Freestyle Pro Tour Sardinia - Day 1 and 2
by Freestyle Pro Tour 7 Jun 19:22 BST
Day 1 at the Freestyle Pro Tour (FPT) in Porto Pollo started slow, with the forecast showing light winds - riders completed registration and attended the initial skipper's meeting in the morning, followed by a detailed briefing from head judge Emilio Galindo covering the rules and regulations of competition for both new and returning competitors.
In the early afternoon, conditions improved slightly, allowing for the running of a Flowstyle Super Session in the Youth and Junior fleet. The format featured a 10-minute opening round with the full fleet, followed by a 10-minute final with the top four riders.
Pier Bongianni, Bijou Shahmirian (Starboard/Severne), Leander Halm (Starboard/Severne), and Fernando Sottile (WeOne) advanced to the finals after showing some sick low-wind tricks in the first round, including railrides and detached sail moves.
In the final, Bijou Shahmirian secured third place with a clutch performance in the closing moments, while Leander Halm came close to taking the win with. However, it was Pier Bongianni who came out with the strongest performance, delivering a nonstop stream of moves throughout the session to take the victory.
Following the flowstyle session a tow-in show was held, with standout moves including perfectly dry Double Air Culos from Yentel Caers (JP / Neilpryde), a Pasko from Rossel Bertoldo and an amazing No-Handed Burner from Cosmo Pezzetti.
Watch the event highlights from the first day of the event:
Day 2 of the Freestyle Pro Tour stop in Porto Pollo, Sardinia once again started off slow. The conditions in the morning were light, with the plan to run a Foilstyle super session in the afternoon. Riders took to passing time by rigging their remaining gear, playing spikeball on the beach and pumpfoiling.
Around midday, the wind slowly began creeping in. Leander Halm (Starboard / Severne) was first on the water, quickly joined by Yentel Caers (JP/Neilpryde), both throwing down some light wind moves before the wind shortly dropped off again.
Once again the conditions weren't suitable to get back out on the water. Instead a beach volleyball tournament was held with the riders and the FPT crew taking part. As the tournament progressed however, the wind once again began to build, and the decision to greenlight the Foilstyle super session was made.
The four competitors participating in the 500 Euro prize money super session were Yentel Caers, Leander Halm, Steven van Broeckhoven (GunSails/ WeOne) and Maaike Huvermann (Severne). In the initial 10-minute round, all four competitors came out swinging. Despite the Shaka attempts from Huvermann as well as some floaty Shakas and a last-minute Shove-It Spock from Halm - a move he mentioned he wanted to try in a heat earlier during the day, they couldn't match the might of the two European champions going toe to toe.
The final round of the super session was ran in a surprise format - a 10 minute heat with the best move landed taking it all. Caers quickly placed the bar sky-high by stomping a One-Handed Burner right in front of the judges' booth. Van Broeckhoven threw Burners and Air Funnels Yentel's way, but none quite matched the might of Yentel's first move. After Caers landed a clean Pasko but was still unable to upgrade over his initial trick, it seemed as if the victory was decided.
But the 6-Time champ still had something to say, landing a massive Kono Diablo and snatching the victory from Caers with the last move of the heat.
With Van Broeckhoven victorious, the wind once again began to drop off and the conditions were deemed unsuitable to continue with any more competition for the rest of the afternoon.
The forecast for Day 3 looks to be the lightest so far - ideal conditions for a full tow-in elimination, including two qualifying rounds and a final.
Make sure to stay tuned to our social channels to stay updated and not miss any of the tow-in action to come !