Our 7th Year!
2013 presents a very special year for Point-7, not only because it’s our 7th year on the market, but also because of a number of projects we are working on that is motivating us to keep on driving forward.
We want 2013 to be a special windsurfing year for you, for us and for our P7 Black Team.
Over the next couple of weeks, we will start the presentation of everything we have been organising and creating ready for you to begin in 2013. We have been travelling to many of the world’s premier beaches, through countless airports and cities, meeting with our clients, visiting our factories; all to make sure that you will get the best equipment that will allow you to dominate the wind, water and waves.
We have just finished packing our development van once again for another day of testing, this time to it’s for the new formula sails. They are big! (The van does look different from the time we were testing the 3 batten wave sail this spring or even compared with the AC-1 slalom development! There will be big changes on the formula program and in the next days we will give you some very interesting news on these new sails.
To bring P7 closer to your home we have increased the number of distributors around the world. We have trained our new partners as well, so they can service you even better and answer all the questions you may have in regard to our products. It was not difficult as we have selected a group of very talented and knowledgeable windsurfers to take care of this role. They will be able to advise you technically according to your needs and we will present them to you very soon one by one.
Next, we will present our Point-7 Black Team for 2013… Yes, the team got even BIGGER! Fast, radical, young and fearless athletes. We love to compete, we love the feeling of the start watch on our arm checking how many seconds more are left to the next start. The team will be in Tenerife for the whole European winter from January training together like a real team. All united to achieve the point-seven score.
Just a few months ago we had Adam Lewis finishing 7th in Sylt at the PWA world cup using our 3-batten wave sail, the SWAG. The sails have been sent out to most magazines to be tested and the results are starting to come in! There was a big surprise from the magazine testers and the results are very interesting to read! But wait, we are not finished… many more new products are in the pipeline so be ready to see a complete new boom range, new race harness lines and much, more over the next couple of months…
Would you like to spend some time with our P7 Black Team? Join the Blacksheep event in El Medano, Tenerife. Any time between the 1st – 10th of Feb the Black Teamm will meet with the Blacksheep in El Medano. The team will take everyone to the next level on the water. Racing for those who wants to line up on the slalom course with the pros, or hit the waves pushing the limits with Lewis and co.
We’ve heard you want to know the weights of our sails, so we’ll post them very shortly on our website. What we can say is that after testing various new constructions methods over the last 2 years, to make sure that we would deliver a light and strong product, we are now ready! We believe you will be surprised with the new weights of our rigs on land and have no surprises later in durability! 3 cam sails over 7m under 5kg, freeride sails of 7m under 4kg.
We’re ready to for another 7 years of excietment!
Click here to read more:
Point-7.com
Adam and the Omega Boom
Many people still don’t know about the Omega boom. It was just like last year when we presented Adam Lewis by saying that he was going to go for his first full year of PWA wave tour. Someone asked who IS Adam Lewis.So Adam filmed some sick video footage to show his skills in waves which was viewed by a lot of people. Then he went on proving his skills once again at the PWA wave events, where he climbed the elimination ladder to finish 7th at the last event in Sylt in Northern Germany
Adam is now once again with us to give some quick feedback on the OMEGA; this new wave boom generation which he has used to get these top 10 results. Adam, is no talk, he goes for the action, so as he has proven himself all the time we cannot NOT trust when he says..that the Omega is the way forward!
P7:How many years is it that you have been using the boom?
A:I’ve been using the boom for about 3 years now, I can’t imagine using anything else anymore!
P7:How many did you break till now? How long have you been using the oldest one you have?
A:I think so far I have only broken 1 in four years, I think that’s pretty impressive considering I was going through around 5/6 booms the year before! In fact I’m still using the original prototype as a spare, there hardly any grip left but it’s still going! I’m sailing everyday an average 2-4 hours, where I’m landing all sorts of jumps from 10m heights. So nothing to complain about.
P7: How do you think the boom gives you an advantage?
A:I think the sail feels a quite a lot more reactive, and you seem to get a much better idea of what the sails doing, that’s because of why the boom joins directly at the mast. Another thing that I’ve noticed is I seem to be able to get a much better wind range out of the boom, you can get going earlier and hold on for longer.
P7: What are the main differences/advantages you feel compared to a traditional boom?
