AWT Cabo Verde Wave Event

Ever since I watched 'The Windsurfing Movie' and then later actually met Josh Angulo at the Aloha Classic in 2013, I've been looking for an excuse to go to Cabo Verde. My 50th birthday and the new 2015 AWT Goya Cabo Verde Pro event was just that excuse I needed.

My 50th birthday windsurfing farewell

My colleagues at work gave me a wonderfully warm send off as I started my birthday adventure. It was planes, buses and automobiles ‎as made my 3 flight connection through Frankfurt and the Canary Islands.

Sal is one of 10 islands that make up the Cape Verdian archipelago off the Atlantic coast of ‎Africa. Is is blessed with sun, periodic waves and the trade winds that eventually blow over to the Caribbean. I arrived and was surprised to see a Canadian military plane on the runway.

Sal from the air!
(with Santa Maria right and Ponta Preta centre)

Went for a quick sail at the Angulo Centre where I rented gear instead of bringing my own like most other competitors did. ‎I could definitely tell that I haven't windsurfed in 5 months. It felt like hard work as I struggled to sail for a full hour.

I was excited to watch Cape Verdian star windsurfer Josh Angulo being interviewed by his long time championship rival but clearly friend, Kauli Seadi.

Josh Angulo - Kauli Seadi interview on the beach

The town of Santa Maria is much larger than I expected. Great restaurants and vibe catering to the many European tourists many of whom arrive on direct flights and stay in 5 star all inclusive resorts.

Kevin Pritchard at Ponta Preta before I arrived on Sal.

‎First dinner with the AWT riders was fun. Kevin Pritchard et al. We ate at the pirate themed restaurant and I enjoyed meeting the international crew. Many of the riders had been in town for a while checking out the conditions and having an awesome expression session at Punto Preta on day one and two. My roommate KMac said it was the best wave he's ever ridden. Here's a shot of KP!

Official Day 3 of the ‎competition had us check out Ponta Preta in the morning but it was now flat. So we then convened at Little Ho'okipa / Secret Spot which has much smaller waves. The amateurs were up first.

I'm heading out..

Found one!

Oh yeah!

My 1st heat was OK, I got two or 3 waves but also swam for a very long time in the shore break.

Caught a big one...

Riding it in...

And made it!

Survived my two amateur heats in the AWT Cabo Verde!

My 2nd heat was better and I was starting to feel comfortable in the waves but still only placed 3rd so I didn't advance. But at least I could return my gear to the shop without any damage.  I was pretty happy!

Meeting Boujmaa after lending him my rash guard

Maybe the highlight of the afternoon was meeting world champion Boujmaa‎ on the beach. He was heading out for the pro expression session and needed an event lycra shirt. I ran to the truck and gave him mine.

FYI, Boujmaa is the Moroccan pro who almost landed a triple loop, was knocked unconscious, was rescued, won the Aloha Classic and had a great appearance in the 'Atlantic' windsurfing movie.

‎At dinner I met the windsurfers from Sardinia and another sailor Soufian from Morocco who was in the 'Atantic' movie. Gelato was followed by a showing of 'Don't Let Go' a great windsurfing movie at 32 club.

Great view of the action from the truck... (photo Si Crowther)

Day 4 of the event was back at Little Ho'okipa with the last brackets of the Amateurs. It was fun to watch amateur Patrick from Germany handily win our contest and then get to sail in the final open spot with the pros.
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The last pro heat of the day saw Kauli Seadi vs. Boujmaa and ‎Stephano from Sardinia. They had an epic session in the dying flight of the day. I enjoyed watching from the truck. It was fun to hear some of the Europeans asking, "who is that quiet guy Russ from Maui? - he's good!"

After our Italian dinner, we walked back to the Tropical Apartments. My cool roommate Andy and I helped update the AWT website with our balcony's access to intermittent internet.

Teaching at the local kids day on the beach at Ponta Preta

‎Day 5 saw the Cape Verde kids day at Ponta Preta beach. I brought my trainer kite and introduced a few of the local kids to the sensation of holding a kite. But in the 25 knot winds it was challenging without a common language to explain that keeping the kite up was the goal.

‎Then it was off to Little Ho'okipa to watch Kevin Pritchard, Joey Sanchez and Kevin McGillivrey warm up for the potential AWT final. ‎The rest of the fleet showed up and the decision to complete the final was made. Here's a good video from KP summarizing the action as the final 4 (all former world champions) fought it out.

Our dorm room.

‎That night the dinner party ‎was followed by great dancing and pub crawling. I learned a bit more about Morocco from Boujmaa and more about Guadeloupe from Camille.

