RIght so pretty much I'm going to be doing the same kind of posting as Phil Horrocks did from Pozo live on the Boardseeker forum for everyone reading to get more of an inside view of whats really going on at the event.

Ok so after an epic journey myself (Max Rowe) and Bubble have made it to Fuerteventura for the third stop of the PWA freestyle world tour. We ended up 7 hours delayed out of Gatwick after getting on two broken planes and then missing our ferry from Lanzarote so we had to spend the night there! We were up early the following day and made it in time for registration.

Its my first time here in Fuerte and I was pretty keen to get out practising considering most of the guys have been here for 3 weeks already. The slalom was still running so that was pretty exciting to watch but to avoid getting in the way we went and sailed about a mile downwind which turned out to be a massive mistake!! Downwind there was perfect stunt ramp sized waves rolling in and organised chop on the way out. I was feeling pretty confident and making all of my moves then we went back upwind to the competition area and in comparison it felt like possibly the worst place to windsurf in the whole world!!! The wind blows cross-off shore from behind a massive cliff and then to make it even gustier there is a 40ft high event tent erected right in front of the sailing area, its going to take a bit of getting used to!

The level is ridiculous as always and the forecast is sick so be sure to keep checking back here to get any inside information of whats going on. Please feel free to ask some questions on this post.

Max Rowe
Sponsored by- Simmer style, Club Vass, Boardwise, Spartan wetsuits, Global Shots

Still no wind here at them moment in Fuerteventura! Gollito has got a ridiculous new haircut though pictures coming soon. Also Philip Koester just rocked and god knows what his parents have been feeding him but for sure the biggest 15 year old I've ever seen. No one has seen him freestyle yet so quite a lot of anticipation to see how he's going to do. I think if its windy with some swell he could dominate.

Max Rowe
Sponsored by- Simmer Style, Club Vass, Spartan wetsuits, Boardwise, Global Shots

Still no wind here at them moment in Fuerteventura! Gollito has got a ridiculous new haircut though pictures coming soon. Also Philip Koester just rocked and god knows what his parents have been feeding him but for sure the biggest 15 year old I've ever seen. No one has seen him freestyle yet so quite a lot of anticipation to see how he's going to do. I think if its windy with some swell he could dominate.

Max Rowe
Sponsored by- Simmer Style, Club Vass, Spartan wetsuits, Boardwise, Global Shots

So not a great afternoon for me! Lost by half a point against a Venezuelan kid, first they announced I won then took the sheets back and changed them because my first move was a bit out of the area!! Oh well it might mean I get a better draw for the double elimination.

Head judge Duncan Coombes decided just to run the first round and then wait for the better wind thats forecast for tomorrow to finish the single elimination. Was interesting to watch Koester sail but dont think it was quite windy enough for him and he lost in the first round it was quite clear theres some massive potential for him when it gets windier.

Max Rowe
Sponsored by- Simmer, Club Vass, Boardwise, Spartan wetsuits, Global shots

Just got down the beach for day 2 of the PWA Fuerteventura freestyle world cup and it is howling! Most the guys going out on 4.0-4.5 at the moment the tide is low so still really flat at the moment. I'm sure by the time I have to sail in the double it will be high tide and super choppy again! Will try my best to keep you updated throughout the day. After watching everyone sail yesterday I think my bet is with Gollito to take the single elimination win you may call it a safe one but he is on fire!!!

Max Rowe
Sponsored by- Simmer, Club Vass, Mistral, Boardwise, Spartan wetsuits, Global shots

Check out the new Boardwise blog for updates on team riders, new kit and cheap deals! www.boardwise.co.uk/blog

Going to be a quick one as watching the internet time tick down down in the corner of the screen!

No major suprises here in Fuerte today! As I had earlier predicted Gollito took the win in the first single elimination which was an extremely close call once again. He was sailing against Kiri Thode and to me it looked as Kiri had the edge especially as Gollito spent the last minute of the final in the water fixing a broken outhaul but once again he was favoured by the judges! There was again a bit of a fuss made by the other guys from Bonnaire and I felt pretty sorry for Duncan Coombes the head judge as he probably would of had to put up with some grief whoever won!

They decided not to run the double because it was so gusty. They did put the ladder up however and I have the WORST draw you could imagine. Davy Scheffers in the first round, for me his ability will get him deep inside the top 10 and his is the highest ranked sailor in the first round so just my luck! He sailed pretty incosistently today so think I might just play it safe and see if consistency is enough! Might go have a few beers in the party tent tonight though as Bubbble came in joint 5th which was sick after he took down the french man Nicolas Agazcyan.

Put a few more euros in otherwise would of only written a few sentances haha

Max Rowe
Sponsored by Mistral, Simmer, Club Vass, Boardwise, Spartan wetsuits, Global Shots!

Max:

Why do you still sail a Tabou board when you are sponsored by Mistral?

Just curious,

Mark

Hey Mark, Unfortunately Mistral have not registered their freestyle boards for the event here so due to the production board rule I'm not allowed to use them!

Cheers

Max

So Day 3 here in Fuerte and the double elimination has been completed!

