The PWA has just released their 2016 tour calendar. It contains 12 tour stops in 8 different countries at the moment. 11 out of 12 events will take place in Europe. Some dates still have to be confirmed. The tour will start during the first week of May with a freestyle event for the men in Austria. The Slalom riders will have their first competition in May, too. The wave sailors still have plenty of time to prepare for event number one on Gran Canaria at the beginning of July.
The New Caledonia Slalom will not be held this season. The organizer decided to run the event every two years from now on. The event in La Torche follows the same two year rhythm and is back on the calendar.
The Slalom riders will have most of the events, 7 for the men and 4 for the ladies. The wave riders will see 6 men events and 5 ladies event. And the freestylers will just have 3 events and only 1 ladies event. Unfortunately the freestyle events are again a bit underrepresented in 2016. Unfortunately the freestyle event in La Franqui from last year is off the calendar again.
2016 PWA calendar (provisional)
- AUSTRIA, Podersdorf | 04.05. – 8.05.2016 | Freestyle Men | World Cup
- SOUTH KOREA, Jinha Beach | 19.05. – 24.05.2016 | Slalom Women & Men | World Cup (dates have been changed due to unexpected political issues)
TURKEY, Bodrum | 01.06. – 05.06.2016 | Slalom Women | World Cup- SPAIN, Costa Brava | 07.06. – 12.06.2016 | Slalom Men | World Cup
- GRAN CANARIA (SPAIN), Pozo Izquierdo | 03. – 09.07.2016 |Wave Women & Men | World Cup
- FUERTEVENTURA (SPAIN), Sotavento | July, August 2016, dates to be confirmed | Freestyle Women & Men, Slalom Men | Grand Slam
- TENERIFE (SPAIN), El Cabezo | August, dates to be confirmed | Wave Women & Men | World Cup
- DENMARK, Hvide Sande | 04. – 9.09.2016 | Slalom | World Cup
- DENMARK, Klitmøller | 19. – 25.09.2015 | Wave Men | World Cup
- GERMANY, Sylt | 30.09. – 9.10.2015 | Slalom Men, Freestyle Men, Wave Women & Men | Grand Slam
- FRANCE, La Torche | 19.10. – 30.10.2016 (Wave 19.-26.10./Slalom 25. -30.10.) | Wave Women & Men | Grand Slam I Slalom men only
- HAWAII, Maui | 31.10. – 13.11.2016 | Wave Women & Men | World Cup
TURKEY, Alacati | June/August, cancelled due to political situation and sponsors, with an existing chance to run it in October before La Torche | Slalom Women & Men | World Cup
Sad to see such under-representation of freestyle yet again. There are so many places where they have has competitions previously. Would it not possible to bring them back after their astounding success? – Vietnam (February), La Franqui (April/May), Bonaire/Aruba (June), Brouwersdam (Sept/Oct). It just means that it’s not simply not viable to be a pro-freestyler with just 3 competitions (and hence 3 weeks of potential prize-money earnings) in a whole year… They train so hard to push the limits of the sport with what is possible and yet they once again don’t get to show this off. It’s hardly fair… Read more »
sorry but the Level of women got really high.. even better than some guys!!!
and for men three stops is poor i think.. maybe they could do one more stop at brouwersdam and / or
some italian Thermik lake oder switcherland!!
No wonder, regarding the level of women freestyle, with the exception of the top 5.
Sorry to disagree C7, but freestyle events (and especially women) were underrepresented also in 2015, 2014, 2013 etc. I said this many times already, and i’ll say this again: this PWA calendar is a joke to the women in this sport. Thanks PWA
@ R We agree, the freestyle events and especially women events are underrepresented. Actually it is not a joke, it is a vicious circle. For the PWA it is hard to find event organizers, who are willing to “find” money for a very small fleet of women, but on the other hand there can’t be more women, because only a few can afford a life 100% dedicated to training and events. The women would definitely deserve more events to represent themselves… but the freestyle men, too. That’s why we started an own article to discuss the topic in an extra… Read more »