PWA Freestyle Bonaire – Day 4

Andy Bubble Chambers in the lagoon - Pic: PWA/John Carter

With the forecast set to drop competition stormed into action at 8.15 in the morning. However despite all efforts only two heats of the second double elimination were completed before the conditions dropped below the necessary level, leaving the sailors nervously on standby for the remainder of the day.

Heat 37 saw a major battle between Max Rowe and Remko De Zeeuw, both sailors put in a consistent performance with Rowe concentrating on switch moves and De Zeeuw focusing on upwind maneuvers. The judge’s decision boiled down to the diversity of the tricks to separate the pair, with Rowe narrowly squeezing through into the next round. On the other side of the heat ‘Capoeira king’ Danilo Da Silva fell to the hands of local hot shot Endro Finies. Finies pumped his way around an impressive display of maneuvers and claimed another impressive victory on his home spot.
With the wind fading fast, all four sailors worked really hard to stay on the plane throughout heat 38. Björn Saragoza put an end to Yarden Meir’s progress through the double elimination with an amazing Culo and clean Burner despite the marginal conditions. Meir replied with an Eslider and a clinical Lollipop but it wasn’t enough to see him advance. Meanwhile, French freestyle wizard, Anthony Ruenes managed to edge ahead of Andraz Zan, pumping his way into a spectacular no handed Flaka in the final moments of the heat.
Heat 39 was cancelled due to insufficient winds, leaving the sailors on standby for the remainder of the day.

Dieter van der Eyken, our man on Bonaire - Pic: PWA/John Carter

The PWA took advantage of the down time to catch up with the world’s finest freestylers to find out which moves they find the hardest to complete under the pressure of competition in Bonaire.

Phil Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine)
“In Bonaire and in the light winds I find the ponch really difficult, because you need a lot of speed and a little bit of chop to give you the extra pop.”

Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)
“This is a difficult question everyone is different. The last move I learnt, the barracuda is really tough because it is very risky. The new moves like the flaka shaka and the kabicutchi are also really hard to complete in your heat as you need perfect conditions to complete them”

Andy ‘Bubble’ Chamber (JP / NeilPryde)
“The burner, once I duck the sail I struggle to keep my speed for the sail throw, it is really annoying me.”

Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)
“I don’t know there are so many moves; so far I have found the switch kono impossible because I don’t have enough power. Usually I can do them pretty good; if it picks up a bit more I will do one in my heat.”

Dieter Van Der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)
“It is a tricky question, I think the Kabicutchi is one of the top moves and it is really hard to go high on it. If you see Kiri going high it is purely technique and not because the wind is really strong. You have to have perfect technique to duck the sail.”

Yegor Popretinskiy (JP / NeilPryde / MFC)
“I don’t know, for me all the moves are hard here, I haven’t been trying the crazy moves in my heats. I like the regular chachoo, for me it is one of the easiest moves but for the other guys they find it difficult. I don’t like to do culos here because the water is so shallow and I care about my board.”

Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra)
“The hardest move here is the push loop, or the flaka ponch, the wind needs to be really strong for these moves. But because it is so flat I find every move easy here compared to other spots on the tour.”

Max Rowe (Fanatic / North)
“I found the shaka the hardest move here, I always struggle in the light winds and the small chop. I have had to train them really hard to be able to do them in the light flat conditions.”

Andraz Zan (F2 / Hot Sails)
“I think the kono is really challenging when the wind is really light because the rig duck has to be perfect and you have to jump really hard to achieve any height”

Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails)
“All the moves are quite tricky and take a while to learn, all the sailors are performing really well at the moment, so the heats are really difficult”.

Choco Frans (F2)
“I am not so sure, my favorite move is the culo but I think the hardest is the air chachoo. I have seen Taty do it on the flat water and Gollito in Fuerteventura, It looks awesome and I would love to be able to do it!”

Steven Max (Starboard / Hot Sails)
“I am not doing the really big moves yet but my favorite move is the shaka, I really like the way you float when you do the move”.

Paul Zeper (Patrik / Hot Sails / Dakine)
“I think the hardest move really depends on the person; I can now do burners easier than punetas. I find the puneta really testing and it is not a move I like doing. I think most people struggle with the normal stance duck because it has to be perfect especially for the kono”.
With just two heats completed results remain untouched for today. The forecast is looking promising so it looks like the battle for victory here in Bonaire will go right down to the wire! Skippers meeting will take place at 8:00 am tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 8:30 am. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the final day of action from the 2011 Bonaire world cup.