It is unfortunate that we have not a location in this years tour for Australia. The past events in both Victoria and Queensland were both great openings to our tour. It has become difficult to secure a beach venue for 2016 as both locations face challenging opposition in permit acquisition and timing to hold IFWA Freerides but to be sure the Aussies maintain an aggressive effort still to date. We had held out posting this seasons program keeping our fingers crossed but it seems, while still possible that we may not fit an event in this year. That is not to say that AU FreeRide is of any less importance to us at IFWA but the best of efforts have yet to result in an opening round that we all hope will return for 2017.

Never the less, we have a great schedule lined up for the 2016 at IFWA and we are proud of each location for the efforts to

May 20-22 Round 1
The Tour Opens this year in Europe with the Portugal FreeRide event. The return of Portugal to the Schedule offers some exciting things and we are confident that the shortcomings of last season are but a faded memory as the PT Team mounts a massive campaign for the first round of the World Tour.

May 27-29 Round 2
Moving the following week to Lacanau, France for the venerable JetJump Extreme! In its second year at this Surf Location outside of Bordeaux the French staff promise that it will be another outstanding event invigorated by some new personnel, sponsors and the continued participation of the many of the most competitive pilots of the tour.

June 3-5 Round 3
Continuing to Newquay, UK at the revered Fistral Beach. Through the leadership of long time Tour competitor Stephen Foot and the cumulative efforts of the entire UK FreeRide community, we welcome the round for its 3rd year. UK was a difficult round in 2015 for IFWA and the attending pilots, however the venue remains spectacular and waves ever present.

This round will be the final of a European Championship that is a sub-catagory to the World Tour and ensures the mixture of a number of athletes from a variety of nations showcasing our sport proudly on the British Isle.

July 15-17 Round 4
We welcome back Brazil from a 3 year hiatus to the World Tour with JetWaves to be held outside of Salvador, Bahia. The return is made possible through the efforts of tour rider Bruno Jacob and JetWaves creator Marcello Cha Cha 'Tchello' Brandao. Its proximity to the Olympics make this event sure to be exciting as IFWA has been asked to bring our sport at this time specifically due to tourist numbers at the location.

September 9-11 Round 5(pending date confirmation)
The continued participation of our very own Carolanne Guistina brings us to the USA for the always anticipated Surf Slam presented by OnCourse Events sponsored by Blowsion which remains in the schedule as of this posting.
Often this location, in the quiet fishing town of Pacific City, Oregon has the biggest waves of the tour. Formally a beach BBQ, the gathering is always a very exciting competition and holds an appeal for riders and fans of FreeRide not found anywhere else.

November 3-6 Round 6
Our IFWA World Tour 2016 Final welcomes Japan in its inaugural entry as an participating Nation. We are very please to have this event on our schedule as it has been a very long time coming. WE have for a number of years sought to get participation of Japanese Pilots to the tour and we have been lucky to have Takaaki Murao come a number of times in the past. It is by his effort with his sponsor and the recon evaluation of our esteemed 2015 Champion Mark Gomez that we welcome Japan and all the Japanese Pilots. This event falls upon an important cultural holiday for Japan and in this we are assured by the Sponsor that everyone will enjoy a great FreeRide event. The Culture of Japan is unique and it additionally stands out as one of the biggest watercraft performance headquarters in the industry.

The International FreeRide Watercraft Association moves now into the 11th year of competition. We believe our Athletes to be of the highest character and certainly are the finest Freeriders in the world. Each one of you are critical to the success of the World Tour and it must be said that we strive to provide the most exciting watercraft competition on the planet!

We hope that you are as excited as we are to kick off the tour! in May. IFWA has a few surprises left for 2016 yet to be announced but be sure this will be the tour to break the history of those of the past as we enter the biggest year FreeRide has ever seen. With the coverage of Aim and Star Sports, EuroMotorBike, Japanes Media, ProRider and others we have in 2016 unprecedented global media coverage. We all at IFWA are confident that this year will be FreeRides finest and the massive efforts of each local city, the promoters, staff, family, fans, and friends is sure to make this a reality.

Further details of the venue locals, sponsors, contact details and accommodation information will follow shortly.

The Waves are out there and we seek to catch them!

From all of us at IFWA,

Have fun, Good Luck, and we will see you soon!

Mark Matsuda
President