Wellington Freewave Series 06/07 – A New King is crowned!

By Leland Le breton & James Court

The Wellington Freewave series 06/07 more than any other year was a true tussle between the freestylers and the wavesailors.   However, with two rounds at the popular Shark Bay and only one round held in the waves at Lyall it was going to be a tall order for the Wellington wave sailors to continue their domination of the Freewave Series.   Arguably New Zealand's best all round windsurfer Clayton Dougan has won the Freewave Crown every year since the events conception in 2003 although the margin of his wins has been has noticeably slimmed in the last couple of years.

Round 1 Shark Bay

Round one held at Shark Bay, was dominated by the freestyle specialists Mike Fischer and Tom Taylor who busted out advanced freestyle moves in winds exceeding forty knots. In a tight tussle for first place Tom Taylor won his first ever Freewave round with a slick combo of flakas, shuvits, and forward loops. See the full report from round one in the December 06 issue of Wind & Kite. See the round 1 photos on the WWA photo gallery

Round 2 Lyall Bay

For round two it was back to one of Wellington's best wave sailing Spots - Lyall Bay.   Squally conditions in the morning finally relented to give good powered up sailing in a logo high swell.

The prelim heats saw some great action with most people pushing past what they are comfortable with and pulling out new moves. Nick Hunn was frenetic at racking up points. Dave O'Donavon carved some seriously nice waves. Gareth Woods again showed a huge variety of tricks and the day's only monkey gybe. Erwan again pushed past himself too far with brutal consequences (2 broken masts). Warren Green fired off a particularly nice backside air and Clayton cranked round a particularly snappy wave 360.

In the repechage Troy Purcell laid out some consistent sailing to claw his way into the final. Chris Brown tucked in a couple of fluid rides to also make the final.

With 11 sailors in the final, the judges were kept busy. With the top guys all firing off forwards and snappy wave rides, it would take a little bit extra to claim one of the three top places. Third place, saw a tight battle between James Court and Woo with the boys going head to head in an impressive forward loop battle and some gritty wave rides. James managed to tip the balance with a couple of his trademark push loops.

Tom Taylor managed to stand out with a fresh mix of new school in amongst some solid wave rides. The outgoing ponch added to an inside flaka and was enough to claim second.

Clayton carved up some of the biggest waves of the day in his usual consistent style and landed the back loop of the day - huge, floaty with a perfect sail away landing. This tipped his score to take the final.

Going into round 3 of the Freewave, and what ended up to be the final round, the overall scores were very close with Tom Taylor just in the lead but less than four points separating the top four sailors.

See the round 2 photos on the WWA photo gallery

Round 3 Back to the Shark

After a weekend of promising forecasts that turned to nothing, the third round of the Freewave finally got under way in good northerly conditions in Shark Bay. Due to a slight easterly bent to the breeze the judging area was moved slightly upwind to the point which attracted many passers-by. The first three rounds ticked over with the top 2 advancing through to the final. The second round saw some close heats with only the top sailor going to the final. The battle for a place in the final was closest between Gareth Woods and Tim Bamford. With Gareth laying out smooth moves in his typical style, while Tim dug deep in a gritty performance that just got him through.

The final saw Tom Taylor lay out all his best freestyle moves with a cracker ponch on the outside and super sliding grubby on the inside to nail first place. Mike Fischer was in good form again and fought it out in the other close battle of the day with Clayton. Both were matching move for move with some nice shuv-its. Clayton seemed to edge ahead with a big clean forward but Mike came back with a fast grubby and one-handed shuv-it to claim second.

See the round 3 photos on the WWA photo gallery

Round 4 Kio Bay

Unfortunately the much anticipated final show down never eventuated, the scheduled day just missing a fantastic mast high day at Lyall Bay by less that 12 hours.  

Round Four was cancelled due to a lack of wind and Tom Taylor was declared the 06/07 Freewave champion, breaking Clayton's four year winning streak in the process.  

