Women in the news . . .

Brits Abroad: Tanya Saleh in Puerto Rico Over the winter many of the UK's windsurfers head to sunnier climes, but who's going where and why? Quatro and Goya rider, Tanya Saleh has been on some incredible trips of late and she now reports from Puerto Rico. "Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. This place is insane! Like a cross between Mexico, South America, and the Carribean with sick waves and really friendly people" . . . Read more

Lucy Robson Winter Training in Fuerte Lucy Robson, one of the top competitors on the British Wave tour, has now settled into live in Fuerte and as you can seen from this short video has been making the most of the conditions. We wonder where we will see Lucy competing this year? Will she come back for the BWA, or set her sights on the PWA? View the video

Life Turned Around For Finland's Tuuli Petaja Life for Finland's Tuuli Petaja has been somewhat different after her silver medal winning performance in the Women's RS:X at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Fin was one the big stars of the Olympics for the Finnish Olympic Team which has seen the spotlight shine down on her, "I've been quite busy after the Olympics, I must admit. Finland didn't get too many medals in the Olympics so getting a medal from there caused quite a lot of publicity at home." View the full interview on ISAF TV

Champions of 2012: Danielle Lucas The women's freestyle scene across the UK is growing, we are seeing more women competing and a higher level in heats too. The likes of Jo Wright, Lara Johnston, Emily Hall and Julia Slack are rising through the ranks, but it is PWA competitor Danielle Lucas that took the title in 2012 Read her interview on Boards

Saskia Sills Interview Boards previously reported that Saskia Sills had won yet another award, becoming YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year, now the RYA present a great interview with Sills talking through her success of 2012. View the video

Steffi Wahl - Sailor in Focus Steffi Wahl (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) finished the 2012 season in fifth place on the PWA Wave World Tour. This is made all the more impressive when you consider the fact that she juggles a separate full-time profession alongside being a successful windsurfing pro. The German impressed for the duration of the season, with her backside waveriding drawing plenty of praise from the judges on numerous occasions. Read the interview with her . . .

The Butterfly Effect 2013 Tatiana Howard and the Butterfly Effect have announced their 2013 calendar of events; from the Bahamas to Cabarete, Switzerland to the incredible Tahiti road trip, if you are a windsurfing woman any of these would be the most incredible experience. Check out the full calendar of events on Facebook here.

Another Award for Saskia Sills After an incredibly successful 2013 Boards would like to congratulate RS:X racer Saskia Sills as she wins yet another award! Saskia has taken home the prestigious YJA Pantaenius Young Sailor of the Year Award for 2012 at the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show on Saturday 12th January 2013. The award was presented by Bob Fisher, Chairman of the YJA. Saskia beat a selection of talented sailors from across the country to win the award; congratulations Saskia! View Video

Zara Davis on the BBC Following her success in Luderitz, Zara Davis has now been interviewed by BBC points west! "I was very pleased to be asked by the BBC points west team to interview me about the record and Namibia... Great to get Windsurfing on the telly." Watch the interview on YouTube

Sills on shortlist for BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award 2012 RYA Volvo National Youth Squad sailor Saskia Sills is one of the 10 contenders on the shortlist for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award 2012. Sills, 17 from Launceston, has made a huge impact in her first full season in the Under 19 Youth RS:X windsurfing class with her biggest achievement coming at the 2012 Four Star Pizza ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in Dublin where she claimed the gold medal by an emphatic margincategory. More on Boards

Video Girls Windsurf Maui It's true what they say, girls do just want to have fun! Maui local and founder of the Butterfly Effect Tatiana Howard is joined on the water by Sarah Delaunay from New Caledonia, Irish ripper Katie McAnena and Boards editor Amy Carter. With some Ho'okipa action, slick freestyle, the odd loop and lots of laughs the girls show what windsurfing is all about to them.

