Gonzalo cleaned up in Puerto Rico. Date : 5/8/2010 Puerto Rico was great. I came here in 2001 for an event and after that I just fall in love with the place, so I have been here three years in a row to train formula after that. Coming back this time and meet many friends was really nice. Olivia PIANA, Youth Slalom Vice-World Champion L’Almanarre April 10th. to 15th. Date : 29/4/2010 Olivia PIANA had an excellent start to her season, with a great performance at the Youth Slalom World Championship at l'Almanarre, Formula South Americans Date : 23/2/2010 Words from Gonzalo; (February 16th. 2010) I arrived in Montevideo Uruguay after just a three hours ferry trip from Buenos Aires. I knew Paulo Dos Reis was already there so my idea was to get some training in finally with someone very fast. I knew he had been training very hard during the off season and he had won the first event in Miami. Jules Denel wins back to back in the French waves. Date : 1/12/2009 Still at the age of 19, Jules finish off the season with two impressive wins at the "Hot Game 2009" and the "JP Wind Wave 2009" – this time on the XO Sails/Exocet combo. Jules Denel reaching for the top. The 2009 PWA Colgate World Cup, Sylt Date : 15/10/2009 Jules, one of the youngest competitors (19) on the demanding and extremely competitive PWA tour is rapidly closing in on the more experienced veterans "ruling the game". Determination and endurance have already resulted in back to back Formula Youth World titles, but Jules is hungry for more - which his amazing performance in this years PWA mega event at Sylt clearly proved. Dany Bruch making waves. The 2009 PWA Colgate World Cup, Sylt Date : 14/10/2009 Dany proved he is a man for the job with an impressive performance - advancing from point zero after being washed by shorebreaks at the first day, to finish 6th. in the waves. Jules did it again Formula Youth World Championships, Cadiz - Spain July 11th. 2009 Date : 13/7/2009 Jules Denel kept his nerve to defend his title at the Youth Formula Worlds; Gonzalo Costa Hoevel third on the PWA Ranking Date : 27/5/2009 We managed to do 5 slalom rounds in Korea, so that was pretty amazing. It was my first time at Jinha Beach. The bay where we raced was quite small so the first leg was quite short and with the gusty winds - the starts became a challenge as well. Gonzalo on the Podium PWA Slalom, Podersdorf, Austria May 5th. - 10th. 2009 Date : 18/5/2009 Happening right after the EFPT , the first PWA Slalom race of the season took place at Podersdorf and all the world's best professional windsurfers were present. Rossi in the top five at Podersdorf EFPT Freestyle World Tour, Podersdorf May 4th. Date : 17/5/2009 The EFPT Freestyle world tour went off to an excellent start at Podersdorf, Austria, during the May 1st week end. With lots of world class Freestylers participating, and sufficient winds blowing between 15 and 25 knots on the lake, the organisers could complete a full double elimination - A great show for the crowd and the medias. Some words from MARCOS PERÉZ E-7 Date : 21/4/2009 Hello friends, This winter I have been very occupied with my new project, which is making my new PANTAI SURF SHOP. It will be exposed in Wind & Surf and in the future centers of Exocet and kona in Gran Canaria. In the meantime I have also been sailing !. By all means…! The Fuerteventura Cup By Stephan Etienne Date : 25/3/2009 The competition is just over; all the sailors left the Island with lots of good memories. Big event, with big waves and strong winds. I know very well the spot of Puertito, but I couldn’t imagine - and I have been impressed by the 3 big days, with strong conditions all around – with 1 ½ mast waves inside the bay. This new competition was something else because of the team competitions. There were no trials and everybody spent lot of time on the water- trying to do better and more extreme tricks. Gonzo wins Calema Midwinters Date : 10/3/2009 It was a great race for me, and I also performed a clinic that went pretty smooth. Anyway, we did three light wind races – and even in 8 to 9 knots. Ben van der Steen in Chile filming documentary Date : 3/3/2009 Ben van der Steen (NED 57) is part of a unique film documentary run by New World Spirits, a pioneer in action sports and outdoor film making. Jules Denel joins the International Exocet Team. Date : 4/2/2009 At 18 years of age Jules Denel represent the new generation of windsurfers, and his dedication and motivation is rapidly paying off – with his resent Formula Youth World title, finishing 4th. 2009 NORTH AMERICAN FORMULA