The countdown is on – in less than 1 week the first PWA Freestyle event of the season and the EFPT Tow-In European Championship 2013 will take place at Podersdorf, Austria. This year the Surf Worldcup Podersdorf is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The world’s best freestyle windsurfers will be back on lake Neusiedl in the east of Austria, where the freestyle movement got started, when Josh Stone landed the first Spocks and Björn Dunkerbeck was still competing in freestyle in 1998. The „PWA Surf Worldcup Podersdorf“ will host PWA Freestyle windsurfing action from the 26th till 30th April 2013, the Tow-In Championship from 27th until the 30th and a kitesurf event from May 1st until May 5th.
The Surf Worldcup event poster 2013 (Source: SWC).
The PWA Surf Worldcup Austria will be the first freestyle event of the 2013 PWA freestyle season and at the same time it will be the start of the PWA tour. The whole PWA tour consists of 4 freestyle events, 6 wave- and 6 slalom events in 2013. From the 26th till the 30th of April 2013 the world’s best men freestyle windsurfers will fight for the event title at Podersdorf. Most of them have trained really hard during the winter months in Brazil, Spain, Canary Islands, Caribbean Islands, Egypt, Vietnam or South Africa to raise the windsurfing level. 48 riders from more than 20 countries are expected.They will stick the latest freestyle tricks next to the beach and fight for 35.000€ in total.
THE FAVOURITES
The favourites are the reigning world champion Gollito Estredo (V-01), who won the event at Podersdorf last year and in 2008, and Steven van Broeckhoven (B-72) from Belgium, who has won in 2011. Both have trained very well over the winter months and will hopefully be rewarded with excellent wind conditions in 2013. Steven has won the event in 2011 and took the PWA worlditle in 2011. Gollito has won in 2012 at Podersdorf and won the PWA worldtitle, too. So, it looks like a victory in Podersdorf is already a preliminary decision of the world champion title.
Kiri Thode (NB-61), Taty Frans (NB-9) and Tonky Frans (NB-7) from Bonaire are top favorites for the victory as well. But there are many other talents on the long list of favourites: Youp Schmit and Björn Saragoza from Bonaire, 2012 EFPT tour winner Davy Scheffers from Holland or Dieter van der Eyken from Belgium, who trained extremely hard during the winter months. Of course, there are many more big experienced names on the list, who often competed at Podersdorf in the past years: Antony Ruenes, Julien Mas and Nicolas Agkazciyan from France, Canadian Phil Soltysiak, Russian Yegor Popretinskiy, Yarden Meir from Israel, Andy Bubble Chambers and Max Rowe from UK, Christopher Kalk from Estonia or Italian hot shot Jacopo Testa. In the strong international fleet will be several local heroes. On top of all stands lake Neusiedl local Max Matissek, who trained at Jericoacoara, Cape Town and Dahab during the cold Austrian winter months. Max has good chances to keep up with the best this year as he progressed a lot during the last half year. Last year he was ranked on the 28th place on the PWA Freestyle tour and 6th at the EFPT tour. Alex Seyss and Michi Rossmeier are on the entry list, too. They both know the lake and let’s see if they can take advantage of their local knowledge.
Gollito Estredo (V-10) won the event in 2012. He will be the man to beat (Pic:PWA/Carter).
Event organizer Gerhard Polak is looking forward to the event: “All started with windsurfing, so no wonder our focus lies on the sport of windsurfing during this 15th anniversary. With the Chiemsee Tow In European Championship we can guarantee action if it is windy or not. Windsurfing has been attracting the people from the surrounding big cities, Vienna and Bratislava, more than almost any other sport. But for us it is really important to get the visitors on board. Like last year, we offer free windsurfing lessons and I am sure they will be fully booked again!”
Event area 2013.
TOW-IN
The Tow-In Contest will be held from the 27th till the 30th of April. All qualification rounds and the final will be held in the evening with flood light. The winner of the Tow-In event will be the European Tow-In Champion and the riders will battle for a total price money of 5000€. The event will have its registration on the 26th of April and the final on the 30th at 8 p.m.
All infos about the Tow-In event you can read here: http://efpt.net/eventdetails.php?eid=104&sid=12
CONTINENTSEVEN AT THE SURF WORLDCUP 2013
We will be at the event during the whole time and you can meet us at the media lounge close to the main entrance. Together with our team, we will create short video clips during the day, to keep you updated about the action during the day. Feel free to pass by to say “Hello”, take some stickers, read windsurfing magazines or watch a DVD.
WINDSURFING FOR EVERYONE
Besides the windsurfing event a lot of additional action for the public visitors will happen on the huge event area. Almost all big Austrian windsurfing shops and importers will be present with their latest 2013 equipment. Everybody has the chance to get on a board, test new gear and enjoy the conditions at one of the best lakes for windsurfing in central Europe. A special service for beginners will be available in the “trial lesson area”. All beginners, who are motivated to try windsurfing, will get a short introduction and can try windsurfing. And it’s for free and quite safe as the lake offers shallow water conditions and already warm water conditions at this period of the season. Stand Up Paddling, Airtrack, Discgolf, laser tag and a few other trend sport activities will be available at the big event area, too.
Kiri Thode – Pic: PWA/John Carter
It will be a relaxed atmosphere as the organizer follows a new concept and wants to focus more on the sport. You will not find the big party tents on the beach, only little tents with food corners and a beach house directly at the waterfront. It allows the visitors to watch the windsurfing action from inside and be protected in case of cold weather conditions. But also party tigers get their money’s worth. The big parties will happen outside at a special place at the entrance of the village of Podersdorf.
Thousands of spectators are expected to celebrate 15 years of the Surf Worldcup in Podersdorf and to be part of the program during the day and the night.
Programm overview: http://www.surfworldcup.at/index.php?article_id=1&clang=1
SURF WORLDCUP 2013 – FACTS:
Location: Podersdorf am See / Neusiedler See / Burgenland
Date: 25.04.- 5.05.2013
PWA Freestyle Worldcup: 26. – 30. April
CHIEMSEE Tow-In European Championship: 27. – 30. April
Kiteboarding Contest: 1. – 5. Mai
Worldcup Partys – 26th April till 4th May
Bacardi Oakheart Beach Bash: 26. & 27. April
Zipfer Seaside Festival: 3. & 4. Mai
Specials:
Opening Ceremony: 25. April
Pricegiving PWA Freestyle Worldcup: 30. April
Pricegiving Kiteboarding Team Contest: 5. Mai
Website: www.surfworldcup.at
Facebook: www.facebook.com/surfworldcup
©continentseven.com 2013
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