Tom Taylor's win signals a significant change occurring in Wellington windsurfing.   With many Wellington sailors working hard on progressing their freestyle skills along side their basic skills, the performance level in Wellington has sky rocketed. No longer can you secure a top three placing with just a good forward loop routine.   You need a quiver of moves to bust out, dependant on the conditions handed out on the day.   Tom Taylor won this series because he has more than just a quiver, he has a virtual arsenal of moves honed from his experiences overseas on the PWA & European freestyle tour.

A special thank you the Wellington Windsurfers Association, Paul Treacy for the SMS messaging, and our sponsors; Wildwinds, Deepfried.tv, Carbon Art, Naish, Quattro & the Maui Fin Company and last but not least to Leland Le breton for all your organisational and judging skills.

Round 1 Results

1  Tom Taylor; 2  Mike Fischer; 3  Clayton Dougan

Round 2 Results

1 Clayton Dougan; 2 Tom Taylor; 3 James Court

Round 3 Results

1  Tom Taylor; 2  Mike Fischer; 3  Clayton Dougan

Overall Series Results

1 Tom Taylor

2 Clayton Dougan

3 Mike Fischer

4 James Court

5 Chris (Woo) Norris

Freewave 05 Round 3:      Old School vs. New School

Words: James Court
Pictures: Bob Zuur

Tom Taylor sliding into position on a grubby

Pip launching into a one footed forward loop

Despite an incredibly fickle year for conditions at Plimmerton, round 3 of the Wellington Freewave coincided with reasonably good Plimmerton conditions.   Sunny and windy with a small swell, the only gripe was that it was incredibly gusty at times especially on the inside.

The interest in this round was high with almost all of the Wellington talent finally in one spot together.   Tom Taylor had just returned from competing on the PWA and European freestyle tour bringing back Pip, the UK youth freestyle champion.   Chris Norris was also returning from a European vacation.

Twenty two competitors lined up in two heats.   The action in the first heat was explosive and the top four stood out almost immediately.   Tom and Pip busted out huge freestyle moves on the inside and Chris Norris and Will Thorp lit up the small waves out the back with large back loops and forwards.

In the second heat the wind was all over the place, leaving some sailors on the inside unable to water start while those out the back cleaned up.   Solid aerial performances by Clayton Dougan, and James Court secured them spots in the final while Gareth Woods and Nick Hunn also got the nod with a mixture of freestyle and jumps.

The final pitted old school against new school, the freestylers against the wave sailors.   Pip and Tom continued their onslaught in the shore break with ankle snappingly clean forward loops off the back of incoming waves, grubbies, spocks and flakas galore.   Some of their crashed attempts were spectacular.   Tom landed one forward so cleanly and hard that his board rebounded back into the air.

Clayton bounced back from recent disappointment at the Taranaki Wave Classic with his huge trade mark back loops, whistle clean forwards and massive vulcans while hardly getting his hair wet in the process, to take the Round 3 victory.   Tom Taylor pushed the freestyle limits, but his comparative lack of consistency relegated him to the runners up position.   Chris Norris aka Mr. Consistency took out third place.

Results of Round 3:

•  Clayton Dougan
•  Tom Taylor
•  Chris Norris
•  James Court
•  Pip
•  Will Thorp
•  Gareth Woods
•  Nick Hunn

Freewave Series 2005 Round 1 – Spring fever at Plimmerton

Clayton hopping over the headland

Leland's one footed forward

Words: Tim Bamford
Pictures: Bob Zuur

Winter in Wellington this year was not very spectacular and did not deliver the goods on the wind front, so everyone

was frothing at the bit for Spring and the annual Wellington Freewave series. Friday before the contest came with strong Northerly winds and a forecast of “northwest 35 knots gusting 50 knots early morning, easing to 20 knots during the afternoon” for Saturday. As expected everyone was amping to get out and looking forward to the next day.

Looking out the window early Saturday morning I could see the trees in my yard, which I use to measure the wind,

were flying forcefully around meaning that it was at least 35knots on the harbour. Driving along the stretch of coast between Mana and Plimmerton I see it going off on the water; 30 knots and sunny, perfect competition weather (not barbeque weather for once!). Walking down to the beach I find around a dozen rigging up and chatting excitedly about the competition and the all time conditions. We sit around and wait for the wind to settle and for everyone to turn up. At about 10am it looks like everyone who is going to enter has turned up and we grouped together for the skippers meeting.

