Portuguese American Journal

Azores: Hosting the 2015 ‘Formula Windsurfing World Championships’ – FWWC’15

For the second consecutive year, the Azores are hosting the ‘Formula Windsurfing World Championships’ (FWWC’15), to be held from on April 7 through April 12, in Praia da Vitória bay, Terceira island.

The competition will gather 60 athletes, from 17 different countries, among them some of the top world competitors.

“This is the most important event in the world in windsurfing,” said Carlos Borges of the Naval Club of Praia da Vitória, the organizer of the event. “This is happening here because we offer excellent conditions for water sports activities and have a very sheltered bay,” he told the press.

Participants include multiple world champions, among them Steve Allen from Australia (3 times world champion); Ross Williams, from Great Britain, (2 titles and the current world champion); and Casper Bouman, from the Netherlands, the 2013 world title.  Also confirmed are South American Champion Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (from Argentina) and European Champion Sebastien Koerdel (from Germany).

An estimated 2 million people, between the ages of 15 and 45 years, practice the sport worldwide. The Government of the Azores, the main co-sponsor of the event, in partnership with the Associação Formula Windsurfing Portugal, hopes to continue promoting the competition as tourism reference.

Established in 2973, the Naval Club of Praia da Vitória has organized local, national and international water sports championships including the European Windsurfing Competition three years ago.

For more information visit FWWFC’15 and Azorean Gateway.

paj.staff

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The Azores  (population 250,000) is a region of Portugal composed of nine islands. The archipelago discovered by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, became an Autonomous Region of Portugal in 1976. The government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores includes the Legislative Assembly, composed of 57 elected deputies, elected by universal suffrage for a four-year term; the Regional Government and Presidency, with parliamentary legitimacy, composed of a President, a Vice-President and seven Regional Secretaries responsible for the Regional Government executive operations. The Autonomous Region of the Azores is represented in the Council of Ministers of the Central Government by a representative appointed by the President of Portugal. According to the latest US census over 1.3 million individuals of Portuguese descent live in the United States, the majority with roots in the Azores. It is estimated that over 20,000 US citizens live in Portugal.