2015 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup, Wave, Klittmøller

KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup
Event Preview: Cold Hawaii set to produce epic conditions for sixth consecutive year with world's best raring to go bigger than ever before

It’s 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 desperate 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 2015.

Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / 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 clinching 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 places again.

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 year.

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.

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 4th.

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 Stillrich (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. Make sure you don’t miss a minute of the incredible action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com - here you’ll be able to follow everything as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

Also be sure to check out Easy Info @ http://www.worldcup.coldhawaii.com/easy-info which gives you all the relevant information about the KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup 2015. Furthermore, you get alerts when there’s a chance that four of the top Cold Hawaii spots (Hanstholm, Klitmøller, Vorupør and Agger) are working - and you get the info, relevant to where on the coast you are. Easy... and SMART!

Der Veranstalter ist positiv eingestellt:

[Daily LIVE schedule]: Day 1 - KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup 2015
Weather forecast for the week to come is looking promising. However, today looks as there’ll be no sailing. If the conditions change we will of course switch to live competition and let you know immediately.

Starting at 13:00 CEST we’ve prepared the following live program for you:

0: Intro
1: Welcome to KIA Cold Hawaii PWA Cold Hawaii 2015
2: Walk through of current status on the PWA tour
3: Interview with PWA head judge Duncan Coombs
4: Interview with current leader of the PWA tour, Victor Fernandez, and last year’s winner of the Cold Hawaii event Thomas Traversa
5: Walk through of “how to follow the event”
6: Summary of what to expect from the week to come

Kein Wind heute an Tag 1:

Day 1: Attention turns towards tomorrow with a promising looking forecast
It was a slow start in Denmark on the inaugural day of the 2015 KIA Cold Hawaii World Cup with extremely offshore winds and a lack of swell keeping the competitors on hold after registration had been held between 9am-11:30am. Sailors were released for the day just after 3pm with the forecast looking more promising for tomorrow.

Earlier in the day we quickly caught up with the current world tour leader - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) - who had this to say: “So far this year I couldn’t have asked for much more. The Canaries leg of the tour went great and it’s a dream to be leading at this stage. It also gives me a lot of extra motivation for the week ahead and for the rest of the year. The forecast looks promising and I’ll try my best again here. I’m just going to take it heat by heat.”

After a quiet first day the attention now turns towards tomorrow, which holds plenty of promise with the forecast predicting wind from first light tomorrow - with this in mind the skippers’ meeting has been called for 7:30am with the first possible start for the trials at 8am. The latest forecast model shows the wind coming through from the SSW for a time, which should quickly generate a wave and waves of almost 2 metres are being predicted for tomorrow, so we are hopeful of an exciting day of action.

An official announcement for the sailors already in the main draw will be made at 8:45am with the first possible start at 9:15am.

A list of the trialists vying for the final four places in the main draw can be found below:

Trials Heats:

Heat 1: Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) vs Federico Morisio (Goya Windsurfing) vs Gustav Haggstrom (RRD / RRD)

Heat 2: Pablo Ramirez (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) vs Markus Rydberg (Simmer / Simmer) vs Thomas Svensson (Tabou / GA Sails) vs Tuomo Naalisvaara (Starboard / Severne)

Heat 3: Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / North) vs Mads Bjorna Nielsen (Fanatic / Simmer) vs Martin Ovsik vs Klaus Twilling

*Winner from each heat advances into main event - 2nd places will then sail a separate heat with the winner advancing into the main event.

Tag 2 auch windlos:

Day 2: The sailors remain on hold as the waiting game continues in Cold Hawaii
The second day of the KIA Cold Hawaii World Cup started with high hopes after a promising looking forecast emerged yesterday evening. However, on this occasion the promise of wind and waves failed to materialise meaning the sailors remained on hold for another day — despite a long day of wishing and waiting.

Around midday the conditions did improve for a time with the sunshine breaking through the earlier clouds, whilst the wind picked up to create a small wave. This first tempted Camille Juban (Quatro / Avanti / MFC) out onto the water, before several other sailors also headed out for a short time. Unfortunately though the conditions soon deteriorated and it was not possible to start the trials.

