DUNKERBECK’S LUCKY ELEVEN – SIAM PARK TOW-IN SESSION

The concept of a wave exhibition at night, without wind in what essentially is a huge swimming pool, initially sounds ludicrous. But when you throw in a Red Bull jet ski, a tow rope, a five-foot artificial wave and the likes of Ricardo Campello, suddenly the possibilities become endless!

Report & Photos John Carter

(This feature originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)

Five years ago Danny Bruch proved that a windsurfer could be towed into the Siam Park wave by Jet ski and actually pull-of some pretty radical jumps after a few trials and tribulations of perfecting his idea. Then, in 2011, Bruch took the theory a stage further and held a local competition along with the likes of Alex Mussolini and Iballa Moreno, which was pretty successful but nowhere near the scale of this year’s project. With Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Dunkerbeck-Eyewear) on board as sponsor of this year’s Tenerife, the latest master plan was somewhat ambitious, with a super session after the main event that would allow 11 riders – E11=eleven guys – (not SUI-11 then? Ed.) to compete in the pool at Tenerife’s infamous Siam Park waterpark. The smart sailors with their heads screwed on soon realized the media possibilities of qualifying, so went off in the super session in order to secure their slot for the night show. On the practice night, half of the riders could barely make it into the straps. At the point I had to leave to go shoot the official event closing ceremony, but rumour had it they kept the pool open for two more hours and by the end of the session some crazy moves were going down. Come the main event, everything was hanging in the balance. Would windsurfing emerge out of this looking cool, or, if the riders couldn’t cope, it would be an enormous flop. The pressure was on from every angle. We were banking on the skill of ‘Vilayta’, the Jet ski driver and the eleven chosen riders to nail some huge moves for the crowds and put on a show. Any doubts were soon cast aside after the first few jumps when the likes of Bruch, Mussolini and Campello were launching rocket airs and huge crashes just metres away from the fever-pitch crowds in awe on the poolside. The show just had this instant electric atmosphere with the sailors pumped up, the audience going crazy and a multitude of ridiculous moves going down. Even without wind, it really felt like windsurfing was alive and kicking! Robby Swift nailed one of the craziest moves of his career, while Campello lapped up the attention and delivered some new wild moves to take the event victory. Here is what the ‘Lucky 11’ had to say about the night!

ALESSIO STILLRICH
Just the concept of practicing our sport in a swimming pool and being towed by a jet ski with an artificial wave as a ramp sounded sick, so I wanted to be in on it for sure! The top eight from the Expression Session in El Medano (plus three wild cards) three days before would qualify for the Siam Park exhibition, so I really knew I needed to make the top four of my heat so I had to go big. Luckily I made second with a one-handed, tweaked pushloop and into Siam Park. So the idea was to train in the pool the same day as the Expression Session finished, but there were some difficulties with the insurance and the agreements between event organiser Danny and the Siam Park. In the end it all worked out and we could go to practice the next day after the pool closed to the public.

On my first practice, it was really hard to pull my sail quick enough out of the water and squeeze my feet in the foot straps. I literally had a couple of seconds before being faced by a two-metre ramp with a lot of speed! After a few tries I finally managed to get it right and face the wave for my first jump. The first day I actually just tried backloops and pushloops. They didn’t go that well, especially the backloops. It was so hard and felt different to rotate without any pressure in your sail but I still managed to turn around two or three tries.

The next day the competition was on and I felt nervous from the moment I woke up. We arrived at the Siam Park a little bit before all the other attractions were closed so we took the chance to at least go down a few rides to get our adrenaline pumped up for the show. Each of us had two warm up runs. We also had our starting order and I was in the middle and could watch the first few guys before my turn. The park was crowded with spectators and the ambience was amazing with the music and commentator right by the side of the wave. After everybody had put down a solid show at the warm up, the serious stuff started. In the first run the most impressive moves were the double ponch from Swift and the pushloop shaka from Ricardo. I made a tweaked pushloop and I was happy. In the second run, Ricardo made an absolutely sick double air-flaka and the crowd were going nuts. The action was so close to all the riders you could see perfectly what everybody else was doing. The Judges and their scores were visible just after making your move – a bit like ‘Come Dancing’ in England – so that was really fun too! I knew I was in 4th place and by my third run I really wanted to get that double ponch to put myself onto the podium, but it could not be!