WINDSURFING CHAMPIONSHIP 17-19 January '09, USA, Shake-A-Leg Miami - Racing Date : 22/1/2009 Another podium for Gonzo. Conditions ranged from 10-15 knot offshore oscillating winds, making the first day a tactical affair, to survival conditions in the last race with gusts in the upper 20's and most of the fleet on the light air 11-12 meter rigs. Ben van der Steen wins the 2008 IFCA Slalom Worlds Big Bay, Capetown January 10th. 2009 Date : 12/1/2009 Ben van der Steen put on an impressive performance to grab the 2008 IFCA slalom title in rough and windy conditions in Capetown, - winning 3 out of 5 races in winds from 15 to 35 knots. Welcome Dany Date : 8/12/2008 It is a pleasure to welcome Daniel Bruch – currently 7th, at the PWA wave ranking - to our already very sucessful international team. The flying Dutchman did it again. Date : 8/12/2008 After 12 events, among 394 sailors from 22 nations, - Ben van der Steen moves up to 2nd. at the 2008 ISWC World Cup Ranking behind Cyril Moussilmani Bjorn Dunkerbeck finished 3rd. with the slalom champ Antoine Albeau in 4th. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel wins the 2008 Formula Windsurfing Ranking Fortaleza, Brazil November 30th. Date : 2/12/2008 “Gonzo” put up another impressive performance to win the final Formula event of the year. Gonzo wins South American Slalom Championships. Icaraisinho Brazil, November 15th. 2008 Date : 20/11/2008 Gonzalo Costa Hoevel completely dominated the South Amercian Slalom Championships by winning 8 out of 11 elimination heats. The conditions in the Icaraisinho bay were perfect with westerly "Allosios" winds between 20 to 35 knots. It was side offshore in the morning to side onshore in the afternoon, - and quite choppy on high tide. Pascal Toselli – runner up at the Ventilo Grand Prix. Almanarre, France 1st. - 4th. November 2008 Date : 8/11/2008 The Ventilo boat show is a major annual happening – including windsurfing, SUP and Kite Board events. The long distance slalom Grand Prix attracts lots of French and international racers, and it also counts as one of the ranking races for the French long distance title. Gonzalo wins the South American's in windy and wet conditions. Date : 25/10/2008 The event took part in the nice island of Ilha Bella, three hours away from Sao Pablo city. This island is considered Brazil's national sailing capital. The venue was at BL3 yacht club where many great sailors as Robert Scheidt, several times Laser world champion and Olympic medalist, - normally trains. Gonzalo's report from the Worlds Portimao Formula World Championships '08 Date : 23/9/2008 After finishing the event it took me almost a week to digest everything and write about it. I had a sour feeling during this time, but I guess being 2nd in the world can't be that bad..!!! The Mean Black Machine’s Date : 19/9/2008 Congratulations to Michael Naumann – the 2008 German Speed Champion; Extract; “Friday morning the long awaited winds arrived, - 25 knots Easterly and increasing. In the first run I used my well tuned in Warp Slalom 62 with the Blade 7.5, but the wind already hit 30 knots and more, so I changed immediately to the Warp Slalom 56 with a 6.8. Gonzalo's report from the Formula Europeans. Date : 9/8/2008 The best and biggest organise event of the year by far. We had 137 men and 9 women. 13 races in many different conditions. I received my boards the day before the event. I sailed on them and felt good. Qualification: The wind was side onshore from the right between 7 to 12. What's fast and what's not.? The 2008 Fuerte Ventura Grand Slam Date : 26/7/2008 The answer to those questions is Ben van der Steen; "Considering how I started the event, I'm pretty stoked how I finished. Of course there was a chance I could have got third, and I'm a little pissed off I didn't get it, but I'm so stoked with fourth place." Kona Aber Wind Cup 2008 Date : 17/7/2008 The 18th. Aber Wind Cup took place in l’Aber Wrach (North Brittany) At July 13th. The Kona team organized a fun “triathlon” race including swimming, running and windsurfing. Despite lack of wind, approximately 20 competitors participated - just in front of the spectators enjoying themselves sitting “ringside” on the seawall. The new uncompromised U-Surf Pro is here. Date : 2/7/2008 We have succeeded designing a board combining max performance and comfort due to the latest construction technology available, enhancing stiffness and dramatically reducing weight to a level never before obtained. The Exocet team test Brest, France June 18th. Date : 30/6/2008 The conditions were great, - the