2002 Magdalen Islands PWA Grand Slam Freestyle Preview

The Magdalen Islands, which lie in the middle of Canada’s Gulf of St Lawrence, will be hosting the next stopover on the PWA freestyle tour. Commencing on the 1st of September and running through until the 7th, the likes of Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde), John Skye (F2, Arrows) and Matt Pritchard (AHD, Gaastra) will be competing on the windswept shores of one of Canada’s hottest sailing venues.

Les Isles de la Magdalen are situated between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and mainland Quebec and are largely French speaking. The language barrier should not be a problem for competitors however since most Islanders speak passable English. Consisting of four small islands linked by long sand dunes the Magdalen's are an ideal playground for water sports enthusiasts. Conditions vary from warm, shallow flat-water lagoons to exposed wave and slalom blasting locations...in a word…Paradise! The winds howl in from the Gulf from all directions and sweep across the islands dunes unimpeded.

Off the water the sailors will be in for a variety of culinary surprises…the islands also have a fantastic reputation for their excellent range of cuisine and hospitality! Timed to coincide with the end of the Canadian summer the event is already lining up to be a week of wind blasted mayhem!

With Ricardo Campello of Venezuela leading the rankings after two events in Fuerteventura (1st) and Gran Canaria (3rd) the chase is now on from the likes of John Sky (Skyboy), Nik Baker and Matt Pritchard to close him down before the freestyle final in Bonaire in December. We have already seen on the freestyle tour that with the standard so high, the winners can be different in every round. One mistake can be costly… and Campello will no doubt be watching his back!