Nearly 50 windsurfers from 12 countries will take part in the 12th Fun Cup windsurfing competition on Feb. 18 at Mui Ne in the central coastal province of Binh Thuan.

The athletes are from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, the US and host Vietnam.

They will be divided into men's and women's divisions.

Windsurfers will sail in a figure-eight-shaped course with a distance of 2,400m for female athletes and 3,200m for males.

The Fun Cup is an annual slalom windsurfing race that has been organised by Jibe's Beach Club since 2001. Last year, Cyril Moussilmani took top prize, American Jimmy Diaz came in second and Chris Pressler of Austria finished third.

A week after Fun Cup, the world windsurfing tournament called The 2011 Vietnam PWA Grand Slam will be organised from February 25 to March 5 in the same venue.

According to the organisers, there are 12 officials from PWA, 116 professional windsurfers (20 females) and 12 international journalists from many countries and territories registered to attend the event.

The competition includes two disciplines: slalom with a figure-eight course and freestyle and judged by PWA officials.

The Vietnam Grand Slam is the first of four Grand Slams annually staged by Professional Windsurfers Association around the world.

Three other tournaments organised later are the 2011 Aruba Hi Winds Grand Slam in Aruba June 19-26, the 2011 Sotavento Fuerteventura from July 22-August 1, and the 2011 Sylt Super Grand Slam in Germany./.