PWA IRISH WAVE GRAND PRIX

7-13th OCTOBER 2001

POLAKOW TAKES VICTORY IN IRELAND BUT DUNKERBECK WINS THE OVERALL TITLE!

The wind refused to play ball here on the final day of the 2001 PWA Irish Wave
Grand Prix, which means Jason Polakow (JP, Neil Pryde) and Karin Jaggi (F2,
Arrows) are the winners in their men’s and women’s respective single elimination’s.

In the dramatic men’s final yesterday, Polakow thwarted a determined challenge
from Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Proof, Neil Pryde) of Spain. Battling it out in almost
perfect cross-offshore wave riding conditions the Aussie wave guru was awarded
victory over Dunkerbeck with a 4-1 decision from the judges. On his road to
the final Polakow’s explosive vertical top to bottom wave riding style was the
key factor in taking down opposition Mikko Merve (North), Orjan Jensen (North,
Proof), Scott Fenton (Gaastra) and Kevin Pritchard (Bic, Gaastra). Dunkerbeck
meanwhile used his years of competition experience and tactics to help him advance
over Matt Pearch (Neil Pryde, JP) Scott Carvill (Naish Boards, Naish sails)
Kauli Seadi (Naish boards, Naish sails) and Peter Volwater (F2, Arrows).

JASON POLAKOW
"I am stoked. I saw Bjorn had some set waves in the final and didn’t feel
that I had the best waves. I rode the waves as well as I could for what I had.
I am just stoked, that is two wins in a row. I could not ask for anymore. I
am really motivated now, I have been working hard with Scott Sanchez and the
MPG Team, hopefully I can come back next year and win the world title"

BJORN DUNKERBECK
"The wind has been a little light for my tastes. I am happy we had the
conditions. The weather forecast said there was going to be nothing at all.
We had sunshine decent waves and some OK winds. That pretty well wraps up a
good year for me again so I am pretty stoked about that. The final was pretty
close. I am going to check out the score sheets to see if I can learn anything.
I felt like I had good waves and my friends thought that I had won the heat.
I guess the judges saw it differently!"

In the battle for third and fourth Peter Volwater of Holland scooped third
place in a heated clash against Kevin Pritchard of the USA.

PETER VOLWATER
"It was a super good competition. It is a beach break here so it is not
like a perfect Fiji mechanical wave sort of thing but every now and then you
get a wave that sets up perfectly and reels off. You can get twelve bottom turns
on one wave. I would of loved to be in the final. I feel like I am getting closer
now. My results have been getting a lot better every year. I am a lot more experienced
now and feel that I am very close at breaking through to make into the finals.
I keep on getting third place. I had fun sailing against Bjorn and Cisco today.
It is wonderful just to be out there with just four guys sharing waves.

KEVIN PRITCHARD
"These are not my ideal conditions. I had some tough heats along the way
and was pretty pleased to reach the semi finals. I beat Tristan Boxford and
Nik Baker, which were both difficult heats. The scenery is stunning here and
we have had some awesome waves. I think I am second overall after this event
so I am reasonably pleased with that."

In the women’s final Karin Jaggi of Switzerland emerged as the winner after
taking victory over Daida Moreno of Spain. Jaggi had made it through to the
final after a tough battle in the semi’s against a spirited performance from
Daida’s twin sister, Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North). Iballa managed to take
third place after defeating Tony Frey (RRD) of Greece in the losers final.

KARIN JAGGI
"I am super happy to win here in Ireland. For me it is the best event
to win, I love it here. I am very stoked to win a wave riding competition. I
think Daida has won the world title though. We both won two events but she did
better in the competitions she did not win. It was a super tight year and I
actually think she deserved to win. I am just very happy I got back into the
right track"

DAIDA MORENO
"It was hard to get out through the waves because the wind was light and
quite offshore. The waves were really nice, I was on a 4.7, which I needed to
get out, but it was sometimes too much on the wave. I am pretty happy, I thought
I had a good heat in the final. I thought I may of won but I was wrong"

This year’s event in Ireland will long be remembered for its epic down the
line wave riding conditions. In front of a beautiful backdrop of lush green
patchwork farmlands, the competition had kicked off in dramatic style on Thursday
at Gowlane beach in smooth, mast high peeling waves. The forecast for Friday
had been poor and many decided to party the night away in a wild night at Spillanes
pub, the spiritual home of the event. As we all know, one thing about Ireland
you can never predict is the weather and Friday surprised everyone with another
day of epic conditions at Gowlane. With cranking waves and more sideshore winds
the PWA season concluded in spectacular style.

Young gun, Kauli Seadi of Brazil who went down to Dunkerbeck in the quarterfinals
was one of the most impressive talents to be seen here in Ireland. His speed
down the line and snappy vertical top turns have revealed a definite force to
be reckoned with over the coming years on the PWA World Tour. Francisco Goya
(F2, Arrows) failed to repeat the performances which gave him victory here last
year but nevertheless he did come up with several moments of brilliance. The
Argentinean wave guru who is known for his fluid style in the waves unleashed
his latest manoeuvre in two of his heats…the frontside back loop off the
lip. Goya was eventually beaten by Peter Volwater who has firmly established
himself this season as a one of the big guns in all disciplines on the PWA World
Tour.

Final Results:

Men
1.Jason Polakow KA-1111
2.Bjoern Dunkerbeck-E 11
3.Peter Volwater H-24
4.Kevin Pritchard US-3
5.Nik Baker K-66 ex aequo Kauli Seadi, Scott Fenton, Francisco Goya

Ladies
1.Karin Jaggi Z-14
2.Daida Ruano Moreno E-64
3.Iballa Ruano Moreno E-63