2016 is the last time that the famous Surf Worlcup will be staged in Podersdorf, Austria before moving to a new venue in 2017. The windsurf week starting from the 4th of May through to the 8th of May had an explosive start with the PWA freestyle competition that was held in winds gusting up to 40 knots on Wednesday. Whilst many riders have been taken to their limits in partly extreme conditions, the weather in the upcoming days looks fantastic for some action in the qualification rounds of the Chiemsee tow-in show.

30 riders registered to fight for 3.000€ prize-money. With another official EFPT tow-in competition at the DAM-X event in Brouwersdam towards the end of the year, the given points will count into the tow-in overall ranking for 2017. Adam Sims (Sailloft/Patrik) overall champion of last year will have to defend his title against the likes of Amado Vrieswijk (Severne/Starboard), multiple Chiemsee tow-in champion Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP/Neilpryde), local hero Max Matissek (North/Fanatic), the Frans brothers and many more international top sailors.

Bjorn Saragoza flying through the sunset in 2015 (by Martin Reiter)

We’ll see threee qualification rounds with 10 riders respectively and a big final on Sunday with the best three riders advancing from every round plus one lucky loser to complete the fleet of ten.

The first qualification round will be launched at 7.00pm Friday night, whilst the sun sets at lake Neusiedel. The spot lights and all the eyes will be on the ten sailors who will surely push the level to make it to the final fleet on Sunday afternoon. We’ll try to stick to the schedule, yet the times/dates might vary due to weather conditions.

We are looking forwards to some great action within the next days and will update you as good as possible via our social media channels.

Mattia Fabrizi in the spotlight (by Martin Reiter)