A: For me personally I feel the main advantages are the extra range you get from the sail, The shape as it comes directly out from the boom and straight down to the clew, this means you’re always holding on to a straight line, you don’t have to change the angle that your holding the boom when sliding it up and down the boom during manoeuvres or even jibing! Holding onto a straight line gives you a much more powerful grip on the boom. The Suspension system is brilliant in choppier water and for landing jumps, I’m sure the boom has saved a few of my boards by now!
P7: Any weight advantage?
A: Yeah! Because the boom is made using a honey comb construction and carbon its lighter and stronger! Also the head of the boom is much lighter. You are missing the part in the front, and what is cool is that you do feel like you have an extra spot for visibility.
P7: Why do you think that the boom is not so popular yet?
A: I think that it was seen as an unproven product and a radical new design, the guys from Point-7 have been waiting to see how it performed and also how long it lasted. For me it’s been a massive success, with 2 years hard testing on the PWA circuit and the original one is still going strong! Now It’s time to start to push it more and see what other people think of it!
http://www.point-7.com/?page_id=1518/
Point-7 Press wants to thank Adam for his time and let him get back on the water. For any questions to Adam or the P7 development team, please post your queries here below using the form.
Click here to read more:
Point-7.com
Josh & Hurricane Sandy.
We touched base with Josh Angulo over the weekend as one of the most vicious storm cells to hit the New York state hit land.
“Well, we just had what was truly on of the most radical storms of all time here on USA’s east coast. They called it the “perfect storm” and the “Frankenstorm”. It actually ended up causing quite some devastation in both the Caribbean and USA and our hearts and prayers go out to the many people that suffered loss during this storm.
What do you do when you are a windsurfer ? As I get older and have wife and kids, one side of me tells me to stay home and prepare everything and because it is really such a serious situation, maybe we shouldn’t go have fun? The other side of me is a life-long windsurfer that doesn’t want to miss the best conditions of the year. So guess which half of me won ?…. of course, the windsurfer in me.
Here’s a newspaper story link that came from a Bulgarian newspaper of all papers.
Click here to read more:
Point-7.com
AC-1: TERMINATOR [2K13] Launch
In 2012, our successful AC-1 PWA Edition had many accolades; speed on the runs, power in the lulls, control in the gusts, acceleration out of the turns. We showed with these rigs we could be consistently in the PWA Slalom finals. So what could we improve for our 2013 models?
Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Details! These were the main aspects we wanted to work on for the 2K13 model. When a sail looks clean and minimal, you know that it will also work better. Team Manager Andrea Cucchi took the comments from our P7 Black Team on what they would like the improvements to be for each individual size. In 2012 on the PWA World Tour, there was never a complaint on the performance of the sail by Josh Angulo, Pascal Toselli or any other riders on our team; the comments were more a request to take more care in the small details which construct the sail – and not to touch too much the sail’s all important shaping!
With that in mind, we took the sail to pieces with our designers and went through each and every stitch and detail. Like when you clean out your closet, throw away all the things you know you don’t need anymore and reorganise that closet, we cleaned up and beautified our sail. Focusing on the mast sleeve construction, the reinforcement display and many other small areas.
Next, we worked a lot on the perfect batten grading percentages to improve our profile entry to the best it could become. Each batten now has an individual grading percentage, to give us a state-of-the-art profile shaping. We then improved small tensions at every part of the leech on each individual size of our range. In some sizes, we realised that there were still some extra millimetres to modify, to reach the perfection we wanted to see.
To achieve all these details, we have only finished working on the sail this week! Just in time to register the sails for the PWA World Tour in 2013.
Back on the water, testing the latest incarnations of our sail, the result was better then we actually thought it could have been. When you work on a product which delivers such high performance, every small detail leads to a substantial difference on the water.
When you rig the sail, you really feel like immediately hitting the water with this black beast! As you jump on the board you feel the faster reacting sail body and lightness. At the first gybe the rotation of the cams is plug and play.
- Easy rigging
- Perfect Cam rotation for any technical ability and weight.
- New batten TIP grading: different for each batten number.
- Stiffer central battens tubes for faster acceleration and control.
- Extra S-shaping on the mid section of the sail for increased comfort in stronger winds.
