What a first race! Only one day of wind - but great conditions that allowed 3 full slalom rounds on the smallest equipment I had registered for the event. Personally I was very lucky to win this event even with a "premature start" in the last final. With my strongest competitor only finishing in 7th place I already have a big lead in the world ranking. Defiitely a great start to the season for me!

lt's been my second trip to Korea. Last year we scored great conditions and sailed nearly every day. This year it was exceptionally windy before the event - and then on registration day the wind died... It came back for some training sessions and a fun race but never got strong enough to hold a valid world cup race. A windless event is very frustrating for all sailors and even worse for the organising committee that did an exceptional effort to keep everybody happy.

Sometimes - thing's simply go wrong. This pretty much sums up this trip. First the grafics for the new range weren't ready - so we stickered the boards ourselves back home in the garage. Then it took us over two days to get to Maui - as half the flights got all cancelled. We still scored some great conditions and made some beautiful shots - but then F2 decalred insolvency - and we really felt stranded out there on the paradise island.... Now - nearly a month later - everthing starts slowly working out again - or at least we still all believe it will...

When I booked my flights to Tenerife it was supposed to be the first wave worldcup of the 2008 season. As I haven't been home much in the last years my brother decided to book a holiday with his whole family to visit me during the event. So when the event got cancelled just two weeks before - we simply decided to head out to Tenerife anyway - for a family holiday. Even though I still windsurfed a little ( we actually had great conditions!) it's been the first proper holiday since ages for me.

This was undoubtfull the windiest season for a very long time in South West Australia. I spend a full three m onths sailing and exploring the south west corner of Australia. Unfortunately also quite a bit sitting on the beach due to a knee injury.

It didn't look very bad at the time it happend. But even a few months later it's still not yet 100 percent. Therefore I will have a sorrow check up back home in Switzerland to make sure I am perfectly fit for the new season again.

Finally it was windy once again in Sylt! Or rather wavy. The conditions were truly not great but after three years of "no results" on Sylt we were all desperate to change that. I was quite comfortable in those marginal conditions. But then I lost unexpected against Nayra Alonso and finished just 5th - must be my worst result in the last 10 years! Nayra went on and on - and beat everybody! This was her first ever event win - with a great performance! She broke out in tears on stage when they announced her victory - and finally I was nearly happy that I lost.

With a fifth place on Sylt I still managed to finish third in the annual ranking. With my world title in Slalom and my second place in speed all in all a pretty successful season. And definitely not yet my last one...

Slalom World Champion again!!!

My second year in Alacati. But this time everything seemed to work a bit better. My equipment arrived with no problems, the wind was a lot stronger,... just my result stayed the same: second place. Finally Valerie got it all together - and by the end of the week she was the clear winner between us two. My biggest problems was the timing at the start - it just wasn't right... Nevertheless this result was enough to get Slalom World Champion 2007 again!

It's been a strange week on Fuerteventura. The first three days we had Kalima (wind from Morocco). A part from a ton of Sahara sand it brought 47 degrees temperatures and never got strong enough to sail with it. But after those days the weather turned back to normal: windy and flat water on the speed course. Personally I would have preferred to get a bit more "technical" (=more difficult) conditions, as that is usually where I do best. So it turned out to be a very close race between Valerie and me again – finishing with equal points – but took the victory because I had the fastest speed during that event. Now it is all open for the world champion title again – next and last speed event is Namibia at the beginning of September

This was the closest slalom competition I ever had. In the 5 competition days we did 15 races but it was only the last race that decided who would win. To sum it up Valerie actually had the better speed in the first two days – but I was safer in the jibes. Then the third day we were very equal - both of us doing stupid mistakes – crashing a lot. When the wind turned lighter Valerie started catching up. It was all down to the last day of competition. I have to admit I wasn’t that nervous for years! On the beach Patrik told me to relax – he said it would actually be better if I finish second as it’s very bad for the sport to have always the same winner. Guess his reasoning did made me relax – I went out – sailed a perfect heat from the start to the finishing line – and was suddenly in front again. Unbelievable how much the “head” decides over your performance! It was a very exciting competition! And Valerie would really have deserved to win it as well!”

