Tonky Frans takes the tow-in crown ahead of Davy Scheffers and Antoine Albert

The final day of the opening event of 2016 saw the glorious weather continue as wall-to-wall sunshine attracted people in their thousands to see the conclusion of the tow-in final — before seeing the winners’ of the event crowned during the official prize giving.

Each of the 10 sailors in the final were given 3 opportunities to perform their most explosive maneuver, but as it turned out Tonky Frans won the entire competition with his opening effort as the Bonairean stomped a skopu to see off the remainder of the fleet. Davy Scheffers secured second place with his final run as the Dutchman rotated through a perfectly executed double air funnel. Meanwhile, Antoine Albert secured the final place on the podium with a skopu of his own.

After the tow-in the official prize giving was held as Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo was crowned the champion and he takes an early lead in the battle for the title. At this stage of the season Amado Vrieswijk and Adrien Bosson are his closest rivals — with the latter earning his maiden podium.

Day 4: A double installment of tow-in as last places in tomorrow’s final are decided

The penultimate day of the 2016 PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf saw the high pressure continue as crowds in their thousands basked in the wall-to-wall sunshine while enjoying the tow-in action with a glass of champagne.

During the afternoon and evening the last two qualifying heats for the tow-in were held as 20 sailors battled it out for the remaining 6 places in the final — as well as one lucky loser (the highest fourth place).

In the second qualifying heat Gollito Estredo recovered from a slow start to qualify in first place ahead of Yentel Caers and Steven Van Broeckhoven. The Venezuelan dropped his opening move, but after much discussion with the jet ski driver he popped through an immaculate triple funnel to move to the top of the standings.

In the same heat Davy Scheffers was a little unlucky to not automatically qualify for the final after stomping a double burner, but the Dutchman deservedly still makes the final as the lucky fourth placed loser.

Meanwhile, in the evening session Tonky Frans stole the show as the Bonairean earned highest scoring move across the three qualifying heats with an amazing skopu. Also qualifying for the final are Adrien Bosson and Antoine Albert.

The skippers’ meeting for tomorrow will be held at 10 AM, but it is likely that tow-in will take centre stage again and the final has been scheduled for 3 PM — followed by the official prize giving.

Day 3: Jamie Howard wins opening tow-in qualification ahead of Kiri Thode and Rick Jendrusch

As expected day three of the PWA Surf World Cup Podersdorf proved to be a day of rest for the majority of the fleet as light winds and wall-to-wall sunshine replaced the cold and windy weather. In the evening the opening tow-in qualification was held between 7 PM and 8 PM as 10 sailors battled it out for the first three qualification places for Sunday’s Final.

Earlier we caught up with a few sailors to gain their thoughts on the event so far:

Amado Vrieswijk: “What a ride yesterday morning was! Up at 5.30 AM, managed to win 9 heats in a row to force a super-final, which brought me to the 2nd place in the double-elimination. #GREATFEELING Congrats to the winner Gollito, Adrien Bosson and of course Taty Frans!”

Kiri Thode: “Not a good start for this season... Had a big delay with the 2016 boards, so I could not train on them before the event. I had no 2016 board for months, but I received one of my boards just before the event and I was not feeling great on them. Luckily, Dieter had an extra Flare 91 which I could borrow so thanks a lot Dieter van der Eyken.

In the end I finished 7th in the double elimination and we had some epic conditions which was a great way to celebrate the last PWA event in Podersdorf. The wind is not looking good for some more competition, so it's tow-in time. I'll keep my face up and get training on my new gear so I’ m ready for Fuerte.”

Taty Frans: “It feels like all the endless hours and days on the water training in Bonaire during the winter time is paying off for both Amado and myself here in Austria. It's a good feeling to place 4th and a 2nd for Amado Vrieswijk in the double elimination - oooh yeah!”

Steven Van Broeckhoven: “I finished 9th in the first double elimination which was not really what I was hoping for. Congrats to the winners! There’s still a couple more days to go, so I hope I can improve my result.”

The first tow-in qualification started at 7 PM and each sailor was given two runs to show their best move. In the end, Jamie Howard claimed a somewhat unexpected victory as he landed a perfect triple funnel. Meanwhile, Kiri Thode also qualified with a double air funnel, while the final qualifying place went to Rick Jendrusch, who also landed a triple funnel. Local boy — Max Matissek — will now have to pin his hopes on being the lucky loser (4th placed sailor with highest score).

