Brazil 2012

Hello Everybody

It’s been a while since I did a blog update although I had enough to write about. So sorry about that, just been busy with sailing too much instead of writing about it!

 Straight after the EFPT was done me and Rick travelled down to Brazil, not Jeri like most people but of to São Miguel do Gostoso the place where Kauli Seadi has his centre. Gostoso enjoys the same winds as Jeri (maybe a little bit less but practically the same) with winds for my Freek 4.4 or 4.8 every single day which is absolutely amazing, I’ve been here now for 6 weeks and only didn’t sail for 3 or 4 days which means I’ve been sailing about 40 days already and still not getting tired of it. Coming to Brazil was definitely a good plan.

The best sessions are always with low tide as you get perfect flat water between the waves just next to the “rocks” making it the perfect place to train freestyle moves on the way in. On the way out it’s a bit more choppy but still ok to do airmoves and practice jumping with wind from the right. Also we had some great swells passing especially last week making my wave board come in good use for some down the line wave riding! With high tide it’s much more choppy and harder to sail but like this you can learn moves one week on the flat and then train them the next week in the chop making you get more consistent in them in all kind of conditions.

Well I’ve got one more week left here in Brazil before my trip is done and I’m off to cold home again behind the books for my exams in January. Really try to push myself to go higher and bigger! Got also a nice double shaka on tape which you hopefully will like!

Cheers Dieter

EFPT CENTAUR King of the Wind

Hello everybody

It’s been a while since I updated my blog as my last update was from the EFPT in France but the last 2 weeks have been really hectic. After France we went straight to England for the 3rd and last stop of the EFPT.

Arriving one day in front of the competition I got the time to get a bit used to the condition which where pretty flat and cold winds, definitely a big change after South of France. On Saturday we started the competition with great winds, in the beginning of the day it wasn’t that much yet but after the first round the conditions definitely improved making me fully powered up on my 4.8 in my first heat and 4.4 in my second heat. By the time I got to the semi final the wind was so much up and down I didn’t know what sail to take and just went for the biggest one the 4.8 with the 4.4 on the side in case the wind would pick up during the heat and this seemed to be the perfect call as in the middle of the heat I made a really quick switch to my 4.4 to get some more control again but even that was to big by the end of the heat. By the time the final would start the wind completely died going from 30 knts to 5 in about 2 min., which left us waiting for the next day.

 

In the final heat against Davy the wind started to drop a lot making power moves almost impossible and putting a good heat together also. I gave it my best but in the end just lost really closely against Davy whom did a perfect chacho in front of the judges that made him win.

In the double I could see my Teammate from Severne Rick Jendrusch work himself really well up in the ladder by getting up to 4th place before getting stopped by Adam Gavriel who was than against me for second place. I pumped as hard as I could that heat and still got some nice moves in like Culo, shaka oh etc and had the feeling that there was a bit more wind than in the final of the single which could give me a better chance against Davy. Again I pumped as much as I could in the second final against Davy but didn’t really have much of a chance as Davy put a great heat together and I made some mistakes, which made him win the heat and the event in England.

Overall I still managed to get second on the EFPT tour with only competing at 2 events of the 3 there were this year, which made me very happy and motivated to hopefully get one place higher in the
overall next year!

 

After England I went straight home to organize everything for my trip to Brazil for 7 weeks, in 4 days I had to take care of booking a flight, getting all my stuff from school ready as before France I didn’t have time for that yet and get everything packed for the flight on Tuesday, in the end it worked out perfectly but it did make my days at home pretty hectic. So far Brazil has been great with wind for 4.8 every day and some really nice conditions at São miguel do gostoso, I can live with these conditions for 6,5 more weeks. The Internet is really bad here so I don’t know how many updates I will be able to do but I will try my best to keep you all up to date!

Cheers Dieter

EFE/EFPT Six Fours les plages

Hello Everybody

The last week I have been in France for the second stop of the EFPT in Le Brusc and it’s absolutely been a great week where in I won my first EFPT event ever in my life!

I travelled up to France together with Rick Jendrusch to share the costs. After a long drive with a little de-tour as there are apparently 2 Le Bruscs (one with water and the other one only with cows on the road) in the South of France, we arrived in Le Brusc on Thursday. With a lot of rain on Friday there was no chance for a warm up session and ended up in a day at the hotel, good to relax before the competition would start with a really strong forecast for the next 2 days.