Luderitz Madness Continues plus Q&A with Zara Davis! On Saturday 17th more records were broken as the riders in Ludertiz were treated to more fantastic conditions on the canal. 5 windsurfers over 50 knots and Zara Davis took the women's world record up to 45.83knots. More on Boards

Calling All Female Windsurfers! The idea behind this article is to break down some of the common misconceptions associated with female freestyle competition and talk about future opportunities to get involved in. More on Boards

She is one of only three women ever to go over 40 knots. Now watch Zara Davis, New Women's windsurfing World record run 44.19 knots Luderitz, Namibia 7.11.2102.

Saskia Sills nominated for prestigious ISAF Rolex Sailor of the Year Award Inspired to take up sailing by her older brother, Saskia Sills took to windsurfing like a duck to water and has impressed on the international scene. At her first international regatta in 2009 Sills took her inaugural world crown, the Techno 293 Under-15 World Championship at just 13-years-old. Two years later the rising starlet of windsurfing added the Under-17 title to her list of achievements. More on Boards

UK Windsurfing Girl Power! Congratulations to Tushingham team rider Jo Wright who won the Girls Expression Session at this weekend's EFPT competition in Weymouth. All the girls put on a great show so a big pat on the back to all who entered. More on Boards

The Windsurfer's Guide to Pregnancy The RYA's chief windsurfing and dinghy instructor, Amanda Van Santen, who is currently on maternity leave, explains how she stayed fit during pregnancy to ensure she could get back out on her board as soon as possible… More on Boards

Go with the FLOW: Ladies Day at Lagoon Watersports On Sunday 23rd September, women from far and wide descended on Lagoon Watersports in Hove for the 'Go with the FLOW' Ladies Day. More on Boards

Katie's Tales of the Road And so from the land of Tacos and Cervezas and long, long rights I headed off on my merry little Irish way to the land of Ceviche and Piscos and long, long lefts .. . More on Boardseeker.com

Lucy Robson Talks to the BBC BWA tour competitor Lucy Robson has recently spoken to BBC Sussex radio, about her decision to leave Brighton and head to the Canaries to fine tune her wavesailing skills. Lucy, along with a what could be the biggest women's fleet in Tiree and of course competitive fleets of amateurs, masters and pros will be heading to Tiree very soon for the Tiree Wave Classic. More on Boards

Irishwoman Easkey Britton makes surf waves in Iran When Irishwoman Easkey Britton climbed onto a surfboard on a beach in Iran, the whole of the local village turned out to watch. "They were just so friendly and so curious - they hadn't seen surfing before," she said. Easkey, 26, now stars in a documentary about becoming the first woman to surf in the Islamic country. Read the full Story on BBC News

Karen Bennett flies back solo Karen a devoted MauiSails opinion leader and instructor extraordinaire has been sailing on Maui since 2003 and averages around 120-160 days per year on the water, but this particular day Karen arrived back on the beach without her equipment. Read the full story on MauiSails.com

The Exeter Ladies Freshers is around the corner, Aussie Kiss is a mere month away, it's an exciting time to be a student windsurfer that's for sure. Last year a certain group of ladies made a bring impression on the SWA tour, dominating the rankings across racing and freestyle; will the Exeter ladies be unstoppable this year too? Boards caught up with the active club to find out a little more about its members and what makes the club so special …Read the article on Boards

After an incredible summer on the PWA tour, Sarah-Quita shares stories of her success So here's some good news and some bad news: "Bad news is that my summer vacation is over and that I'm back at uni in Holland. Which means I have to swap my bikinis, shades and flipflops for jeans, shoes and (very soon) sweaters and coats, which brings me to the worst of the worst: I'll be losing my tan soon!!! Read the interview on Starboard.com

Interview with Agnieszka Bilska, 3rd place women formula world champion POL-09! First of all congratulations on your result at the 2012 Formula World Championship, It's great to see so many more girls racing formula this year, can you tell us a bit about yourself? I am 19 years old girl who really enjoys her life and loves every aspect of windsurfing. Most of my short 7 years carrier I was doing RSX. It has really universal equipment for almost every weather conditions (as you know on this year's Cadiz Worlds we had 37 knots!), but in my free time I really like to take part in Formula and slalom contests or do wave. It is much fun and make me so happy. I am windsurfing almost all year long but this year I took break from school to train even more. Read the interview on WindsurfingTour.com

The Butterfly Effect News! Camaraderie, enthusiasm, smiles, and supportive encouragement continues to spread world-wide. The Butterfly Effect has had an eventful summer with three unforgettable events. Maui kicked off the summer in May with over 200 women. One hundred more women participated in Cabarete in the Dominican Republic, and the community helped raise $5000 for the DREAM Project. Read more . . .

