As the most interactive event on the tour, the 2011 KIA @coldhawaii world cup – together with ACTIVE institute – has broken records in the way that windsurfing is shared online, with live scoring for each heat, a live chat roll, live tweets and all the action streamed live for thousands of people to tune in and catch the amazing show.

Big, big, big kudos to BIG SEXY PICTURES for bringing this to us. You guys are amazing.

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Photos by: John Carter

There is more than one reason why this is big news. Philip Köster can call himself the youngest world champion ever. This was already a reality late in the afternoon on Wednesday September 12th after 45 of the world’s leading sailors in windsurfing of wave performance finished the double elimination in the 2011 KIA @coldhawaii PWA World Cup.

The World Championship title was awarded to Philip Köster after the finals, in which he had beaten the nearly 10 years older Venezuelan, Ricardo Campello with a total score of 38.5 – the by far highest score in the competition.

Before that, the young Köster had waved all competitors off the court in superior style. This occurred in circumstances described by all as the most extreme in the PWA World Cup for many years. Cold Hawaii showed its teeth with a wind, which at times was over 20 meters per second (40 knots ), and breaking waves of up to 6 meters. Nothing, however, could scare this kid, who was born in Hamburg but grew up on Gran Canaria.

“Cold Hawaii fits my style perfectly. I did what I felt like out there, and it was fun. It was tricky conditions, but the day of the finals we had such a good day. I found every wave out there, and could just jump when I wanted. Cold Hawaii is a really great place and I would also come here to train. It’s perfect here.” said Philip Köster immediately after the victory ceremony. He is described by his competitors as the biggest windsurfing talent the world has ever seen. Most agree that with his incredible skills, he will set new standards in windsurfing wave performance in general.

The fact that Philip Köster can now call himself world champion is special. The last section of the Word Cup has not yet been settled. It takes place later this month on the island of Sylt in northern Germany. However, Philip Köster has won all competitions and now also the competition in Klitmoller, making him untouchable in 2011.

“The event in Cold Hawaii is one of the most intense and weather wise extreme in World Cup history,” says Richard Page, tour manager for the PWA. “We’ve been through it all. We have crowned Philip Köster as world champion and even the youngest ever. We thought at one point that we had lost the Danish Lars Petersen, when he had lost his equipment and was finally found after 20 minutes of intense searching. At one point we actually considered canceling the day’s races, because the conditions were so extreme. Generally it’s just unbelievable that we here in Denmark, and now for the second year in a row, have had something close to the best of circumstances we can wish for. Congratulations to Klitmoller, Cold Hawaii and Denmark.”

“It’s great that Northern Europe can offer these kinds of conditions. Denmark has a gem with Cold Hawaii. It’s already big, but it truly has the potential to become the absolute center of windsurfing in the entire Northern European region,” says project manager Robert Sand. And with over 30 world cups on his resemae, the former World Cup windsurfer Robert Sand knows what he is talking about.

The West Coast in Thisted, better known as Cold Hawaii, has once again been host to a stop on the PWA (Professional Windsurfer Association) World Tour, where the “Reef” in Klitmoller is the only stop on the tour in Scandinavia.

The event, whose official title is the 2011 KIA @ Cold Hawaii PWA World Cup, began on September 12th and thus just before the remnants of tropical storm “Katia” hit the West Coast of Denmark. The event is supported by Thisted, Sport Event Denmark, Region Nordjylland and Villages Action for Thy-Mors. It is part of a larger tourism venture, which is about making the West Coast in Thy into a center for surfing in Northern Europe.

Not only was a new world champion announced, but together with ACTIVE Institute, the organizers also introduced the “Cold Hawaii Scoresheet” which will hopefully mark the first step in changing the way windsurfing wave performance is communicated to the rest of the world.

The “Cold Hawaii Scoresheet” has, for the last two days and for the first time ever, given an online audience the ability to actually see every counting score right after each heat, in both the single and double eliminations.

“It is important to understand that the product that we’ve created in Klitmoller isn’t the solution. It should be seen as a crucial step to a very important path, that will make the competitive aspect of windsufing wave performace understandable to the world”, says Rasmus Johnsen from ACTIVE institute.

PWA Head judge Duncan Coombs and tabulator, Matias Hejl.

The idea was simple. Instead of giving the scores on a single piece of paper, the judges were using scoresheets that produced a carbon copy. Immediately after each heat, the copy was handed to two tabulators, who, through a specially designed interface, were able to very quickly digitize not only all relevant heat information, but – most importantly – all counting scores, that the judges awarded each rider. This made it possible to then display results through a specially designed app on the event website.

“We need this dimension in the dissemination of the sport of windsurfing wave performance, simply because it makes it possible for spectators to see and understand why one rider beats another. But that’s not the only reason. We also need to store the data. Imagine what you could do with that data once the database gets more comprehensive. For starters, who wouldn’t like a simple thing as being able to search and find the scores from the legendary heats of Robby Naish and Bjorn Dunckerbeck back in the days“ says Rasmus Johnsen from ACTIVE institute.

It’s not only the spectators and online viewers who can enjoy this new revolutionary idea. Future riders can go back and see the specific points from each event they participated in. For the riders, this means a lot, because they now have the opportunity to see what tricks they got good points in, and which tricks they need work on.

The “Cold Hawaii scoresheet” truly is a new initiative, that the KIA @coldhawaii PWA World Cup are proud to have introduced to the world. The far-from-unrealistic vision is to produce the ultimate system, which is, of course, a live scoreboard that will make it possible to follow scores live, as they are given by the judges.

