EXOCET WINDSURFING BOARDS

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.

"The first day of competition was pretty bad really...the wind was super onshore and light with some logo high waves closing out all the way trough...I was directly qualified for the second round thanks to the good results from last year - so I had some time to get ready and to choose the right gear...but as it is sometimes; the more time you got the more you can confuse you're self - and that was what happened to me. My opponent was Antoine Albeau.

I went out a few times to try to see what size I should go for and could not decide between my 4.7 or my 5.3....I knew I should have some extra power in my sail but the 5.3 just felt to much, so at the very end I decided for the 4.7 and that was it; - a big mistake...The heat started but it got cloudy and made the wind even more fluky so I got stuck in the shorebreak for 8 minutes of my heat. What a bad feeling, when you step on you're board and you immediately sink and get dragged by the current and washed over and over...ahhh....I don't want to remember it.
After 8 minutes the wind came back and I could get out with no problems. I had 4 minutes left and thought that I maybe could still make it, so I did a pretty high backloop, landed - but got eaten just seconds later by another logo high wave that washed me straight back to the beach. Not again...I just said to myself, Dany, forget it. Today is just not your day, so Antoine had a easy way trough that heat.

Thank God that the forecast was good for end of the week, so we could start and finish the double elimination. I was in the second heat of the first round and skippers meeting was at 07:15 in the morning and I was ready to go by 07:30. They started with the girls, as the wind and waves were still picking up, but by 8AM I was in my wetsuit to go for my first heat around 8:15. I had Francisco Porcella in my heat and went out on 4.7 S1 and my 76L USurf but I did not sail as I am used to do...Still made enough to advance, but I was not happy with my performance. I had about an hour untill my next heat, so I decided to go out for a free sail to get tuned in. Glad I did that. After a few jumps and rides I started to be Dany Bruch again...he he...I was actually enjoying the sail in the cold conditions. After 25 min I went back to the beach and got focused for next heat against Ben Proffit. I finally got tuned in and sailed pretty good to pass into the next round against Kai Lenny. The wind had picked up quite a lot, so I took out my 4.3. I had a solid heat again and passed to meet Nick Baker. I know that he knows how to score, so I got super focused in my riding to make as much points as possible, and I had some good waves with some nice backside and frontside turns that put me pretty much in advantage. Survived that heat too and got Victor Fernandez next...

By then the wind had picked up even more and I was totally overpowered on my 4.3...That was to be a hard one, especially because I was pretty tired already. As in every single heat, I don't know how, but I guess because I went for it in the riding, I lost my gear and had to swim for it. That had taken its toll so my energy level was low. I said to myself, - Dany, save energy, take it easy...try not to swim again...but go with the flow. On my first run with the green flag up - I saw a wave building up to do my first jump, but as soon as I got near it, the wave just sucked up and went directly into a closeout, catching me and washing me hard. My gear was straight on the beach and I had to swim again - he he - good start, but all went good and I managed a nice high one-handed backloop, landing one-handed. I had some really good waves that I milked to the beach and in my final run at the end of the heat I could get a good ramp to do a sick push-table...I did not knew what Victor had done, but I had a really good heat...and I went through once again...yeah!
After Victor I met Robby Swift...a contest machine. He was on fire too and already looking at 3rd in the overall PWA Ranking after I had kicked out Victor, so the pressure was totally on him. I was pretty happy already and took it a bit easier. The wind was super strong, so I went for my 3.5 S.W.A.T, and had yet another swim, but made a good heat to pass once more...Unbelievable!

Finally - against Klaas it was different...it was around 4pm and I had been 8 hours in the wetsuit and was super cold and tired as I had 2 heats more than him. I could not put things together, but still had a nice jump and a good wave, but then I lost the gear again and could not get back out to get the rest of the scores...so that was it for me. Disappointing as I could have gone trough a few more heats for sure, but I learnt that for next year I have to train a bit more on my endurance in the cold, not to suffer from fatigue again, but I am happy with a 6th place.

Just too bad that I broke a ligament in my right ankle at the beginning of the year just the week before the Cape Verde event s- o I was unable to do a good result there, because with a 7th place in Pozo and a 6th place in Sylt I could easily have been in the top 5 of the PWA Wave ranking.

Still, it's ok to finish11th for 2009, considering this is only my 3rd year back on tour.
Only better years to come!"