Day 6 - A bunch of us headed to Little Ho'okipa. I had a great session sailing a 5.7 on the 109 Angulo wave board in the dying waves.  ‎I helped a French windsurfer who had broken his rental boom get back to shore. He didn't know the trick of turning your broken boom upside down to effect an emergency repair.
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Final AWT Cabo Verde 2015 results - I tied for 13th!

More dinner, ice cream, drinking and dancing followed - with Andy and me cheering Joey on in his salsa dancing quest.

Windsurfers against humanity

Day 7 was a very chilled day. After push starting our rental truck to get it going (thank heavens for standard transmissions) I went to the ‎Angulo Centre and stayed all day. I finished the first of 3 books I brought. I had an hour long 7.5 session on a 120l slalom board and enjoyed getting out to the big ocean swells but didn't ride any breaking waves.

Some super bock beer and local island booze 'Grog' and ‎cards against humanity rounded out the afternoon.

Pirate chicken dinner!

Dinner was back at the great Pirate ‎place and was followed by ice cream and a quiet night. Turns out my roommates and I share some OCD traits so our place is pretty nicely organized for a bunch of beach bums. My bed was set up out on the couch.

Day 8 was another low key day. I had an even more fun almost 2 hour sail on the same 7.5 and 120l set up. I spent more time setting up the harness lines and found it to be much more relaxing and enjoyable. I also stayed closer to shore avoiding the chop and big swells. ‎That also made riding and gybing much easier.

I picked up my freshly washed laundry and a few more groceries.  ‎Dinner wasn't at the restaurant we thought so a delicious burger was in order at Sal Beach Club. I set my alarm to wake me 10.5 hours later - what a treat.

The official AWT Amateur and women Video on Vimeo
There are a few seconds of me at timestamp 2:56!  Thanks KP!

Day 9 - I met Andrea D'Antonio the nice local photographer from Cabo Creative Lab for breakfast and found he did have a few shots of me in the waves. Yeah, those are the 6 pictures including the one with the big wave face behind me! I was very excited to see those.

Many of the other event photos were taken by internationally known photographer Si Crowther who did a great job with in the water shots of the pros (and me in the truck).

Broke my mast on a smaller wave day.

We headed to Little Ho'okipa again and played in the light winds and small sets of waves. I fell onto a wave on top of my gear and heard the snap snap of my mast breaking in 3 places. A first for me and an inevitable rite of passage. ‎Later that night I had fun chatting with Boujmaa about the risks and rewards of wave sailing.

Day 10. Anther solid day at the Ponte Lemme spot in front of Angulo. ‎I sailed for two 1+1/4 hour sessions and had a great lunch wile getting to know German Team Angulo member Martin. It turns out all three Germans at this event are from the former east side of Germany. Interesting.

Carl and world champion Boujmaa discussing gear breakage

I felt much more comfortable sailing again. In the afternoon  I moved from the 120 Release to the 112 ‎Magnum. I was smiling spontaneously as I windsurfed at pretty high speeds close to shore in the offshore winds.

I checked out some real ‎estate on the walk home and phoned my wife and mother back in Canada which was very nice.

An‎other fun dinner with the AWT regulars and then ice cream and a night cap at Oceans.

Day‎ 11 Groundhog day. ‎Breakfast at Angulo. Started my 2nd book. Had a mediocre session on a 7.5 and 112l Magnum with a fin that was too small. After lunch I went out on a SUP with a 5.0 did freestyle in the shore swells and had a blast.

Uploaded Andrea's photos of my wave ride to facebook!‎ And did some souvenir shopping for my family who I'm really missing.

Last dinner at America's was great again. But the crowd has really thinned out with people leaving the island now that the swell forecast is pushed out another few days.

‎Ice cream and a Caipirinha night cap at Oceans made for a nice end to the day.

Day 12 Last day. Helped Andy and Katie get loaded up for the airport. Packed a bit myself and then headed for my last session. Checked out kite beach on my way. There was a great vibe there with 60 kiters out‎ - vs the 30 windsurfers at the main beach.

This time I was on a 6.9 and the 112 Magnum which made for a fun fast sail. ‎It really does take several days to get your sea legs back.

Got back to the apartment, finished my second book, cleaned up and packed the rest of my bag.

At the closing party I was called up on stage and given an award for being the oldest guy on tour.

And then off the airport sharing a vintage W123 taxi ride with a cool windsurfing pilot I met from Austria; Joachim.

My flight through Lisbon wasn't as direct as I expected, so as I finish up this entry I'm a bit tired and looking forward to being back home in the cold of Toronto with my family.

Sam, Vickey, residents of Sal, fellow AWT riders and everyone else involved, thanks for making this an epic 50th birthday adventure for me!