The 299 Hexton Tour of Eastern Delgamia

Sailing and Surfing Federation of Eastern Delgamia presents in cooperation with the Eastern Delgamian All Sports Federation and the Hexton Boards & Sails, the 299 Hexton Tour of Eastern Delgamia for windsurfers. The Hexton Tour consists of six six-days events. There will be one competition in Filorro, one in Huana, one in Redveho, and three in the province of Tiediz. The Hexton Tour will end in a spectacular Hexton Finale of 299, in the beaches of Porhuz, the center of all surfing activities in Eastern Delgamia. The first competition, Manhanaz Refreshments 299 Season Opener, in the Golden Beach of Unhalavaz will start on Tuesday the 29th of June with the first qualification round.

The conditions were almost perfect for the first qualification round in the new 299 Hexton Tour of Eastern Delgamia. The wind was constant and every surfer got equal chances to qualify to the competition. This meant no big surprises and all the favorites almost without an exception succeeded to get to the competition, where the points for the tour are awarded.

In men's qualification Jaunhi Navascien was the best and Ubarneho Burhuon became second. Both made very good runs and it seemed like they were fighting for the win already though no points were awarded. Third were Hitzem Asteazu who is one of the favorites to win the whole tour. His chances got even better as Keopem Casardes, another favorite failed to qualify to the competition.

Haeize Karago, a speed specialist was fastest woman. Enarha Vieirhounhe was second and Maidera Ugartertan third. A result which was pretty expected. From the favorites to win the women's tour Ugartertan was the only one to get to the competition as Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe, Paranza Ribemeilho and Juenha Ondaruete failed to qualify, but this was expected as they are stronger in other events.

Due to bad weather conditions in the morning the events had to be rescheduled. The qualification for Thursday's freestyle competitions, originally scheduled for the morning, were moved for the afternoon, and the speed competitions were postponed to Thursday. Now there will be four finals on Thursday, the speed and the freestyle competitions, both men and women.

In the afternoon the weather was good enough and the qualifications for the freestyle competitions were held. Tricky weather caused some surprises, but most of the favorites did what was expected.

Peliunhe Aranha was very convincing and was clearly the best surfer out there today. He won the men's qualification in front of Mauri Iturtounhe, Azthor Barhurhi and Isushe Gorstiatouhe. Besides Aranha other didn't impress very much. From the favorites Oihen Beithi and Keopem Casardes failed to qualify for the competition. Beithi was a big disappointment as before the race he was expected to win the freestyle and Casardes failed to qualify for the second time already. Casardes blamed the weather conditions but this time the surfer was the main reason for the failure. Now he has one day to find his form again or the Season Opener will be a total disaster for him.

Also the favorite in women's competition failed. Paranza Ribemeilho has had a bad start for the Tour and also she was left outside the finalists for the second time. As she was not expected to shine in speed competition, she might be the best freestyle surfer in Eastern Delgamia. So her failure was a shock. The winner was Ariie Gamurhe with a clear margin over Lezetia Bonesserdo and Estebenha Akutaineho, the second and third

When the sun rose in the morning men were ready to start their speed competition. The winner of the qualification, Jaunhi Navascien was again in great form. But his win wasn't an easy one. Andiene Lauxirinha put up a good battle and though the results weren't as good as in qualification the spectators had a lot to watch for. Hitzem Asteazu held the third position from the qualification and last man to qualify for the final, Etxhanhe Mendizabel became fourth. Ubarneho Burhuon, the second in qualification and a big favorite to win was a disappoinment and was left last in final. After the race he admitted that he had chosen the wrong sail to match the conditions. But rumours tell that he was seen partying in the city late last night and this would have caused his bad performance

Soon after the men's competition it was women's turn to surf as fast as possible. Unfortunately wind disappeared and it was even considered to postpone the race. But the organizers decided to run the event after consulting the surfers' representatives. The conditions didn't allow women to impress and the results were rather weak. Least bad was Enarha Vieirhounhe and Okan Erroijhe beat Urhind Arestiho in the battle for the second place. Not even the fall of the favorite, Lezetia Bonesserdo, in which her rig broke, was enough to prevent the spectators from boring.