On Saturday we had the registration for the competition with the first possible start at 12.30. On the registration list we had some really big names like Tonky Frans, Antony Ruenes and of course leading the ranking this year Davy Scheffers, but also a lot of local French guys with high level like Julien Mas, Adrien Bosson (local hero) etc. So a really high level of sailing was guaranteed! The competition started a bit later than planned which gave me the perfect time to warm up on my 4.4 Freek which is the nicest size you can have in Le Brusc, but with a forecast of increasing wind I already put my Freek 4.0 ready as I was pretty sure I would need that. I was in the second round one of the last heats so I had a lot of time to relax before the action would start.

Around 3 o’clock I came in action for the first time and didn’t sail my best heat but enough to advance, I knew I needed to get my rhythm up a bit more if I wanted to keep advancing the next rounds, in the third round I met up with Max Mattisek (the first guy I ever won from in a PWA heat) and finally got my heat sorted out, Skopus both ways, burners both ways, big shaka both sides, Kono, double spock etc which gave me a lot of confidence toward the next heat against Davy Scheffers (who won from me twice on the last Dutch championships). Against Davy I sailed pretty much the same heat but also landed a shovit-spock instead of the double spock. I saw Davy pulling out some great moves too but in the end I won because I was more consistent in my moves and crashed
less than him.

EFE - European Funboard Expression - 2012 © Raffi Cherbedjian - EFE

In the semi final I met up with Mattia Fabrizzi who stormed his way through the single defeating Julian Mas in the quarter finals, I managed to control the stronger getting wind a bit better than him and sailed another solid heat to make me advance in the final against number 5 in the world Tonky Frans. By the time this heat started I was absolutely flying away on my 4.0 and pretty much had no control which resulted in one of the lesser heats from the single, both me and Tonky were struggling very hard and in the end it was Tonky who won the heat, next time I would take my 3.6 if it’s so windy I thought to myself so I have at least a bit more control.

EFE - European Funboard Expression - 2012 © Raffi Cherbedjian - EFE

On Sunday we had the double in even stronger winds, this time I didn’t even bother to put my 4.4 ready just 4.0 and 3.6 Freek. A few heats before my heat I started to test the conditions a bit and decided to give my 3.6 Freek prototype a try for the first time and I was absolutely amazed with how good the sail was even in 40 knts it was still very easy ducking so I already knew which sail I would use in my heat. Davy came storming through the double defeating a really well sailing Rick Jendrusch, Antony Ruenes, Mattia Fabrizzi and Adrien Beholz before having another match up against me. The wind was strong and even on 3.6 I was having a hard time making me even sometimes struggle with a normal spock, but with a really solid heat again I felt pretty sure about my win against Davy who I saw crashing more than me as he obviously was getting tiered from all the heats.

EFE - European Funboard Expression - 2012 © Raffi Cherbedjian - EFE

So next up was Tonky again who definitely was having some problems with the cold that day as I think it was only about 11°C with really cold wind on top of that making it feel like winter pretty much and made him not land too much in his first heat against me making me win and get into a super final. In the super final Tonky got a bit warmer and sailed much better not wanting to give his first place away without a fight and I sailed the best I could in the final heat, landing moves like Culo, Burner both ways, shaka both ways, skopu etc. In the end Tonky went only for the really big moves which made him crash a bit more but also land sick ones like the only pushloop of the event and the only Bongka of the event so I wasn’t sure about my win till Tom Hartman announced me as the winner of the double elimination which gave me a really big smile on my face!! First time I could beat Tonky and win an elimination in the EFPT!

After that we had 2 days of no wind and some Tow-in, I made it into the finals here but couldn’t get into the top 5 as all the Frenchies where pretty good in this, I guess they did a bit more training in this.. All by all it was a great show with an amazing level of tow-in on a nice sunny day!

EFE - European Funboard Expression - 2012 © Raffi Cherbedjian - EFE

EFE - European Funboard Expression - 2012 © Raffi Cherbedjian - EFE

The last day there was predicted a lot of wind again to run another single in offshore wind but the counsel forbid us to run the competition because of security reasons and there was a red alert warming for the entire area. This gave us a last day of no action and my first ever EFPT win!! I would like to thank the organizers again of the event who did a great job!! Hope to come again next year!