- Tighter upper leach for better stability in the gusts and for extra power when pumping out of the gybes in light wind.
- New mast sleeve material and construction: cleaner, lighter and more reflex for acceleration.
- New clew and top reinforcements for lighter feel in the gybes.
Overall performance result from testing the AC-1 2K12 against the AC-1 2K13.
Overall, compared to our successful 2K12 model AC-1, the easy feel of the Terminator 2K13 sail allows the rider to obtain more efficiency from the sail in all wind ranges. The result is a higher average speed around the course. This comfort allows everyone to be able to take advantage of any gusts and use it to achieve a blasting acceleration.
How did we test the sail? Well, we did not only drag race them, but we simulated a lot of racing scenarios to find out how the acceleration, the neutrality in the gybe, pumping in light wind, drive in the gust would actually work in ‘real world’ racing conditions. We sailed them under and over powered and on different brands of boards with our riders of various shapes and sizes. All this to find out all the advantages the new sail could/should have.
Now, if you ask us if there is much difference between the 2K12 and 2K13 in term of performance, we have to say YES and it’s VERY noticeable!
Reserve it now at info@point-7.com or through our retail network.
Click here to read more:
Point-7.com
2012: The Interviews
Now that the PWA World Tour is over for 2012, we caught up with all our riders to see what they thought about this season gone and where they want to go for the next!
Name: Pascal Toselli
Discipline: Slalom
Best Result 2012: 9th in PWA event of Reggio Calabria
PWA Ranking 2012:
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? Both sails that I use the most are my 7.9m and 8.6m AC-1
Which fins are you using? I use a lot of different fins, but the most used are Z-Fin’s
Which board sizes did your register? This year I registered my RRD XFire 129, 114 and 98
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? I think I’ll take approximatly the same quiver for the next year
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? In addition to having the right equipment that I like in point 7 is that we are a real team! Point 7 includes, supports and pushes the rider at the best!!
What is 2013 goal? My goal for 2013 is to enter in top 10
What were you lacking in 2012? My goal for 2013 is to enter in Top 10.
What will you do this winter to improve? And for that I prepare for a big training in Tenerife this winter with all the team point 7, everything is ready for intensive training in real racing conditions.
Name: Josh Angulo
Discipline: Slalom
Best Result 2012: 4th Sylt
PWA Ranking 2012: 6th overall slalom
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: I was hoping to get in the groove with the Point seven team as well as AC1 sails and masts . My goal was to make the top 10 for my first year with P7 and I ended up just out of top 5.
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? I used all the sails. I never got to compete on the 5.6, but we were flying on it before the Fuerte started. I used a lot 9.3 and 8.6
Which fins are you using? I’m using mostly Kashy fins and some Tectonics for hi-wind
Which board sizes did your register? Angulo Magnum 60,71,84
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? Should be the same. The 71 will have some small changes and I will go for same quiver size next year
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? The passion that the brand has to make really good products and really be excited about windsurfing. It sounds kinda “commercial” to say that, but in this case it’s really true. Also, the brand makes me feel appreciated , and that’s a good feeling
What would you like from the team more for 2013? Caddy
What is 2013 goal? Top 5
What were you lacking in 2012? Physical strength
What will you do this winter to improve? Train hard and eat well
Name: Martin Ten Hoeve
Discipline: Wave
Best Result 2012: 13th Tenerife
PWA Ranking 2012: 27th
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: Starting the season with a blast but ended in a flop
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? All from 5.9 to 3.7
Which model of the sails do you use and why? Sado and Salt for dead onshore to side offshore, because off the power position
Which fins are you using? Standard production/ MFC
Which board sizes did your register? 84, 92, 104liters wave
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? No
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? It’s a family and a team
What would you like from the team more for 2013? Love
What is 2013 goal? To do what I haven’t done until now
What will you do this winter to improve? A lot!
Name: Nicolas Akgazciyan
Discipline: Freestyle
Best Result 2012: 5th PWA Podersdorf, 9th PWA Fuerteventura
PWA Ranking 2012: I was 8th before Sylt event in Septembre, I had an injury in my ankle that I couldn’t go to the event.
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: I had a good season, between trips / competition / training – media. It was nice year before my injury in september when I won the UCPA event.
