Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, Presented by Fosters

The 10th Mana Mana Amslam, Presented by Neil Pryde

Date: 5 February 2004

Two races were run today to open the 10th Mana Mana Amslam, the fourth event
on the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour, presented by Foster’s. Defending Champion
Robbie Radis from Australia took the first race but in the second he was beaten
by Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo. At the end of the day Radis leads ahead of a consistent
Bo Ruamsap of Thailand with Yoon in third.

Every windsurfer knows the wind gods can be both fickle and cruel. For hours
today the fleet of international windsurfers sat on a beach, albeit a beautiful
one, and watched as the wind speed hovered just below an acceptable minimum.
Every now and then gusts would arrive and a murmur would travel around the beach.
But the murmurs would subside with the beach flags.

Finally in mid afternoon the teasing was over and the fleet was able to take
to the water. Wind speeds still hung at around 12 knots, a very gentle breeze,
but just enough to start this year’s Mana Mana Amslam.

This is the 10th year of the event and it has grown in both size and reputation.
46 competitors from 10 countries are competing for the title champion – and
for the points they will receive towards the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour Title.
Going in to this event defending Adecco AWT Champion Robbie Radis from Australia
is looking strong ahead of Korea’s Yoon Sung Soo and the UK’s Paul Philips.

Other sailors to watch at this years Mana Mana Amslam will be Singaporean champion
Andrew Foo and Thailand’s Bo Ruamsap (an Asian games Gold Medallist). In the
ladies division Singapore’s Rachel Ng goes head to head again with Japan’s Ayako
Suzuki.

Windsurf racing is quite simple with the fleet of sailors crossing the start
line as a clock reaches "zero" and racers travelling around a series
of buoys or marks before crossing a finish line. The first across the line wins….
And the first race was a simple "Speed Dash" out to sea, around one
mark and back to the finish line near shore. Across the start line it was clear
that Radis, racing on his largest Neil Pryde RS4 race sail, had the board speed
to win. But both Ruamsap and Yoon maintained contact but they could not really
threaten a dominant Radis. A strong first race and perhaps a little daunting
for the rest of the fleet.

But the second race of the day was different. Yoon, who is also racing on the
new RS4 sails, was also powered up and this time rounded the first mark ahead
of both Ruamsap and Radis. The Australian was clearly not invincible and although
Radis recovered into second position the victory was Yoon’s.

Said Yoon "I am very happy to beat Robbie in the race. That first race
showed that he has good speed and that he is in form. But I managed to beat
him to the first mark and that was the key. We have two more days of racing
and I’m still in third place behind both Robbie and Bo so I cannot get carried
away."

Tonight the fleet travels north on Bintan to the Club Med resort for another
night of partying on the Adecco AWT and racing will continue tomorrow. Stronger
winds are forecast with those fickle wind gods saving the best until Saturday.

The Mana Mana Amslam is a prestigious event in it’s own right and it fits into
the larger Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour that groups together the premier windsurfing
events in the region.

1) The Penghu Pro-am, Penghu, Taiwan (November 2003)
2) The Boracay International Funboard Cup, Philippines (January 2004)
3) Monsoon Madness, Kuantan, Malaysia (January 2004)
4) The Mana Mana Amslam, Bintan, Indonesia (February 2004)
5) The Marianas Open, Saipan (February 2004)

Through the season competitors at each event earn points towards the overall
Adecco AWT Championship and at the end of the season in Saipan a new Asian Champion
is crowned.

The Mana Mana Amslam (and all the events on the Adecco AWT) is being filmed
for international television and in all, the event will reach an audience of
over 150 million households around the globe. The World will be watching as
the 10th Mana Mana Amslam sets sail.

The Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour is sponsored by Adecco, Fosters, Lava Eyewear
and Action Asia Magazine.

Mana Mana Amlsam is sponsored by Mana Mana Beach Club and Neil Pryde.

For more information on the Adecco Asian Windsurfing Tour contact Proteus Sports
at [email protected] or turn to www.asianwindsurfingtour.com

Mana Mana Amslam
Results so far – Overall (top 5 only)

# Name Country R1 R2 Total
1 Robbie Radis Australia 0.75 2 2.75
2. Bo Ruamsap Thailand 2 3 5
3. Yoon Sung Soo Korea 5 0.75 5.75
4. Tan Wearn How Singapore 3 4 7
5. Wang Yew Pang Singapore 4 5 9

7. Rachel Ng Japan 8 8 16

Notes
*A competitor finishing first gets only 0.75 points while those finishing second
get 2 points, third 3 points etc.
*The lowest score at the end of the event wins