A pretty hardcore cyclone hit the coast of Australia about 1,700km north of us… totally destroyed a small town up there, but it basically sucked all the wind up on the East Coast in its wake… bit unlucky for us! I attached the press release and some photos.

Also there’s a story from Jesper here about why he left if anyone’s interested. Jesper’s story

We’ve also now got some videos online… VIDEO

Cheers!

Regards,

Sean O’Brien

Press release

RECORD TEMPERATURES & TROPICAL CYCLONES TAKE THE WIND.

Day 2 of The Downunder Pro – Formula Windsurfing Oceanic & Australian Championships kept the sailors on the beach for the entire day with no racing completed due to some adverse weather in other parts of the country affecting the local seabreeze.

For the first time in nearly 7 years of Formula National Titles held in Australia, no racing was held on Day 2 with the wind failing to materialise in a consistent direction despite the Race Committee making every attempt to get a race underway. The sailors were kept on stand-by for over 6 hours with the AP (postponement) flagged dropped twice and Race 3 tantalisingly close to taking place. An extremely large Category 5 tropical cyclone, which hit the coast of Australia overnight, has caused a big rift in the usual seabreeze patterns typical of Hawks Nest over summer, with the weather bureau unable to predict what direction or strength the wind would blow on Day 2.

Current event leader, with two bullets, Brasilian sailor Wilhelm Schurmann (Starboard/Neilpryde) kept a cool head spending most of the day relaxing in the shade with the rest of the Brasilian team, including Mathias Pinheiro (Starboard/North) who is currently in 2nd overall and Aldo Bebeko Maia (Starboard/North) who is 3rd overall in the Youth division.

Defending champion Sean O’Brien (Starboard/Point-7) had a tense day, hoping the morning forecast of 30 knots wouldn’t eventuate as his smallest sail, an 11m, would have been difficult around the course in winds that strong. O’Brien is currently tied in 3rd with Sam Parker (Starboard/Neilprde) and Brett Morris (Starboard/North) on 8 points.

After the racing was abandoned, the sailors were treated to a night of ‘bare-foot bowls’, an Australian take on the classic game of lawn bowls, at the Tea Gardens Country Club, which included an Aussie BBQ and prizes from event sponsor Windsurf’n’Snow as well as an opportunity to take the event leader Schurmann down in a game the Brasilians had never seen before.

The forecast for the next few days continues to baffle the sailors with conflicting forecasts from each weather service as the aftermath of the destructive Cyclone Yasi in Queensland and the heatwave currently being experienced just to the south in Sydney plays havoc on the usual weather patterns in this area. One thing is for sure though, with two more days of race action still to come, the battle for the Downunder Pro title will be fought to the death, as the Australian contingent aim to reign back the lead from the two Brasilians.

Further information about the FW Oceanic & Australian Championships as well as a media service with press releases, results, rankings, background information and photo/video downloads can be found on the official website www.fw-australia.com.