PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf - Electrifying atmosphere on Day 1

by Vivienne Masters on 27 Apr 2013 2013 PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf inaugural day saw the freestyle fleet registering for the upcoming competition between 10am and 11am. With temperatures hitting close to thirty degrees and glorious sunshine throughout the day, the crowds and sailors took the opportunity to bask in the sun, whilst absorbing the electrifying atmosphere surrounding Neusiedler See.

At 4pm the wind started to pick up, which was enough to tempt Dieter van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) out on to the water to test the conditions. Several sailors were then tempted to all check if the wind was worthy of starting the competition, but unfortunately the conditions never quite materialized on the first day.

With sailors enjoying the down time we caught with a couple of the Fanatic Crew, the reigning world champion Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North) and Max Rowe (Fanatic / North), who have both recently been in Maui.

PWA: Gollito / Max how did you find your first experience on Maui?
'It’s an amazing place, we were slightly unlucky for the first few weeks, but then the conditions improved and we scored some really good freestyle and wave sessions.'

PWA: Having been developing the new freestyle sail for North, what are the main changes?
Gollito: 'We’ve designed a completely new sail, which will be called the Idol Limited. It has a similar outline to the current Idol, but we’ve changed the batten layout and we’ve made it so it rigs with a slightly tighter leech. We’ve also implemented Dacron along the luff, which massively helps with ducking moves.'

PWA: Why have you chosen a tighter leech?
Gollito: 'The tighter leech helps keep the sail neutral when you are ducking. A loose leech means that when you duck the sail it can lose balance, resulting it going in the water.'

PWA: Max, you finished in the top sixteen overall for the first time last year, what are your aims for the season?
Max: 'Stay in the top sixteen (Laughing). No, top twelve/ten would be nice but, the levels so high from with top sixteen and top thirty, the line between each sailor is so close that even battling for the top sixteen is going to be tough. Hopefully I can push it further.'

PWA: Gollito, are you feeling confident ahead of the first event on the season?
Gollito: 'Yeah I feel confident, let’s see the level of the other sailors and see what happens at the start of the season. You never quite know where everyone is at.'

PWA: Do you have any new moves?
Gollito: 'Yes, but I think it will be saved until Fuerteventura.'

The forecast looks great for tomorrow with southerly winds between twenty and thirty knots. With this in mind, the skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am with the first possible start at 9:30am.