4day PWA Mui Ne

Hello everybody

Sorry for the late update from the last day of the competition but as it turned out it still were busy evenings the day after the competition, with the closing ceremony yesterday evening I didn't find the time to update yet.

My last day started with much lighter wind than the days before which put everybody on there biggest sails which for me was the 4.7 as in the gusts it was strong enough and was a good setup on my Flare 88 as my 5.3 is a bit big on that board. With Steven being out of the race through injury the fight for 5th place was totally open again which was my biggest goal in this double with my biggest opponants Phil Soltysiak and Anthony Ruenes as they ended up 7th in the last double elimination.

But first I had to make it past Yegor to end up against Phil. I had a pretty good heat although I was really underpowered in the beginning of the heat which made it a bit getting used to after been sailing fully powered up the past few days during the competition but all by all it worked out well landing my usual repertoir with Kono's, Culo's, Airflaka and Shaka both ways to make it trough my heat end get the deciding heat against Phil for who would end up 5th in this competition as Davy Sheffers who was on a role today kicked out Anthony Ruenes.

Against Phil I had a pretty good heat again although it wasn't my best performance of the competition not really feeling well in this lighter wind conditions but still ended up putting on a good show which was enough to secure my victory against Phil and my 5th place in the competition which was my main goal of the day but not anymore with the big heat like the days before. But 5th is 5th so I was already super happy when I won against Phil!!

Next up was Davy whom I already sailed against very much and was a well know opponent for me. That heat I sailed terribly bad with quite a lot of crashes and only a few good light points like a nice Kono and Burner on the way in but that was about it. I was more busy with the fact that I became 5th in the competition than with the fact I was still sailing a heat against a very good sailing Davy Sheffers which resulted in a well deserved win for Davy.

I was already really happy with my 5th place in the competition and got even more happy after Taty ended up 3rd and Kiri finally won his first PWA event!! With doing the sickest Culo OH pirouet I ever saw and made everyone on the beach going crazy!!

Now slalom has started and the wind died which results in very long days with no action to check out and hoping for wind the next 2 days so I still can have a surf before I sadly have to leave Vietnam again on my way home again to cold Europe!

Cheers Dieter

3 Day of competition Mui Ne

Hello everybody

Yesterday was the 3th day of the competition here in Vietnam and started the second single of the competition. The wind picked up again like usually at 1 O'clock to give the start signal for the first heats. Due my 6th place result in the double from the day before I was already in the second round where I would meet Bubble who advanced against Tilo who's not really lucky with he's opponents here.

The wind was pretty strong and I was actually a bit overpowered in the gusts on my 4.3 but made a perfect heat with my first skopu's in my live during a competition and finally some really good burners. True this moves I could advance against Bubble and would be up against Taty Frans again. To fight for a top 4 place.

It's pretty much an impossible jump but I gave my best, I started with a nice kono followed by one of my biggest shaka's on the way in so far for me. On the way out I didn't sail so perfect in the beginning but could pick up my game again in the second half of the heat and made another skopu on the way out. I also almost did one on the way in but just ruined it at the end when I actually already had the move so that was bit of a bummer. But still did Burner and culo coming in so had a pretty good heat! Effectually it was a very close call with a 2-1 decision losing by half a point from Taty which was really good but also a bit frustrating as I lost yesterday also by half a point against Steven.

The rest of the day where the finals with some great action and the first double loops from Taty and sick air chacho from Golitto. But on the way in it was Kiri who was really ruling against any other sailing doing everything in the air and at least 1 meter higher than the rest to secure he's first place again against Golitto who was really on fire today!

Today we have the double so I hope I can work up till 6th or even 5th place again as Steven was injured yesterday at he's knee from he's pushloop against Tonky the other day, but maybe will try to sail again today to defend he's 5th place, we will see!

Stay tuned

Cheers Dieter



PWA Mui Ne Day 2

Hello everybody!

Today we sailed the double elimination in a nice wind from around 25 knots with pretty much the same conditions as yesterday only maybe a bit lighter wind as I was now sailing on my 4.3 the whole day. Which was the perfect sail choice for me today.