Justyna Sniady's Story! She's a pro sailor. Highly capable. Really tough. Very pretty. She wanted to be part of the chase. But this time, it wasn't meant to be. Here's the story of Justyna Sniady, who sadly couldn't register for the Red Bull Storm Chase, although she had long been looking forward to it.

Saskia Sills – RS:X Ladies Youth World Champ! Saskia Sills reports from the ISAF RS:X Youth World Championships in Ireland - "Dublin Bay has very strange local weather systems. One minute it could be 5 knots and coming from the right hand side of the course and the next it could be 20 knots and coming from the left hand side of the course! Luckily being British I was used to these conditions." More on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

London 2012 LONDON Olympic games are around the corner and everybody wants to win a medal. But who is gonna do it? In this video Patrik speaks to one of the favorites in Women's windsurfing. View on YouTube

Girls on Tour: Lucy Robson Travelling the world, working as a lawyer, being a mum …and competing? It seems it is possible! Lucy Robson returns to compete on the BWA tour for 2012 and beyond . . . Read the Article on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

Team 15: Oxford Zoomers Oxford Zoomer Isabel Ashman (15) tells us what she loves about windsurfing, who inspires her and how her team are getting on in the Team15 Inter-Club Championship. "Back in May, the 2012 South Zone Team15 Inter-Club Championship kicked off at Queen Mary Sailing Club. Everyone was really excited since it was the first event of the 2012 series, with nearly 50 windsurfers competing. It was also the first event since my team the Oxford Zoomers narrowly held on to their 2011 Regional Champions title. . . " Read the Article on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

Pozo Madness! Laure Treboux, fifth placed woman in Pozo and hot tip to cause an upset in the women's fleet in Tenerife posts this report from Gran Canaria. Head to Laure's personal blog for the full report

Olya Raskina Injury In the insane winds of Pozo, Olya Raskina was one of the girls still going to all the big moves. Unfortunately it cost her dearly as she crashed a massive forward, injuring her knee. Boards caught up with Olya to see how her recovery is going:

Nikola Girke, The Prince and the Pauper! Just another day in the office…the usual sleep, eat, training, eat, sail, gym, sleep program… and then the Prince showed up! Prince Charles came for a visit to the Sailing Venue here in Weymouth and met some of the Commonwealth sailors. It was a real pleasure and honour to meet him, my first of the Royals!… An interesting and witty man he was, a former windsurfer too! Read more on windsurfingtour.com

How to get women into windsurfing . . . When Svein Rasmussen was interviewed by Windsurfjournal (a french online website dedicated to windsurfing news), he told about how important it was to Jim Drake that women were included in the sport too, and he asked to the website readers if the had any ideas on how getting more women to windsurfing. Read more on the Starboard Forum

Out of Africa . . . British wave sailor Vickey Abbott has made the beautiful island of Sal, Cape Verde her home. With her own business on the island Vickey has both, fully settled into Cape Verde life and been able to score some incredible windsurfing conditions. Whilst it is usually the reef breaks you here about from CV, Vickey has a slightly different story to tell .... Read more on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

Working with water . . . The RYA Chief windsurfing instructor, Amanda van Santen, shares how becoming an instructor can take you around the world and lead to unbelievable opportunities ... Read more on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

Bryony Shaw Interviewed . . . Bryony Shaw might have missed out on a medal at last week’s Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, but the Tunbridge Wells windsurfer insists she was just more than happy to end in good health with London 2012 looming on the horizon. Read more on Boards Windsurfing Magazine

I'm too old for a sport like that… The RYA's Chief Windsurfing Instructor Amanda Van Santen tells us why that simply isn't the case. Learning to windsurf is often thought of as something for younger people only, but actually the great thing about windsurfing is that it is a sport for everyone, regardless of age. Read More