Earlier in the day we caught up with a couple of sailors to see what they think about Cold Hawaii and the event:

Adam Lewis (Fanatic / North), who currently completes the world’s overall top ten: “I always look forward to the Cold Hawaii event, it’s one of my favourite events of the year, Historically speaking it’s been one of the most consistent events — with a 100% record over the last six years — hopefully this year we’ll get some epic conditions again. Aside from the great conditions everyone is also really friendly and the event has a great vibe surrounding it.”

Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC), who won a single elimination here in 2011 and currently occupies fifth place in the overall rankings: “Cold Hawaii is a really nice location. I think it’s a great event to have on the world tour as it’s quite different to the other locations and it has such a wide range of potential conditions. Last year we had anything from side-off down-the-line to onshore all in one week, so you can experience all kinds of conditions in the same location. The people are great and it’s a stop that I’d hope continues to be on the tour in the future.”

The current forecast looks as though tomorrow will see another lay day for the wave sailing elite, with wind expected to swing southeasterly by the afternoon and less swell also being predicted compared to today.

However, whilst tomorrow doesn’t look good on the forecast, there has been a change in our favour for Thursday, which now predicts winds of up to 35 knots from the south to southwest, accompanied by waves of up to 3 metres. Meanwhile, the forecast for Friday and Saturday has also improved so it looks as though sailors patience will eventually pay off.

The sailors will meet again at 8:30am tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 9am — if conditions allow. As always you’ll be able to stay up to date with all of the latest news by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com — here you’ll be able to follow everything as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.

[Daily LIVE schedule]: Day 4 - KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup 2015 (action day)
Finally, the waiting game is coming to an end. Today it’s going to happen. Wind and waves are kicking in this afternoon and staying with us for a while.

As usual we’ll go live at 1 pm CEST.

Here’s what we’ve prepared for you:

//Intro
//Still a bit of waiting game left
//When the wind suddenly kicks in. What happened at Tenerife?
//Live from Hvide Sande - the wind is there and moving north!
//From waiting to standby game - how to you control your emotions?
//Voxpops sailors - how do you stay focused?

//Trails
//Start of competition

Tag 4:

Day 4: The main event begins on what ultimately proves to be a frustrating day
Expectations were high on day four of the 2015 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup and whilst the trials were completed and the single elimination begun, today proved to be largely frustrating with the wind and waves not quite co-operating with each other at one time or another as the squalls caused the wind to be up and down.

After a slow start in the morning the waves quickly improved once the wind swung slightly to the west and for a while the conditions were excellent with head high waves and cross to cross-off winds. Unfortunately though the conditions didn’t last and despite everyones best efforts it was only possible to complete two heats in the main draw.

The first agenda of the day was the trials and Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) was the first man to book his place in the main draw followed by Pablo Ramirez (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) and Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / North) — who all won their respective heats.

Meanwhile, Gustav Haggstrom (RRD / RRD), Markus Rydberg (Simmer / Simmer) and local boy Mads Bjorna (Fanatic / Simmer) battled it out for the final place in the main draw in the repechage round and much to the delight of the locals it was Mads Bjorna, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands as the Dane narrowly edged out Markus Rydberg.

Single Elimination

The opening heat of the single elimination featured two-time world champion Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who produced a solid display — which included a stylish goiter — to dispatch of Pablo Ramirez. Meanwhile, Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy) and Josep Pons (Simmer) were neck-and-neck for much of the heat, but the American saved the best till last to wrack up his highest scoring wave of the heat on his final wave to advance into the next round.

Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD) produced the best performance of the day as he effortlessly linked together each wave to defeat Maciek Rutkowski. The Spaniard is renowned for his wave riding capabilities and he proved why as he combined vert snap with fluid takas. On the b-side of the panel Dany Bruch (Starboard / Challenger Sails / AL360) edged a close heat against Aleix Sanllehy (Tabou / GA Sails) advancing by just 0.75 of a point such was the closeness of the duel.

