27/05/2023 – The Tow-In season 2023 has officially begun! The first day of the EFPT in Vesoul, in France, saw quality action with the completion of qualifying rounds for both men and women. Sitting in pole position are Yentel Caers (JP/NeilPryde) and Maaike Huvermann (Severns/Maui Ultra Fins) who scored best in the Airstyle competition format. A number of new faces also joined EFPT for the first time, constantly improving with each run.
The advantage of a Tow-In competition is that departure times can be defined and riders do not depend on conditions.. The morning was full of training sessions, where the adepts of this discipline have had the opportunity to learn and improve. Expert in the field, Yentel Caers gave some tips as the French fledgling team was improving run after run. Arthur Guichardan, Matthieu Fontaine, Louis Fontaine and Anais Gignoux impressed when they launched their Burners.
Soon it's time for official qualifications. The Airstyle format took over with riders having to perform their maneuvers in the Air categories, Regular, Combo and Send-It. The judges assigned gave a score based on the category brief, which means that the format encourages diversity. In the Air category, The only goal is to stay in the air as long as possible. Flight time is timed and scores assigned accordingly. The Regular category forces riders to do windsurfing maneuvers in a regular position. This was introduced to discourage the notorious “funnel-fest”, and it means that the riders will perform the variations of Culo, Kono and Spock. The Combo category requires a second pop and the Send-it category is fairly self-explanatory. With riders getting a gap, Their final score is the total in each of these runs. Falls are not so penalized, pushing riders to give their best.
In the women's qualifiers the local Salome Fournier (MB-Boards/Sailloft) impressed with one of the cleanest Spock of the day finishing second for the final. Lisa Kloster (MB-Boards/Sailloft) has also shown that he has a talent for Tow-In, and in the last run of Send-It he brought out the infamous Canonball. There was no doubt, however, that Maaike Huvermann had dominated the qualifying round.. Making an elegant One Handed Spock he pointed to the crowd to make it exalt. He then went on to send some Burners to top up his score, claiming first place for the final.
In the men's field everything went as usual with Yentel Caers in the lead. Out of the ordinary, however,: his Double Air Ass and’ Incredibly clean state. With 10 perfect from all judges, The Belgian has pushed himself to the top of the ranking. In second place was Adam Sims (Sailloft). The British was a bit’ rusty at first, but quickly brought out his well-known finesse in Tow-In. Flying almost as much as Caers in the Air category, he then secured a place in the final with a huge ass, rotating through the sun's rays in front of the crowd.
George Grisley (AV-Boards |) made his debut in Tow-In. During training he performed what can only be described as a Burner in the pole vault, and then be inspired by a page from Caers' book during the Air category. Delaying its rotation as it stood up, managed to overtake Sims and get closer to Yentel in this category. Supporting his score with a fluid Flaka Shaka, The Briton completed the provisional podium. Also Foivos Tsoupras (Fanatic/Duotone/Maui Ultra Fins) He was fit and quickly became a public favorite.
The last two riders to qualify for the final were Nascimo Fournier (MB-Boards/Sailloft) and the young Andreas Roessler (JP/NeilPryde) who a month ago took seriously the Tow-In at the Surf Opening in Austria.
For Sunday there are the finals starting at 17:00 local time, the best 3 Women and the best 6 men will once again face the waves of Lake Vesoul.
source: FPT
