Laure Treboux / SUI-4

So that's it for this year. The tour is over. It's always a bit of an emotional time, with too many good friends that I won't see for a few months. But it's also full of positive emotion with all the champs being crowned and the sudden realization that the season has ended and the results are there.
I'm freestyle vice world champion for the second time in a row and I just got my first podium finish in waves. Enough reasons to celebrate - and celebrate we did!

Sylt was great. Cold, but windy and wavey. Wave sailors, freestylers and racers got their share of action out there.

We got so lucky for the waves straight from the start: cross shore with head high waves! I was up against Steffi Wahl in my first heat... Not an easy start. I sailed a good heat and managed to go through though. The following day we ran the finals and I was against Karin for 3rd and 4th. For the first time in my wave career the wind was light so only 2 waves were counting, no jump. Riding waves is what I love most and what I'm good at, and I went out there pretty relaxed and caught some good waves. And finished 3rd!

We still had to run the double elimination which means nothing's decided. You can always drop to 4th if you lose your heat. The conditions weren't good enough until the last few hours of the event. We went out in dead onshore wind, messy waves and heaps of current (I had to battle to stand in the water and not get knocked off my feet). Karin made it and I had to sail with her again. Except this time I wasn't quite as relaxed as the conditions were anything but what I'm comfortable in. Anyway, I did what I could and came out of the water pretty disappointed with myself, thinking I had lost. I'd even brought my gear all the way back up, ready to just go away with 4th... But then I heard a familiar voice shouting from the top "Treboooooouuuuxxx!!!! Awessooooome!!". That was the ever excited Sarah-Quita telling me I had won my heat. She went to double check, came back with a big smile, and off I ran back down for the next heat. I was up against Daida, sailed a bad heat, couldn't get any jump or descent ride. Daida threw some amazing jumps (for a change) and got it. Fair enough!

So that was the story of my first podium in the waves and I'm telling ya, it feels good!

The prize giving ceremony on Sunday afternoon saw a lot of world champions being crowned. Good moments.

It was really good to catch up with a lot of good friends. I hadn't giggled so much in a week in a while with my favourite Sylt flatmates Fanny and Alice, always on form. We ended the week with a massive Sunday night, a proper end of event and straight to the airport party. It wasn't the easiest journey home but the party was worth the pain. 

There are so many people I want to thank. The ones who support me, the ones who believe in me, the ones who coach me, the ones who make me happy and inspire me. You are all part of this and I will never forget any of it. Thank you.
I would also like to mention and congratulate again my amazing friend Sarah-Quita who just got her 5th Freestyle World Title - 6th including her slalom title. Thanks for the great moments on and off the water.

I made it again! Managed to sail all the finals of all 4 eliminations and take the 2nd place at the latest PWA freestyle event that took place at Sotavento, Fuerteventura.

It's been a nerve wracking week. The wind kept switching on and off to start with, making it hard to stay focused. I was on 4.5 for the first few days, which is light for Fuerteventura, then we ended the week with proper Fuerte conditions, 3.7 stacked.

I needed a bit of time to switch my brain back to freestyle after 2 months of wave sailing, but after a couple of dodgy heats on the first day, I got back into it and sailed some really good ones.

The whole event was a lot of fun, I always love catching up with the whole freestyle crew and a lot of friends who I hadn't seen in a while.

I would like to say a special thank you to Aly Sabri (www.alysabri.com) for helping me prepare for the tour again this year, it's been great working together, I learnt so much.

Another massive thank you goes to Simon for the constant support and for putting up with my nerves and moods during the last few events!

I'm back in Tenerife for a few days now, wind and waves are here with us too, then back to Switzerland in a couple of days. Looking forward to spending some time there with family and mates, it's been a while...

Pics ©PWA / John Carter

It was a while ago, but I've been kind of busy competing lately - and when I compete I'm pretty useless at doing anything else beside it!

Anyway, better late than never, here are a few shots and lines about the PWA event in Tenerife...

I love windsurfing at Cabezo. It's a great spot for both jumping and riding, the wind is strong but usually not nuclear strong. I had been training there for a few weeks before the PWA wave events started and felt good and ready to show what I've got.

Well the conditions turned out to be a little crazy, and I sailed the whole competition on my 3.0 again! I couldn't believe I was again trying to hold onto my smallest sail, Pozo style!