After a short break the women started their freestyle competition, which was a lot more entertaining than their speed competition. Ariie Gamurhe made a perfect run and was a clear winner. She was one step ahead the others. The battle for the places two to six was also extremely exciting. Even the smallest mistakes cost not only one place but easily several positions. The winner of this thriller and second in the competition was Maidera Ugartertan in front of Abaunha Garbaxiunhe, Enarhe Vieirhounhe and Juenha Ondaruete. Vieirhounhe leads the overall tour with the win in the speed competition and the fourth place in the freestyle in front of the winner of the freestyle competition, Ariie Gamurhe.

The last final was the men's freestyle competition. Hitzem Asteazu continued to perform well and won easily. He has had a great start to the Tour. Azthor Barhurhi had also a perfect performance but the lack of difficult tricks made the difference and Barhurhi had to settle for the second place. Besides these two surfers other didn't provide much to watch. Everyone struggled and nothing seemed to work. Especially Sur Jaurenginhe's performance was pathetic though he should have been battling for the win. He was the last one in the final.

Today the competitors qualified to get to Saturday's race and Sunday's wave competitions. These qualifications were very important as they entitled to two finals each. If you fail today you lose two chances to gain points.

In the morning men fought for places in the race finals and women for the wave finals. Andiene Lauxirinha was the only big name left out of the finals as all the favorites succeeded in the men's race qualification. This should mean exciting finals tomorrow. Keopem Casardes was completely another man today compared to his performances earlier this week when he failed to qualify for the competition. He had the best start and led the competition to the halfway turn. But he lost his speed and Mauri Iturtounhe and Hitzem Asteazu got past him. Now it was Iturtounhe's turn to lead. But hundred metres before the goal line Asteazu found a gust which gave him extra speed and he got past Itertounhe and won the qualification. Casardes was third and the battle for fourth was a real thriller between Ylizehtiu, Gorstiatouhe and Beithi, which was also the finishing order.

Women's wave qualification was a very tight, too. Mentzha Sorediunhe and Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe both made almost perfect performances but in the end the judges decided in the favor of Sorediunhe. The qualification was a high-quality competition and no surprises occured.

In women's race qualification there were a big crash at the start. Judges disqualified one of the favorites, Juenha Ondaruete and Ariie Gamurhe, the winner of the freestyle competition after the race because of this accident and they are out of the finals. Everybody got involved in the crash more or less except Estebanha Akutaineho who got a clean start. After the start it was a rather easy race for her. Dei Sarrian was second followed by Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe, Aizepehea Lexhuonhe and Garxa Zaratoudo. Winners of both earlier events, Vieirhounhe and Gamurhe failed to get to the finals.

Last event of the day was the men's wave competition. It was also a competition of high quality though some mishaps happened to the favorites. Garhe Unamunziuge was first, Keopem Casardes continued good performances and was second and Andiene Lauxirinhe third. Favorites who failed to qualify were Azthor Barhurhi, Mauri Iturtounhe and Isushe Gorstiatouhe who had even trouble to stay on board and was a real disappointment.

Today women started first. The start was a very even one. Six surfers were still side-by-side at the first turn. After the turn Paranza Ribemeilho and Garxa Zaratoudo got away from the rest of the group and increased their lead steadily. Aizepehea Lexhuonhe won the race, however. She was far behind still in the halfway but found amazing speed in the second half and came to finish in a pretty comfortable lead. Ribemeilho and Zaratoudo were second and third.

Men's first race was a battle between Hitzem Asteazu and Mauri Iturtounhe. They had the best starts and after that they were gone. In final turn Iturtounhe hit the buoy and Asteazu got past him and won.

Zaratoudo was strong also in the women's second race. She lead the race with Maidera Ugartertan and Haeize Karago. When one third of the race was left took Zaratoudo the lead and kept it to the end. Karago was left third as Ugartertan was faster in the final stages of the race.