The forecast looks similar to tomorrow so the skippers’ meeting will be held at 10 AM once more with a first possible start of 10:30 AM — if conditions allow. In the likely event of no wind the second tow-in qualification will take place in the evening.

Day 2 - Gollito earns commanding lead after narrow victory over Vrieswijk in super final

The early skippers’ meeting paid off on day two as the remaining competitors in the double elimination were greeted to very different conditions to yesterday — with winds of 12-20 knots as opposed to 40 knots — but the temperature remained close to freezing. By mid-morning the double elimination had been completed and Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo now holds a commanding lead at the top of the event rankings having ended Amado Vrieswijk’s heroic comeback at the second time of asking in the super final.

Mens' Double Elimination

Amado Vrieswijk staged an amazing comeback through the double elimination as he fought his way back all the way to 2nd place — having finished joint 9th in the single elimination. The Bonairean was the standout sailor in the double as he won nine heats on the bounce by combining outstanding moves such as textbook kabikuchis on both tacks with powerful double culos to firstly take down Jacopo Testa, followed by Sam Esteve, Philip Soltysiak and Kiri Thode before then exacting revenge against Yentel Caers in Heat 47. From here Vrieswijk continued his inspired form as he defeated Antony Ruenes, Taty Frans and Adrien Bosson to setup a meeting with Gollito — which he duly won to force a Super Final.

Mens' Double Elimination - Super Final

Having forced a super final Vrieswijk and Gollito lined up against each other one more time to decide who would be crowned the champion of the double elimination. Both sailors produced another superb display, but with Vrieswijk sailing his 10th heat of the day, his exertions started to take their toll with the 20 year old battling cramps throughout the heat. Despite that he still managed to land another perfect double culo and kabikuchis on both tacks, but Gollito was in no mood to be defeated and he turned on the style to remain unbeaten. The Venezuelan landed no-handed culos, double culos and shuvit spocks on both tacks as he narrowly defeated Vrieswijk by under 3 points such was the closeness between the two sailors.

Gollito reacts after defending his single elimination crown: “Thank you God for everything. Today I won the double elimination against my friend Amado Vrieswijk... I feel amazing, the level I showed here was amazing, it's something that makes me eager to keep giving it everything in the water and take this flag well lejo. Last year was my worst year in competition and many thought that my level had dropped but it's always good to experience these things because they make you stronger. Thank you God — I’m always grateful of life.”

Youp Schmit was a major injury doubt ahead of today due to suffering a suspected torn calf yesterday, but despite the fact that he needed crutches to walk to and from the water the Bonairean still managed to somehow win a couple of heats against Max Rowe and Hugo de Sousa — with victory over the Brazilian protected his 9th place from the single elimination, which he was delighted about having sailed through the pain barrier. Schmit said: “My body has experienced pain like I’ve never experienced before today.” while still keeping a beaming smile on his face.

Mens' Single Elimination 2

With the wind continuing to blow the competition rolled into a second single elimination, but only the first round and one heat in the second round were able to be completed before the wind became too fickle to compete anymore. The entire second single elimination must be counted in order to count towards the result, so at the moment the sailors well placed after the double elimination are in a commanding position with the forecast not looking particularly promising for the remaining three days. However, as we’ve seen on many occasions before that can easily change, so the sailors will have to stay prepared.

The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10 AM with the first possible start at 10:30 AM (GMT+2). If the wind remains light then tow-in will provide the entertainment with the first qualifying heat being held at 7 PM tomorrow evening.

Results after Men’s Double Elimination:

1st José Gollito Estredo2nd Amado Vrieswijk3rd Adrien Bosson4th Taty Frans5th Anthony Ruenes6th Yentel Caers7th Balz Muller7th Kiri Thode9th Youp Schmit9th Dieter van der Eyken9th Philip Soltysiak9th Steven van Broeckhoven

Day 1 - Gollito conquers the icy cold chocolate lake to take single elimination crown

The opening day of the 2016 PWA Freestyle World Tour started in explosive fashion as winds gusting up to 40 knots battered Podersdorf for the entirety of the day. The sailors produced a fantastic performance as they not only had to contend with the howling winds and extremely choppy water, but also the icy cold biting wind. After an enthralling first day it is six-time PWA World Champion — Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo — who sits at the top of the rankings after claiming victory in the single elimination.

