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FRANCISCO GOYA AND JOSH ANGULO DEFEAT ROBBY NAISH AND JASON POLOKOW
Judges Change Format
Ho'okipa Beach Park, Maui, HAWAII (Monday, November 08, 1999) - In a major upset at the end of the day, wildcard Josh Angulo and Francisco Goya defeated Hawaii's windsurfing legend Robby Naish and world wave champion Jason Polakow in the 16th annual Swatch Aloha Classic.
That moved Angulo, (US-11), USA-Hawaii and Goya, A-211, Argentina, into a final heat with 11-time world champion Bjorn Dunkerbeck, E-11 (Gran Canaria) and Nik Baker, K-66, Great Britain.
It was approximately 4:30 p.m. when the final heat began.Goya and Angulo appeared to be the favored sailors, catching most of the waves and executing exciting maneuvers during their long rides. But at 10 minutes into the 20-minute heat the wind dropped and the waves subsided so the heat was abandoned. That makes for a long night for the four sailors who will be in the men's final again tomorrow.
Goya was extremely excited and talked about his historic heat with Naish, Dunkerbeck and Polakow: "During the heat the wind shifted ten degrees and dropped about 10 knots. I don't feel like I sailed my best but I was lucky that Jason Polakow didn't catch the good waves. I got the good waves."
After the abandonment of the final, Goya said: "It was all right. Either way I'm all right. If they kept on going it was good, if they cancelled it was good. The wind pretty much dropped. The other sailors went a little bit too far outside to catch the waves, where Josh and I stayed inside
close to the beach, playing with the gusts. Either way, I love it. I could go on for a year like this if I have to."
Early in the day the judges took a new tack, splitting heats between men's and women's competition and cutting down heat length from 20 to 15 minutes, thus accelerating both male and female competitors up the round robin ladder and ever closer to the $50,000 purse.
Moving into the women's final are: Cecily Kitts (US-36), USA; Iballa Ruano Moreno, (E-63), Spain; Kelly Moore (US-6), USA; and Tsugumi Takagi, (J-101) Japan.
According to Klaus Michel, head judge for the PWA: "Because the wind is not so strong, we're only judging wave riding, (no jumping). We set the men's and ladies heats at 20 -minute's duration, with a five-minute transition period but we took that down to 15 minutes." Five judges were scoring the early heats, using a scale of 1-10 on a sailor's best three waves. There is also a possibility of going as high as a 12 if something extraordinary happens, such as sailing the
biggest wave, getting the best of the wave, or completing a risky maneuver. A prize of $1,000 will be given for the best trick during the contest.
Kelly Moore, 30, the U.S. Wave Sailing champion said: I'm here to kick some booty. I have no expectations, that puts too much pressure on me and then I get too stressed out and I don't sail well. I just want to relax and have fun and have Ho'okipa to myself."
Moore compared the event to last year when the women's competition was not finished, and said: "I think there's ground breaking technology here today. Take note, our day is dawning. There's nothing to compare to last year, for the women not to be able to finish was a heartbreaking,
devastating disaster."
The Classic is the final contest on the Professional Windsurfers Association's (PWA) World Tour before the millennium and the last chance for competitors to accumulate ranking points, which will determine the 1999 Wave Performance Champion. It also determines the overall Men's and Women's World Champions.
Northeast tradewinds made an appearance again today with gusts in the 10-to 20-knot range and waves from 4- to 6 feet.
The event is sponsored by Swatch, Micron Computers, Zeal Optics, Simmer Hawaii, Hi-Tech, Servco Integrated Office Technology, Sobe Beverages and Steinlager Beer. It is sanctioned by the PWA and produced by Ehman Productions on Maui. The event is the longest running and most prestigious windsurfing event in the world.
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