CAAS
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Krisjanis Tutans
Date Of Birth: 13.04.1983
Sail Number: LAT 168
Website: www.lat168.lv
Home Town: Pavilosta, Latvia
Favorite Discipline: Wave
Sail Quiver: 3.7, 4.2, 4.7, 5.3, 5.8 Super Freak Maui Ed. (Hotsails Maui)
Board Quiver: 82 and 89l Fanatic Triwave
Masts Quiver: 340, 370, 400cm Extreme wave, 430 Power wave, all 100% carbon-CAAS
Favorite Sailing Spots: Ristna in Hiiumaa island, Estonia
What inspires you? Motivated people
What’s something that you get from sailing that you can’t get from anything else? Freedom and complete forgetting from day problems
Windsurfing history: On windsurfing I’m since 1994. My father and sister were already into it. My father was one of the first windsurfers in Latvia, really one of few who started Funboard discipline here. In the beginning I was on my father’s hand made Funboard and father friends hand made sail, specially for me ;) Already on 1997 I was among first three in Funboard Youth. Starting from 1999 I was on Formula Windsurfing and Slalom. Till 2006 I was into competitions in these disciplines. Almost every weekend was some competitions somewhere in Baltic’s. In my facility I went for Worlds and European Championships in FW. Then Formula stuff started to feel not right for me, I was 2nd in ranking in Latvia, and I throw all brand new stuff away, actually sold ;) On 2008 we made the first Latvian Wave Cup with two competitions. Already for six years, I have success and I took 1st place in Latvian wave cup.
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ŽIGA HRČEK
Date Of Birth: 29.3.1975
Sail Number: SLO 99
Home Town: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Favorite Discipline: Freestyle, wave
Sail Quiver: Fire 4.0, Fire 4.7, Fire 5.3, Fire 5.8, SF 3.7, SF 4.2, SF 4,7, SF 5.0, SF 5.3, SF 5.8
Board Quiver: Fanatic twin fin 72, Fanatic freestyle wave 86, Fanatic Skate 108
Masts Quiver: 370, 400, 430 Power wave all 100% carbon-CAAS
Favorite Sailing Spots: Mauritius, El Tur, Pula
What inspires you? Nature, animals
What’s something that you get from sailing that you can’t get from anything else? It clears my mind.
Windsurfing history: I fell in love with windsurfing with age of 5. Since then one part of my brain is always occupied with this amazing sport. I used to compete in EFPT and local freestyle competitions but beside studying and work I found out that freesailing is what is really filling me up. After some time, my girlfiend and I established professional windsurf school. We invited our friends – best Slovenian windsurfers and now our school is traveling around the world and producing more and more windsurf freaks. Check where we are at the moment on www.windsurfer.si!
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NINA TANHOFER
Date Of Birth: 26.11.1981
Home Town: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Favorite Discipline: Freestyle
Sail Quiver: DD 3.8, 4.3, 4.8, 5.3, also using Supefreak 3.7, 4.2, 4.7
Board Quiver: JP Freestyle PRO 91l / custom freestyle board Flikkaboard 83l / custom wave board Flikkaboard 62l
Masts Quiver: Caas Extreme Wave 340 cm, Caas Power Wave 370 cm, 400 cm, all 100% carbon; Caas extensions 30, 45 cm, 100% carbon
Favorite Sailing Spots: Mauritius; Egypt, El Tur; Morocco, Essaouira/Sidi; local bays in Croatia on a good forecast …
What inspires you? Good wind forecast, the fact, that we depend on nature …
Windsurfing history: I started windsurfing, because my boyfriend was windsufing. And I started to learn freestyle, because he and all my friends were freestyling… At the moment, most of our “windsufing” time we spend “producing” new windsurfers: together with our friends, best Slovenian windsurfers we established professional windsurf school (Quiksilver windsurf school), that travels around to different spots (Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Greece …). We have clinics for all levels of windsurfing – from beginners, intermediate and advanced sailors, to those, eager to learn freestyle and wave moves. When we don’t have clinics, we either stay at home and wait for perfect forecast for windsurfing on some local spots (in Slovenia or Croatia), or we try to escape to new destinations around the world
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LINA ERŽEN
Date Of Birth: 4.5.2005
Sail Number: SLO 51
Home Town: Planina, Slovenia
Favorite Discipline: Freestyle, Iqfoil
Sail Quiver: Duotone 3.6, 4.0, 4.4, 4.8, 5.2
Board Quiver: Freestyle 82l, wave 68l-Flikkaboards
Masts Quiver: 340, 370, 400, 430 all 100% carbon-CAAS
Favorite Sailing Spots: Naxos, Lake Garda, Pelješac, Fuerte
What inspires you? Sea
What’s something that you get from sailing that you can’t get from anything else? It makes me feel free.
Windsurfing history: My journey started at the age of 7 along with my father and brother Val. My dad was a coach back then as well as now. I was doing everything for fun but at the age of 12 everything changed after I landed my first vulcano and wanted to become a professional. My first competition was in 2017 in Brouwersdam EFPT. I met some of the best girls in the world and all I could see was me improving and be like them one day. In the meantime, I also started with wave. I got my first victory as a youth freestyle world champion in 2018 and in 2019 and 2021. Last year I had one of the beat seasons so far. I placed 4th in Pwa world cup in Freestyle. A year ago, I also started with Iqfoil and I love the adrenaline you get while being on the course. It’s something different than freestyle and wave. You have lots of things going on and can improve quickly. In Youth European championship I also placed 2nd in U19! I want to keep pushing my windsurfing journey and maybe day open my own windsurfing school and inspire younger kids also in my country to start with this sport.
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VAL ERŽEN
Date Of Birth: 17.4.2007
Sail Number: SLO 31
Home Town: Planina, Slovenia
Favorite Discipline: Freestyle, Foilstyle
Sail Quiver: Duotone 3.6, 4.0, 4.4, 4.8, 5.2
Board Quiver: Freestyle 91l, wave 75l-Flikkaboards
Masts Quiver: 340, 370, 400, 430 all 100% carbon-CAAS
Favorite Sailing Spots: Naxos, Ližnjanj, Bol
What inspires you? Speed
What’s something that you get from sailing that you can’t get from anything else? It makes me feel unstoppable.
Windsurfing history: I started windsurfing as kid when I was about 6 years old with my sister Lina. I had a special gear just for me, so it was fun to learn. Not long after I started seeing interest in freestyle and it was something that also now makes me feel Free and that’s why I love it so much. I landed my first trick vulcano at 10 years old with a help of my father and Žiga Hrček. My dad is still my coach till this day. From there it just kept going. I joined my first freestyle competition in Brouwersdam EFPT 2017. It was something new and meeting all these new people pushed me to do better. In the next years I participated in lots of Pwa events as well as in wave. In 2018 I became a youth vice world champion U13 for freestyle. A year ago, from now I also joined Iqfoil and its something completely different, but I love the feeling while you are competing. It’s also a plus for me because I enjoy the foil very much. One day I want to become the best windsurfer in the world and the help inspire the younger generations.