Aerotech Team Riders in Cape Verde We just came back from Sal, Cape Verde were we started our 2008 season. It was suppose to be the ultimate waversailing trip with epic Ponta Preta conditions, big jumps and a milion per cent progress. Suppose to be... We came and the wind dropped down to 5 knots for 10 days. For a couple of days the famous west coast of the island known for spots like Ponta Preta, Canoa, Ali Baba, Coral Joul etc. was hit by some 2meter swell which we used for surfing couse the wind was not there. The forecast was looking nice for the last week of the trip, but the swell was coming from eastern directions and didn't reach the best spots. But we did what we could out of the conditions and got some small waves on the east side of the island. It was more or less similar to the baltic wave we get home, here in Poland, but there was no other option so we went for it. The wave was pretty small, but anyway we managed to get some jumps. We tried some crazy stuff, but the conditions didn't let us to stick anything huge - just some bacloops, forwards, tabletops etc.- although we tried much more and for sure made some progress ou of it. We also got some "not that bad" waveriding, but it wasn't the one we came for. We sailed around 9 out of 21 days which is pretty miserable for Cape Verde, but what to do - that's the life of windsurfers. We used both the Charges (me) and the Phantoms (my brother Leszek). Both models are really improved comapring to last year's one. As I use the Charges I can surely say they're really powerful, fast and comfortable. It's a pity that we didn't really hit the conditions but I'm sure next year's gonna be better. Anyway we made progress for sure and from session to session we're getting better and better. Last year Leszek won the Polish wave champs while I finished the slalom worlds as a runner-up. Hope this year the schedule will not collide and I will conquer him in an Charge vs. Phantom final ;) For now I'm staying in Poland, studying and I'll be leaving for a first racing training soon. Now I'll do some skatesurfing not to get out of shape and I'll keep you posted if anything interesting happens. See u on the water Maciek Rutkowski POL-23 P.S Check out our fresh website www.surfbros.pl - there is still some stuff under construction but it'll move on soon for sure and for now there are many pictures and a lot of other interesting stuff, I hope.