THE TIREE WAVE CLASSIC
in association with Corona Extra
Saturday 14 – Saturday 21 October 2006
http://www.tireewaveclassic.com

News Release – Monday 16 Otcober 2006

Fun freestyle event sees risk-taking windsurfers pulling off 
spectacular moves

Competitors at The Tiree Wave Classic, The UK’s leading windsurfing 
event, were given the opportunity to take chances on Sunday afternoon 
(15/10/06) as judges decided to use the calmer conditions for an 
unofficial freestyle expression session. The event gave sailors 10 
minutes to pull off freestyle tricks on the open stretch of shore at 
Gott Bay. The judges awarded the prize on the one best move of the 
day. Three classes competed seeing competitors from the Pro Mens, 
Juniors and Youth classes dazzling the assembled crowd on the beach.

One of the Triple Crown favourites Ben Proffitt put his disappointing 
Wave riding performance behind him with a freestyle session that saw 
him doing planing tricks combining Grubbys and Lollipops. A Grubby is 
an aerial freestyle move involving boards sliding backwards with a 
360 degree spin and a Lollipop involves popping the board up 180 
degrees so it’s facing the other way and then spinning it back so 
it’s facing the right direction. Proffitt was pleased with his 
performance saying: ‘It was great to get back to winning ways out 
there and I’m keen to take that momentum into the official competition.’

In the Junior class Richard Jones won out with a series of Gecko 
Flakkas and Spock 540s. A Gecko Flakka is a non planing 360 where the 
board dips into the water and then finishes the rotation as the 
sailor emerges from the surf and a Spock 540 is a backward spin where 
the sailor rotates one and a half times to change direction. Graham 
Woods was the top Junior pulling off some spectacular one handed 
Gecko Flakkas.

Event organiser Andy Groom of GMF Co Events said ‘The Wave Classic 
got off to a cracking start on Saturday with the Pro Men’s and 
Women’s Wavesailing contests at the Maze. The unofficial competitive 
events have also given competitors a chance to take more risks in the 
quieter conditions which should translate to some exciting action as 
soon as the wind picks up again.’

Due to poor sailing conditions today Tuesday (16/10/06) official 
events have been replaced by a long distance race at Gott Bay. The 
weather forecast for the week ahead is predicting an increase in wind 
strength from 8 knots (9mph) on Tuesday morning (16/10/06) to winds 
of 26 knots (30mph) on Thursday. These conditions will ensure a 
keenly contested competition with the likelihood of a wave sailing 
round on Thursday (19/10/06) to wow the 150 plus crowds visiting the 
island on the special Caledonian MacBrayne return ferry package.
ENDS