Men's Single Elimination - Winners’ Final

The opening winners’ final of the year saw an all Fanatic and North Sails line up as Adrien Bosson qualified for his first ever final after defeating reigning world champion Dieter Van der Eyken before going on to dispatch of Philip Soltysiak and Antony Ruenes to set up a meeting with Gollito Estredo.

The wind dropped slightly in the final allowing Gollito to change to his preferred 4.8m² while Bosson continued his inspired form by landing another massive air skopu, kabikuchi and culos on both sides, but with the wind dropping slightly the Frenchman looked a little underpowered at times. Meanwhile, Gollito set out his stall early as he opened his account with an amazing no-handed burner 360 before really finding his groove as the final progressed. The Venezuelan landed skopus on both tacks as well as a stylish kabikuchi and a spock culo to take first blood in 2016. He will now look to defend his single elimination crown when the double elimination resumes tomorrow, while Bosson is already guaranteed his best ever result and can be delighted with how he attacked today.

Taty Frans secured third place by defeating Antony Ruenes in the losers’ final as the Bonairean produced a superb display with a perfect spock culo being the pick of the bunch. Ruenes landed another of his trademark no-handed burners, but it looked as though his earlier exertions had taken it out of him slightly by the time he was sailing his final heat of the day.

Balz Müller caused one of the upsets of the day as he defeated Steven Van Broeckhoven in Heat 20B. The Swiss mixed it up completely as he combined radical culos with shuvit spocks and t-bones, while even attempting a double forward and his risky tactics were rewarded with a narrow victory over the top seed to take 5th place in the single alongside Kiri Thode, Philip Soltysiak and Yentel Caers, who earned a hard fought victory against Amado Vrieswijk. The Belgian then led against Gollito for the majority of the next heat — only for the Venezuelan to snatch victory from his claws in the final minute.

Van Broeckhoven, who was crowned world champion in 2011, had looked very dangerous in his heat prior to meeting Müller, but didn’t quite have the same rhythm and the Belgian will now have to fight his way back through the double elimination in order to get his title aspirations back on track.

Elsewhere Sam Esteve impressed the judges with his aggressive approach with the young Frenchman flying through air skopus and air funnel burners to defeat Paul Simmerl before claiming the scalp of Nicolas Akgazciyan in Heat 14B — Esteve then met Gollito in the next round which brought his single elimination to an end.

Men's Double Elimination

With the wind still howling the competition rolled straight into the double elimination as several sailors began there comebacks with the opening two rounds of the double being completed just before sunset.

Max Rowe who has only been back on the water for a few months after breaking his ankle in November regained the winning feeling as he defeated Antoine Albert and Yuma Kobayashi to setup a tie against Youp Schmit in the first heat up tomorrow. However, the Brit may receive a bye into the next round due to Schmit suffering a suspected torn calf, which led to the Bonairean having to retire from the resail of Heat 17A.

Meanwhile, Nico Akgazciyan who finished 4th overall last year, also successfully started his comeback through the double elimination as he ended the hopes of Meiky Wieczorek and Nic Hibdige. The Frenchman will now face Tonky Frans in the next round.

Jacopo Testa stole the show in Heat 30B against Loick Spicher as the Italian landed one of, if not the move of the day as he launched into a huge air kabikuchi which he planed out of. After advancing past Spicher, Testa then also clinically dispatched of Rick Jendrusch with another air kabikuchi together with a one-handed, or no-handed culo, and a perfect spock culo doing the damage.

The Italian trio of Giovanni Passani, Rossel Bertoldo and Mattia Fabrizi all made successful starts to their double elimination comebacks as they to progressed through the opening two rounds.

The skippers’ meeting for tomorrow has been called for 6 AM with the wind expected to be strong in the morning, which should hopefully allow the double elimination to be completed. If the conditions are suitable then the action will begin bright and early at 6:30 AM (GMT+2). Live updates will be available via the PWA live ticker and photos will be available at the end of the day.

Results after Men’s Single Elimination:

1st José Gollito Estredo2nd Adrien Bosson3rd Taty Frans4th Anthony Ruenes5th Kiri Thode5th Yentel Caers5th Philip Soltysiak5th Balz Muller

- Text and Pictures are courtesy of John Carter / PWA World Tour -