Only 32 men will compete at the this years PWA Gran Canaria Wind&Waves festival. The men’s fleet got reduced from 48 sailors to 32. 26 sailor are already registered and have a fixed place, the other sailors, like Martin ten Hoeve, Moritz Mauch, Antoine Martin, Eleazar Alonso, Alessio Stillrich or Christopher Friijs must compete against each other in a qualification round.
We have asked PWA tour manager Rich Page about the decision to reduce the fleet.
Continentseven: Why did you decide to reduce the men’s fleet from 48 to 32?
Rich Page: This was a decision that stemmed from the wave sailors themselves. There were 2 main reasons for the change which are a result of the fact that with 32 man heats can be run with just 2 sailors on the water (to do this with 48 would have required too much time).
- The 2 man format means that we require less judges at the event which reduces costs for organisers and helps to secure new events, especially in faraway places where flight costs can be prohibitive
- Secondly, with just 2 sailors on the water it is possible for the live stream cameras to follow both competitors all the time, meaning that all of the action can be seen by the audience and that far less is missed by the cameras.
Although the 32 man fleet will mean that less competitors get a chance to compete, 48 Man fleets were rarely full and there were a lot of “walk in” competitors who probably had no real right to take part and were devaluing the competition and wasting valuable time for the serious competitors. The 32 man system also incorporates a small trials competition which replaces a part of the wildcard process meaning that only truly deserving sailors can get a place and we believe that any genuinely capable and committed sailor will get sufficient chance to earn their place.
Continentseven: Did you get a lot of protest e-mails from upset riders?
Rich Page: Not really, I think one or 2 maybe.
Continentseven: Will the PWA stay with the top 32 fleet at the other PWA events, too? If not, why not.
Rich Page: This will be the usual format from now on although it is still possible that we will open the fleet up to 48 in events with special circumstances.
THE ACTUAL LIST OF ENTRIES
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ok… dont mean to stir things up. But i totally agree with thomas! Not sure what the deal is with bouj but surely he cant take the spot of one of the top 22!!
If he is in and it looks like he is.. surely he has to take one of the trial spots??
So the trial spots go down to 5 and Alessio gets in. As he is now in the top 22 from last year (taking out the 4 not competing)
Hi Henrik, there is an official rule existing concerning the seeding. It secures riders, who were injured, to have a chance for their comeback. I as well posted some infos about the trials. Read more about: Seeding and Elimination Procedure – All disciplines: If a top 40 ranked sailor is unable to compete at an event or events due to injury, the seeding of that sailor will be protected for a period of 12 months from the point that injury is sustained. The seeding shall be calculated for that sailor based on the current rules, results and rankings on the… Read more »
People if you don’t like it please stop whining, get off your ass and actually do something about it. Go out there any try to find funding for and organise a starboard tack event.
As both a member of the PWA and Wave sailors committee I just wanted to say a couple of things. First the 32 man fleet. This was a very hard decision and one that was not taken lightly. It was considered by everyone to be the best move to help make events more affordable, make events more professional and try to improve everything, especially the standard of competition in both the sailors and the conditions . Pozo is one of the hardest events on the tour due to the very high level local riders, but I think overall throughout the… Read more »
OK John can you explain to me one thing please.About last news on the site of the PWA: two competitors who had to participate in the contest do not come! The PWA took automatically 22 first ones of the ranking 2012 (+ 4 places are chosen by the organization) then less both which do not come + absent Kauli, we arrive at the 25th world: Antoine Martin, logical in priori you take the 24th and ….boujmaa guilloul!!!!! who is good OK but did not participate in the PWA on 2012!!!Can you explain to me if that is not a subjective… Read more »
Ok John, you are a member of the PWA, now can you explain to me please: Last news on the site of the PWA: two competitors who had to participate in the contest do not come!You took automatically 22 first ones of the ranking 2012 (+ 4 places are chosen by the organization) then less both which do not come + absent Kauli, we arrive at the 25th world: Antoine Martin, logical in priori and well not you take the 24th and …boujmaa guilloul!!! who is good OK but did not participate in the PWA on 2012!!!Can you tell me… Read more »
The PWA has in place some seeding rules to protect injured riders. I dont know the full details, but more or less when a rider is injured they keep the same seeding when they return. Boujma finished 21st in 2011, so in this case the place was given to him. As I said previously this is the first event with the new system in place, so during the Pozo event I imagine we will discuss everything with the riders and look to fine tune the system better. Our goal is obviously to have the best sailors in the world competing… Read more »
i have to agree with windygpe, it is completely unfair that Antoine Martin is not getting a spot in the main event !!! if Kauli, Ross Williams, Phil Horrocks and now Robby Swift are missing then Antoine is 22nd in the ranking, so he MUST get a spot, WTF is this injury seeding rule coming out of nowhere !!!!????? i am super happy to see Boujmaa back on tour, but this is a big joke that they give him a spot which is Antoine’s ! I know thta Antoine will probably make it through the trials, but imagine: this guy… Read more »
Hi Thomas. Not 100% sure but I think Antoine should be in already.robbys injury only happened last night so not sure if an entry has gone out already. In these cases there is always someone deserving right on the edge. Hopefully the trial system means the best guys get through with their sailing.
Ok, so it takes a broken leg to let him enter the competition even though he is ranked 22nd!
This is the greatest selection rule ever!
Is PWA blackmailed or what?