The Heat of Doom

Heat two featuring Flo Jung (RRD / Gun Sails), Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North), Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) and Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / North) proved to be the heat of doom. Four attempts were made to complete the heat, but on each occasion had to be cancelled due to the conditions deteriorating during the heat. Having spent the day on hold they will now be the first heat up tomorrow.

Martin ten Hoeve (Goya Windsurfing / Point-7) was forced to retire from the competition after sustaining a suspected broken foot during the warmup. Everyone from the PWA wishes Martin a speedy and successful recovery and we will try to bring you an update when we know more.

The skippers’ meeting has been called bright and early for tomorrow morning at 7am with the forecast currently predicting 20-30 knot westerly winds and waves of up to 2.7 metres. If the conditions allow then the action will commence from 7:30am. As always you’ll be able to follow all of the incredible action live via the PWA live stream and live ticker @ www.pwaworldtour.com.

Also gestern fand ich die Wellen auch sehr grenzwertig. Heute habe ich noch nicht reingeschaut...

Das war der gestrige 5. Tag:

Day 5: Philip Köster is the King of Cold Hawaii for 2015 after an epic day in Klitmøller
The sailors patience may have been tested in the opening four days, but their patience was more than rewarded today as Cold Hawaii maintained it’s 100% record in epic fashion. Not only was the single elimination completed, but also the double as Klitmøller reinstated its reputation as Cold Hawaii with wall-to-wall sunshine, frothy North Sea nuggets and howling winds.

By the end of an enthralling day it was Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who fought his way to the top of the podium as he remained unbeaten after defeating Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) in the single elimination — followed by Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) in the double, which takes the two-time world champion to the top of the overall rankings, with his second victory of the year. However, there was several fascinating battles throughout the day with big upsets and epic comebacks, which really made the today one to remember.

Single Elimination

Winners’ Final

Philip Köster lined up against Marcilio Browne in the winners’ final and the German made an explosive start to the final with a trademark, bolt upright double forward — earning him 9.5 points — but the final wasn’t won in the air on this occasion as his Brazilian counterpart matched him toe-for-toe in the jumps department after landing a perfect double of his own almost immediately afterwards. The difference came in the waves — or in particular one outstanding wave from Köster — which consisted of a sick frontside 360 right in the critical section, landed fully planing, and a couple of vert snaps to earn perfect 10s from the judges. Browne also produced one wave in the excellent range but it wasn’t enough to stop the twenty-one year old from claiming first blood.

The biggest upset in the single elimination saw Moritz Mauch (Starboard / Severne / MFC) take down the defending event champion and reigning world champion — Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) — in the second round. TT dominated in the air, but unusually the Frenchman couldn’t find the wave rides he required. Mauch looks dangerous all day on the wave combining vertical snap, after vertical snap with consummate and advanced by 0.12 of a point.

Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North) landed one of the best double forwards of his life against Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) in Heat 9b as he almost planed out of it to be awarded 9.88 points. However, despite an amazing jump the 20 year old couldn’t quite claim one of the biggest scalps of his career as he failed to find a backup wave. At the end of the heat Stillrich missed out by just over half a point and would’ve only required a 5.5 point to advance.

Double Elimination

Victor Fernandez was on fire in the double elimination — just like he has been in each event this year. The Spaniard was the only other man aside form Köster to earn perfect 10s in the contest as he defeated Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne) and Marcilio Browne with a combination of stunning doubles and radical wave rides. Against Stone, Fernandez actually recorded the highest individual heat score of the entire competition to setup a mouth-watering final against Köster. However, Browne, will still be delighted with his performance today as he recorded his first podium finish of the year and also his best result by far as he returned to form.

The Battle of the World Title Contenders

Coming into the event Victor Fernandez led the world rankings, closely followed by Philip Köster, and fittingly the top two title contenders were the last men standing in the double elimination.