I had a bit of a slow start in the single elimination. I lost a lot of confidence and struggled to sail good heats. 3.0 weather really isn't what I'm used to, and everything I can usually do perfectly turns out to be a struggle - loops, rides, I tend to lose my confidence and aggressiveness when I most need it!
Anyway, the double elimination went better. I went out there on a mission to win some heats and just about lost against Karin Jaggi in our battle for 3rd place. I had a good heat but in the end she overtook me and got it.

So 4th place it is! Not bad.

I'll fill you in about the freestyle event in Fuerte tomorrow!

Pics ©PWA / John Carter

We've just had a mad week in Pozo. The first PWA wave event of the year, the "Wind and Waves Festival 2012", was a massive success. The wind was stronger than I've ever seen it so the action was simply insane, and the event was well put together, with lots of windsurfing promotion going on (like the 400 kids who came over form different schools to discover windsurfing) and side activities, music, etc.

Daida and Iballa Moreno did a great job with organizing it, big up to you two girls!

The comp started pretty well for me, with a 4th place in the single elimination. The conditions were hard core though - I couldn't hold onto my 3.0, apparently it was gusting over 60 knots - and I was struggling to show what I can do. In the double elimination I lost against Steffi Wahl and ended up 5th.

I'd like to say that all the girls out there showed some skills and bravery, and I'm just happy I came back in one piece. Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky. Olya had a really bad crash and hurt her knee, and Justyna wrecked her foot right before the event. Wishing you both a full and fast recovery, wanna see you on the water soon again!

Although I got a bit frustrated with my sailing, the usual mad jumping show was on and it was great to watch some of the riders absolutely going off out there. If you haven't seen it, make sure you go on the PWA website and check out the videos, I guarantee you won't waste your time!

I'm back in Tenerife now. We've had a couple of super fun days and late sessions. Just loving not being totally out of control! The next PWA event is starting on Thursday and looking at the forecast there's definitely going to be swell and wind. And all the action will be again showing live on the PWA website!

Pictures ©PWA / John Carter.

I made it! I finished 2nd in Fuerte. Which means I am 2nd overall in Freestyle this year! So happy. And I won the super session yesterday!!!

This season went so well, I enjoyed every moment of it. We had new events -and more of them- in amazing places. I managed to put together some really good heats and sailed every single freestyle final of this season. And as usual it's been so much fun hanging around with all the guys and girls on tour! I'm pretty sad that this was the last freestyle event for us girls this year, really gonna miss everyone. Bring on 2012!

The event was really well organised. Lots of stuff happening on the beach, a good crowd watching the action, and enough wind to compete every day. We ran a single and double elimination which finished on Tuesday. I sailed against Sarah-Quita both times in the final. They weren't my best heats but she sailed amazing, landing some really sick moves. Big up to Sarah-Quita for her 4th world title and thanks for being such an inspiration and motivation! I will be working hard on new moves for next year, that's for sure.

With a whole day to go still, the PWA crew decided to run a super session on Wednesday. Quite a lot of riders signed up for it. The format was really good, perfect to entertain the crowd on the beach and to make it a fun afternoon on the water. We all had 3 gos per heat to show the best moves. A boat anchored outside was sending us in towards the beach one after the other and we had to go for a move in between 4 buoys, right there close to the beach. I think the public loved it as well as the riders. I landed a pretty fast one handed grubby cana brava and won the girls super session!!! So happy.

You can see lots of sick pictures and videos of everyone on www.pwaworldtour.com.

I have a lot of people to thank for their support. Thanks to all of them I just had my best season and best time on tour ever: my family, friends, sponsors... The list is long. Thanks to all of you for believing in me and supporting me like you do.

Someone who deserves a big mention for his great help is Dr Aly Sabri. We worked hard together during the months before the competition season. Thanks to him and his coaching I went into events as ready as I could be, both mentally and physically. I finally managed to sail heats like I wanted to and to my full potential. The training we did was so interesting and I learnt so much, much more than I thought I could in such a short time. And I can't wait to start training again! Check out his website to know more about him and his work: www.dr-sabri.de

I'm now back in Tenerife for a few days. Looks like we'll get some strong wind and waves this weekend, can't wait. The OTC crew is looking after us like kings as usual - legends.

Again thanks to everyone!