How to banish back pain Lucy McCormick joins Boards for her next fitness instalment. This month Lucy covers a problem, which affects many windsurfers – Back Pain. So, most of us in our time windsurfing would have suffered a little back pain now and again, which can be sore, uncomfortable and most annoyingly, can cut short your time on the water. Read More

When it all goes "Pete Tong" Windsurfing is a lot safer than many people think it to be, as long as you look after yourself and your gear that is. But, as we are at the mercy of Mother Nature, when it goes wrong, it goes really wrong. Exeter university windsurfer Alex Powell, went through the type of experience all windsurfers dread but survived to tell Boards the tale, thanks to the RNLI . . . Read More

Sarah Bibby and Stef Hilder in Chile The UK female wave champion and partner in crime upped shop and fled for 3 weeks of paradise. Perfect clean waves, no one else out and a completely unique lifestyle. Check out their nice edit with a mix of paddle-surfing and windsurfing . . . View Video

Boardseeker interviews Jo Wright Jo Wright has quite some experience for someone of only 20 years of age. With a taste of PWA competition under her belt she is definitely someone to be keeping an eye on in the future.. More

Diva Weekend at Stithians Lake - 19/20 May Windsurfing tends to be a male dominated sport but more and more women are getting into it, particularly through the Team 15 and junior clubs. Here at Stithians we are really keen to encourage a more even balance of genders out on the water. Here is a chance for women to learn or improve their windsurfing in a less competitive, nurturing environment with three female instructors. Diva 2012 is a motivating and inspirational weekend for women windsurfers, suitable for complete beginners through to advanced, offering women the chance to learn new techniques, share experiences and gain inspiration from female instructors. More

Catch up with Olympic hope Bryony Shaw as she prepares for the London games With the Olympic Games fast approaching, Bryony Shaw is putting in the training to ensure she can win that Gold medal. After winning Bronze in Beijing, Bryony is fired up and eager to improve on her success. In this video we have a bit of a glimpse at her training programme out in Spain and see what it takes to be an Olympic athlete! View Here

RSX Girls turn on style in challenging conditions! Volvo Youth Nationals Pwllheli Sailing Club - It was a case of sailor against the elements as the wind gradually built throughout the day, on occasion gusting up to 26-29 knots. Boys and girls are racing together -Kieran Martin and Joe Bennett lived up to their billing as favourites for the RS:X title, sitting level on eight points after the two RS:X races today while 5-6 for Noelle Finch makes her first female, in fourth place overall, Saskia Sills in fifth overall. Duncan Truswell, RYA Youth Racing Manager, commented: "Today was a really tough day, not actually that windy initially but it pretty quickly built and by early afternoon when the cloud cleared it flicked right and pretty rapidly the sea state was challenging and we were seeing mid-late 20 knots and a lot of retirements, the wind coupled with the pretty extreme temperatures arising from the Northerly breezes made it a real test for the sailors across all the fleets and I think most were glad when their programme finished or we called time on proceedings!" For more information on the event or to follow all the live action from the Championship via the official RYA Volvo Youth Nationals blog visit http://www.ryaracingevents.org.uk/, or follow RYA Team GBR on Facebook or follow us on Twitter (@YouthNationals).

Sarah Bibby in Chile! UK female wave champion, Sarah Bibby is currently training out in Chile, readying herself for the upcoming season. Traveling around with boyfriend Stef Hilder, the two have already had quite the adventure. Boards Magazine features favourite shots and extracts from Sarah’s blog . . . ( more )

Women of the Waves Meet a collection of our sport's healthiest, free-spirited and fun-loving female wave sailors and hear how they deal with fear and riding big waves . . . go to Windsurfer International

Fuerte Wave Classic 2012 – Iballa Moreno During the Fuerte Wave Classic, the film crew has produced a little videoclip featuring the Canarian watergirl Iballa Moreno. Iballa was for sure one of the top windsurfers on the starting list and every time she went on the water she gave proof of her incredible skills, either with her windsurfing board or SUP board. One of Iballa´s goals, besides pushing her windsurfing career, is to enter the SUP tour in the near future. View Here