Now I’m on my way for the last EFPT in England, I’m not in the running anymore for the title as every event will count this year (I missed the one in Sigri due to exams) but I do hope to stand on the highest place again - will see!

Cheers Dieter

More pictures on my like page

Dutch Freestyle Champion 2012!

Hello everybody

Last weekend we had the last stop of the Dutch Freestyle championships which where held at Lauwersmeer in the very north/cold of the Netherlands! It was the first time for me to ever come to this lake as last year I missed out on it and I have to say that the organisation did a really good job providing us nice parking place, a great pool party on Saturday night and a nice prize giving on Sunday afternoon!

On Saturday we didn’t have enough wind to run an official competition which made us move to a tow-in competition.. With only 10°C I have to be honest it wasn’t the most fun I had during the weekend as I was more freezing on the side than getting pulled in by the boat, in the end it was just to show something and have at least a result of something in case it wouldn’t get windy the next day. In the evening we had the best way to warm up with a nice pool party together with all the competitors, which was really a lot of fun and a great way to spend the evening!

On Sunday the wind looked much better with winds around 20 knts. We started the competition around 11 a.m. and by 4 p.m. we finished 3 single eliminations to get the end result. I can’t remember the last time I sailed competition in such cold conditions with air temperatures around 2°C it was hard to stay warm and motivated to keep on sailing and get in the cold water again.

In the first elimination I sailed a good semi final, which gave me a lot of confidence for the final where I would meet Davy Scheffers, Rick Jendrusch and Nick Van Ingen. Unlike my half final I started terrible with pretty much crashing every single move during the first half of the heat. We had 6 moves to count with no limit of attempts so I knew nothing was lost yet but I was getting really cold of falling in the water the whole time. As soon as I landed my first Airfunnel I got a bit warmer and got my form back linking one move after another, kono, culo, burners, big shaka and an airfunnel 900 gave me the lead in this final where the level was lower than in the semi finals. Rick got second in that final in front of Davy who got 3rd which gave me a good lead in the overall of the year (with my 2nd place in the first competition just before Sylt). With the plan of only doing 2 singles it even looked good for the event lead.

In the second elimination Davy re found his form in the final and I didn’t manage to land my big moves like the spockculo and the kabicuchi. And with Davy making in the final minute of the heat a perfect flaka shaka I knew I had to be satisfied with second place in that final before I even heard the results. I didn’t mind too much as I thought it was over for the day and was more thinking about a nice hot shower than the result of the final as I was getting really cold of standing on the side. But with the wind that still was their and enough time to run another single elimination we decided to do another 3rd single elimination.

I knew if I wanted to become Dutch champion I had to finish in the top 2 to win the overall title even if Davy would win the last elimination. With that in mind I was a bit more relaxed for the final in the 3rd elimination but still wanted to win of course! I sailed a good heat making spock culo, big kono, perfect culo, super fast Burner, airfunnel into funnel, airbob and a good shaka720 . I didn’t see what Davy did but I knew I had enough to be in the top 2 and had the title. In the end I lost the final in a close decision against Davy, which gave him the event win, and me the Dutch title as I had a better discard.

So great weekend with good competition and good Dutch conditions cold, windy and rainy just like we know it! Dutch Freestyle Champion 2012 for the second time in the open category after winning the title for the first time in 2009, missing it in 2010 and getting second in 2011, stoked!!

Up next are the EFPT’s in Le Brusc/France and Weymouth/England, hope to score good here as well before winter training starts in Brazil!

Cheers Dieter

PWA Sylt review

Hello everybody

September has been extremely busy with good winds and a lot of action. The most important of the month was of course the PWA in Sylt and I have to say this year we where absolutely blessed by so much wind, almost every single day there was enough wind to do either, slalom, wave or freestyle. In freestyle and wave they finished a double in some of the best conditions you can wish for Sylt, nice side shore instead of the usual onshore you get there.

 JC/PWA

Freestyle single

In the single of the freestyle it was still onshore which made it extremely hard to freestyle as shop and waves where really coming from everywhere.. The day before during the warm up the wind was a little bit more side shore and I was hoping for the same during the competition but it wasn’t. I pretty easily past my first heat against Fabien Weiber although I didn’t have my best heat against him so I knew I really had to step it up against Anthony Ruenes in the next heat. The wind picked up pretty strong just before the heat and I better had taken 4.4 instead of the 4.8 I had. I started with a massive backloop but just crashed in the end and the nerves already started to take over. In the end I still did a nice shaka, airflaka and burner on one side and on the other side kabichuchi ,culo and kono in the end it was not enough to advance against Anthony who sailed a better heat.. So 9th after the single, not my goal but there was still the double to come!