My plan to play it safe worked extremely well and I took down Scheffers in the first round of the double this morning. I think a lot of the guys are concentrating a lot on big moves and not actually landing the given 4 on each tack so thats where I did well! After that I was up against Italian Nicola Spadea and I made the mistake of taking my 4.2 as it looked like it had picked up but ended up being a bit underpowered I didnt sail as well as in my first heat but it was enough to advance through to face Trictionary guru Michi Rossmeir. This time I took my 4.8 and was fully powered and sailed my best heat so far to get me into the top 16. By this time I was completely knackered after not having the experience of passing so many heats before I had no idea how tired I was going to get so I stomached some disgusting Energy bar that I brought back in England and headed out to face the Russian love muscle Egor Proprentinsky. Unfortunately it was not to be and I missed a move on the way in and Egor sailed an amazing heat to knock me out and leave me in 13th position.

Bubble was next up fighting to get into the semi finals and had a really close heat against Leo Ray and after one of his shakas being missed by the judges it was enough for Leo to pass. Bubble was not happy to say the least after looking back at the score sheets, which will leave him in 8th place for the moment!

No major suprises until the Final and then once again it was Gollito vs Kiri Thode! For Kiri to win he would have to beat Gollito twice. Gollito looked a lot more nervous than normal and had a shocker in the first heat of the final and even ended up sailing off out of the competition area about halfway through and accepting defeat. Philip Soltysiak and I were on the beach with Alfie Hart commentating for the podcast at the end of the month and were both pretty confused! Gollito came running back up to the beach and in to the tent to find a pair of scissors to cut the arms of his event lycra before heading back out for the final. Kiri came out on top which was awesome to see as he's not had an event win yet to date! Gollito did sail a lot better than he had done in the other final but it wasnt quite enough.

Will keep you updated again with what goes on tomorrow and fingers crossed for me that I can hold it together!

Max Rowe
Sponsored by Mistral, Simmer, Club Vass, Boardwise Spartan wetsuits, Globalshots

Just got back from the beach after finishing the secong single elimination ladder on day 4 here in Fuerteventura!

Another good day for me as I managed to win my first heat against the Greek champ Stam Promponas. I sailed one of my best heats so far and made my given 4 moves on each tack within the first 4 minutes which gave me some time to concentrate on busting out some bigger moves including a toad (clew first ponch). As soon as I'd had the result from my heat Bubble was up again against the frenchman Leo Ray who he has already faced twice in this event. I wasnt paying to much attention but then I heard the announcment that Bubble had broken some kit and was waving from the water. I ran down the beach to the rescue and luckilly Adam Simms was more on it than me and had already downhauled Bubbles spare sail and I sailed it out to him but it turned out Mattia Fabrizi had got there first and as soon as I had catapulted of the beach in Bubbles extremely small foot straps and very low boom he was already sailing of on Mattias kit!!! He managed to get a few moves in but it wasnt enough to go through.
Next up for me was yesterdays winner of the double elimination Kiri Thode! For me there was almost no pressure at all and I ended up sailing my best heat so far pulling of a Toad, eslider diablo and a double puneta. I knew it wouldnt quite be enough but was happy anyway especially when looking back at the score sheets to see that I was only one and a half points off and even had more style points on one sheet!! Going out at this point has left me in joint 9th and in the double I will potentially face Adam Simms if he passes against the new frenchman Gaubert! Hopefully I will keep my good form and finish the double in 9th. Forecast is windier than today and I sailed my 3.7 this morning, it was absolutely howling!!
The waves picked up later on in the single and Gollito went on to dominate and take the win!

Max Rowe
Sponsored by simmer, mistral, club Vass, Boardwise, Spartan, Global shots

Fantastic Max -

Right so an excellent result for me coming in 11th overall and have already had a few beers to celebrate! Will write the full report later as going for a windsurf now!

Max Rowe
Sponsored by Mistral, Simmer, Club Vass, Boardwise, Spartan wetsuits, Global shots

So like I mentioned in my last post a good day for me here coming in 11th overall and it wasnt easy to get there!! When we arrived this morning it was even windier than yesterday and I was getting pretty anxious especially as when I practised on my 3.7 I didnt sail so well. In the end I stuck on4.2 and it was ok and in my fist two heats I sailed really well but by the time I had to face Leo Ray I was so tired and definitely should of been on 3.7! We both didnt sail amazing and the decision went to him by half a point.

Bubble was unlucky in his heat missing out by a point against the Greek champ Promponas! He was still annoyed about breaking his UJ the day before as this would of possibly meant he would of already been further along the ladder.

In the finals there were many decisions on the beach that not everyone agreed with! Starting with Tonky against Van Broekhoven it looked close but most of us thought that with Tonkys jumping he had got the edge but again it is almost impossible to tell in these heats without checking the sheets! The final was awesome with the waves picking up Gollito was set to put on a show against Van Broekhoven. Van Broekhoven shocked us all by pulling of a pushloop within the first few minutes and the Gollito replied with a fully planing one then bouncing into a flaka at the end of it! All the new moves were busted out by both riders and by the end we thought Van Broekhoven or Van Donk had managed to take down the 3 times world champ! But it wasnt to be and the were taken over to the podiums where Gollito was announced to be once again on top.

Alfie has captured some amazing footage with some awesome commentary that will be featuring on the Boardseeker site soon so to be sure to check it out as the action is unbelievable!

For any news on what I'm up too until the event in Sylt please check out my Blog at [maxrowe.blogspot.com]

Also going to be doing some blogging of some pictures of 2011 kit coming soon on the Boardwise blog- www.boardwise.co.uk/blog

Cheers for reading

Max Rowe

Sponsored by Simmer, Mistral, Club Vass, Spartan wetsuits, Boardwise, Global shots