Greta Genvenuti She loves the adrenaline of racing, if she wasn’t windsurfing she would be an artist and she lives in Tenerife. Italian slalom star Greta Genvenuti is PWA "Sailor in Focus"

Two water women Iballa and Daida Ruano Moreno present a beautiful production, shot all over the world! In the last 14 years Daida & Iballa dominated the sport of windsurfing in the most radical vertion: the waves. A total of 21 world tittles says it all. Here is a presentation of this complete water women,Windsurfing-SUP and SURF. To watch the HD extravaganza click HERE

Fitness Monthly with Lucy McCormick! Lucy McCormick is a watersports instructor and personal trainer at Lagoon fitness. She will be joining us for a 6 part mini-series looking at windsurfing related problems/conditions to show us how we can make our windsurfing lives easier by improving our health and fitness. What’s more, there is now no excuse for turning up at the beach when things warm-up a little and complaining you are out of shape …( more )

Windsurf transatlantic 2012 Sarah Hebert - Avec du coeur tout est possible! Sarah Hebert has arrived in Dakar ready for her incredible challenge - the first transatlantic crossing in windsurfing by a person equipped with a defibrillator! PARIS MATCH dedicated 4 pages to Sarah in its February issue - Click HERE to read (in French). Follow Sarah's journey live here; her blog here; and facebook here

Video - Hardcore in slow motion by Daida! I have some good clips from last summer at home_Canary Islands, that I wanted to share with you.I hope you like them - pushy table-top, shaka, backside aerial, 3s's, mayhem. Enjoy it!!

Gelly Skarlatou GRE-3, Why Diets Fail! If diets were any good then we would have all tried one in our life and that would have been it. You will have noticed that before/post any kind of holiday season, especially summer and New Year's people are all looking for the latest diet trend.. . .( more )

FLOW Rider - Julia Slack Julia knows the south west like the back of her hand, and can regularly be seen out at any number of beaches. She is a natural and quickly advancing in many watersports, her enthusiasm and coaching skills are second to none. Jules can also regularly be found camera in hand, snappy some beautiful shots of others on the water and the stunning cornish scenery . . . ( more )

Peruvian Dreams come true! A dreamy clip of Marion Raisi and Sylvain Demercastel's Preuvian adventure . . .(more)

2 weeks in Fiji! 1 surf week and 1 windsurf/kitesurf/SUP week The Butterfly Effect is offering 2 amazing weeks in Fiji this May and June, so be sure join us this year! Take a look at all the fun from last year in the video. Please contact mailtinfo@betheeffect.com for any questions or for booking. Thanks!! . . . (more)

Zara Davis the UK’s queen of speed has been voted UK windsurfer of the year. The UKWA (United Kingdom Windsurfing Association) is very pleased to announce the winner of the UK windsurfer of the year Zara Davis. Zara had a fantastic year to gain her nomination including achieving a new women's production speed record in Namibia. Then back to back wins, in three rounds of the European speed tour to become the ISWC European champion for the second time in her career. She also won the UK Weymouth speed week for a record 6th time as well as the women's British GPS 2011 speed ladder. . . . (more)

Lee Korzits - Sports Personality of the Year It is often said that nothing is as special as a first. A first kiss, a first car, a first gold medal. But for Lee Korzits nothing could be further from the truth. Korzits became the youngest ever winner of a gold medal at the ISAF Sailing World Championships as a precocious 19-year-old in 2003, but her return to the pinnacle of her sport earlier this month far outweighed her triumph eight years ago. . . . (more)

Shawna Cropas Windsurfer, Surfer, S.U.Per, Windsurfing Coach, Photoshoot model, Maui Mother… life has certainly been an adventure for Shawna Cropas since leaving Vancouver many years ago. She honed her windsurfing skills and coaching while living in Ireland’s windswept Brandon Bay, but in the next chapter of her journey, she traded the green waves and fields of Ireland for somewhere just as lush. Boardseeker catchs up with Shawna as she gets into the festive mood on the valley isle. . . (more)