All counting scores single

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13.00: LIVE - Warm up to the prize-giving ceremony

We’ll analyze the final together with Duncan Coombs, Robby Swift and Ben Proffitt. Among other things, there will be talks about Philip Köster and what he’ll do for the sport of windsurfing – will he set new standards for what can be done and for judging etc.

14.00: LIVE - Prize-giving

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Everyone knows what to do when the wind is blowing hard, and the equipment is moving on the beach, begging to get out on the sea. And though most of us wish it would be windy every day, reality is different. But at KIA @coldhawaii PWA World Cup no wind doesn’t mean no activity. Actually the opposite is the case, and today was yet another day with action on the beach with riders, spectators and judges entering the ‘King of KIA-competition’.

Photos by: John Carter

Two of the four sponsored KIA-cars were lined up next to the small fishermen’s huts downtown Klitmoller, both with a big rope attached. Now it was up to the participators to drag the cars the fastest from one point to another. The judges had lined up their best man for the competition, Dutchman Thijs van der Meer. Some of the sailors were keen as well, herein; Dario Ojeda, Ricardo Campello, Alex Sanhelly and Daniel Bruch. Also PWA main commentator Roberto Hoffmann had a go, and the main organizers Robert Sand and Rasmus Johnsen, were ready to fight hard to win the iPad 2, which were at stake.

Since the KIA @coldhawaii PWA World Cup is characterized as the most live and interactive event on the circuit, there were, off course, also something for the spectators and online followers, who could not be there to cheer and pull. Yet another sweepstake with an iPad 2 were at stake on the Facebook-site to involve the many fans out there, who instead could follow and be cheering along on the LIVE TV.

The guys were working hard pulling the 1830 kg. heavy KIA-car about 20 meters down the road, and soon the guys got their different techniques to pull the car faster and faster. In the end two guys were left in a face to face final: organizer Rasmus Johnsen against PWA-judge Thijs van der Meer. Everybody was cheering and in the finals Thijs managed to drag the car in the time 20,24 seconds.

The fierce winds of Klitmoller backed off for the fifth day; however the waves were still pumping, providing the perfect conditions for a SUP competition and a chance for the elite windsurfers to show off their skills in a different discipline.

With nineteen competitors signed up, a fleet made up of windsurfing professionals, local rippers and one SUP pro, ranked fourth in the world took to the waters for an epic show down. The riders were broken down into four man heats and were given fourteen minutes to impress the judges with two waves; the two riders with the highest scoring waves would advance through to the next round. A huge crowd lined the beach as the waves peeled into the event site and the tension mounted.

The SUP pro, Casper was quick to make an impression with the judges by catching an awesome wave, closely followed by wave sailing legend Danny Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL360) with his super-fast transitions from frontside to backside. In the second heat it was Lars Petersen (JP / NeilPryde) and local hot-shot Oliver that shone through, with both riders picking the finest waves. Next up Brazilian wave rider Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) destroyed every wave he could catch along with one of the local kids, Peter. Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) wowed the crowds with a head stand down the wave, but it wasn’t enough to see him advance. It then came down to Finn Mullen (Starboard / JP) and John Skye (RRD / MFC) to destroy their opponents with their super-fast paddling and control on the board.

Seeded the highest in the competition, Casper continued to wow the crowds in the second round and ensuring he was guaranteed a position in the final. Bruch, Seadi and Mullen weren’t far behind. With Seadi picking up one of the highest scoring waves in the competition, and Bruch riding one of the longest.

It was a fierce battle for first place in the final, with Seadi putting in an exceptional performance early on, putting him ahead of the rest for the majority of the heat. Bruch picked up some meaty waves and shredded them to pieces putting him in third, whilst Mullen looked to be struggling to find a decent wave. Casper came from behind in the final moments of the competition and he secured the highest scoring wave in the competition with a monster ride with four aggressive turns, putting him well into first place.

The KIA @coldhawaii community SUP session results:
1st Casper
2nd Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Danny Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL360)
4th Finn Mullen (Starboard / Severne)

With two more days left here in Klitmoller, there will be loads more going on to keep you entertained. There is a KIA car pulling competition scheduled for tomorrow, with registration at 1pm, with a first possible start to competition at 2pm. The Sailors will be fighting to see who is the strongest to win an iPad 2.

Scope the action

Interact with the event on the @coldhawaii website.

Follow the event on Facebook and Twitter.

Professional Windsurfers Association
info@pwaworldtour.com
PWA on Facebook and Youtube

Official PWA press release

#1 Casper Steinfath

#2 Kauli Seadi

#3 Daniel Bruch

Tomorrow it’s time for a fun event on land, where everyone can participate (max 5 locals – first-served basis). The event is called “King of KIA” and here the riders and the local will test each other, in pulling a KIA car, on time – One Ipad is up for graps!

You can win too! Enter the King of KIA competition on the Cold Hawaii Penguin fan page!

13:00: Registration

14:00: LIVE: start

The venue is Ørhagevej by the white fish houses, down by the water. See you there!

Things to remember

Check 2011 daily schedules

Weather conditions must be taking in to consideration. That’s why this schedule is provisional. There will always be something to experience. Follow our website and Twitter.

You can subscribe via email to a detailed daily schedule for our live coverage (will be published every evening).

With the wind and waves still firing, the world champion crowned and the official competition completed, the crowds on the beach were still hungry for more entertainment and action from the world’s finest wave riders.

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