James Court in a familar position

The wildman John Mitchell spanking!

The call was for a unofficial expression session for everyone who was keen and then at 11am to run the first of the two heats. The expression session allowed everyone to get warmed up and dust off the cobwebs from winter. Action included a huge end over forward loop attempt (almost landed) from Warren Green which was watched by everyone on the water and the beach in awe and signalled the end of the session and the start of heat one. With all 21 sailors registered it was decided that heats would be 20 minutes long, and the riders not sailing in the heat would be the judges and would mark you on jumping, wave riding and overall performance and style.

Clayton Dougan, John Mitchell and Warren Green raised the bar at the start of heat one with forward loops on the buzzer. It turned out to be a gruelling 20 minutes with gusty 4.0 winds. The conditions were great for jumping but not so great for wave riding. Highlights of the heat were the forward loops from Clayton, John and Warren, Dave McFee's big jumps out back, Niko Wannemacher's table top and fluid wave riding. Clayton's sailing saw him grab first place and John, Niko and Warren got the last 3 spots for an entry into the final.

Conditions eased slightly for heat two and saw some aggressive riding as we had all been siting on the beach waiting to get into the water. Examples were James Court's double forward loop attempt, big back loops from Leland Lebreton and again some nice wave riding on the inside. Gareth Wood sailed well with some smooth backloops and a high overall standard of sailing to secure a spot in the final, with the remaining three places going to James, Hans Wannemacher and Leland.

The Wannewacher brothers Hans and Niko both made the finals

With all the competitors on the beach (apart from Leland) the finalists were announced. As with the heats, the final would be 20 minutes long and everyone should just go for it. With the epic conditions it was hoped to be an action packed final. From the start we could see that the heat wasn't going to be won easy. Leland, not realising he was in the final, stayed out the back and out of sight of the juges. Niko pushed well above his 19 years with a text-book table top and aggressive long wave rides on the inside which secured him fifth place. Gareth sailed well to get forth place with some well placed backloops in front of the judges and some solid wave riding. Third place went to John with some huge forward loops and overall impressive sailing. However, the real battle was between Clayton Dougan and James Court for first and second place. Clayton sailed as he usually does nailing some big forwards, vulcans, and some good wave rides and smacks on the inside. James pushed his limits throwing out a huge pushloop, backies and more than a few clean forwards as well as smooth and well timed wave rides. It was a close call and left the judges sitting on the beach discussing (and debating!) their point for over five minutes. With everyone back on the beach and huddled around the barbeque it was announced that Clayton sailed his way into second place missing that ultimately heat winning signature backloop. First place was given to James with numerous different jumps from his repertoire.   After the announcement everyone tucked into a yummy and well needed BBQ (manned by Dave Rowe- thanks!!).   Round one spot prizes of a Neil Pryde wave harness and Fanatic Tee shirt were won by Chris Brown and Colin Doig.

The event was officially finished, however, with the epic conditions everyone was ready for an afternoon session which saw us on the water until the wind dropped and it started getting dark. The day was finished off with the Wellington Windsurfing Association AGM and spring drinks at Molly Malones. It was a good night and everyone is stoked that daylight saving is here and after work sailing is back.

Well done to everyone and a special thank you to the Wellington Windsurfers Association for organising the event, Paul Treacy for the SMS messaging ,and the sponsors;, Deepfried.tv, Wildwinds, Wind & Kite, Carbon Art and Naish and last but not least Dave Rowe for the barbeque and administration.

See you all at the Taranaki Wave Classic.

Round One Results

Forty Knots in the Forties – Wellington Freewave Final 2004

"Is that snow in the Hills?" - a balmy mid December day in Wellington!

Clayton going pyscho in the pyscho conditions

Luckily the parking officers stayed in doors

Woo powering through another forward

James getting power assist from some well placed jet engines

Words by James Court, Pictures by Dave Mcfee

The 2004 Wellington Freewave final was looking like it was going to be a showdown between the last years winner Clayton Dougan and the dynamic young up and comer Tom Taylor.   However, Wellington's famous wind had a surprise in store for us.