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? 4.0 / 4.4 / 4.8m
Which model of the sails do you use and why? Salt because I’m riding in wave & freestyle & it’s in adequacy with my style. Sails are light and very handy I’m really liking them!
Which fins are you using? I am using the 16cm Maui Ultra Fin
Which board sizes did your register? Starboard Flare 91 & 101 carbon wood
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? Maybe but it’s secret yet!
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? Andrea, Dennis & all rest of the P-7′s team making all for to feeling integrate in the Team. Everybody can participate and expose this ideas for different projects and developpement. We feel like a real team family, each team rider help and support another one if we need help.
What would you like from the team more for 2013? Organize a windsurf trip (new place) with all the team and making a sick movie. It could be great promotion!
What is 2013 goal? Organize a windsurf trip (new place) with all the team and making a sick movie. It could be great promotion!
What were you lacking in 2012? My right ankle for Sylt PWA and to finish my season correctly.
What will you do this winter to improve? Normaly I will fly to tenerife to join the Point-7 team there. And in January I will move to South Africa then Bonaire.
Name: Adam Lewis
Discipline: Wave
Best Result 2012: 7th PWA Sylt
PWA Ranking 2012: 13th
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: This was my first full season on the PWA World Tour. It was a real mix! in the end I am very happy but i would like to be inside the top ten for next year!
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? I have 5.6 right down to 3.2 and I used every size! from Sylt to Pozo, 16kts to 60kts!
Which model of the sails do you use and why? I use the Swag and the Salt. The Swag I use from 4.7 down for riding its absolutely fantastic and really a lot of fun. But for an extra bit of grunt and bigger sizes I use the Salt
Which board sizes did your register? I have a 78, 82, 85, 92 All Patrik Trailer Waves!
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? No maybe an even bigger board around 98 litres just incase the wind gets really light! What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012?
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? The Sails and the support. Its really simple! We have the best Team infrastructure from any brand What would you like from the team more for 2013?
What would you like from the team more for 2013? Some Bikini model caddies!
What is 2013 goal? Top 5 PWA event result and a Top 10 overall
What were you lacking in 2012? I think I had the ability as I had a few really good heats. With constantly some of the highest scoring heats of the events. For me its just a mental case and sorting out how I sail my heats more consistently.
What will you do this winter to improve? Train harder, sail harder and sort out my head in some of my heats. I think its coming together slowly but surely its just a matter of time 
Name: Andrea Cucchi
Discipline: Slalom
Best Result 2012: 19th in Alacati, 20th in Fuerteventura
PWA Ranking 2012: Did not do all the events. Around 30th.
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: I was actually expecting a better overall ranking, but unfortunatelly we had only 1 race in Reggio Calabria where I was overearly in the only start, so I got zero points. Then I had to skip Korea as business called, so my final ranking was not that good. I had a couple of good races, did some finals, and had good speed. I would only need to be more focused during the event and get some cardio fitness going for pumping out of the jibes!
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? 7.9 and 9.3. Would have loved to sail some stronger winds.
Which fins are you using? Kashy in the big sizes, and Tectonics from 38cm down.
Which board sizes did your register? 92 for 7.2 down, 115 for 7.2 and 7.9 and the 135 for 8.6 and 9.3.
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? The same. It’s what is needed.
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? It’s a growing motivated team. We all feel this and it’s bringing positive feedback.
What would you like from the team more for 2013? To work even more together during the events and the trainings. To have everyone involved even when it’s not their turn to be in the water. To be and act like a real team.
What is 2013 goal? To help my team to do better, and to do better myself in racing.
What were you lacking in 2012? Fitness. If I feel fit I feel stonger in my head. Having a strong mind gives you the power to do better.
What will you do this winter to improve? Between the 1000 things to do I will try to get fit! Even if I windsurf everyday for testing it’s not the same as to be on the water with the other target. I love racing and being all year round with the team it also gives big advantages to the product development and at the end to the final product our clients are buying.
