The International Funboard Class Association (IFCA) and the Germany based event agency Choppy Water GmbH have agreed on a co-operation to promote a new continental windsurfing platform. From 2015 onwards the Windsurfing Euro-Cup will be the official regatta series leading to the IFCA European Slalom Men and Women Championship title. [more]The Windsurfing Euro-Cup is the continental windsurfing series organized by Choppy Water in co-operation with local organizers in the different host venues.
The co-operation between the International Funboard Class Association (IFCA) and Choppy Water marks a major step for the discipline slalom. “We are proud about the trust of the IFCA class in our performance,” confirms Matthias Regber, CEO of Choppy Water. “We will invest all efforts to develop the Windsurfing Euro-Cup into a strong continental platform for the competitors, organizers and IFCA.”
Traditionally the European Slalom Championships of the IFCA class were organized as one-off-championships. The new format as a championship series offers some key advantages. Most importantly the risk for IFCA that no European Champion can be crowned due to a lack of wind is eliminated. Single events can always be a victim of missing wind. But it is almost impossible that a complete series drops out.
The sportive value of the series is higher than a one-off-championship as the competitors prove their skills in a wider range of conditions. The bandwidth of potential venues reaches from the wavy Atlantic Ocean to the azur Mediteranean Sea, from the rough North Sea to the choppy Baltic Sea. Even inland lakes may be tour stops of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup.
Due to the tour it is easy for competitors to participate in the international competition scene. Events will be offered in different countries. So competitors can find events within easy reach and be a part of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup. A fair discard system ensures that the number of counting results is limited to a degree that allows competitors to choose a selection of events that fits their budget and plans but have the chance to be in a good ranking position none the less.
The Windsurfing Euro-Cup is targeted at riders who are looking for an interesting challenge above the national level but without the costs and efforts that are caused by the participation in a professional windsurfing circuit. Most events can be reached by car which keeps the costs of travelling and accommodation on a low level.
The events of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup have a minimum prize money of eur5,000 and top events may reach up to over eur15,000. An additional 10% of each event’s prize money will be summed up in an annual pot which will be spread out among the top riders of the annual ranking list at the end of the season. The events may be existing events that are pushed to a higher level by being part of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup series. But also new events may be created as tour stops.
The first Windsurfing Euro-Cup events for 2015 are already confirmed. Negotiations with other organizers are on a good way. National associations and local organizers are invited to contact Choppy Water in oder to be included in the Windsurfing Euro-Cup with their events. “By teaming up with Choppy Water as professional event agency we also hope to achieve a better promotion and media work for the IFCA class events,” adds IFCA Class President Bruno de Wannemaeker.