As I became shared 5th in the first single elimination I had to wait 2 rounds before I could go on the water to do my first heat to defend my top 10 place and get ranked up higher. In my first heat I would meet Andy 'Bubble' Chambers who was really on fire yesterday with a good heat against tonky but now had to fight his way up again till me. And was having a consistent sailing again today. So in the double we got right up into the strong heat already and for sure no easy heat in this doulbe. Against Bubble I did a great heat, I was focussed and managed to get some really good moves like, Kono, Shaka-flaka, toad, burner and some more nice moves which made me pretty sure I would win this heat against Bubble which I did.

In the next heat I would be up against Phil Soltysiak from Canada who was the only one who could end up in the top 4 on one of the events last year beside the normal top 5 combination, and was ranked 6th last year overall which would make it a really hard heat! But it just started perfect because I started my heat with a huge kono which felt really high, and like I was told afterwards by the judges was one of the best kono's so far of the competition. This gave me confidence to put on a good heat for the rest of it and get me to sail to victory to get in the top 6 which before I came to vietnam was not even possible in my wildest dreams so was really stooked to hear that I won against Phil who was also sailing very good.

Next up was Steven van Broeckhoven, so a Belguim heat fighting to get in the top 5. I know from before it would almost be impossible to beat Steven as he did very well last year and was again in good shape this year but I gave it my best shot. The heat was going pretty well but during my attempt for a toad on the way out I lost a lot of hight which I had to gain back and lost some time also with a crashed move. In the end I did some good moves like a kono followed by a culo right in front of the judges. And managed to get a burner but not a really good one which was not good to be able to win this heat but on the way out I had a great run with airflaka,shakaflaka and ending with a nice double ss chacho gave me still a chance against Steven. In the end Steven won like I already thought before the heat but it was really close only losing by half a point which gave me a great feeling that I was on the right way that I even can put some pressure on the top 5.

In the end it was a great day with for the moment a 6th possition after the double which is a good start from the competition, 2 more days so maybe we still can finish another double although the windpredictions give only wind for one more day but we will see!!

stay tuned!!

Cheers Dieter

PWA Mui Ne day 1

Hello everybody

After some good days of training here in Mui Ne with lots of wind.Today finally started the competition here in Mui Ne, with some great wind around 25 knts what gave some great action. With only 25 competotors here in Vietnam I was already seeded for the second round against Nicolas Ackyzcian from France. After the skippersmeeting at 1 a.m. we had one hour to warm up before the competition would start at 2 a.m. . During my warmup I didn't really feel so great in my sailing but still was sailing okay to give me some good confidence for my heat against Nicolas.

The heat before my heat I went upwind from the course area and went to put myself ready at the beach from jibe's where everybody gave me tumbs up for my heat and gave me a great motivation to go and sail a good heat. I was using my S-1 4.3 on my flare 88 which was perfect for the wind not really overpowerd which you don't want to be in the chop here. As my heat started I had full concentration and started of with a great Kono on the way in followed by shovit (while attempting a shaka) and than following with a nice Funnel oh. Which gave me so much confidence for the rest of my heat. In the end I did almost all the moves I wanted like Culo, Shaka, airflaka, funnel 900° and so on. To end with a Toad on the way out which I just learned here and don't land that save yet so I was super happy! When I came back and I heard I won I realised I got for the first time in the top 8 at a single elimination already.

My next heat was against Taty who was really sailing well, which ended up in a very bad heat for me, I started fine with a kono and a shaka on the way in but afterwarteds it only whend wourse, I think the top moment for me still was in that heat when I went for a massive shaka and ended up doing it al in the air to crash like coming out of an over rotated Airflaka. So I knew I lost already before I came to the beach. Next time better I would say! And still I made it in the top 8 which made me very happy! Also see Kiri winning on he's birthday was very nice, the finals where sick to watch and gave me an idee where I still have to go and work for!

Tommorow we have the double so I hope I can get to 7th place or maybe better will see.

Stay tuned!

Cheers Dieter