ultimate slalom day.. Patrice Belbeoch had just returned from Thailand with the new Warp Slalom boards, and four “Black Machines”. It was Euphoria, and all the Exocet staff headed for the beach to test out the new toys. If you called us that day, now you know why we couldn’t answer you. Exocet at the OTC center at Tenerife. Date : 4/6/2008 The well know and very professional OTC center in Tenerife has chosen Exocet as one of their main brands. The center - located in El Medano at the South coast of the island, is offering you the opportunity to try and compare equipment from a wide variety of brands. Michael Naumann is leading the German Speed Championships after the preliminary races. Date : 28/5/2008 Michael’s report; The first Speed session of the 2008 German Speed Tour took place in Dranske at the Isle of Rügen last weekend. It is a ten weekend’s stand-by contest from May 1st. to July 6th, and if conditions permit - it could be a session in northern Germany, Netherlands or Denmark every week end. Koen Sonck wins Wild Games. Grevlingenmeer, Netherlands 26-27th april 2008 Date : 16/5/2008 The Wild Games was the first event of the "3 Games" tour 2008. The "3 game" tour consist of three major events; Wild- Extreme- and Master Games. The intention of this tour is to bring fun, excitement and accessible windsurfing competitions to the big crowd. With over 50 registered participants, the first edition of the Wild Games was definitely a big success. The "Black Machine" cleans up in the second French Formula Cup. La Rochelle May 12th. and 13th. Date : 14/5/2008 It was two days of racing in perfect conditions. Five races the first day with 3 laps of upwind/downwind in good 13 to 15 knots of wind. In the first race, the only 5 Exocet "Black machines" are in the lead and clearly dominating the fleet. Damien Jeguen (JP/Pryde) using 11.8 and Exocet Warp Formula won all the three first races, but closely followed by Antoine Questel (Tabou/Gaastra) both of them enjoying their new "machines" Ben van der Steen breaks personal GPS record Date : 10/5/2008 Unfortunately we did not have any wind on the well known Defi Wind event this year, but a few days before the contest we had some very good conditions in Gruissan and Leucate. Exocet dominated the Tropheo Super Cup in TORBOLE, LAKE GARDA ITALY Date : 7/5/2008 With winds of average 20 knots on the first day and 16 knots on the second, Rudy Altabella on Exocet warp 80 and 9.0 Gaastra Vapor totally dominated the 3 upwind/downwind races out of 4 (OCS on the second) followed by Luigi Maganguano on Exocet warp 80 and 9.4 Challenger. Malej Matevz, Tabou/Neil Pryde from Slovenia finished third. The Exocet Pro models are here. Date : 29/4/2008 Following the tremendous success of the already famous “Black Machine” we are proud to present the new super- light Pro versions of the SCross, Cross and Warp Slalom. Exocet Warp Slalom 67 - wins the opening UK Slalom rounds. Clacton April 12th. 2008 Date : 20/4/2008 Jamie Hawkins (GBR 96) went on to win the first UKWA series of the season -with 2 firsts and a third ( thanks to a plastic bag on the fin ) An amazing achievement, considering it was his first day back after a break of 5 years.! Exocet team goes Morocco Date : 16/4/2008 Hi everybody, We've been on a trip for 2 weeks traveling South Moroco with the Moreno twins, Silvia Alba and photographer Mario Entero EFPT Tarifa. A windy event. By Michael Rossmeier Date : 3/4/2008 After two years of bad luck with the EFPT (European Freestyle Pro Tour) competition in Tarifa in south of Spain, finally I could make it to the Event and also achieve a good result this year. There were surprisingly good conditions during Thursday and Friday at the venue in front of Camping Torre de la Pena. The Poniente - which is side-onshore wind from the right was blowing hard, and it was very wavy and pretty choppy so we were sailing with 4,7 and 5,2 fully powered up. The Dutch and Belgium NSWO 500 M Speed Championships. 