The Prelude
After the first two rounds the more experienced Clayton had established a firm hold on the number one spot with Tom close enough behind to be a threat, and a veritable log jam for third place.   The first round held in marginal Lyall Bay conditions was a close fought affair between Clayton and Tom.   The second round, doubled as the Taranaki Wave Classic, with Clayton again topping the Wellington placings coming third overall with Tom in fourth place.

'Smokin' at Lyall Bay
On a grey cold overcast Sunday morning in December sixteen sailors congregated at Lyall Bay to decide the final rankings for the 2004 Wellington Freewave.    For those unfamiliar with Wellington, Lyall Bay is a sandy suburban bay jammed in between the breakwater of the Wellington Airport and the hill suburbs of Melrose.   Lyall Bay accelerates strong cold southern ocean southerlies between the Miramar Peninsular and Wellington coastal hills producing the great wave sailing conditions.   Best of all it is located about 10 minutes from the CBD and 5 minutes from my place.

Despite an absence of wind in the early morning the southerly turned up the heat as promised.   By the time the heats got underway the wind had developed into a ‘smokin' 40 knot plus southwester along with a fast developing wind swell. Two eight person heats and a super session were run. The second heat sailors judged the first heat and visa versa with the top three from each heat going through to the super session.

The heats were hard work and competitive. Small sails 4.0 metres or less were a necessity if you didn't want to get slammed.   The competitors also had to deal with frustrating gusty winds leaving some sailors up to their knees in the doldrums while slamming others a couple of metres away.

Forty knot tactics
Sailing in gale force winds speeds up everything while increasing the consequences to your body and your equipment. It seems you can do a forward by just thinking about it. Everything is faster, super powered and big moves take a hell of a lot more balls. The gees pulled in a high over powered forward loop is enough to give you the cold sweats just thinking about it. The trick in a contest is to go bigger than everyone else and stick the landings, basically to have the biggest balls.  

Those that were going big were dominated by the Wellington old guard, perhaps fortified by continual exposure to conditions considered by most to be extreme.   The finalists were the contest savvy Clayton Dougan the veteran Woo Norris, ex Raglan boys John Mitchell and James Court, and standout sailors Lawrence Young and Will Thorp. The surprise casualty of the strong gusty conditions was the talented Tom Taylor.

Aerial Madness
The super session commenced in similar conditions to the heats.   Super gusty on the inside and a scary spray blown forty knots on the outside.   The surf had also picked up providing 3 to 4 foot wind driven ramps for some super boosted aerials and wave riding. The highlights of the final were Woo and Clayton's huge delayed forward loops, back loops and wave 360's, James' push loops, Lawrence's rocket air, and John and Will's aerial madness.   A variety of spectacular mid air bailouts and crashes continued from the heats including a James' back flip dismount and John ‘Wildman' Mitchell's board crushing over rotated forwards.

The battle for first place came down to a dual between Woo and Clayton, both matching each other move for move, so much so that the super session had to be run another ten minutes to determine a winner.   In the end it was Clayton's polished wave riding and consistency of his moves that gave him the nod.   This takes nothing away from Woo Norris who at 42 is still pushing the limits and is at the very top of the field.

Final Round Results
1           Clayton Dougan
2           Woo Norris
3           James Court
4           Lawrence Young
5 =       John Mitchell
5 =       Will Thorp

Overall 2004 freewave Series Result
The final round win completed Clayton's clean sweep of the 2004 Wellington Freewave Series and continues his dominance of the local and national wave sailing contests. Young Tom's earlier round form guaranteed him second place overall with Woo Norris coming in at third place.

1 Clayton Dougan
2 Tom Taylor
3 Woo Norris
4 =       Lawrence Young
4 =       James Court

Thanks to all the sailors and supporters that made the 2004 series another success.   Extra special thanks to Wildwinds, Boardriders, Carbon Art, Deepfried.tv, Wind&Kite, Red Bull, and the Wellington Windsurfing Association.   You guys rock!   Finally we all wish Tom Taylor all the best as he is about to depart for upcoming PWA freestyle events abroad.   Go hard Tom.

