IT S BEEN EMOTIONAL

A dramatic slalom final in Noumea marked the end of the PWA 2019 calendar, capping offa windy year with some amazing performances, 2019 also saw the continued rise of foiling and an increased profile and pay packet for the women’s fleet, not to mention a nail-biting climax to the wave titles. JC sat down with a variety of windsurfing pros to look back on the year and into the crystal ball for 2020, discussing their highs, lows and future goals.

- Sarah-Quita Offringa, Philip Koester, Pierre Mortefon, Justyna Sniady, Iballa Moreno, John Skye, Lena Erdil, Ricardo Campello, Matteo Iachino, Thomas Traversa

PHILIP KOESTER HIGHS

I would say that my high point was getting the world title on Maui, it was such a relief when I heard I was officially world champion after waiting for a lot of days without wind and with conditions on the edge. My personal high point was finding out that I will have a little girl together with my girlfriend Manca.

LOWS

My low point of 2019 was probably the final of the Pozo event where I was totally beaten up from quite a few hard crashes. The level of jumps is getting very high and the landings are very painful. In the final I forgot to do one last easy jump which would have given me the win, but I totally forgot about it because I was so exhausted. I don’t think I really had any personal low points in 2019, I have been travelling a lot and doing what I love.

BEST EVENT

Best event for me was Pozo since it is my home spot and I really like the challenge of doing high and tricky jumps. Also watching all the others go for it is amazing and really fun to experience. Maui is also at the top of the list since we had a great swell, unfortunately, the wind was missing a bit and made it very hard, but there were really nice moments too.

WORST EVENT

I tried to compete at the IFCA Wave European Championships in Denmark. There were amazing conditions, if they would’ve started a few hours earlier and not had two registrations. One was a day earlier in the evening where it could have been finished and then unfortunately another one on the day of the contest. Start was at midday and the brilliant 35 knots of wind and waves had already gone and we had to compete in very light non-planing conditions. For this sport it is already hard enough to get lucky with the conditions for a contest! I appreciate that in the PWA they are a bit more flexible and start as early as possible to get good sailing done.