Wave - The "Crown Jewel" of Windsurfing

The “crown jewel” of the windsurfing disciplines in which the surfers, comparable to the classical surfing without sail, ride waves and use the power of the wind to launch themselves into the air from breaking waves to perform spectacular jumps.

 

Photo Marius Keckeisen
Photo John Carter

 

Epic Surf Conditions
In contrast to freestyle, which is celebrated on flat water, wavesailing is focused on the interaction with the wave. Often, the special fascinations of this discipline are impressive conditions and giant waves. It’s really challenging for the surfers and interesting for the spectators. But it must not be the biggest wave which sets the most challenging conditions. Because of the additional power of the sail, windsurfers can ride a wide spectrum of waves, from the smaller European waves to the almost perfectly breaking waves of the southern Pacific and finally the monster waves of the planet.

 

Photo F2/John Carter

 

Man against Man
The participants of the wave competitions usually surf in heats man against man, applying the knock-out system. A heat is settled for a certain period of time. The best wave-rides and jumps are judged.

 

The Best-known Surfers
In the history of windsurfing legends of the sport like Robby Naish, Björn Dunkerbeck and the American Kevin Pritchard have established themselves in this discipline. Other surfers have become popular thanks to their unique sailing style: In the 90`s the Argentine Francisco Goya for his fluent moves and the Australian Jason Polakow for his radical "skateboard-style" in the wave. At the moment, the world class is lead by Kauli Seadi a Brazilian who has already won a freestyle- and a wave championship title and who combines the two disciplines freestyle - and waveriding to a new revolutionary style. His hardest rivals are Josh Angulo, an experienced American who lives on the Cape Verde Islands and the young Spaniard Victor Fernandez. In women’s windsurfing Spanish Canarian born Daida Moreno hasn`t been defeated for years, until her twin sisiter Iballa Moreno, who is not less talented, succeeded to pass her in 2007. 

 

Links

Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) - Wave

Story: Dangerous Spots

Downloads

Find this document for download in the download area:

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"World of Windsurfing Download Disciplines Wave_English.doc"

 

Find the official PWA information about wave windsurfing in the download area:

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"PWA Information Wave.pdf"