2004 Freewave Round 1 - Lyall Bay

Report by James court, Photos by Dave Mcfee

1 - Clayton Dougan
2 - Tom Taylor
3 - Nick Hunn
5 = Troy Purcell
5 = Lawrence Young

The first Wellington Freewave of 2004 was threatening to be dud. The forecasts never looked good until the morning of the event day when a 30 knot southerly forecast was issued out of the blue.   The 30 knots never arrived but a moderate 15 to 20 knot southerly combined with a brilliantly sunny day tipped the balance and a decision was made to run the first Freewave round of the season at Lyall Bay.

Enthusiastic competitors and spectators arrived on que thanks to the text messaging system and we had a contest.   Eighteen competitors lined up for the “le mans” start in an 18-20 knot on-shore southerly and a small 1- 3 foot wind swell.

The conditions ensured that the event was oriented toward freestyle moves and backside wave riding.   Seventeen year old Tom Taylor (aka the young punk), fresh from competing in the recent PWA event on Feurte Ventura, rampaged through the expression session landing grubbies and spocks with ease.   If that wasn't enough, Tom gave notice to the establishment by throwing in spock 540's and one handed spocks.   Clayton Dougan's Freewave reign looked decidedly shaky under the weight of Tom's freestyle assault, although his tweaked backside aerials, forwards, and more standard freestyle moves ensured he easily entered the top five.   Some of the usual standouts struggled in the lighter than optimum conditions, perhaps it was the extra couple of winter kilos!  

Forty five minutes later the five finalists were decided: Tom Taylor, Clayton Dougan, Lawrence Young, Troy Purcell, and Nick Hunn all showed adequate vigour and performed an appropriate amount of tricks, flips, and slides to get the nod.   Troy Purcell even invented a new move, the half forward, which he was observed to have landed cleanly.

One encouraging trend deserving special mention was the cluster of very competent younger sailors competing.   In addition to Tom Taylor (17), Nico Wannemacher (18) and Hans Wannemacher (20) are also looking promising.

The final was held in an ever diminishing southerly favouring the lighter or better equipped sailors.   Clayton re-equipped with light wind equipment starting with a great forward and sailed a very polished final racking up move after move.     Tom's freestyle assault continued but failed to reach to heights of his earlier performance.   In the end, and against earlier predictions, Clayton's experience and gear selection just prevailed to earn him 1 st place over Tom Taylor in second.   The ever-improving Nick Hunn took out third place with Troy Purcell and Lawrence Young sharing fifth.

All in all it was a great day, the wind was good to marginal, the great weather bought heaps of spectators and even a TVNZ camera crew, the level of sailing was a step up from last year, and we saw a few new names in the top places.  

See you at the Taranaki Wave Classic.

2003 Freewave

Round 4:
29th june 2003:
Finally !!!!! That tabletennis tournament thing seemed to have worked ! Plimmerton delivered outstanding cross-shore wavesailing conditions in chest to headhigh waves with 20 - 30 knots of wind. Here is the full report followed by round 4 results:

Conditions look good
The forecast for round 4 of the freewave series appeared promising, however the organizers weren't holding their breath after a lack of wind forced the cancellations of the first three rounds. Little were we to know that round four would coincide with one of the best days of the year at Plimmerton.
Despite a dubious forecast for Plimmerton the call was made to pull the competitors together at 1pm. At 1pm shoulder to head high sets were just starting to break on the Plimmerton bar with a gusty 15 knot Northerly crosshore. Not ideal but not bad, and good enough to run a competition.

The Expression Session
After a guinea pig was sent out to check the conditions, the decision was quickly made and nineteen competitors lined up for the freewave expression session. Most competitors had rigged 5.0 to 5.3 m2 and light wind wave and freestyle boards to counter the gusty conditions on the inside. However, during the skippers meeting and much to everyones suprise once out the back, the wind had built to about 25 gusting 30 knots. Everyone was sailing maxed out and going for it. The first twenty five minutes were a haze of ultra tweaked forwards, backloops, push loops, table tops and a host of variations. Will Thorpe took the breath away from approaching sailors by throwing a two storey ultra end over forward. Leland Lebreton, despite not being on his favoured tack, lauched into some huge push loops. James Court showed his acceptance for punishment by some huge airtime and an involuntary nearly double push loop. Clayton Dougan sailed with clinical precision, consistently sailing away from numerous backloops. Sebastian Labbe scored some great waves, while the WWA president Nick Hunn tweaked out some impressive table tops.
After fortyfive minutes, this epic session ended and everyone returned to the beach to vote, change down and more importantly lick their wounds.

