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events have been replaced by a long distance race at Gott Bay.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