Sailor Profile . . . Greta Benvenuti

Junko Nagoshi joins Goya International Junko has been impressing all round with her passion, dedication and love to the sport of windsurfing. Now Goya have snapped her up for their International Team we will keep an eye on her for the future. . . . (more)

Get to know World Champion Lee Korzits I have known Lee Korzits for more than 15 years, and it's fascinating, on a personal level, to see the progress this rare girl has made. At the source is Lee's love of the sea in every way possible - surfing, windsurfing, and of course Olympic windsurfing. . . . . (more)

Korzits - RS:X womens World Champion In a dramatic medal race for the RS:X Women here at the ISAF Sailing World Championships, Lee Korzits [ISR] hung on to her gold medal positions by just 2 points after a strong challenge form Zofia Noceti Klepacka [POL] As predicted yesterday Zofia proved too hot for Marina Alabau [ESP] to handle. She burst off the start line just behind Maayan Davidovich [ISR] who was first to the breakwater underneath the grandstands . . . . (more)

GO WITH THE FLOW - Cape Verde Clinic FLOW goes international holding their first action packed, but relaxed week for female windsurfers on the beautiful, unspoiled island of Sal, Cape Verde from 12th to 18th March 2012. . . . (more)

FLOW RIDERS FLOW has brought together a fantastic group of female watersports ambassadors, who like FLOW are intent on encouraging and developing women's watersports....welcome to the Flow Riders. Flow Riders are here: to inspire, to encourage, for you to learn from and connect with. . . . (more)

Justyna Sniady How's a girl from Poland get to end up in WA riding perfect waves? Well, simple as it sounds, “I had a dream”. That’s it. And I followed it. A dream that goes all the way back to when I was 12 and saw the Robby Naish’s R.I.P. video for the first time. I knew that I had to ride the same kind of waves one day. Living in an apartment in Warsaw, 500km from the sea with long winters and short summers, I wasn't exactly perfect material to become a proper wave-rider. . . . . . more in "Windsurfer International"

Laurence Bonneau-Charland – CAN 65 Her adventure starts in 1997 when she first tried sailing Optimist at the age of 8 years old. She loved it but never thought of becoming a big sailor later in the future. She was training 20 hours a week in gymnastics during that time. . . . more

Ingrid Larouche AWT Women's Overall Winner MauiSails wants to congratulate team rider Ingrid Larouche on an outstanding performance throughout the year competing on the AWT, securing the title of National Women's Champion for 2011! At the tour's first stop in Santa Cruz, CA, Ingrid impressed the judges with her fluid wave riding in light onshore conditions, making mediocre conditions look epic, finishing not only first place in the women's division, but also 2nd place in the men's amateur division as well. At Pistol River, Ingrid displayed her high wind skills honed in from summers in the gorge, putting up big forwards and solid wave rides, using her 2.9 and 3.3, to put her yet again on top of the women's podium. At the final event in Hookipa, Ingrid sailed extremely well against strong competition, and made her way through the early rounds and right into the finals, ending up 3rd place, putting her in 1st place overall for the American Windsurfing Tour! Keep up the great work, Ingrid!…

From Big Blue TransAt Training in Tahiti In February 2012 Sarah Hebert, 26, will set out on her solo Transatlantic Windsurfing Challenge. As part of her preparations she’s attempted several shorter crossings, including a gruelling 240km journey between two French Polynesian islands. Sarah describes how things both did, and didn't go according to plan … Read the article on Windsurfer International

From Russia with love Windsurf beauty Olya Raskina has had an incredible year travelling to some of the finest spots on the planet. Super-talented freestyler and wave rider Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde) has had an outstanding year travelling to some exceptional windsurf spots. She has been pulling spocks on the turquoise water of Dahab, and riding the super-clean waves on Mauritius and Maui. Raskina was also lucky enough to witness the world's best riders rip up the monster wave Jaws, whilst it was firing with all guns blazing. Alongside honing her own skills on the water, Raskina is dedicated to getting as many women into windsurfing as possible through her training and the windsurfing beauties camps. Take a look at Rakina's stunning year HERE and if you would like to hear more about the windsurfing beauties training camps drop her an email