Köster may have made a quick start in the single elimination final, but in the double he came absolutely flying out the starting blocks — landing another trademark double forward straight off the bat — before further piling the pressure on Fernandez by wracking up the highest wave score of the heat — 9.5 points. Fernandez responded with a superb double forward of his own and soon brought the scores almost level with his best wave of the heat on his first attempt to earn 8.5 points, but unlike the prior two heats the 2010 world champion couldn’t find an amazing second wave to overhaul Köster — meaning Köster recaptured the title of being the Cold Hawaii King — a status he last held in 2011.

Philip Köster reacts to being crowned the King of Cold Hawaii for the second time: “I felt very comfortable on the water today once I changed to my bigger board and sail, which I need because I’m a bit heavier than everyone. For me it was a perfect day, Everyone heat went great and I scored my best wave ever here with the 360 in the single elimination.”

When asked about the final Köster added: “I wasn’t sure if I was going to win the final because I had one very good wave, but then the second one was a bit sketchy, Overall I was very happy though, I’d been watching Victor [Fernandez] in the heats before and he was absolutely ripping and it was a huge challenge to sail against him like always.”

Comeback Kings

Local boy Kenneth Danielsen (Simmer) staged a stunning comeback through the double elimination, much to the delight of the local crowd as the Dane won five consecutive heats. Danielsen finished 6th here in 2011 and he was in similar devastating form today as he firstly dispatching of Marc Paré (99NoveNove / Simmer / Maui Ultra Fins) followed by Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North), Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy), Moritz Mauch and Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde).

At the same time as Danielsen another — almost local — Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC) was staging a brilliant comeback of his own as the German slashed his way past four opponents in a row in the shape of; Adam Lewis (Fanatic / North), John Skye (RRD / RRD / MFC), Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD) and Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC).

The two warriors of the North Sea were on a collision course and the duo inevitably came together in Heat 31 in the battle for 5th and 6th. Both sailors know Cold Hawaii like the back of their hands, but on this occasion it was Voget who would advance.

Jaeger Stone then halted Voget in his tracks as the Aussie ripper set his sights on back-to-back podiums, As always Stone’s wave riding was on point and he landed stylish one-footed, double kicked backloops on demand, but even this wasn’t enough in Heat 33 as Victor Fernandez delivered an almost perfect heat — leaving Stone to settle for fourth place.

Jules Denel saved his best until last against Dany Bruch (Starboard / Challenger Sails / AL360) in Heat 26 to snatch victory from the grasp of Bruch in the last minute of the heat. The Frenchman then defeated Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX) to finish 7th overall in the double elimination — which is Denel’s best result of the season.

Result of the 2015 KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup:

1st Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Victor Fernández (Fanatic / North / MFC)

3rd Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC)

4th Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne)

5th Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC)

6th Kenneth Danielsen (Simmer)

7th Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde)

7th Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC)

9th Moritz Mauch (Starboard / Severne / MFC)

9th Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX)

9th Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD)

9th Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails)

Gestern dann eine Supersession:

KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup

Day 6: Browne snatches victory from the claws of Stillrich in Super Session Finale
There was a more relaxed start to the penultimate day of the KIA Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup — compared to yesterday’s hectic, but epic, schedule. Registration for the Super Session was held between 1pm and 1:30pm and 14 of the world’s finest wave sailors signed up to battle it out in front of a packed out crowd.

The super session consisted of 3 qualifying heats with the winner of each heat advancing into the final as well as one lucky loser — the highest second placed finisher. Each sailor was given 18 minutes to produce their best jump or wave move in order to advance and it was Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North), Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX), Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) and Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) — who was the lucky loser that secured their place in the showdown.

Super Session Final

The wind picked up for the final and it turned into a double forward off with everyone throwing themselves into doubles left, right and centre. For a long time it looked as though Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North) was heading for the top of the podium as the twenty year old landed an almost perfect double forward to earn 28.5 points out of a possible 30. However, there was one man who was intent on claiming first place — Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) — and the Brazilian launched himself into multiple efforts, which paid off in the dying minutes as he posted a score of 28.7 points to steal the victory. Robby Swift completed the podium ahead by Jules Denel.

With an epic double elimination and a super session in the bag, tomorrow will see a lay day with the sailors de-rigging and readying themselves for their next battle in Sylt, which kicks off on the 25th September.