Asteazu and Iturtounhe dominated the men's second race. This time it just wasn't a very tight competition. Iturtounhe had extra energy because of his mistake in the first race and took the lead already in the early stages. Soon Asteazu wasn't able to stay with Iturtounhe. An easy victory for Iturtounhe, Asteazu second and Peliunhe Aranha third

The weather was very sunny and this brought a lot of people to witness the last day of the Manhanaz Refreshments 299 Season Opener. Unfortunately the sunny weather wasn't good for the surfers and the results weren't good at all.

The battle for the win in the women's first wave final was exciting. Estebenha Akutaineho was left third with the tiniest margin available. Juenha Ondaruete was second and close to win. But Mentzha Sorediunhe was the luckiest one today and got the win.

Keopem Casardes showed what he can do after a substandard performance again yesterday. He won the men's first competition. He was the only one to entertain the large crowds in this competition at least a little. Other men were in a completely unacceptable form.

Women's second final was the best competition of the day. Estebenha Akutaineho and Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe both made great runs and judges had difficulties to decide which one was better. Both women deserved the win but only one could get it. Akutaineho won and got some compensation for the tight third place in the first competition.

The men's second competition was one man's show. Garhe Unamunziuge won and it was a great end for his week. He was the only surfer to get points from every final. This was enough for the second place in the overall tour standings. Hitzem Asteazu leads with 39 points, Unamunziuge has 25 points and in the third place is Mauri Iturtounhe with 23 points.

In women's overall rankings Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe leads (25 points), followed closely by Estebenha Akutaineho (23), Okan Erroijhe (22) and Garxa Zaratoudo (21). Erroijhe is a real positive surprise, she was expected to be nowhere near the top.

Only a handful of people were watching when the windsurfers fought for the places in the finals in Filorro. Maybe the moment wasn't the best one for the second event in the Hexton Tour. The football season has just started and the local team, the Phantoms played their first home game on Monday. And football is far more popular in Filorro than windsurfing.

In men's competition overall points leader and the winner of the freestyle competition in the Manhanaz Refreshments 299 Season Opener, Hitzem Asteazu was not to be surprised. Not far behind him in the second place was Sur Jaurenginhe. Third was Mauri Iturtounhe and fourth Isushe Gorstiatouhe. Maybe it is not a surprise anymore after the Manhanaz Refreshments 299 Season Opener but Keopem Casardes failed to qualify again. Another unlucky surfer was Oihen Beithi, fourth in the overall standings. He hurt his ankle and it is uncertain whether he can compete on Thursday in the next qualifications or not.

Lezetia Bonesserdo was the best woman. Juenha Ondaruete was second and points leader Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe third. Ariie Gamurhe, winner in the Manhanaz Refreshments 299 Season Opener surprisingly was left outside the finals.

There were some great performances, Asteazu's, Jaurenginhe's and Bonesserdo's were actually amazing. Hopefully these performances will bring more spectators for tomorrow's finals.

In the morning everything was perfect. There were enough wind, the sun was shining and the organizers expected more spectators than on the previous days. But the day became a nightmare for some of the surfers in Hexton Tour.

Women started first. Estebenha Akutaineho started extremely well and got a comfortable lead. Behind her the situation was tight. In the fourth turn, little before the halfway, the group battleing for the second place had some problems. There were some collisions and and for example Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe and Juenha Ondaruete were left almost behind everybody. They didn't give up but fought and before the last straight Okan Erroijhe, Lezetia Bonesserdo, Garbaxiunhe and Ondaruete were together. Two of them would be in the finals tomorrow, two would be left out of the fun. Garbaxiunhe was the first one to give up and dropped. But the other three remained side by side to the finish line. Ondaruete was the unlucky one to fail to qualify, Erroijhe and Bonesserdo were the last ones to get to the finals. First to finish was Garxa Zaratoudo, second was Aizepehea Lexhuonhe and Akutaineho third, after making few mistakes in the latter half of the race.

