The organizers of the IJSBA European Freestyle Championship were happy to host Round 1 of the 2016 EFC that took place this past Saturday, May 14th in So’Fun Village, France. The first round of the European Championship welcomed 21 riders from 8 different countries, all to compete in the French round of European Freestyle Championship. Unlike so many US events, the European Freestyle Championship (EFC) purposely separated freestyle from high speed personal watercraft racing 5 years ago to give the branch of the sport sufficient and a much deserved greater spotlight.
To keep competition tight, the EFC has only three classes: Freestyle 800, Freestyle 900 and Freestyle 1200; with all athletes performing a 2 minute routine. Each routine is judged by five different judges, each per one criteria: variety, difficulty, execution, flow and number of tricks.
Again, unlike American freestyle which often gives so much credit to “amplitude”, the EFC encourages its competitors to push their limits of athleticism rather than demonstrating the sheer, raw power of their often highly expensive freestyle craft.
Industry leader and innovator, Hydro-Turf was proud to support this event and praised both the event organizers and promoters as well as its athletes for continuing to rally public appeal for the sport as well as push the boundaries of one of the most exciting branches of jet ski competition.
This past Saturday’s event at the So’Fun Village near Paris, France went off without a hitch, welcoming hundreds of spectators and awarding Best Trick prizes for each class as well as top podium places. The scoring ranks as follows:
Winner of the BEST TRICK 1200: Niels Willems; Winner of the BEST TRICK 900: Jessi Wijdeven; Winner of the BEST TRICK 800: Davey Herridge; FREESTYLE 1200: 1. Jonathan Kavanagh, 2. Tim Verheij, 3. Romain Stampers; FREESTYLE 900: 1. Jessi Wijdeven, 2. Josh Sanderson, 3. Chris Ames; FREESTYLE 800: 1. Jules Emmanuel, 2. Paul Hewitt, 3. Davey Herridge
