Wind Brasil 2008 …..
kicks off with the Brazilian Open Championship from 21st to 23rd in Fortaleza, Ceara.
This championship will be follwed by the Brazilian Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix, the final of the 2008 Formula World Tour, from 24th to 30th November.
Fortaleza first hosted an international windurfing event in 1997; the “Ceara Wind ” strategy, a partnership between Arrow Marketing and the State of Ceara, began.
Now in its 11th year this collaboration continues to deliver one of the worlds best known, and best loved, windsurfing events; bringing into focus the incredible natural resources available to wind driven enthusiasts!
The worlds top formula racers are homing in on Fortaleza, to compete againgst the best that Brazil has to offer – arguably, Brasil has one of the strongest fleets of windsurfing racers in the world!
Gonzalo Costa Hoevel, ARG3, Number 1 ranked racer in the world, will be fighting for the overall title against a sailor who unfortunately cannot attend. Steve Allen, AUS0, due to other committments, cannot attend this years regatta. Nevertheless, he will be looking to his GAASTRA team mate Ross Williams, GBR83, to “do the business” for him !
Ross , current European Champion, will be looking to make up for his disappointment at not being able to race in last years Wind Brasil, and finish the current season on a high.
Top Polish ranked sailors Hubert Mokrzycki (POL25) and Pawel Hlavaty (POL11) are already in Fortaleza preparing for the challenge – particulrly from local legends Melo and Browne.
Fabio Melo (BRA74) and Gabriel Browne (BRA50) will be pushing hard for top honours; but other notable brazilian competitors include Victor(Melo-2497), Matthias Pinheiro (BRA5), Paulo dos Reis (BRA3333).
Leading the charge will be Willhelm Schurmann (BRA999) currently ranked 3rd in the World. For many years Willhelm has led the light (weight) division within formula racing. Can he go one better?
Stay tuned to :
www.formulawindsurfing.org
and
www.windbrasil.com
for all the action: “live ticker”, reports, photos and results