ROBBY SWIFT
It was the first time I’ve ever tried tow-in (or is it tow-out? Ed.) windsurfing in the pool. In the beginning it was a lot harder than it looked. The first two attempts that I had in the practice session I wasn’t even able to make it into the middle of the pool. The third attempt I made it into the middle, but when the ski accelerated it ripped the rope out of my hand so I didn’t make it to the wave. On my fourth and final practice jump, I made it to the wave and did a little goiter and that was all the practice I had. On the night of the actual competition I almost didn’t want to do the jump at all with all those people there. I thought it was going to be a complete embarrassment. I had two more practices though and managed to do a pushloop and a small goiter so I had a little more confidence for the main event. The first jump I had in the main event, the ski driver pulled me really fast and in the perfect position and I tried to do a goiter but it turned into more of a pushloop and when I finished the first rotation I was still about 10 feet in the air so I just held on to see where it would take me and spun all the way around a kind of goiter crossed between a shaka and landed pretty much perfectly! I came up from under the water almost not believing what I had done and had to claim it with all those people cheering.It was a real one-off night. It was so exhilarating to be in that closed arena showing people how spectacular windsurfing jumps look close up and it was great to see Ricardo flying through the air like a madman – and all the other boys too. There were plenty of hard crashes and insane jumps pulled off and I think all the riders were buzzing at the end of the night.

Thanks to Bjorn and Christophe, the owner of Siam Park, for putting on the event and of course Danny Bruch and his partner in the Tenerife event, Jose, for inviting us back there for the fourth and by far the best edition so far of the El Medano PWA.

ADAM LEWIS
The whole pool experience was a lot of fun, but not without a little stress. We only managed a quick practice session before the big day and it was quite a lot harder than I imagined. I had done some freestyle tow in before, but with the wave coming at you, the pressure and difficulty went to a whole new level. Come the big night with all the crowds, it came to my turn for my first practice run and I was peeing my pants. It was pretty nerve racking. There was some mega crashes from everyone and I was pretty sore the next day. I think Leon had the best one – a double flip straight onto his face. Ouch! Ricardo was totally on fire the whole time, it’s almost a sport designed for him in every way. He has so much control in the air, with or without wind, so he was on a whole different level to anyone else. The pushloop-into-shaka was just epic! Big respect to Danny, Jose and Bjorn for the event because I think it was a really positive promotion for windsurfing to have the action that close to the spectators. Put it this way, it felt so sick to be a part of it. A lot of the guys that came weren’t even windsurfers and I think they were blown away by the action.

JONAS CEBALLOS
It was such an awesome experience be part of the Siam Park show and be able to qualify for the entry in the super session. I felt like I was ‘back’ and to feel I was part of this show was just an amazing feeling for me. It was very tricky just to stand up and my board was too small which made it even harder. Thanks to a really good jet ski driver and I did manage to do a few decent jumps and help make the show happen. It was an awesome show for the people who were watching at the sides of the pool area with an amazing background, incredible atmosphere and even some new moves came out. For sure it was a great help for the sport to get more media and bring windsurfing up. These kind of shows are what we need. It’s similar to Red Bull’s motocross X-fighters – people like that. I just hope to be part of it next year again, to try new crazy moves again on a bigger board!