Name: Manuel Zugsbratl
Discipline: Slalom
Best Result 2012: 43th Fuerteventura
PWA Ranking 2012: 47th
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result:
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? I was 2 times 2 weeks during the winter in el medano to train with andrea and some other guys (like Marco Lang, Gunnar Asmussen, Vincent Langer..) it was a realy good high wind training with the strong passat. There i tested the 135II it´s a awesome fast board. I got mine 135 in april and for mit it was hard to find the right fin. This was the first board with 85cm width i had. it needs the hole season to me to find a good and fast fin. At the end of the Season i know my equipment best
Which model of the sails do you use and why? AC-1 8.6 and 7.9
Which fins are you using? MB Fins & Select Fins
Which board sizes did your register? Patrik Slalom 87, 110 and 135II
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? Sail sizes are good like they are; boards probably 93, 115, 135
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? It´s a real team, everbody gives tips. Andrea also creates perfect conditions for training with his setup in el medano.
What would you like from the team more for 2013? Stay like it is and kick some ass
What is 2013 goal? Winning Austrian Championships
What were you lacking in 2012? Always when i was at home in between the races there was nearly no wind to surf and train.
What will you do this winter to improve? Spending more time in the fitness center during the cold time, adjusting the new sails in Tenerife wit the Point-7 Team
Name: Sean O’Brien
Discipline: Slalom / Formula
Best Result 2012: 35th in a PWA event but earlier in the year in Formula I won the Australian, Malaysian, Singapore and Oceanic Championships, 1st Latvian Slalom Championships and 14th FW EuroCup, Poland.
PWA Ranking 2012: 41st, but I don’t do all the events so it’s impossible to get a decent ranking!
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: This season was interesting. I started the year with an awesome season in AUS/ASIA winning all the events in formula ahead of some tough competition, then in Europe I had a disappointing season on the PWA in slalom.
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? I actually only used 8.6m and 7.2m/6.3m this year. It was a strange year for wind! 11.5m / 10.5m for Formula was a great combo.
Which fins are you using? I use custom fins I developed back home and some Z-Fins in the bigger sizes for slalom.
Which board sizes did your register? 80, 107, 117w Starboard iSonics and I used the 167 and 167w for Formula.
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? Next year I’m going to go for 80, 97, 110. It’s a radical combo with no big board, but I’m light and I will pick and choose the events I do so it will give me a really cool option to have the 8.6m and 110 combo on a smaller tail when most guys are overpowered on their big boards with 8.6 which is where we do most of our racing.
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? As always, it’s about the ‘team’ feeling. I am lucky to be part of it from the inside as well as out, working for the brand directly. Even in between events we are always in contact by emails for news or a laugh with all the team across the world and it’s rare for that camaraderie to happen!
What would you like from the team more for 2013? I think we worked well as a team this year, but we saw in Sylt what a little bit of extra help to your teammates can do! ie, on the caddy front – Adam had 2 caddies working for him on the beach and he had his BEST result to date. The same can be said for slalom; Josh benefited from having Dennis caddy for him in Fuerte. I think ramping up the support on this front will be very beneficial.
What is 2013 goal? Next year there are 2 PWA events in Asia early in the year, close to home and still in my ‘summer’ so I really want to push for super results at those two events…
What were you lacking in 2012? TIME! It was a busy year. We achieved A LOT on the media front and I’m really proud of all the work I did and P7 achieved overall on that front, however that was at the expense of the windsurfing and I really felt it on the tour this year with lots of mistakes and some poor results!
What will you do this winter to improve? I don’t have winter… I go straight back to Australia in a few weeks in to summer with TONS of events going on each weekend and a few stops in Asia for the AUSTRALASIA FW TOUR which I have helped organise with stops in Singapore, Malaysia and Sydney. It’s very difficult for me to get gear all the way to Australia so I’m hoping to get my sails a bit earlier and have the ‘summer’ to train on them which previously I’ve never had the option to do … I also launched a fitness book a few months ago and I’m going to get back on the horse with that program and helping others with their fitness – so it will be busy! THERE IS NO WINTER!!
Name: Greta Benvenuti
Discipline: Slalom
Best Result 2012: 7th PWA Korea
PWA Ranking 2012: 7th
Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: Tell us about your season in few words. Were you expecting this result: The 2012 season didn’t started really good for the bad result in Reggio Calabria and after this there were canceled two events for the women, Aruba and Costa Brava, and this it had mean no discard for me. But something it was changed in my mind and I started to belive in myself like never I did before. We had good conditions in Korea and Alacati with some days with strong wind like I’m used to ride, I did a good heat with good starts and good speed and finally I had a lot fun beacuse I felt competitive. I wanted to be in the top 5 but I’m equally happy with my result.
