[] Learn Classical Freestyle [] Let's GO Freestyle    the competitions are on [] GO Freestyle competition manual [] GO Freestyle scoring system GO FREESTYLE The old fashion way: This section is dedicated to the original art of Freestyle. A "blast from the past" you may say, but the game is again getting increasingly popular thanks to the new style of wide entry-level boards. With nice soft EVA decks, lighter constructions and sufficient volume, they are pretty much ideal tools for the classical competition of Freestyle. Classical Freestyle The first classical Freestyle events were organized on the original Windsurfer. The board was very well suited for doing tricks and all kind of manoeuvres, but aerials were still not invented, and never became reality on the 23 kilo heavy Windsurfer. Still, a vast number of tricks were invented, and some of them are still considered tricky even with today's standards. Railriding, Sail 360, Tail Sink, Back to the boom, Piruette, Duck Tack, Head dip and loads of other tricks was rated in accordance with their degree of difficulty. The Classical Freestyle was like a gracious water ballet and beautiful to watch. Stars like Ken Winner, Cort Larned, Matt Schweitzer, Gary Eversole, Alex Agera, Jeff Hoyt, Mike Waltz and a bunch of others took Classical Freestyle to a fluent highly technical level within a few years, and the discipline had it's peak in the late 70's, - but time and new developments moved on. Along with the shorter and lighter boards of the 80's came a new mode of Freestyling, and radical lofty manoeuvres quickly replaced the gracious traditional style. Looping and several other chic aerial moves became a natural part of the game, and classical Freestyle as a discipline was history. However, thanks to today's new wide style boards, the time-honoured moves may again be performed in good old fashion, and hopefully we will see the discipline re-appearing in the near future. Initiatives to organize events have already been taken and "GO Freestyle" is a concept currently being developed in Hungary. Watch this space for more info. Modern Freestyle has evolved into an extremely physical and complex discipline, and it is hard to imagine that it has evolved from the early cordial manoeuvres from the late 70's. In fact the standard of modern Freestyle has developed dramatically over recent years and events are organized at windy arenas, providing for the best in the world to really showcase that improvement. Only back in 2003 we were seeing an influx of switch stance and clew first moves, for 2004 we are now seeing a whole new range of tricks including the Air Chacho - basically a forward loop during which the rider ducks the sail in mid air, half way through the rotation and lands clew first; the Air Flaka - a standard 360 degree horizontal rotation into wind, performed entirely in the air; and the Gozzada - a move that is initiated from a position of sailing switch-stance and back to sail before going into a Spock 540!! With creative moves like this permeating the existing abundance of tricks, it is a very exciting time in Freestyle Windsurfing. For those in need of assistance in understanding these maneuvers, check Dr Beat's Windsurfing Kamasutra DVD, at www.windsurfingkamasutra.com or the Windsurfing Academy pages. www.windsurfing-academy.com