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21st WORLD FESTIVAL ON THE BEACH
Mondello – 15th –21st MAY 2006
www.wwfestival.com
Windsurf
FROM THE EUROPEAN MISTRAL CHAMPIONSHIPS TO THE NEW OLYMPIC CLASS
RS:X
THE WORLD FESTIVAL ON THE BEACH IS THE EQUIVALENT OF GREAT WINDSURFING
From Monday the 15th of May the sea water in front of Mondello will once
again fill itself up with the different coloured sails of windsurfing
champions who will be taking part in the 2006 edition of the European
Mistral Class Championships. This event that is held every year in
Mondello’s gulf is back with great windsurfing races, year after year
the World Championships that are held here have brought the best
wind-surfers to Sicily and have saw great winnings from Nicolas Hueguet
from France and the young Spanish girl Blanca Manchon.
This event is organised by the Albaria in collaboration with IMCO and
protection from the FIV and ISAF, the European Championships is in the
program of the XXI edition of the World Festival on the Beach, a
“classic” event that each year in spring offers to the audience in
Palermo the best of sails sports, beach volley and music.
The first windsurf race is due to take place at 12 noon on Monday the
15th of May whilst in the evening athletes and technicians will take
part in the opening ceremony of the championships. These races will
carry on until Friday the 19th of May.
A location for talented athletes and an ideal place for great windsurf
championships to perform, as what had also happened in the 2005 World
Championships. The Hong Kong Team and the Olympic Champion from New
Zealand Bruce Kendall were the first to arrive in Mondello to begin
preparing for this European Competition which is however open to
competitors from other continents. After Nikos Kaklamanakis, leader of
the young Greek team, trained the Hong Team it’s now the athlete from
New Zealand’s turn to train this team in the water under the slopes of
Monte Pellegrino, a team that has amongst its athletes Ho Chi Ho, who is
number 32 in the ISAF national rankings, an aspiring athlete who will
probably be well talked about throughout the week.
Amongst his opponents there will be Paco Wirz, who will do his best to
keep the flag flying for the country that holds the event, whilst the
Olympic veteran Riccardo Giordano won’t be participating as he was
called from the National team to take part in the ISAF games to be held
in Austria, he has gone straight in amongst the finalists thanks to his
world ranking position. An important absence for the European
Championships, but a good recognition to his sports career for the
athlete from Palermo who at the good old age of 36 years old keeps hold
of his position in Italy, stringing his younger team mates along.
The XXI edition of the World Festival on Beach hasn’t only programmed
the European Windsurf Championships. From the 20th to the 21st of May
the athletes will be back in the water for a race which has become a
classic event, the IMCO Sicily Grand Prix, which will present itself
with some new changes. In this event apart from the outgoing Mistral
board there will also be the new RS:X, the table chosen for the next
Olympic games to be held in 2008 in Beijing, with Riccardo Giordano back
from Austria, he hopes to improve his second place he took last year
with Riccardo Belli dell’Isca and Dario Baffetti in the Nation Cup.
Press Office:
Tel. +39 091/6844483
albariapress@tin.it
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