ANTOINE MARTIN
Siam Park was an amazing new experience for me. We had one training session before the main event. We could already feel the atmosphere. When you rig your sails on the edge of the pool between the buildings, and you don’t even see the ocean, just a huge, big jet ski and the massive pool. It felt like another sport. During the event, all the boys were impressive to watch! There were so many new rotations. The few attempts I had were not enough! It was really addictive! Next year, I hope we will do it again and the event will be bigger and even better. I would like to thanks a lot the organisers, the volunteers, the sponsors. Moreover all the spectators who have made this event feel so amazing!

LEON JAMAER
It was a pretty unique experience having the pleasure of being towed with a ski straight into a breaking artificial wave and launching into massive jumps in front of a huge crowd. As there was no real wind we could rotate in almost any direction we could think of, which lead to a couple of insane new tricks. Ricardo especially mastered this discipline straight away. He was out of reach for the rest of us. I made a couple of sick jumps, but also crashed quite a lot. The next morning I could hardly walk!

RICARDO CAMPELLO
I’m standing there waiting for my turn, one guy holding my board straight and the rope in my hand. Then I hear the big thud as the wave machine starts to thump out the next wave. Time to go. The ski starts to accelerate, the rope pulls tight and I’m off. A nano-second to get my feet in the straps, arc around and accelerate towards the wave at warp speed. It’s night time and the lights are blinding, but I manage to hit the steepest section and fly into the air. As I rotate, I can just about make out the silhouettes of the crowd as I spin towards the water. With no wind it is impossible to land, but I manage to get as close as possible to nailing a pushloop into a shaka – wow! Now I hear the crowd screaming as I swim my rig back out of the pool, talk about an adrenaline rush, that was awesome!

Its was so cool and different sailing on a wave pool. I mean, even if you see the pictures and videos, the colours of it are just amazing! The crowd was really into it, really excited and we were all pumped up. I really hope we can come back next year and do it again!

BOUJMAA GUILLOUL
The pool experience was lot of fun at the same time kind of special in a way. Most rotations had no feeling without the wind. I think to make it into the straps and be towed full power behind the ski just needed experience and after a while it was easier. Even though the distance was short to get comfortable it was still doable. It was a lot of pressure with the crowd, but still fun and I think it was great for the sport to entertain so close to the spectators, which gave them an idea about how crazy the sport is and they can have a better view of how radical windsurfing can be. Anyway, windsurfing in a pool in my opinion looks more radical than any other sports in pools!

ALEIX SANLLEHY
To nail a big jump your timing had to be absolutely perfect.  It was very important to let go of the rope at the last moment to obtain the highest speed possible at the wave to grab the maximum height. Once you’re in the air you have the feeling of jumping without wind, which was weird but occasionally we landed upright. I think it was a sensational show, with a unique atmosphere.  Every time one of us made a sick jump we were screaming, jumping in the air and going crazy. I hope this event will continue for many more years because I think it was an amazing experience!

ALEX MUSSOLINI
I have to say that Ricardo is the master, he is crazy and he has so much to offer, not just on the ocean. I tried my best, but I just couldn’t get the same feeling as him in the air. In the last jump I wanted to go big, but I just lost control and I had to let go. The feeling of jumping in a pool without wind is just so different compared to the ocean.

DANNY BRUCH
I reckon this year’s PWA event was the best so far and to finish this great success with the show in the Siam Park was the cherry on top of the cake!

When my friend Vilayta, who was the ski driver in this event that I did this tow out jumping session with back in 2010, we knew it had potential to make an event out of it! We tried a smaller version in 2011, but now with the support of Bjoern Dunkerbeck Eyewear we could finally include it into an official PWA event and we could show the world how sick this show can be! The way it turned out with such an incredible atmosphere, I was super stoked about it! The show was just spectacular, but especially Ricardo, who was on fire! He loves this kind of exhibition-type windsurfing and was the most natural one for sure! Congratulations to him! We are hoping to repeat this show every year from now on! Who knows how far the limits can be pushed! Don’t limit your challenges! Challenge your limits! JC 

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