The caribean slalom tour seems to be stronger every year , and with new events like Miami and Puerto Rico Pro riders like Gonzalo Costa Hoevel.. taking advantage of the warm and friendly enviroment and more close to home feeling compare with the European tour .. Gonzalo took some time after the Puerto Rico event to answer some questions..
1 – Gonzalo what motivates you to compete on this new Slalom Events that are happening in the Caribbean?
There are many reasons why I came to these events.
First of all the locations are great. Just going in without wetsuits in warm water is such a pleasure.
The water is not only warm but turquoise, and having 20 to 25 kts of steady trade winds it just makes it wonderful.
The organizers put a lot off effort on having great social events after the racing so everybody can share a little more than only the water. Is nice to socialize and meet new people that share the same passion.
The level is still high as we have some of the top riders of the world doing it. For example in Margarita we had Peter Volwater, Ben van der Steen and in Puerto Rico we had Enes Yilmazer, Wilhelm Schrman and some good guys from Venezuela.
2- How was the experience in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico was sick!!! I came here in 2001 for an event and after that I just fall in love with the place. I came three years more on a row to train formula after that. Coming back now and see many friends was really nice.
We had 5 days of nonstop winds, so we manage to train a couple of days and then race up to 6 races every race! We would start on the outer reef and finish next to the beach. The venue was great.
I score 9 bullets out of 12 races we did so I was pretty happy about that. I mainly used my 7.6 TR6 and my SL66 Exocet.
The level was pretty high as Wilhelm Shurman BRA999 (NP/Starboard) and Enes Yilmazer TUR2 (NP/JP) were there.
3- What is your opinion about creating more Events in the Caribean and in America in General ?
There are plenty of good spots around the Caribean and in US. It is pretty cool to see that in all the places there is a weekend warrior fleet that love to go out and race each other.We should support this events more coming to them.
4- What is your opinion about combine events Windsurfing and Kite ,, what is the energy specially after this event ..is that a great thing for both sports?
To me this event in Puerto Rico where they had windsurf, kite and SUP was really good. Most of the kiters were windsurfers and probably a lot of the guys doing SUP were windsurfers too.
It is just a big family enjoying water sports.
We had the same in Margarita and the was a very good vibe.
5-Some of us know that you have a family incident that took some concentration from you in the first part of the PWA tour ,,, What is your goal for the upcomming PWA events ?
My expectations are high even if I had to take some time out. I gues sometimes you need to stay home with your closest, specially in times like that.
I went to Margarita after that where I won and then we had Costa Brava. We didn’t race much in Costa Brava and I didn’t do good there so I was very down after that as I got f..on the overall ranking now.
After that I went to Puerto Rico to train some more and to get back in buisness. I won there so I felt back on track.
Now I am already in Fuerte 10 days before the event to get some heavy training so off course my expectations are high. I take my windsurfing career very serious.
6- As now you been with Maui Sails and Exocet for couple of years ,, How is that relationship as a Pro rider ,, ? How involve are you in the development program ?
I am very involve in both companies. I try to give as much feedback as I can and I talk about the changes I would like on the equipment with them all the time.
We do have some periods of time when we focuss on development only..
7- Exocet has a new slalom boards line for 2011, What to spect from the new line ?
The new line is quite different to the current boards. We have a more compact line, wider tails and shorter boards mainly.
We gain a lot of control too and better top speed on all angles. In PWA specially you have to adapt your angles very fast so we manage now that.
The accel is very important too and that was improved.
8- We know that now you are a business owner and you open a windsurfing shop in argentina ..,, how that play out with training and profesional responsabilities ?
I started the shop back in December last year. It went very good and it took out a lot of my time. Now I am preparing a school and a rental place in the club where I windsurf and where the shop is located.
It takes some extra time out of me but my idea is to still compete for many more years and to have good results…that’s my goal.
9- What is in the Future for Gonzalo Costa Hoevel .. ?
I still see myself racing and competing for at least 5 years. I think I haven’t come out with my best level yet. Last year at the beginning of the year after two events I was 3rd on the PWA world ranking so that showed me I can be there. I learn every day that the experience you get everyday in the water is very important.
You need to be strong too and have specialy good equipment. Hopefully I can get all sorted together and get some more podiums.
