The Ulsan PWA event was long and offered difficult wind conditions but with his combination of the Magnum boards and the 2011 Gun Sails Josh managed to stay consistently in the top finishing it off with a final win.

Here is a couple from Josh about his podium finish at Jinha Beach, Ulsan: “Feels Good! After some trials and tribulations in trying to get my slalom legs, I finally managed to get a podium finish for the first time in my slalom career. The hard work in developing the new Magnums combined with Gun Sails substantial R&D program has finally given me the equipment to battle with the best of em’. I don’t want to get ahead of myeslf and I know I have to continue to take it one start and one jibe at time, but I can definitely say that I have a greater motivation than ever before to keep tuning my equipment for maximum effeciency. Thanks to all the friends out there who have been very supportive !”

Josh at the mark

Josh at the startline

Josh winning a final

Kurosh Kiani

The Korean sunrise

If you want to read more about Josh´s great result from Ulsan, click by the PWA website for an interview from the event site, and if you want to read more about the event and see videos from the event, click by the PWA website.

Next stop for the Angulo team will be Costa Brava where the next leg of the slalom tour will start on the 31st of May. Be sure to click back to Anguloboards.com for more stories from the team around the world.

With the beautiful scenery of the Mui Ne beaches and rough water conditions, the slalom competition began with light wind conditions and held out the sailors for 3 days. Only on the last day the wind returned, again with lighter winds in the morning increasing as the day progressed. We saw great performance from our guys, and they clearly showed that the new Magnum boards are going to take it to the next level for the upcoming racing season. Here are couple of words from Kurosh Kiani on the Vietnam PWA GranSlam event.

“Wow, what a great venue for racing. I am so impressed with Vietnam, that I cant wait to come back here next year and race. I came out here couple of days before the start of the racing and had such an amazing time meeting old friends and of course going sailing. During those few days I managed to try out nearly all combinations possible for my gear, and boy am I happy I tried it.
After riding the boards before and during the competition, all I want to do is go out and ride those boards again, I´m not kidding. I can´t believe how easy they are to sail, especially in the rough conditions that we saw in Vietnam. I could start nearly where I wanted and still be up there with the best guys.
The eliminations were very hard in Vietnam. We sailed in 12 man heats where 5 would advance into the semi finals. Those first heats were amazingly hard, and I clearly remember fighting as if it was for my life in some of the heats.
Sitting in Denmark now, I look back at an event where Josh and myself definitely turned some attention on us as the feedback on everyone who tried our boards were positive. Josh also managed to win a loosers final heat with a lead all the way from start to finish, which proofs that we are on the right track, and that you will be seing LOTS more from us in this season.”

Fuerteventura 2010 from Kurosh Kiani on Vimeo.

The Fuerteventura worldcup was by far the race that i had been looking the most forward to during this season. Finally getting to race at a place with lots of wind and perfect conditions. I was already on Fuerteventura 10 days before the racing would start and spent a big amount of time racing and tuning up with my danish mates who had also come with me.

I picked up Josh just one day before the event, and i could feel that he came all fired up and full of energy, whereas i maybe had burnt off some of mine during those 10 days that i was there before him. A lesson to bring with me for upcoming years.

Those five days that the race was on were quite hard, but i had some of the best fun ever. Why? Because personally i went through lots of changes during these days. I went from being totally nervous and not being able to pull if off to being confident and going for it during one day.

Josh was there to psyche me up and get me racing out there. Of course you cannot learn everything at once. It is a very long process, but being around on Fuerteventura this year gave me loads of new input to equipment, racing and my mental game. I mean, i have been here before and raced, but this time it was with other dimensions which gave me huge amounts of motivation go get out there for the next race and do better. Both Josh and Myself had great speed in out boards which were almost built perfectly for this place when you think of the sizes. We were on out small Magnum62 almost the whole time with sails from 5,5-7,8.

Josh was doing constant finals and loosers finals while i was not making the semi-finals, which is fine by now as i had different goals, which Josh and i agreed on before the contest. Again, i can not say how much fun it was racing with all your freinds around and just having pure fun. It was just like the old days when i started windsurfing, cruising around with your freinds out on the sea. I am saying this because it is very easy to forget the fun factor when you are in the middle of it. But this time it was all so clear and we are all excited to hit Turkey for the upcoming PWA slalom worldcup.

Now our roads have gone seperate ways and i am in Denmark re packing all my bags to take them back to the airport. Wind in Denmark is still on a summer vacation, but if i am lucky a day or two of sailing can happen before hitting Turkey where lighter winds normally dominate the venue.

Here are some words from Kurosh Kiani: “The first worldcup of the year was very educational for me. I had the chance to see how my speed was, how my race game plan was working and how i was handling getting back into real life racing. I must say that i feel much more relaxed now compared to last year because i have spent the time preparing, and mistakes that i do get taken into consideration at once instead of getting into a mix of other facts that you need to think about. I know that i have good gear. I have spent lots of time on the boards and i know that i can handle it speedwise and when it comes to jibing. And now it comes down to being able to put all your energy into the racing and taking out your competitors. I know that Josh is super excited to get out there for the next worldcup in Costa Brava, and so am i. We came back with lots of new input which is going to help us get up there in the top. Now there is 3 weeks to go until the Costa Brava worldcup, and its time to get back on the water and get tuned in for the conditions that this place brings.”

Check out some of the pictures that came out of the action in Korea. We wish our guys good luck for the upcoming races.

[View with PicLens]

We are super stoked about Steve´s great result. Unfortunately Stephane Queniart had problems with a hurt ankle but he gave us this report from the windy shores of Gruissan: ”it was a great experience,  1000 riders on a starting line it was amazing!! there were between 40 and 60 knots of wind. I used the 95 magnum I love it !! very easy and quick unfortunatly I was with a hurt ankle, I had to stay on the beach to support  steeve! I have not lost my time on the beach because there was a lot of people standing around the magnums with envious eyes, I cant wait to get back out there”

Check out the results, video´s and pictures at the DEFI WIND website.

Rain and bad weather has left the racers in Korea on standby for several days leaving lots of guys with no chance to do comebacks. As it is now the forecast is not looking too good but thermic winds have a tendency of picking up during the day in Jinha beach so we will hope for more wind later in the day for our boys and wish them the best of luck. We know they both have been working hard over winter, so giving them a couple of more races will make us stoked. All the down time in Korea has given Josh Angulo and Kurosh Kiani to give us another update from the daily life at Jinha beach. Check out this little clip they put together for us from the windless days at Ulsan, Korea.

Korea, Ulsan Worldcup day 2-4 from Anguloboards.com on Vimeo.