Windsurf Classics: World Windsurfing Un-Cut - the film about the 1997 PWA season

How many great windsurfing films are still slumbering on VHS tapes in some box? Every now and then, Paul van Bellen digitises the classics that have shaped an entire generation of windsurfers. One of the latest videos is "World Windsurfing Uncut", a look back at the 1997 PWA season, the time of Dunkerbeck's dominance, the tough duels with Anders Bringdal and Micah Buzianis, but also the young guns of the time with Jason Polakow, Josh Stone and co.

It started with racing in Almanarre and the Dominican Republic - long-time regulars on the PWA calendar. This was followed by the wave event on the tiny Fijian island of Namotu, one of the most legendary and best wave contests of all time (for which there is a separate film). This was followed by the Canary Islands tour, which included a slalom in Pozo and a lot of high wind action at the edge and sometimes beyond the controls. Paros and Rhodes were new on the tour at the time and there was racing there.

This was also planned in Brighton, England, but many a starter was crushed in the brutal shorebreak. Perfect familiarisation on Sylt, also in 1997 fireworks in racing and wave riding. With the indoor event in Paris, another stop was added, the pictures of which many still have in mind today! At the end of the season - how could it be otherwise - Björn Dunkerbeck triumphed for the tenth time in the overall ranking and in racing, Jason Polakow won his first wave title! Natalie Le Lievre won all three women's categories!

More Windsurf Classics:

• "RIP" by Robby Naish
• "The Windsurfing Movie" and "The Windsurfing Movie II"
• "The new style" - the funboard video from surf
• The film about the North King of the Lake 1996
• "The Trans Atlantic Windsurf Race" from 1998
• "About Time" with Jason Polakow
• "The Aloha Man" with Josh Stone