logistics and operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly.
With 15-20 knot winds expected, conditions should be ideal for 7.8m – 8.6m slalom racing. This season has already been notably windy, so hopes are high for perfect racing conditions. However, as a precaution, Tristan has a backup racing venue on the north side of the island, ready to go in case of seaweed issues, an occasional challenge in the Caribbean.
The stage is set for an unforgettable event in Guadeloupe, where world-class windsurfing meets one of the most picturesque locations on the PWA tour!
BWA RACING – WEYMOUTH
Roll up, Roll up racers! Next weekend is the first slalom event of the UK Windsurfing season is coming up on the 12/13 April at Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy the home of Olympic Sailing and speed week.
There is racing across various different fleets so anybody can enter no matter age, kit or experience. Sounds like a plan?
More details here: https://ukwindsurfing.com/
MFC MAUI PROAM
Yes, the waiting is almost over the MFC Maui ProAm is back next week!
All the details are here: Windsurf MagazineMFC: MAUI PRO-AM | Windsurf Magazine
2XS DEMO DAY
2XS x Axis & Ozone DEMO DAY – April 12th 2025
Join us at 2XS on 12th April for an Axis & Ozone Demo day with foiling legends Mark Shinn & Freddie Oldfield.
10:00AM DEMO DAY BEGINS
10:30AM Mark Shinn Talk & Guide to Ozones NEW Parawing
11:30AM BBQ Breakfast
TBC: Downwind clinic will be subject to water & wind conditions (time TBC on day).
4:00PM DEMO DAY ENDS
Register to demo here: https://app.waiverforever.com/pending/pPgDCLx5wN1742576657
WORTHING WATERSPORTS
Sam from Worthing Watersports has some new stock in store!
“So, this week we have the new Aluminium Duotone 3BS mast. Allowing beginners to buy once and upgrade to carbon in the future with no need to change their fuselage. It’s all cross compatible now.
We also have the new Ventis so the 2024 is discounted by 30% – ultimate light wind wing.
And finally…we also just had delivery of the carve 3.0 and our latest YouTube review for this product is now online – with the duotone foil designer!
Watch the full interview here:
4BOARDS
Drop by 4Boards and chat with Bob or Stu; They have got a ton of great deals waiting for you!
Or browse their SALE pages on their website for lots of unbeatable bargains on Wing foil gear, Windsurfing equipment, Bags, Wetsuits, Accessories, and Clothing. Don’t miss your chance to snag a Bargain! Click the link below!
BOARDWISE
Boardwise have an incredible windsurf sale on right now with up to 50% off some items! What are you waiting for! Click the link below!! There is a whole host of other water sports equipment in the shop!
ROBIN HOOD WATERSPORTS
The crew at Robin Hood Watersports have tonnes of great deals up for grabs! There is currently an offer for 35% off NeilPryde booms and 25% off of 2024 Point 7 sails; as well as free next day delivery! Check out the deals by clicking below!
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