Freestyle Double Part 1

In the double we got the best conditions I ever had on Sylt, perfect side shore, nice ramps and pretty flat between the waves just a joy to sail!! It was pretty much the best conditions we had the whole year and that in Sylt. Besides that I was just having a blast on the water, my first heat against Mattia Fabrizi was the best heat of my whole live, it was just SICK and that you could see at my scores as I scored on one of my sheets a 53 out of 60 which was the highest score of the whole event. Besides that I also went for the SSkono into forward and came pretty close to landing it, if I would have stayed a bit more horizontal I’m pretty sure I could have landed it but hopefully next year I will be able to land it in the competition it’s definitely possible! After this I was full of energy and ready to work my way up in the double. After beating Mattia I took on Max Rowe who was sailing really good beating him with only 3 points as I didn’t have a great heat like before, next up was Davy Scheffers one of the most talented guys on tour who became 5th overall last year and knowing from sailing with him at home he has all the big moves in the bag to make it a hard fight. I knew I needed a heat like against Mattia and that’s what I did not yet the same level as that one but close to it, throwing down spock culo’s, burner, Kabichuci etc. In the end I obviously won as Davy had just his worst heat of the event which placed me in the top 8 where I would meet Phil Soltysiak. Because the wave conditions got good enough to start the wave competition, the freestyle was over for that day and wave was on!

Double elimination wave

I also competed this event in the Wave’s for the first time, just for fun and didn’t bother about ending last; I just wanted to see how my level was on the waves. In the single I lost against Taty Frans as I had a really hard time in the onshore conditions and couldn’t really show my wave riding which made him win in the end. In the Double I would meet Robby Swift who got 4th in Pozo this year and was equal to Mission impossible so the only thing I wanted to do was to show the judges that I at least can better wave ride than I showed in my heat against Taty and I think with the side shore conditions I made clear I could also wave ride a bit, scoring 2 waves of 5,3 and 5,5 giving a total of 10,8 points for the heat which wasn’t enough to win against Robby Swift who scored around 12,5 or 13. But at least I scored above 5 on 2 of my waves which looking to the rest of the first round of the double elimination wasn’t bad at all! Satisfied with this result I was eager to go further with the Freestyle competition again. After they stopped with the wave because of the bad conditions I went out on my Freestyle board to show the judges it was still great for running the freestyle but in the end they where to tiered of judging already the whole day since 9 in the morning that they stopped at 4 with the competition.

 JC/PWA

I was really bummed with this decision as I really found my form that day and was sailing my highest level during the free sailing, making backloops, culospocks, spock culo’s and all the other new school moves.. I’m pretty sure that the story of the rest of the double would have gone totally otherwise if we kept competing that day instead of 2 days later, but it was like this and you can’t change it anymore.

 JC/PWA

Double Freestyle Part 2

This part is pretty short as with an early morning start and no chance to warm up at all I sailed the worst heat of the whole event, I couldn’t get even close to the level which I was sailing all the other days and definitely wasn’t warmed up enough with just 2 runs out because before that it was still dark which made warming up impossible/dangerous. In the end I lost super super close winning on one sheet with half a point and losing on the other 2 in a tie-break which made me extra bumped cause if on the way out I would have just landed one more easy move I easily would have won but instead I tried a burner and crashed my chances.. So 7th after the double and also 7th at the event, good work up again in the double but still disappointing result..

Starboard takes the constructor title again!! Proud to be part of this team!

With this 7th place I worked myself up again to a 8th place overall which is the same as last year and far from my goal of reaching the top 5 which was the meaning at the beginning of the year. The main thing I can take home after this year is that the level is getting really close to the top guys and that if you put a good heat together you can win against everybody, now I only have start to do this a bit more often and get even more consistent in my sailing to make my best heats so consistent that I get it more times on the moment when it counts!

 JC/PWA

Now I still will do 2 more EFPT events before the season is really over and the training starts for next year, I’m extremely motivated to get into that top 5 next year as I’m sure it’s possible, just have to get it together on the moments that it counts!!

 JC/PWA

Cheers Dieter