We are here at the Laureus Sports awards and been having a great time. It is Barcelona and we are all set up. Today Robby Naish took us out to the race track and I got to suit up and go in a some sweet cars. I had a pro driver take me around the Barcelona cicuit and it was really fun. Robby was super cool and even gave me his slot to go in the full on race car! I was stoked as I have never been in something that fast! After that we got to go over and take the new C class Merc's around the race track and learn a bit how to drive. I have never driven on a race track before so it was super fun. Got the car going pretty fast around the corners!! Good Fun. Well we are off to the awards party tonight so wish me luck. I will let you know how I go!!
Just finished up with a very sucsessful TR 3 Launch with everyone in Holland really excited about what they felt in there hands. The wind was really nice with some great sailing conditions along with some nice warm (well kinda warm) weather. I went out on 7.0 and a 122 and was blasting around for an hour or so. It was great to hear the feedback and all the positive buzz around the new sails.
If you guys are going to be in Holland this Friday or Sat stop bye the shops and say high. I am there for 2 nights and then to Barcelona for the Laureus Sports awards. Should be a great time!! Lots of Flying but all good.
Maui has kicked into summer mode with Super winds this weekend. Was flat and windy and time to get out the small sails. I have been sailing around on slalom gear getting ready for the upcoming races and having some fun at the same time. We went over to Little Beach on the south side for some nice sunset action with some cool fire dancing only to get busted for having a beer in our hands in the state park. Got a citation and have to go to COURT for having a beer.. Guess I need to read the rules before we go out to the state parks these days. What a bummer to have on a Sunday just going to have a nice sunset watch.. Kinda ruined the moment that is for sure. Oh well so you learn a new life lesson.
Mauian nominated for 2007 Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Haiku resident and world champion windsurfer Kevin Pritchard has been nominated for the prestigious Laureus World Action Sportsman of the Year Award in Barcelona, Spain.
The Laureus World Sports Awards is the annual celebration of achievement, where superior athletes from across the sporting spectrum are judged by the worlds media and legends of the Laureus World Sports Academy. A glittering collection of the worlds greatest sports stars has been nominated for this years awards. The ballot closed on January 31, with a total of 1,068 members of the Laureus World Sports Awards Media Selection Panel from 128 countries casting their votes.
Pritchard faces some tough challengers in his category of World Action Sportsperson of the Year competing against Kelly Slater who has won 8 World Surfing Titles and Travis Pastrana who took home the Gold Medal at the Summer X Games. Pritchard can put up a good fight with his World Champion Wave World Title along with a 2nd in the Super X discipline and a 3rd in the Racing division for the Professional Windsurfing Associations World Tour. Pritchard and his guest are being flown to Barcelona to attend the event. Award winners will be announced during a televised Awards Ceremony in Barcelona, on the evening of Monday, April 2.
The full list of nominees for the 2007 Laureus World Sports Awards is: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Fernando Alonso (Spain) second straight winner of the Formula One World Championship Fabio Cannavaro (Italy) captain of Italys FIFA World Cup winning team Roger Federer (Switzerland) winner of three Grand Slam tennis events Asafa Powell (Jamaica) fastest sprinter in the world Michael Schumacher (Germany) - retired after seven Formula One World Championships Tiger Woods (US) winner of Open Championship and US PGA golf majors
Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Justine Henin (Belgium) winner of French Open Grand Slam tennis championship Yelena Isinbayeva (Russia) winner of European Championship pole vault gold medal Carolina Kluft (Sweden) winner of European Championship heptathlon gold medal Laure Manaudou (France) winner of four gold medals in European Swimming Championships Amélie Mauresmo (France) winner of Wimbledon Grand Slam tennis championship Maria Sharapova (Russia) winner of US Open Grand Slam tennis championship
Laureus World Team of the Year All Blacks Rugby Team (New Zealand) winners of record seventh Tri-Nations Championship FC Barcelona (Spain) winners of UEFA Champions League and Spanish League and Cup double European Ryder Cup Team record-equalling win over the United States at K Club, Dublin Italy Mens Football Team winners of the FIFA World Cup for the fourth time Renault Formula One Team (France) Constructors World Champions for second straight time Spanish Basketball Team won the basketball World Cup for the first time Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Xavier Carter (US) aged 20, ran second fastest 200 metres ever, and won four NCAA titles Ghana Mens Football Team qualified for FIFA World Cup finals and reached last 16 Lewis Hamilton (UK) - aged 22, became first black driver to compete in Formula One Amélie Mauresmo (France) won her first Grand Slam tennis tournaments after limited success Britta Steffen (Germany) won four gold medals in European Swimming Championships Mia Xiaoxu (China) aged 18, won Golden Ball and Shoe in FIFA Under 20 World Championship
Laureus World Comeback of the Year Drew Brees (US) led New Orleans Saints to NFC Championship game after serious injury Ben Curtis (US) winner of first golf tournament since 2003 Open Championship Roy Jones Jr (US) came back to ring at 37 to win NABO light-heavyweight title Miami Heat (US) fought back to win NBA Finals after losing first two games Serena Williams (US) slipped out of top 100 through injury, but came back to win Australian Open Zinedine Zidane (France) returned from retirement to captain France to final of FIFA World Cup
Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Martin Braxenthaler (Germany) won three golds in Alpine mono-skiing in Winter Paralympics Kurt Fearnley (Australia) won New York Marathon wheelchair race, breaking course record Edith Hunkeler (Switzerland) won three golds in wheelchair racing at World Championships Javier Otxoa (Spain) Tour de France star who returned to cycle racing after car crash Kazem Rajabi Golojeh (Iran) broke two powerlifting world records in 2006 Esther Vergeer (Netherlands) wheelchair tennis player unbeaten in three years
Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year
Aaron Hadlow (UK) aged 17, won PKRA kiteboarding world tour for third time Travis Pastrana (US) motocross star, won three Summer X Games gold medals Kevin Pritchard (US) won windsurfing Wave World Championship Gisela Pulido (Spain) aged 12, won a PKRA kiteboarding event, beating the world champion Kelly Slater (US) won an unprecedented eighth world surfing championship at 34 Hannah Teter (US) won ESPY award for Best Action Sports Female Athlete Shaun White (US) competed in and won 12 snowboarding events in 2006
The 2006 Awards Ceremony, held in the presence of His Majesty The King of Spain in Barcelona, was attended by global figures from sport, entertainment, business and fashion. Hollywood celebrities Teri Hatcher and Cuba Gooding Jr. hosted the Awards Ceremony. Guests from the world of entertainment included Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman. Among the winners present in Barcelona in 2006 to receive Laureus Awards were Roger Federer, Janica Kostelic, Renaults Flavio Briatore, Rafael Nadal, Johan Cruyff, Valentino Rossi and Ernst van Dyk. Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements - the Laureus World Sports Awards, the Laureus World Sports Academy and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation - which collectively celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change.
The Laureus World Sports Awards will be one of the first events to be staged in Barcelona during the Year of Sport which begins in March 2007 and which celebrates the 15th anniversary of the highly successful Olympic Games which were held in Barcelona in 1992. The main aim is to promote sport as a tool to improve health and social integration and to demonstrate the ability of Barcelona to host major international sports events. World tennis No.1 Roger Federer, seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and the top golfer in the world, Tiger Woods - all two-time winners of the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award - have been nominated again, and there will be hot rivalry to see if one of them can be the first to make it three. In a very competitive category, up against them are Fernando Alonso, the current Formula One World Champion, Asafa Powell, the fastest man on Earth, and Fabio Cannavaro, captain of the Italian FIFA World Cup winning team. For Schumacher, who retired at the end of the 2006 Formula One season, it is a record seventh Laureus nomination.
French tennis star Amélie Mauresmo has been nominated for both Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year and Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Awards after finally breaking her hoodoo and winning two Grand Slam titles. In the Sportswoman category, Mauresmo is competing with two other Grand Slam winners Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. Dutch wheelchair tennis champion Esther Vergeer, winner of the Laureus Disability Award in 2002, has been nominated for the fourth time after an unbeaten 2006. While Spains kiteboarder Gisela Pulido, who is short-listed for the Laureus Action Sports Award, becomes the youngest ever nominee at 12.
Well this year has to be one of the flattest wave season's I have ever had. The surfing has been non existant and it seems like summer time is already here. Today it was like a day in August with it so flat. Pretty crazy. Looks like there is a small bump coming tomorrow but we will have to wait and see.
Had a nice day today. Was out on the water early taking some nice shots of my brother then went sailing at Hookipa and that was pretty fun as well. My friend Jazz took a couple nice shots of me and I was pretty stoked with them. I also managed to crank out a nice 360 which made my session oh so much fun!
So just to throw it out there I am looking for a road bike sponsor if any of you out there has a contact or knows someone or is someone in charge of the marketing of a nice bike company like Trek or something like that. Would be great to pop me an email if you are interested!
Well finally a day to play back in the water. It seems like it was so long that I felt kinda wierd out there. Anyhow, nice day today at Hookipa, and I scored the session of the day too. Everyone was jammin out there early and it was packed. I came down and since all my gear is in Cabo Verde still I had to wait for Bogo to come down and bring a mast around. So I sat around and took some picts of the zoo out on the water. I then went out for a session and was ok, kinda fun, and came back in to watch the circus. I took a couple more shots and then waited for the NP shoot to finish up and then headed out for a sweet little afternoon session. I was stoked. Got some good waves and had some fun. Still got some cough in me but hey, it feels great to be out on the water again!!
I think I am ready to hit the water tomorrow. It has been a while and I still got a cough but I cant take it any longer. Took some shots at Hookipa today. Nothing special. Ok hope everyone had a nice weekend and ready for a big week!