24th. to 28th. of March at Gruissan beach. Date : 2/4/2008 The Open Dutch Championship 500M speed was combined with the Belgium championship and was held in the south of France, as the wind normally blows down there and the weather are usually warmer than in central Europe. FRA-909 full-on !!! Interview by windsurfjournal.com Date : 29/1/2008 Slowly but surely, young French rider Thomas Gaudiot is in the process of making a name for himself in the windsurf world… Just 17 years old, he’s already a big boy physically at over 6’ and 190lbs ! A morphology that has not surprisingly seen him take an early interest in speed riding. And being talented, he hasn’t had long to wait to set a new French record for under 18s and under 21s with 42.71 knots ! WJ managed to persuade this very shy talent, who could well become one of the big names in speed racing in the coming years, to say a few words ! Travelreport Christmas trip to Tenerife/ El Medano Date : 10/1/2008 I am just back from my windy holidays at Tenerife and there I met some other competitors for a nice Christmas training beside our races at the german windsurf cups. We all decided to take our Slalom quiver with us, to have fun by blasting around and train especially the handling in swell conditions. At El Medano, a spot where windsurfers typically use wave stuff, we get astonished looks from others. Video Kona wind session at Lanes for Nicole and Stéphane Date : 3/1/2008 Stéphane Etienne and Nicole Boronat, our new team riders, are now back home at Fuerteventura (Canaries Islands) after a 3 week stay in Maui. They were pretty lucky with the conditions there. With the best coming on the last day of their hawaiian trip, a perfect Kona wind session at Lanes, a famous spot close to Hookipa. Chris Dimond wins the KA Speed Challenge Date : 15/11/2007 Sandy Point, Australia from November 5 to 11 The early days of competition saw winds of around 10-12 knots so it was sails around 7.0m – 7.5m and boards of 120 litres. I used my 2008 KA Koncept 7.5m sail on my Exocet Warp Slalom 73. EXOCET- The Loft | Michael Naumann victorious at the German Speed Championship Date : 5/11/2007 German Speedweek in Dranske / Isle of Rügen, 20.to 27. October: After using GPS-devices to tune up my Slalom equipment since last year, I was interested to take part in a speedsurfing-contest! The German speedsurfing championships fit very well in my narrow time table between work and other competitions in the disciplines Slalom and Formula Windsurfing. My first impression of the Kona 10'5 By Marcos Perez Hidalgo Date : 1/10/2007 Hello to all…! I want to share my first experience on the KONA 10.5 which I tried in SYLT GERMANY ........ Surf Festival 14-16 Sept Browersdam, Holland 07 Date : 20/9/2007 Arriving in Holland and hooking up with Dutch Exocet distributor Job Verbunt to prepare for the Surf Fest. After fixing up the trailer, we drove from his office to South of Holland Browesdam where for the first time a Surf Fest is hosted in cooperation with Tonix. The Exocet Warp X380 unbeatable in the Raceboard Europeans Bandol, France – April 4th. to 9th. Date : 27/4/2007 The first real test for the X380 came at the Raceboard Europeans and it proved what many expected; The board has superior speed and pointing ability in all conditions. Pierre Loquet (FRA 93) won the title with two 1st. one 2nd. and one 3rd. after discarding a 4th. Interestingly his two bullets came in light wind as well as heavy conditions,- gusting to 35 knots. The Rutkowski brothers joins Exocet Date : 22/3/2007 We are extremely pleased to welcome both Maciek and Leszek to the Exocet team. Their professionalism and passion for the sport is unique and we look forward to a dynamic and long lasting relationship - built on first-rate exposure both on and off the water. A big welcome to Surf Sales Ltd. and Graeme Fuller as the new British Exocet distributor. By Boards UK, 03.07 Date : 13/3/2007 Surf Sales - the UK's original windsurfing hardware importer - is set to return to its roots by importing fast-growing, on-the-pulse brand Exocet. It was Graeme Fuller, Surf Sales founder and MD who helped introduce the sport of windsurfing to the country back in 1978 with his collaboration with Mistral in thedays when Robby Naish ruled the world at the tender age of 13! Surf Sales' partnership with Mistral lasted for over twenty years. Since then Graeme has been waiting for another brand to appear on the scene to relight the original fire. Exocet is that brand. Kona goes HIHO Date : 24/1/2007 We are proud to announce that the Exocet Kona OD board has been included as a separate class in this years very famous and prestigious HIHO event in the Caribbean. The 10-day route through the British and US Virgin Islands will include great sailing, adventure, & plenty of watersports. The unique itinerary includes taking you to favorite islands, top beaches and best bars & restaurants. Magic XPression 2006 : Two Exocet Team riders in the final! Date : 5/1/2007 The 17th Magic XPression was held on the Crozon Peninsula, in Brittany, on December 29th/30th/31th. The Magic XPression, sponsored by the shop Magic Surf, is the oldest and most famous Wave Contest in France.