Which sail sizes did you mainly use this year? 7.2 AC1 and 6.3 AC1 during the competitions and 7.9 AC1 for training during my time in Italy.
Which fins are you using? Tectonics 30, 32, 36, 38, 40 and Hurricane 34
Which board sizes did your register? Patrik Boards 87 liter, 100 liter and 120 liter
Are you going to plan in having different quiver and board sizes next year? for sails I think I will use the same as this year and for the board I will change 120 with 115.
What did you like about being on Point-7 in 2012? I was so excited during the man heats because there was a lot time in the final and I felt proud to be part of a strong team!!!
What would you like from the team more for 2013? I hope will become the top team in the world because we have a lot of potential and faster sails , but we need to be 100%in the team.
What is 2013 goal? To be on the podium
What were you lacking in 2012? I think we have really good riders, we can do better and better if we stay more concentrated…and we think like a team.
What will you do this winter to improve? I will train a lot with my team in Tenerife in different conditions that we find every winter, expecially i wanna get better my jibe because I know when I’m competing I don’t control so good my jibe in the mark so I will work for this. I also wanna spend a long time in the water with my wave board 68 liter and my Salt 3.6 that I miss these a lot!!!
Click here to read more:
Point-7.com
Point-7 on the PWA
The P7 modus operandi is loving windsurfing and having a team that loves their windsurfing as well. It’s only when you love what you do that you can really have success. Everyone has talent inside them but to win you cannot be scared to use that talent and if you are having fun doing your sailing, you will have the success you strive for.
We are very happy about our Team. They brought us to be in the Top 5 constructor’s brands in the PWA Overall Rankings, beating big legendary brands in some of the disciplines such as slalom.
It was the first year that we had a real Team with proper weapons ready to show with our results the work done by the entire staff and team on our products. The young Adam Lewis with the tallest man on tour, Martin Ten Hoeve for the waves. Josh Angulo the legend, with the fast Frenchman Pascal Toselli, our media director Sean O’Brien, the three young boys Malte Reuscher, Manuel Zugsbrattl and Oliver-Tom Schliemann with myself (Andrea) taking care of all of them. Greta Benvenuti our only girl in the team for the slalom and last but not least our Leucate freestyler Nicolas Akgazcyian.
A strong team, motivated by the black powered sails and team spirit. Our first event was Reggio Calabria for the slalom where Pascal and Josh were able to finish inside the Top 10 and kept this overall ranking throughout Korea and Costa Brava. The first time for P7 to be in the Top 10, and not with 1 rider but 2!
In the meantime, while the wave riders were still training and taking it easy, Nicolas Akgazcyian managed to take a 5th place in Austria in the freestyle. The best result for Nico since a long time and again the first time for P7 to be inside the Top 10 in freestyle at the PWA!
Finally the waves. Adam and Martin flew to Gran Canaria for the first event. Adam arrived with brand new prototype sails with 3-battens and even had a board sponsor change just the day before the event. We knew already he would have not been prepared to jump and go for the result with everything so new. Martin finished in the top 15, and Adam as all big warriors had to accept a first defeat in 25th…
Straight away they both jumped to the next island of Tenerife and as Adam got used to all his new equipment, he scored a 9th place! His best result ever! And for the first time P7 got a Top 10 result in waves! “Whoop whoop whoop” as he says! Martin again was inside the Top 15.
After these 2 wave events on the Canary islands, the slalom team and our smiling Freestyler moved came also to the Canaries; this time on Fuerteventura. After 2 very bad slalom eliminations Josh was out of the Top 25, while myself and Pascal were tucked in to the Top 20. We were worried he would have lost his Top 10 ranking, but as Josh is able to do, he just started scoring into the finals and brought himself once again to the Top 10. Nicolas confirmed again his Top 10 value in the gusty Fuerte winds.
2 weeks of relaxing and again back to the next event in Alacati, Turkey. Typically a flatwater holiday destination, but this location also provides the most challenging racing battles between the marks. Josh wins the first slalom final for the brand! Another important step!