The Super Session
The votes identified Will Thorpe, Chris (Woo) Norris, Leland LeBreton, James Court, Clayton Dougan, and Mark Hollenstien as the top performing sailors. Woo, despite having the most votes, graciously retired to judge the final. On ya Woo!
The finalists immediately set about devouring the waves on offer. Clayton, as expected, sailed extremely smoothly to take first place, by getting good waves, and consistently nailing his moves, including a Gu-screw and a variety of forward and back loops. Mark secured second, completing his twelve month recovery from a broken foot, nabbing more waves than Clayton but not able to match up in the air. Will sailed into third place with some great wave rides. James and Leland, despite a fevered aerial assault fell victim to the gusty conditions and some unlucky wave selection to be placed forth and fifth respectively.
Despite the gusty conditions the women got stuck in. Carmen Sulzberger took out the womens event with some solid jumps. Wendy Pannett and Kate Norris finished in second and third place. Great effort, considering it's been their second day out at Plimmerton ever (Kate and Wendy) !!!

The Aftermath
The conditions were still going off after the finish of the Super Session. Sets were still reeling in over the bar with a reasonably steady 25 knot cross shore. As the finalists hit the beach, the gallery disappeared into the water, despite the barbeque food on offer. After a while even the chef couldn't stand it any longer and left the sausage minding to Koru, the Hollensteins black lab!
Although it took a while, we couldn't have wished for a better start to the Wellington Freestyle Series. It was great to have everyone sailing together, hooting, and smiling and just going off! The level of all the competitors sailing was extremely high and the improvement in some sailors was staggering. Roll on spring!

Round 6:
Taranaki Wave Classic 25th/26th October 2003
Finally, the Freewave wind curse seems to be over, with the Taranaki Wave Classic having offered some of the best conditions seen in a long time in a NZ based wave contest. There was two solid days of sailing, first competition day was held at Pungarehu on Saturday, with masthigh sets coming through and very windy conditions keeping everyone on the edge. There was some insane action with great waverides, aerials and crashes all over the place. Australian pro Greg "Grubby" Alloway was the dominating figure, showing some very impressive moves. From a Wellington perspective, the outstanding sailors were James Court, Will Thorpe, Woo Norris and Clayton Dougan who all managed to place themselves in the final. Unfortunately, Will Thorpe after having placed himself pretty much near the top slot of the Wellington sailors was too knackered to do the long walk over the rocks again and didn't compete in the final.
The final, which counted 70% of the total event score, was dominated by the Australians and the Taranaki locals who showed some impressive waveriding.
Sunday, another windy day, this time at Kina Road South break. The waves were reasonable size, but it was so crowded in the break, competitors weren't clearly not quite used to all the traffic on the wave. The top 10 sailors of the second day were pretty much the same as the day before, only that Gary McCorry was also able to secure himself a place in the final easily. Lawrence Young was sailing very well also, but missed the final by a fraction unfortunately. The final was again dominated by the Australians and two Taranaki locals, James Court was a very impressive sailor, doing extremely insane Pushloop attempts all day long, combined with good wave selection.

The final top 10 Wellington sailors results were:
6. James Court
7. Chris Norris
8. Clayton Dougan
10. Gary McCorry

Great results from the Wellington sailors who were ripping, not only the above listed. Unfortunately the rankings were marginally off from last year, but with all sailing this year being on porttack, the results are very good !

On the womens side, the effort was equally impressive, especially Saturday in Pungarehu, as all of the womens fleet had never sailed in Pungarehu before! Simone Hollenstein was able to secure the win of the day by catching some good waves before Alex Burnett from Auckland. On Sunday, the girls were ripping at Kina with Simone again taking the lead in the final and Bronwyn Ward in second.
The final top 3 Wellington womens results:
1. Simone Hollenstein
3. Bronwyn Ward

For full Wellington Freewave Series results click here.

