Windsurfing Magazine

kristin
2007-03-20 14:00:00 | 44 views | 0 Comments

2005 Wave Sailing Champion Kauli Sead just got back from Cabo Verde’s Ponta Preta, where he competed in the of the most epic wave sailing events in decades. He couldn’t topple local Josh Angulo for the title, but he’s still incredibly stoked, and can’t wait to go back.

Can you describe the specific moment you realized this Cabo Verde event was going to be epic? I realized since the day I drove from the airport direct to the beach and I saw Ponta preta going off. There was light wind that day but I could see that the wind was in a excellent direction and the waves were amazing – perfect and hollow sometimes! The most amazing thing is that I went surfing with Brawzinho and 2 more guys, and there was no crowd!

Why were these conditions as good or better than the best day you’ve ever seen for a pro event? I believe by miles they were the bests waves and wind we had during a wave riding contest. There were waves that I had 8 turns on the same wave, with 2 aerials on it — just unreal. With the wind direction we had the waves were so glassy even when it was blowing for a 4.0 sail. And I mean there was some solid 6 to 8 foot sets and the cool thing about these event was that we finally had time to select good waves – longer heat periods compared with any other contest.

Can you describe your most thrilling moment of the competition? That for sure was on that first final in the single elimination. I couldn’t believe I was gong to a final for an event like that, where only super high level sailors were around. I was almost crying off happiness and excitement before that heat of the final!

Tell us about your scariest moment. I kind of remember my first heat of the contest , when I was still putting a lot of pressure on myself. Before that I had that contest in Hawaii where things didn’t go well, so I was quite scared until the result came out! But for sure Punta Preta has some scary rocks — especially when you take an 8 to 10 foot wave on the head, and all the way on the point, like I did in the first final of the double elimination heat with Josh Angulo.

What specific move or particular wave made you say, “I can’t believe I just did that?” There was one wave I took in the final that was real big, I was coming from the other side of the bowl and I wanted to go for a massive aerial, but I couldn’t turn. The wave was too fast and hollow — I could only go straight. I almost got barreled. Nick saw from the channel and he said I was inside the wave. Crazy wave, for sure, but it was the best wave I ttook from the final I guess!!!

What will WindSurfing readers remember about this event for years to come? Well, for me, after a few days in Ponta Preta I had to tell my friends that I now remember why I always dreamed to be a professional windsurfer, and that is why we carry that much of gear all around the world, because is too much fun when the conditions are good! I do lots of diferent sports, but nothing gets close of the feeling we had riding these waves!