Greetings

• Manuel Coelho - Mayor of Sines
• Francisco Zambujinho - President of Alentejo Tourism Office
• Steve Allen AUS 0 - 2007 Formula World Champion
• Bruno De Wannemaeker - IWA President
• Ceri Williams - Formula Class Chairman, IWA Executive Secretary
• José Guimarães - Overpower Club Chairman

Sines Town Hall

I’m very pleased to welcome all the sportsmen and sports lovers who visit Sines for the Windsurfing Grand Prix 2008/ 2009.

The sea is Sines’ most important territory. We are working to increase its leisure use among local people, but also to attract sportspeople and tourists from all over the world to discover the unusual qualities of this coastline.

Nautical sports make a strong mark on Sines’ life, mainly through surf, bodyboard, sailing and diving, but also through sports like kayaking, underwater fishing and Sines’ Recreational Port, the only one in Alentejo’s Coast.

We include in our strategy guidelines for 2008 a big project for the promotion of this kind of activities in the south of the municipality. This event is also part of that effort.

We wish you all a good stay in Sines and that you have the best memories of our hospitality, landscape, climate and historical heritage.

Manuel Coelho
Mayor of Sines

Alentejo Tourism Office

Dear Friends,

In the long golden sands of Troia Península and in the hollows of the cliffs of so many beaches further to the south of this peninsula the windsurfers have the possibility to watch dolphins and wild birds.

Apart the practise of windsurf, I sincerely hope that you will be enchanted by the beaches of Alentejo Coast, either to the north of Sines cape with its 47 kms of golden sands that put you in front of interminable gold and blue horizons, or to the south, where you may experience the privacy of enclosures surrounded by cliffs and where you may practise activities such as diving, fishing and watching crustaceans in an unpolluted sea.

In total, we have 165 kms of coastline and at sun setting we are compelled to find an open air restaurant to have a refreshing drink and to taste the shellfish.

I welcome you and I do hope you have a most enjoyable and adventurous stay in Alentejo.

With my best regards,

Francisco Zambujinho
President of Alentejo Tourism Office

Steve Allen AUS 0 - 2007 Formula World Champion

Steve Allen - From Australia,

It is always a pleasure to come to the warm, crystal blue water sandy beaches of Portugal, always offering great conditions for windsurfing.

I am stoked to have the opportunity to venture to yet another great location in Portugal to experience all of the above again with great organization and warm friendly hospitality as always.

Steve Allen AUS 0
2007 Formula World Champion

Greetings... from the IWA.

Hello,

This will be a tough year for the windsurf organization in Portugal.

First, we start with this Grand Prix FW in a new spot, Sines.

All of the best windsurfers in the World will be present and ready to start a new season on the Formula Windsurfing and Slalom World Tour.

Let's hope that the wind gods provide us with a wide range of conditions and that the best all-rounder may win.

This year, PWA will happen sooner in Guincho and, a few months later, the racers will be back in Portugal for the Formula Windsurfing World Championships and the Slalom World Championships.

All these events are organized by Jose Luis and Isabel Guimarães from Club Overpower and this guarantees that everything will happen smoothly. Past events since the end of the 80-ties have proven this more than once!

Bruno De Wannemaeker
IWA President

Greetings... from the IFWC.

Greetings...

This is an important year for windsurfing.

The Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix series goes global. Where better to start the world tour than in Portugal, home of so many international events and championships.

At this year Sines-Portugal Grand Prix we will be unveiling our bid to represent Olympic Windsurfing in 2012: the Formula One-Design.
Overpower have consistently delivered quality events; and we look forward to a long association with the Municipality of Sines.

See you all in Sines!

Ceri Williams
Formula Class Chairman
IWA Executive Secretary

Overpower Club - Welcome to Grand Prix.

We’re thrilled because IFWC - International Formula Windsurfing Class and IFCA - International Funboard Class Association have trusted us the organization of one of its most important competitions: the Portugal Formula Grand Prix 2008.

This event is a part of one of the most relevant international sportive series which count for the world rankings of its Classes and attribute points for the entries in the Formula Windsurfing and Slalom World Championships, which will take place in this magnificent country, where the sun and the wind celebrate joy all the time!

In this Olympic Year, when lots of innovations will happen throughout the world of Windsurfing, we whish that the riders’ visit to Sines will be a good reason for an excellent social intercourse among competitors, the media and the public, in addition to a well performed regatta.

This spirit is also being shared by the main championship sponsors: Tourism of Portugal, Tourism of Alentejo, Town Hall of Sines and Galp, which will gather efforts in order to make your stay in Alentejo an unforgettable event.

As a spokesman of the Overpower Club, I strongly believe that the regattas’ scenario of São Torpes, Sines, will be too small to accommodate people with your huge dimension as sportsmen and as men, and to all the people who desire to follow closely this great competition, I whish you all have a nice time and enjoy the show.

Looking forward to meet you soon in Sines …until then, good winds & good waves,

José Guimarães
Overpower Club Chairman