But the season was not over, it’s long and hard. The PWA did a great job to put together so many disciplines in this 2012 season. Before the last 2 North European cold events, Klitmoeller and Sylt with still 2 wave events and 1 slalom and freestyle event the Team was still super motivated to increase their ranking. Klitmoeller’s onshore condition proved to our boys that competition can be hard. Adam and Martin were not able to go through their rounds…
Sylt, was then the final appointment. Nicolas won his national championship in France in the freestyle, but during the event tore his ankle, putting him out of the chance to come to Sylt for his last competition and keep his Top 10 ranking. Martin, after finishing on the reef in Klitmoeller got 6 stitches exactly where the footstraps puts pressure on the bottom of your foot. He took part in Sylt, but knowing that he could not be fit as the PWA requested wasn’t the best preparation…
Adam, with the whole team caddying for him got the best result of his life, after his first full season on the PWA tour; A 7th! Josh, did his best result of the season with a 4th in slalom. These results put him just a place out of the Top 5 in slalom for the season…
Andrea Cucchi.
(photos by Tommy Della Frana and PWA/Carter)
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Point-7.com
The Long, Long Road…
I thought I would share what was one of my most grueling travel trips in my life.
In preparation for the PWA Slalom World Cup in Turkey, I decided to fly early to do some tuning with Andrea, so I left Boston on Aug. 22nd for an event that started on the 27th. Leaving boston on the evening of 22nd took me to Munich, Istanbul and then Izmir for an evening arrival and finally to my hotel and to bed at 4 am on the 24th.
After a good sleep and waking at 2 pm for breakfast, I went to the beach , saw Andrea and went to prepare my board before rigging the 9.3 . Upon opening my gear bag, I immediatly noticed that my fin bag wasn’t there, and my initial fear that they’d been stolen turned to a deep pain and panic that I forgot my fins in Boston….. This turned out to be the case. Slalom fins are a very personal item to which you tune your boards and sails to fit with. In Turkey I would be riding mainly Kashy fins, which are very hard to come by – although hats off to Gonzalo for offering to lend me some – unfortunately the sizes he had were not fitting for my boards.
I ran back to the hotel (which fortunately had a good internet connection that day) and got a hold of some friends who went to my house to confirm the fins were there. We then proceeded to look at every DHL, Fedex option etc. All the options would’ve gotten my fins to to “Turkish customs” on the first or 2nd day of event, and who knows what would happen in customs. With the days leading up to the event having zero wind forecasted, I contemplated sitting in Turkey for a couple days, stressing out and trying to make ends meet for slalom fins , I also toyed with the idea of flying home as I couldn’t find anybody to fly them over on such short notice.
Sitting in the hotel room balancing all my options, I finally pulled the trigger on a roundtrip ticket Izmir/ Boston and started mentally preparing myself. I at least had a very smooth return flight with only one stop and would be able to spend 5 hrs. in my house, take a shower a nap and relax a bit…or so I thought…
So I get in the taxi in Alacati at 2 am on 25th and catch a 4 am flight Izmir –Berlin and then get a transfer to Frankfurt where I sit a few hours in the star alliance lounge. At this point , my body is broken and I’m very tired. Getting to the gate With only few minutes to go before my flight I decided to just rest my head on my backpack for a minute while the began boarding. To my utter disbelief I awoke as the plane was pushing off the jetway. I awoke in a disorientated state of panic and tried to open the jetway door and was yelling for help , who anybody that would listen before I finally looked out the window and saw that there was no plane, at which point I conceited defeat and went to look for options.
I found some great Lufthansa staff who changed me to the later Frankfurt / boston flight, which now meant I would have no time at home and would be on the same plane back to Europe and would need to make more stops on my way back. So back to sleep for a few hours in the airport.
I finally got out of Frankfurt, arrived in Boston, cleared customs with only my backpack , walked upstairs to departures where my buddy Matt was waiting. There was a very surreal moment of looking over the Boston skyline and just being in this unimaginable blur of travel trance. It was good to see a friendly face for 5 minutes before I walked back into airport, checked in and got back onto the same trans-atlantic flight that I had just come on and even the same exact seat. I proceeded Boston-Frankfurt-Munich-Izmir arriving at near midnight on the 26th and getting to hotel early morning on 27th, for the first day of the event.
I went on to start the event horribly and was mentally bumming big-time, but I started finding some rhythm and chipped my way into the top 10 and winning the last race of the event, which vaulted me up 1 position on the world rankings to 6th place.
