Wavesailing contest in the Mediterranean?!

The race site of the Sardinia International '99 is in Alghero, on the North West of the island which is an area abounding in lonely bays, soft hidden beaches surrounded by dense pine woods or high cliffs and washed by an emerald green sea.

Waves in the Mediterranean are caused by strong Mistral winds and perfect days of side shore winds and 3 metre waves are frequent, especially where Sardinia has many beaches which face different directions. For this reason the event is the only PWA event with a 'movable' loction and it will be up to race director Sergio Cantagalli to choose the appropriate venue on any given day.

Capu Manu, a point break located approximately one and a half hours south of the event site is probably the most likely place where the event will move to when the conditions co-operate. This break is truly a world class sailing location and can rate alongside breaks in Maui, Fiji and Australia when the Mistral blows. Many sailors still find it hard to understand the fact that big waves can exist in the Mediterranean. It is all down to the shear strength of the winds which regularly blow and cause the sea to turn from flat calm into 3-4 metre swells in a matter of hours.

Drawings

The draw for the official event has some interesting line-ups especially the heats where the women competitors have been mixed in with the men. (E63) Iballa Moreno faces the toughest challenge and is a very difficult heat up against number one seed (US6) Josh Stone, (D62) Robert Sand and (I8) Renalto Vitale. Despite the daunting prospect of sailing against the guys Iballa simply remarked that she was going to 'Kick their Butts!'. Other women competitors present here ready to fight it out against the men include world overall woman's champion (Z14) Karen Jaggi, (H98) Dutch sailor Anne Marie Reichaman and the fast improving (GR1) Antonia Frey from Greece.

New Grand Slam location ?

Local organiser Piertro Porcella has been working on this event for a year and his dream is to eventually have a PWA Grand Slam contest in Sardinia. So far we have been unlucky with conditions but sailors are still hoping that the event will happen tomorrow. According to locals, once the wind blows here it is only a matter of hours before big waves are generated. 

No competition !

The predicted wind and waves failed to appear at the Sardinia International '99 PWA world cup wave event. The Sirocco and Mistral winds which are needed to create the waves and suitable contest conditions have failed to co-operate all week and as a result no official competition has taken place.

The event was drawn to a close with a ceremony hosted by event organizer Pietro Porcella and awards were given to the winners of fun competitions.

Despite the fact there has been no official competition the general feeling from the sailors is that Sardinia is a beautiful location and many have been overwhelmed by the hospitality of the local people.

©SSM Freesports / Dan Atkins