FPT Cape Town: Waveriders dominate freestyle

When wave riders win a freestyle event, the smallest equipment is picked out and the first pushloop forward in a freestyle heat is on the score sheet at the end, then you know: this was a special event. Strong winds of up to 40 knots and a very diverse field of participants ensured spectacular heats at the FPT season opener in Cape Town.

First round in Rietvlei

The wind usually kicks in around midday in Cape Town, but when the riders arrived at 9am for registration at Lake Rietvlei, Cape Town's traditional freestyle spot, they were greeted by a so-called black southeaster. This meant strong winds of 30 knots and more right from the start. Head judge Flo Ragossnig first explained the judging format: only the best move on each side counted, and the overall impression made up half of the points. The best forward loop, pushloop, new move attempt, a rider of the day, the biggest daredevil and the best move overall were also recognised. The riders included MArc Paré, Alessio Stillrich, Flo Jung, Arthur Arutkin and others, many of whom you would expect to see in a wave contest.

The strong wind made for demanding conditions, and even ducking the sail was a challenge. The waveriders showed that they meant business with ponches, flaka's, spocks and a few old school moves. Marco Lufen, Dieter van der Eyken and George Grisley also survived the first round in what was now 40 knots and more. Newcomer Mathis Mollard from France landed his moves frighteningly close in front of the judges and faced Marc Pare in the semi-finals, who was hampered by a shoulder injury. The Frenchman ended up in third place, with Adrein Bosson winning the final against Dieter van der Eyken, who had to swim behind his equipment for a long time after a failed ducking manoeuvre.

Switzerland's Pauline Katz won against Aurore Bous from France, who were both competing in freestyle for the first time. With a mixture of forward loops and air jibes as well as some impressive spock attempts, the two ladies impressed in the challenging conditions.

Second round in Doodles

For the second round, we went to the wavespot Doodles. With sails of around 3.5 square metres and less, most of the riders competed on wave equipment. George Grisley was the only one on a freestyle board and showed burner and scopus on mast-high waves. Van der Eyken showed some incredible Spock Culo's and Spock Kono's on a 3.3 with a waveboard, Adam Sims jumped some massive backloops with Konos, Culos and Spocks. But the wave riders were clearly superior in these conditions, even if they kept trying to maintain the freestyle character and sprinkled in a few spocks. Baptiste Cloarec, Arthur Arutkin and Miguel Chapuis won their heats with jumps that resembled a typical day in Pozo. Alessio Stillrich and Marc Pare had to go full throttle to stay in front at the end.

The spectators, who hid between the cars to avoid being sandblasted, saw a spectacular pushloop forward from Marc Paré in the final. According to FPT, it was the first in a freestyle contest. Paré won ahead of Alessio Stillrich, who performed some crazy double forwards. Third place went to Chapuis, who managed to beat Sims in the small final with clean stalled forwards. In the women's event, Pauline Katz rode without an opponent and consolidated her lead even in the difficult conditions.

The winner was Marc Pare, who impressed everyone present with his unexpectedly high level of freestyle. "Whenever the wind is light in Pozo, I just try to duck the sail. That's how I learnt some of the power moves on my wave equipment," said the Spaniard. Second place went to Alessio Stillrich, who also proved his all-round talent as a windsurfer. Mathis Mollard was a surprise third. In the women's category, it was Pauline Katz who popped the champagne and is now super motivated to do more freestyle in the future.

• More about the tour calendar and the new FPT/EFPT concept

Results FPT Capetown 2023

Gents

• 1 Marc Pare
• 2nd Alessio Stillrich
• 3 Mathis Mollard
• 4 Adam Sims
• 5th Adrien Bosson
• 6 Dieter Van der Eyken
• 7 Florian Jung
• Baptiste Cloarec
• 9th Arthur Aurtkin
• Victor Landau
• 11. Miguel Chapuis
• Marco Lufen
• 13. tomerShamgar
• David Jeschke
• 15 DuduLevi
• Maarten Molenaar
• Sietsede Jager
• George Grisley
• 19 Clement Auger
• 20th Vincent Chapelle
• Manolis Chrysopoulos
• Jeremy Amsellem
• Florian Ragossnig
• Marc Pesman
• Max Matissek
• Romaine Delon

Ladies

• 1. Pauline Katz
• 2 Aurore Bous

Amateurs

• 1. Victor Landau
• 2. sietse de Jager
• 3 Clement Auger

Also interesting:

• Freestyle riding technique: The right equipment settings and ducking the sails
• These rules apply to wave riding, freestyle and slalom