Men's competition was even more dramatic. The start was clean. Peliunhe Aranha got a bad start and coming in to the first turn he tried to make up some positions. This was a start to a catastrophe. He had far too much speed and he didn't see well behind his sail. He caused a big crash with his actions. The judges had no choice but to disqualify him.

Aranha's actions were extremely harmful especially for Keopem Casardes and Hitzem Asteazu, both in good positions fighting for the win of race. They both fell after Aranha had hit them. Casardes retired immediately, possibly because of a small injury. Asteazu decided to fight and continued his race.

This wasn't a good decision. He was far too angry. He wasn't mentally ready to continue. Few turns later he hit Ostarghe Madailhe. No one else to blaim but Asteazu. Madailhe probably would have finished high enough to get to the final, but this collision caused him to drop too far from the leaders. Asteazu was disqualified because of this collision, too. It is still uncertain whether Aranha or Asteazu will be banned from the upcoming races.

But the race had its winner. Mauri Iturounhe kept himself out of the trouble and surfed to a fairly easy victory. Oihen Beithi became second and Markeh Ylizehtiu third. The bad luck some of the top surfers had was good luck for others. Aketzhe Machirabela, actually a speed competition specialist, got to the finals. Also the battle for the overall championship might get tighter as Asteazu, the leader, has to miss at least two races.

The most interesting news today were that the judges decided not to suspend either Aranha or Asteazu from the upcoming races and so they can compete on Saturday. The jury interviewed competitors involved in the crashes and investigated the videotapes filmed during the race. They didn't notice anything what could have caused longer suspensions.

The actual races were rather boring with no tight fights for points. In men's competitions Isushe Gorstiatouhe caught overall leader Asteazu with his second and third places, and is now only four points behind. Gorstiatouhe also took the lead in race standings in front of Mauri Iturtounhe, who was unlucky in the second race today and was left without points in it.

Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe was able to remain in the overall lead in women's tour even though she didn't race today. But Okan Erroijhe and Garxa Zaratoudo are only two points behind. Zaratoudo also strenghtened her lead in race standings and leads now eights points in front of Paranza Ribemeilho.

Today's both competitions were pretty much similar. Only a few favorites failed and finals tomorrow will be most probably exciting.

In men Isushe Gorstiatouhe continued his good performances from yesterday and won today the qualification. Andiene Lauxirinha was second. Overall leader Hitzem Asteazu wasn't at the top but will be competing from points tomorrow. That was the most important thing for him. Keopem Casardes was unlucky again and was the first one not to get to the tomorrow's races.

Estebenha Akutaineho was clearly the best in women's competition. Enarha Vieirhounhe was second and Mentzha Sorediunhe third. Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe, the overall points leader was the last one to qualify to tomorrow's races, only with small margin in front of unlucky Dei Sarrian.

Isushe Gorstiatouhe had an amazing week. In the nine competitions during the week he never finished lower than fourth. He won the first freestyle competition, the qualification for wave competition and became the king of the week by winning both wave competitions on the last day taking the full twenty points from them.

Nobody was able to even challenge Gorstiatouhe today. Azthor Barhurhi got closest to him in the first competition. But still Barhurhi had no chance to beat Gorstiatouhe. Also Aketzhe Machirabela was incapable to win Gorstiatouhe in second competition, though Machirabela was the best of the rest.

In the championship table Gorstiatouhe got a comfortable lead. He is fourteen points ahead of Hitzem Asteazu, the former leader, who managed to get only two points on the last day. Garhe Unamunziuge managed to stay in the top of the wave standings with the six points he got today.

Women's competitions weren't either any thrillers but there the name of the winner at least was different in the second competition. Paranza Ribemeilho won the first competition. Mentzha Sorediunhe was second in the first competition, but won the second in front of Lezetia Bonesserdo. Enarha Vieirhounhe was third in both competitions.

The women overall tour standings are really tight. Abaunzha Garbaxiunhe and Vieirhounhe are in the lead, Ribemeilho and Sorediunhe only one point behind.