The first two days of this years Gran Canaria event we had great conditions for waves. On the first day I wasn't sailing that great. It's simply been a long time since I used my 3.4 meter sail last time. But the next day went already a lot better. By the end I finished third - loosing out to the two Pozo twins. Really not a shame in their home spot where they do have a great level. As I was only competing in the wave discipline my Gran Canaria event was over after only two days of saliling. The following days the freestyle ladies competed. Young Aruban sailor Sarah-Quita nearly upset Daida by stealing a victory at her home spot. But as it was getting windier and windier the Pozo queen sneaked away the top of the podium in the last second.

It is a mission to travel to Karpathos, as there are no straight charter flights that could carry our windsurfing gear. Therefore I had to fly to Rhodes, transfer from the airport to the harbour, followed by a 6-hour ferry ride and another transport over Karpathos... But most importantly I arrived with all my gear. When the event started I was still recovering from a bad ear infection I caught in Portugal. I definitely lucked a bit strength and confidence here during a rather light wind and very gusty speed event. By the end I had to leave the victory to Valerie Ghibaudo. Considering the circumstances I can "live" with my second place - but I definitely want to finish on top of the podium again at the next speed event on Fuerte!

I went one week early to Portugal to prepare for this first wave WC. Unfortunately there was not much wind before the contest... But then at least it got windy for the Worldcup. The first day we had great conditions and I sailed exceptionally well. The second day the wind blew straight onshore and rather light. With a middle performance I qualified for the final. By then the wind was pretty much gone. We started the final several times - and then it got cancelled again for luck of wind. When the heat finally did count I scored only one great waveride - and got beaten marginally by Daida Moreno who took the victory. Nevertheless I am very happy with my performance in those difficult conditions.

lIt was my first DEFI - and it sure won't be my last one! Bottom line of this long weekend: best event I have ever done!!! Starting of with a 60 knots plus day - and a good decision of the organiser to just hold "unofficial races". To make up for the "lost" day we did 3 races on Friday in 20-30 knots of wind. My GPS calculated 102 km of racing action that night. And all of that with 700 other competitors on the same course!!! Simply insane! And so much fun!!!

180'000 spectators during the Sylt World Cup 2006: new record! Unfortunately the action on the water wasn't as impressive. The wind stayed light during the whole week. Therefore only slalom eliminations took place. As the women only started in the discipline "wave" - I was banned to the beach for the whole week. Nevertheless it was an amazing event and I'm already looking forward to be back on Sylt next year!

My detour over Rhodes to reach Karpathos was half of my victory already. I arrived one day before the event – with all my gear. Not all of the other sailors were as lucky (or as well organised?). Some arrived too late, some lost their equipment on the way and few didn’t make it to Karpathos at all.

My first trip to Turkey – apparently the perfect spot for Slalom. But from what I had heard a rather light wind place. This was the last event that would count for the PWA year ranking for women. I had done well on Fuerte – but in totally different conditions = flat water and light winds – I knew I would have to give everything to stay on top of the ranking. To sum it up: nightmare with a happy end!

Three days after the Gran Canaria world cup finished the next tour stop started on Fuerteventura. This is a real classic event on the PWA tour and probably the biggest one in number of competitors – including 3 windsurfing disciplines (freestyle, speed and slalom) and two in kite surfing. Rene Egli, the local organizer, once more provided us with the perfect set-up and organisation.

The second event on the PWA-Canaries-Tour 2006 took place on Gran Canaria. Pozo beach is known for his nuclear winds. Therefore everybody prepared for really high wind action. And it really was a windy week - we were able to sail and compete every single day – but the insane high winds never filled in this year. By the end we reached 10 races in Slalom (only for men), a full double elimination in waves and two double eliminations in freestyle (only for women).

Like in 2005 the only Super-X world cup for women took place on Lanzarote. Last year I was able to win here – but I knew that I would face very tough competition from the other girls this year. When we started the weather forecast was very good: light wind for the first two days – and then getting stronger every day afterwards. Unfortunately the wind never properly filled in. We managed to do 10 races in the 5 competition days but most of them just in minimum winds.

It was my first trip to this legendary European windsurf spot. Already on the registration day the frustrating rumour of a “no-wind-week” was around. And the forecast would be proven right: perfect beach weather but not a breeze of wind for the first five days! Personally I made the most out of my first ever trip to Portugal. Enjoyed the glassy surf conditions, spent a day in Lisbon, visited all castles in the region and was simply overwhelmed by the beauty of this coastline!