Oh yeah, then I needed to fly home to Boston again after the event…!
Josh Angulo
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Point-7.com
Big News from the R&D Department
After the stream of requests for the 6.7m AC-1 sizing which we had developed this spring, Point-7 has decided to go back and develop not only the main slalom sizings our riders are using in the PWA Slalom World Tour, but also the popular sizes often, being used to those slalom sailors who use race sails for fun, or national racing.
Over the summer during the develoment of the AC-1 2k13, the Pro Team has added the following new sizes to our existing AC-1 lineup:
6.7m – Mast: 430 | Luff: 449 | Boom: 192 | Weight: 5.4kg
7.5m – Mast: 445/460 | Luff: 478 | Boom: 199 | Weight: 5.8kg
8.4m – Mast: 490 | Luff: 515 | Boom: 216 | Weight: 6.4kg
9.0m - Mast: 520/490 | Luff: 528 | Boom: 230 | Weight: 6.6kg
These sizes will be only available in the Handcrafted version for 2013 and they can be ordered from this week onwards (with normal delivery leadtimes). Yes that is right, our Hancrafted sails are already available in the 2013 model; our latest development!
This week our chief tester will update you with all latest development work done on our new 2K13 Black Machines!
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Point-7.com
Solution: Wave Coaching (with Adam)
Join our Black Team wave rockstar Adam Lewis on Tenerife, for the ultimate wavesailing clinics and an opportunity to test our 2K13 Wave Sails range. Tuition, equipment and accommodation included. Contact Adam for more information and to book.
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Point-7.com
Update 3 from the PWA Turkey
We had always wondered who would be the first of our Black Team to score the first Point-7 pointscore at a PWA World Cup. Before heading to Turkey we had some intensive testing days for the AC-1 2K13, working a lot on the battens and also learning a few more things to get a bit more speed out of our 2K12′s.
The course in Turkey had a very short first reach to the first mar, and the power needed out of the first gybe was very important. So the equipment had to be fast, powerful and with loads of fast acceleration. We knew that our sails could offer all those features and that it was down to only our racing and concentration to do good. At one point of the event it was obvious that we had all the weapons to go for the first first place PWA score for Point-7. There were not many eliminations left, so we decided to go for it.
Attempt Number 1:
Pascal Toselli was the first to enter a final. From the beach it looked like Pascal was in the top position, He gybed in second and dropped to third on a wobbly last gybe. We still all congratulated Pascal for the great result!
Attempt Number 2:
It was myself winning the semifinals in front of Bjorn. I knew that I had the speed to also win the final. I also knew that to do that I though needed a good start. I came from the top full speed, I exited the startline perfectly on zero (in front of Bjorn) and I saw a highway to the first mark knowing I could have got there first, but Bora TUR-11 had had a premature start close to the starting boat, so we had to repeat the start. In the second start I got rolled by Antoine, and could only then hope to be in a top 5 position.
Attempt Number 3:
Josh Angulo was on the beach with Micah Buzianis and I. We were kind of pushing his head that as he had won the semi, he could also win the final. Josh had had little training before the season started, but his sails and boards were super tuned. The fins were picked up from Boston with great effort, so he just needed to go for the last sprint. I think we both knew he could do it and that it could have happened.
After a great start he was first at the first mark and he never looked back to see the thirst of Bjorn wanting to overtake him. He race gybed each mark and brough home the first 0.7 PWA final win for the brand! The whole team waited for him on the beach. Josh came out and kissed and hugged everyone.
After a bad start of the week Josh moved in to Top 10 for the final Alacati result, myself with my best result until now with a 19th and Pascal, unfortunately after entering some finals, had one bad result too many, which pushed him down to 23rd. Our power-girl Greta Benvenuti was also able to finish in the Top 10 after many mistakes which could have brought her up to a Top 5 position.
Josh climbs two more spots in the overall ranking. Now sitting in 6th position for the year; one place from Top 5. We are excited for this result!
We are now back on our home waters, waiting for next week for the final 2K13 AC-1′s to arrive. We will keep you posted on the changes done. Keep following us and thanks to everyone to the support and cheering on our Facebook, Twitter and e-mails.
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Point-7.com