THE ALOHA CLASSIC IS BACK!
NOVEMBER 8-10, 2004
Ho’okipa, Maui, Hawaii

The Winter “Aloha Classic will be back
after a two year absence, on November 8-10 at Ho’okipa Beach Park on Maui,
Hawaii.

Event organizers Pietro Porcella and Marc Lefebvre (Aloha Entertainment)
have signed a three year agreement with Ehman Production giving them the
rights of this prestigious event. Paul Ehman, creator of the Aloha Classic,
will keep the TV rights and has secured production on FOX Sports for the
event. Aloha Entertainment has secured the dates, November 8-10, at Ho’okipa
Beach Park for this year. Together, Pietro and Marc combine over 20 years of
experience in event planning and production.

“We want to bring the Aloha Classic back to its former glory and provide a
venue for local sailors to show the world that Maui is the place to come and
prove themselves.”, says Porcella. Pietro, a pioneer windsurfing journalist
and event organizer, has been covering over 200 international events and
World Cups since 1978. He also launched the PBA Italia in 1990 with the
‘Chia Classic’ in Sardinia and has organized three Windsurfer World
Championships in the ’90ties. He moved to Maui in 2000.

“This event is an important part of windsurfing history. It had been the
world stage for the best in windsurfing as well as promoting Maui as a
premier windsurfing destination. We want to bring the momentum back to
Maui; it will be good for the sailors, good for Maui and for the windsurfing
industry as a whole.” says Lefebvre. Marc Lefebvre has been an event
organizer since 1995 and is the creator of the ‘WD-40 Downwind Classic’,
‘Cape Cod Formula Series’, ‘WindFest Cape Cod’, and the ‘King of the Cape
Freestyle Pro-Am’, an International Freestyle event on Cape Cod, now a PWA
event, before moving to Maui in 2002. He also provided event consulting
services to the organizers and assisted in bringing the Freestyle World
Championships to Bonaire.

FORMAT
The format of the Aloha Classic 2004 will be focused on Professional and
Amateur Wave Sailing for Men and Women (with Freestyle and Downwind slalom
as alternative disciplines depending on weather conditions). The admission
and seeding for the 64 Pro finalists will be based on:

– PWA wave ranking as Nov. 2004 (32 places)
– Freestyle European Tour (3 places)
– ALL past winners of the Aloha Classic (18 places)
– The remaining slots will be wild card slots which will be filled via
a qualifier (TBD)

In an effort to honor past winners of the Aloha Classic for Men and Women,
all will be given free entry into the event, from Alex Aguera in 1984 all
the way up to Toni Garcia in 2001.