Sarah-Quita is nominated for the "Sailor of the year award" From the ISAF Rolex website: Winning a World Champion title in the Professional Windsurfing Association is no mean feat; winning two in the same year is truly exceptional. At just 20 years of age, Sarah-Quita Offringa from Aruba has achieved just that - she is the PWA Women's Slalom World Champion and the PWA Women's Freestyle World Champion. . . . (more)

Ladies Rock UK's Windfest This year's Poole Windfest saw a brand new type of competitor take to the water. Seven of us from the fairer sex decided to show our male counterparts not only that we can we crank on our own downhaul, but also that we can hold our own when it comes to competition. OK, so we may not all be graced with an inbuilt ability to shaka, spock or eslider, but we can rock a slick carve gybe and chop hop to our heart's content. It was high time for the ladies to shine. . . . (more)

Interview with Formula Windsurfing Womens European Champion - Olga Maslivets UKR Q – How do you feel, now you are the European champion FW? Really very happy - I love to race formula but do not get the opportunity very often. I like the challenge of racing in a different class . . . . (more)

IFCA Slalom Championships, Hyeres From 7th to 11th September Almanarre will host the 2011 IFCA Junior, Youth, Women & Masters Slalom Championship. Not only are there European Championship titles up for grabs but also the 2011 IFCA Women's Slalom World Champion will be declared at this event . . . (more)

Surfmag Interview with Laure Treboux Switzerland's online Surfmag interviewed Swiss Freestyle Legend Laure Treboux - "Laure Treboux is definitely one of the best Freestyle Windsurfers in the world and guess what, she's from Switzerland!." Click here to read the article.

Maui Maids "This last issue of Windsurfing ran only a fragment of an article I put together about some of the ladies who sail here at Ho'okipa year round. The magazine only published the group shot of us girls with the title, Should Windsurfing Be Sexy? I was asked to defend the photo, which is completely taken out of context if it's not followed up with the article we wrote to go with it." Click here for Shauna Cropas' article and fab photos.

Resi on windsurfing Resi Stiegler is an Olympic downhill athlete and a ferocious freeride skier. In this TikiNews, Resi talks about falling in love with windsurfing during her stay on Maui, her progress and the similiarities between these extreme sports. Click here for the interview with pictures.

Interview with Anne Karki Third in Ceri's series of interviews, the Raceboard Europeans Event Director, Anne Karki, is in the spotlight Read the interview

Sanna Paivarinta - gives her views on officialdom and the sport Meet Sanna, Race Officer for the Raceboard Europeans in Yyteri, Finland, interviewed by Ceri Williams, IWA Executive Secretary Read the interview

Marianne Kaplas - her thoughts on women in windsurfing & Raceboard Europeans Ceri Williams, IWA Executive Secretary, caught up with Marianne at the Raceboard Europeans in Yyteri, Finland to ask her a few questions. Read the interview

How I got into windsurfing - by Margareta Engstrom "Life is like a book, and those who don't travel only read the first page" A statement taken from the infamous "Sipping Jetstreams" by Taylor Steel. I like to slightly rephrase this statement to "those who don't try, only reads the first page". To me, life has never really been about "what you have", but rather "what you do with it". Read more on www.starboard.com

Female Focus Good to see hardware brands tuning and expanding their ladies teams. Naish swooped for American Windsurfing Tour (AWT) Organiser Sam Bittner, while Tatiana Howard waved goodbye and thanks to Naish and Aloha to JPAustralia and NeilPryde. Meanwhile new girl on the Point-7 team, Greta Benvenuti (ITA-38) scored well at the Ulsan PWA World Cup and is loving life on tour - as featured in this clip by Sean O'Brien.

Robby Naish talking about Sarah's Atlantic crossing. Follow the preparation on sarah-hebert.com.

