Antoine Albert had great days in Moulay Bouzerktoun 2018, Boujmaa Guilloul’s home spot. The swell was pumping and the world class freestyler showed great skills in waves. He ended up in 7th place in the PWA qualifier event. Well done Albert!!
“It was my 3rd time in Moulay Bouzerktoun this year, I really love this place it’s super chill, you always get a warm welcome from the locals, you eat good and you ride every day, surf or windsurf. I arrived 2 weeks before the start of the IWT/PWA qualifier to remember the spot and how to sail on starboard tack after 4 month of port, I get wind almost everyday and a large diversity of conditions, big waves and light wind, the opposite and big waves and strong wind so I was quite prepared for the competition. I also get some nice freestyle sessions with jumps and moves in between the waves on 4.4m and 4.2m and 94L.” (Antoine Albert)
Antoine Albert windsurfs in big wave conditions in Moulay Bouzerktoun, Morocco, March/April 2018
Filmed by Antoine MARTIN, Berk YALGIN & Lina ERPENSTEIN
More about the IWT/PWA wave competition in Moulay Bouzerktou, Morocco by Antoine Albert:
Then the competition started on March, 28 in Moulay Bouzerktoun. The first fews days were quiet for me (I was registered in the pro division) as they started with all the other categories (amateur, youth and grand master) because a big Saturday, March 31, was coming, just perfect to run the pro fleet. I was in the first heat of the first round against the legend and local Boujmaa Guilloul, tough heat! We started the Friday, March 30 (the day before the big day) and on our first heat the wind was super light and mini waves, however I managed to give my best and finished 2nd of the heat, 3 points behind the king.
The IWT runs a dingle like the WSL (World Surf League) does, what’s means on the first round, that the first guy out of the 3 goes straight into the 3rd round and the 2 others are splitted on the 2nd round.
On Saturday, waves were pumping and we waited all morning long for the wind to shift from dead off shore to side shore, sets were around mast hight and I was well powered up on 4.5m, first heat with my 75L custom and then switched for the 70L custom for the rest of the day. In those conditions race director Duncan Coombs chose not to add jumps. It was a proper wave sailing competition.
I advanced other 2 rounds with a good wave selection, mixed with good turns, Aerials and Goiter that brought me into the semi-final. Unfortunately in my last heat I struggled to find nice waves and was a bit overpowered on 4.5 so I finished on the 4th place of this heat, that’s mean a 7th place overall at the PWA qualifier.
The next week was an off week for us, waves were massives, so I decided to train in freestyle starboard tack on the inside close to the beach, as Leucate could be similar to this. Overall I’m quite happy with my sailing, excepted in my last heat where I’m sure I could have done better, but I take this event as a good experience for further wave competitions.
My next event will be the participation in the firts European Freestyle Pro Tour (EFPT) in Leucate from the 18th till the 22th of April, 2018.
