PWA Indoor round up

15 January 2005

Nik Baker charging after Steve Allen from down the ramp. The PWA indoor championships has been three days of freestyle, slalom and jumps for both the men and women. For each sailor, their best 2 disciplines count towards their overall position.

Slalom

Following on from the first day, the big news was the Nik Baker would not be able to defend his indoor slalom title. In a heat with Ben Proffitt, Nik simply ran out of room and just touched the outside edge of the pool. Falling into his kit and the side of the pool, Nik dislocated his shoulder. It should be ok in six weeks, but obviously put him out of the competition, leaving the way open for others to win the slalom.

Nik scraps past Ben, and this is NOT the gybe he hurt himself on!

Ricardo Campello won the slalom on the second day, showing great control around the gybes, and just edging out Ben Proffitt. On the last day, Ben fought hard and in a real crowd pleaser, took the slalom win for the last session.
Steve Allen scrapping with Jose Estredo.

Steve Allen scrapping with Jose Estredo. Another entertaining heat was between Australian Steve Allen and Jose Estredo. Steve Allen is the heaviest competitor at the indoors at 85kg, 20-30kg heavier than the young Jose! There were incidents at every mark, with one person sailing into or over the other at every opportunity!

Men's slalom

  1. Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde, Dwarf8)
  2. Ben Proffitt (Fanatic, Funsport, Boardseeker.com)
  3. Steve Allen (Fanatic, Neil Pryde, Benzacne, Lava, Advertis, Deboichet)

Women's Slalom

Diada and Iballa at the first gybe.The Moreno twins dominated all the disciplines at the indoors, including the slalom. Gybing was a real constraint for the women due to the extreme wind at the first gybe, and the very tight space to gybe. The twins consistently come out of gybes quicker, perhaps due to their home beach being Gran Canaria?

The finals were always Daida vs Iballa, and Daida consistently came out first.

  1. Daida Moreno (Mistral, North Sails, Quiksilver-Roxy, VW, Dwarf8)
  2. Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North Sails, Quiksilver-Roxy, VW, Dwarf8)
  3. (3rd=) Lucy Horwood (Fanatic, North Sails, Sola, Lizzard, Boardseeker.com)
  4. (3rd=) Karin Jaggi ( F2, Arrows, O'Neill, CST, Malaysia Airlines, TWB)

Freestyle

Tonky Frans mid spock. The standard of Freestyle indoors has really improved this year, with most of the huge arsenal of outdoor tricks making an appearance during the three days. With the world freestyle champion present, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Ricardo Campello would clean up, but the name to dominate was Nicholas Akgazciyan, who won all three freestyle sessions.

Robby Swift mid-move. Nicholas' Flakas and switch-stance chachos gained near perfect scores, and his consistent didn't allow anyone else a chance at the top spot. Robby Swift made a great challenge, and was the top placed Brit in 2nd place.

Men's Freestyle

  1. Nicholas Akgazciyan (AHD, Neil Pryde, Sooruz, Surfone, Leucate)
  2. Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde, Oxbow)
  3. Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails)

Women's Freestyle

Again dominated by the Moreno twins, but Nayra Alonso split the pair in the first round with a supurb vulcan. Daida had the edge, with a flat-water forward and smooth spock being the winning moves in the last round.

  1. Daida Moreno (Mistral, North Sails, Quiksilver-Roxy, VW, Dwarf8)
  2. # Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North Sails, Quiksilver-Roxy, VW, Dwarf8)
  3. Nayra Alonso (Fanatic, Rip Curl, B3, JS)

Jump

John Skye's back loop. The jump ramp offers the chance for some spectacular action, and this year didn't disappoint. Although the only injuries were in Freestyle (Kauli Seadi twisted a knee) and Slalom (Nik Baker dislocated a shoulder), the official's tent has a large collection of fins, knocked off on the ramp. Some of the fins even survived, but then the back of the board didn't!
Ricardo Campello's huge table-top forward.

Ricardo's huge table-top forward-loop. The first day of competition saw Josh Angulo, a heavyweight sailor by indoor standards, but the one-handed back loop became his signature indoor move. Ricardo Campello appeared to be the favourite after the second session, getting two perfect scores for a huge table-top and push loop. There was nothing to mark down on the jumps - he didn't get at all wet!

The top placed UK sailor was Robby Swift, although John Skye must have been disappointed not to make the final 3 in the last session as he received a perfect score (30/30) for a push loop. The shear height the sailors were getting was incredible, just check out some of the pictures.
Josh Angulo's one-handed back loop.

Josh nails a huge one-handed backloop. In the final session Josh Angulo crashed out on two of his four jumps (2 to count), and needed a really high score to take the event win. With the final jump of the competition, he landed a perfect one-handed backloop. With Ricardo in 3rd for the session, that gave Josh the jump title.

Men's Jump

  1. Josh Angulo (Angulo Surfboards, Billabong, Streamlined, Da Kine, MPG)
  2. Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde, Dwarf8)
  3. Anton Yannick (No Limit, ASPTT Voile Marseille)

Women's Jump

Iballa doing a one-footed forward. The Moreno twins were pushed hard by Karen Jaggi and Nayra Alonso, but Iballa clinched victory with a huge forward loop and a table-top.

Overall

When all the scores were totted up, the overall winners from the event were Ricardo Campello and Daida Moreno, and deservedly so, they have raised the standard for indoor windsurfing and put on a great show.

Ricardo Campbello and Daida Moreno.

You can see highlights online at High.tv, and the full results on the PWA site.

- Alastair Campbell

Pictures courtesy and copyright of John Carter.