GIRLS GO FREE!!! BSA WEYMOUTH 21-22 May Tushingham Sails and Starboard UK have teamed up with The Official Test Centre (Weymouth) and Headline Sponsor JAFFA ORANGES to bring slalom racing to Portland Harbour. Event info A special promotion for this event ‘GIRLS GO FREE’. Starboard, Tushingham, Jaffa and the OTC are offering free entry to all ladies and girls to this event*, so this is a great opportunity to 'have a go' without any cost. (Non-members will be subject to a membership fee which can be as low as £10 for master blasters’ temporary weekend-long cover – necessary for insurance purposes.) With loads of background activities taking place whatever the weather thanks to Jaffa (including Saturday night party!) this is sure to be the biggest and best event outside of the NWF!

Feminine Freestyle in Bonaire Just a little report from Bonaire where I have been training freestyle the last 6 weeks. Amazing to stick away over the winter, as Denmark isn’t so surf friendly at that time. Ahh, nice! I’ve been here in Bonaire the last three years for training, and I keep coming back - I really like the place. The wind has been up and down this year though, but we’ve had at least 2 weeks of perfect conditions. Really nice! Read more . . .

Girls in Bonaire by Kuma . . . one of the last videos by Kuma, who is leaving the island soon to go back to Japan. This time he features the freestyle girls.

Evi Tsape Girls Camps Athens A series of windsurf camps will be organized by PWA Women's Wave Rider Evi Tsape for the fourth year running in May 2011. The series will take place at the installation of Karavi water sports, which is located on the beach of Schinias, Athens; Evi has also started a partnership with the windsurfing school that is lodged there. The camp will run for 3 consecutive weekends; 2 of them have been dedicated as every year to girls only, whereas 1 of them will be open to men as well . . . read more

Bryony Shaw RS:X Brazilian Training Check out Bryony Shaw training on her RS:X windsurfer in Buzios, Brazil. Good preparation for the Olympic selection competitions of summer 2011. Ultimate goal of Olympic gold in 2012.

A lot more goes in to being an Olympian than just windsurfing Life would be a lot easier if someone took over the responsibility of planning my campaign, and all I had to worry about was training and racing. However, like the majority of Olympic hopefuls who don't have a team of support personnel, planning, logistics, and budget management falls squarely onto my shoulders. Read the article on Farrah Hall's blog . . .

COME TO MY WORLD-Dakhla A new vid from Sarah Hebert on Vimeo

Laure Treboux Up North for the New Year We were still in Esperance when it started to look pretty promising for up north. We made the most of our last day in Esperance with a fun surf in the morning followed by a bit of windsurfing - just playing around in light winds and small waves. We decided to hit the road that evening so that we would make it to Geraldton in time. There's over 1100km between them, so after a short stopover in Perth we drove straight up north, . . . Read more

Alice Arutkin signs with Red Bull Alice Arutkin signs with Red Bull, becoming the first girl on the team that includes legends such as Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Robby Naish and the young Philip Koster.

Aloha Butterflies A trailer clip with news on Shawna Cropas and Tatiana Howard's awesome Aloha Windsurfing Clinics and Butterfly Effect Events working together! Shawna Cropas Aloha Windsurfing Clinics and Tatiana Howards Butterfly Effects come together to create a unique women’s only windsurfing instructional and SUP fitness event the week prior to the Maui and Fiji Butterfly Effect. They will be running their first Aloha Waterwomen Windsurfing Clinic together on Maui April 26th to May 2nd and running another all ladies only windsurfing clinic on Fiji starting May 28th to June 4th. Their Aloha meets Butterfly Effect coaching week long holiday is aimed at all women of all ages from fledgling windsurfers to advanced sailors.

Sarah-Quita in Lanzarote With two out of the four 2011 Womens' Freestyle events in 'home' waters, and two in the Canary islands, any time-spent on the water away from the Dutch Antilles will help three-times and current World Champion Sarah-Quita Offringa win a fourth successive title. Check her out in this clip training in Lanzarote

Hookypedia The harness is without question one of the trickiest bits of kit to get just right, especially for Ladies. Even if everything else is perfect, the board, the sail, the conditions an ill fitting harness can make a potentially fantastic windsurf uncomfortable, annoying and even painful. FLOW has created the "Hookypedia" in order to give us all the run down on who's wearing what and why this season. More . . .

MORE WOMEN'S NEWS IN OUR NEWS ARCHIVE . . .