I thought my sickness was over but just when I got out on the water again I got back to bed. I was so sick that I had to go to the doctor and get some medicine. Usually for me that doesnt happen cause I like to just let it sort it self out but it wasn't working. I just couldn't over power it.
But now I am slowly getting back some energy, at least enough to take some picts and sit at my computer. I know I am really sick when I cant even sit at the computer!! Anyhow here is a shot from the other day. I think it looks pretty cool. Also if you want to check out a little web site that I made up Click here
I dont know if I have felt that bad for that long for quite a while. But I am back!! SHEEWWW... And what a nice day to be back!! The waves came up quite nice and I managed to get two nice barrels out on the water surfing. It was pretty fun. I went up and caught two waves at Jaws but was pretty crowded and I wasnt super into it, still had some sickness around in my lungs so figured it wouldnt have been the best time to go down out there!!
IF you want to check out some nice video for Cabo Verde you can check out http://mauisails.com/index.php?what=video&id=16&Q=high and there is some cool stuff.
Well I made it home and then I got one of the worst fevers I have felt in some time. Pretty much a bummer to get home and then not be able to enjoy the beautiful Isle.. Oh well. Feeling better now..
Made it home after a long trip back. It wasnt that it was so far, it just the amount of stops along the way. But back now and ready to get back in the groove. Slalom stuff and get ready for the season. I am still looking for someone to rent out my main house if you know of anyone looking to move to maui it is a pretty good deal.
I am on my way back home and finally got a nice internet connection. I love it. Been having some fun times on the road. Went to the airport to get a flight from Sal to Praia which is about a 50 minute plane ride only to find out that our bags wouldnt fit on the plane. This is fine except that the flight that goes from CV to Boston only goes onece a week so we are without our gear for a week or so. We flew 50 minutes and then had to over night. The next day we went to the airport 3 hours early and took about three hours to check in, they delayed the plane but still. We made it to boston 8 hour flight and now overnighting again. One more day on the road and I will be back home! Cant wait except i hear that there is no wind or waves there.. oh well. will give some time to get back into the groove. that is all from my traveling hotel..only 13 more hours of flying and then back in my own bed. Ahh the price of living in paradise!!
The conection here is really slow. But I will try and upload some shots. Well I could only get one.. it is just too painful, but this is one of my favorites. I think I want to try and print it out for a picture on the wall type of photo..
Cabo Verde has proven once again to be epic. We just had some killer days with lots of wind. Man this place is windy. All the locals here are trying to tell us that it is not usually that windy here but man it hasn't stopped blowing in three weeks here. Pretty incredible!! Anyhow, I had some time to go through some of my photos and thought that I would share some of my captures with you guys. Hope you enjoy.
Well the contest is over and had some time to rest and relax from the brutal competition. So we have been relaxing in the nice Riu Hotel. This is pretty much the only place to stay here in Cabo Verde. All inclusive and a nice freindly staff it is pretty great!
Anyhow the swell is looking good again for tomorrow so hopefully we will be game on! Today we had a small session at a place up the coast that was really heavy!
I am waiting around here for the prize giving and so hopefully we will get some more good sailing action!
for sure without a doubt the best contest condtions I have ever seen or been part of. Fiji was close, Baja kinda, but this was one of the best sailing days of my life and to be in a contest was even better. I had the bigges areal of my life. I thought that my on on the west side was big but this one was amazing. Mast and a half high barreling sideoffshore hit the lip kind of areal.. Was insaine. I even had to claim it myself it was so big. I had some really tough heats along the way. In my second round heat it was Polokow, Siver and Mussolini. Just to get through that one was a tough one. I went on the rocks, had to run down and restart from the beach again. I was really really happy to make it through that one. The next heat for me was the one with the huge areal and I was in the rythm for that heat and it came easy when you get the sets and are on your A Game. The final was a huge letdown for me. For one I kept waiting for the outside sets and they never came. Then on the one set that I did have Josh Angulo fully snaked me, like fully snaked me and just ruined my only set wave of the heat. I was really bummed that he would do it like that but I guess since it is his contest that he thinks he had the right to do it. Just goes to show ones true character. I was really pisssed off becuase I know I could have sailed better and that wave might have had be get into the right rythm.. Oh well.. I guess there will be a double elimination tomorrow. Sailed on 5.7 and 5.3 on my big board. all for now.
Well we had some amazing days over here. The wind and waves are unbelieveable. we had three days of incredible sailing with probably the best sailing I have ever had. I went and sailed at this one spot that had a wave that was longer than anywere else I have ever sailed. I hope to get you some shots up soon. I will see what I can do..Anyhow two days till the comp starts so I am getting ready to defend the title. All the boys are here and ready to rip. Josh Angulo really knows this spot and it will be a hard battle to get on the podium!
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