The grand final went off at Plimmerton beach with gusty northerly winds and a good swell, seeing most of the sailors hanging on to their 4.1 sails. James Court and Woo Norris took over the role as judges and lead the 20 or more competitors smoothly through a 45 min. expression session followed by a 20min. supersession including the 10 best sailors. Clayton Dougan secured 1st place, followed by Gareth Wood, who pulled off some nice backloops. Bronwyn Ward, the only female sailor battling it out with the lads, won the women's category.
Final results:
1. Clayton Dougan
2. Gareth Wood
3. Will Thorp
4. Lawrence Young
5. Troy Purcell
6. Nick Hunn
7. Tom Taylor
8. Pete Sawyer / Sebastian / Simon

The event finished off with a yummy BBQ and the price giving where some lucky entrants went home with a whicked spot price, provided by the sponsors. Well done to everyone and a special thank you to the organisers James Court, Woo Norris and Mark Hollenstein, all the sponsors and Paul Treacy of Bulletin Wireless, who provided the free SMS messages during the series. A full report and hopefully some pictures will follow as soon as possible.

Final report (by James Court):
After the Taranaki Wave Classic (round 6) the final of the Wellington Freewave Series 2003 threatened to be an anticlimax. However, the Wellington conditions finally turned it on for the best contest of the series. The Saturday for the contest was always going to be windy, but it was beyond windy in the city. As we drove out to Plimmerton the ditch was just downright scary with walls of airborne spray drifting down the bay like banks of fog. Thankfully, Plimmerton was more in control with about 3-4 foot wind swell and a northerly of 35 - 40 knots. Perfect!
About 25 sailors lined up for the 45 minute expression session. What ensued next can only be described as a frenzy of jumping, wave riding and transitions. Unprepared for this onslaught, the judges (Chris (Woo) Norris and James Court) panicked, and had to enlist the help of a couple of extra spotters. There were loops: backwards; forwards; push loops; and their many variations on the way out, and on the way in. Sebastian Sabbe's wave riding was impressive, ripping every wave sent his way. Troy Purcell busted out his trade mark table tops and rocket airs, Clayton Dougan was impressive as ever, with some clean back loops and smart wave rides. 16 year old Tom Taylor punched well above his weight, impressing the gallery with some great spin loops off the back of incoming waves. Gareth Woods returned to form with the move of the day, a flawless back loop within ten metres of the beach and more importantly, right in front of the judges. After the expression session the judges selected ten exhausted finalists for a twenty five minute super session. For something different, the finalists lined up for a le mons start. On the sound of the hooter the finalists hit the water launching 3 simultaneous forward loops and a table top off the same wave! Yah, le mons starts! Despite the sometimes gusty conditions and exhausted sailors the finalists put on a good show for the sausage gobbling audience. Nick Hunn celebrated cracking the forward loop barrier by throwing a couple of beauties. Lawrence Young sailed with the usual expert timing and efficiency. Clayton again flexed his form with two stunning plane away forwards to take the round. Gareth Woods continued his run to secure second place, and Will Thorpes wild end overs and push loop attempts earned him third place.
Later, after the judges had got some action on the water, it was time to distribute the large amount of very cool spot prizes from the series sponsors and announce the Freewave Series winner. In the mens open, Clayton Dougan's win in the final round firmly secured him the Wellington Freewave Series title and an awesome trophy expertly crafted by Chris (Woo) Norris. Will Thorpe's consistently radical and always improving sailing gave him second place and Gareth Woods stylish late run grabbed him the third place. Bronwyn Ward cleaned up the Womens open making the most of the last rounds double points on offer and the coinciding absence of other competitors. Full results from the series will be posted soon.

Thanks to all the sailors who entered these events and made them so successful. Watch out for the Wellington Freewave 2004 Series next year. Special thanks to the series sponsors and supporters: Carbon Art; Boardriders; Wild Winds; Wind & Kite; H20 sports; Deepfried TV; Paul Treacy for the SMS messaging (the beers are on the way Paul); www.wellingtonwindsurfers.co.nz and last but not least the Wellington Windsurfing Association.