KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup - Radical sailors to resume battle
by Friends of Cold Hawaii on 13 Sep 2015
Victor Fernandez - KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup Cold Hawaii World Cup
2015 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup – Its time for the world’s most radical sailors to resume battle again on the PWA Wave World Tour with the elite of the wave sailing world returning to Klitmøller for the sixth edition of the now legendary KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Tour, which runs between the 14th-20th September. Cold Hawaii usually produces some of the standout moments of the year and on current forecast it looks like it will do just that again - Get ready for more gravity defying stunts as the men’s fleet prepare to take on the ferocious North Sea once more as the title race begins to gather pace.
Klitmøller itself is located in Northern Jutland, just ten kilometres southwest of Hanstholm. What once was a quaint little fishing village is now being heralded as one of the wave sailing gems of Europe. Its reputation is such that, Klitmøller, is now more commonly known as Cold Hawaii, due to the fact that it bares the brunt of the biggest storms in Northern Europe. Although this makes life incredibly tough for the fisherman, it is also the prime reason for Cold Hawaii’s growing reputation within the windsurfing, and surfing, world. From perfect stunt ramps to powerful, gnarly, waves Cold Hawaii provides the perfect platform for the world’s most radical sailors to showcase exactly what they are capable of.
Ones to watch
Just as at this stage last year -
Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) - leads the title race as he goes in search of his first world crown since 2010. The Spaniard has been the double elimination King in the opening two events of the year - winning six heats on the bounce in Pozo to claim second place - before winning three consecutive heats in Tenerife to eventually overhaul
Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne) and head to the top of the rankings. Fernandez finished second here last year and will be des-perate to go one better this time around to cement his place at the top and stands every chance of doing just that based on his opening two performances in
Philip Köster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) is Fernandez’s closest rival and is right on the tail of the Spaniard in second place. Köster secured an emphatic victory in the season opener with a jumping masterclass and for a while looked as though he was going to replicate that performance in Tenerife, until Fernandez brought his hopes to an end. The two-time world champion tasted victory here in 2011 and is looking extremely dangerous again this year and as a result should be involved at the business end of proceedings again.
Jaeger Stone occupies third place heading into the third event of the year after coming so close to clinch-ing his maiden victory on the PWA World Tour in Tenerife. The Australian sliced and slashed his way past each of his competitors with devastating wave, after devastating wave and he’ll be looking to do exactly the same again over the course of the coming week. Expect to see Stone challenging for the podium plac-es Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD) has been at his brilliant best in 2015, which has earned him a third and fifth place finish so far, which sees the Spaniard enter the third event of the year in fourth place overall. Mussolini is one of the most fluid and stylish wave riders on the tour and you can expect to see massive frontside 3s from the 360 King, as well as massive one-handed, one-footed backloops as he looks to continue his fine start to the Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) bounced back from a slightly disappointing seventh place in Pozo - by claiming fourth place in Tenerife - only narrowly losing out against Philip Köster. Campello takes one of the most radical approaches to sailing in the world and you can expect to see more massive double forwards and pushloop forwards as he looks to earn his first podium finish of the year.
Reigning world champion - Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) - finds himself in sixth place overall heading into Denmark, but will enter the event as one of the favourites as not only is he the defending event champion - but he is also the only man who has managed to conquer the ferocious North Sea more than once - having won the event in 2012 as well. Expect to see TT charging for the lip as he looks to firmly kick start his season.
Thomas Traversa - KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup © Cold Hawaii World Dany Bruch (Starboard / Challenger Sails / AL360) sits in seventh place at the moment and will be hoping for another top ten finish. However, Denmark has proven to be a tricky event for the German over the last few years, so he’ll be hoping to fair better this time around. If he sails how he has been so far this season then Bruch has every chance of replicating his best result in Cold Hawaii, which came in 2010 when finishing fourth.
Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX) will be in the mix again and will return to Cold Hawaii with fond memories having finished joint third with teammate Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) here last year, which was incidentally both sailors first podium finishes on the PWA Wave World Tour. Both Swift and Jamaer have performed consistently well here over the past few seasons and you can expect to see big performances again.
Things haven’t quite gone Marcilio Browne’s (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) way so far this year, but the Brazilian is still in the overall top ten coming into Denmark. Browne has shown glimpses of his brilliant best at points this year and will be hoping earn his best result of the season so far. The 2013 world champion also has the benefit of being one of the just four winners here and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him return to winning ways come the end of the week.
Completing the top ten at this stage of the season is Adam Lewis(Fanatic / North), who looked in terrific form in Tenerife. The Brit has finished in the top ten for the last two seasons running here and he should be there or there abouts come the end of the event again - and he’ll be unleashing more powerful hacks in an effort to do just that.
However, as we’ve already seen on several occasions this year almost anyone can beat anyone such is the level on the tour at the moment and the likes of Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC), Alessio Still-rich(Fanatic / North) and Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) along with many more all have a great chance.
Cold Hawaii has produced some absolutely epic moments over the past five years and on the current forecast it looks like it will produce world class conditions again for the sixth consecutive year with strong wind and waves being predicted. The week ahead promises to be enthralling affair with the world’s most radical sailors going bigger than ever before.
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