Marathon day and fireworks in Pozo!

18/07/2022

After 8 days of competition, Pozo Izquierdo finally bounced fully into life on the final day of the 2022 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup as Pozo strength winds and fun stunt ramps let the best sailors in the world truly demonstrate what they are capable of with an entire day of pulsating action, which saw the Men’s and Women’s Double Eliminations completed on what turned out to be Super Sunday.

Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) is well known for her fighting qualities having won the biggest fight of her life against cancer over 10 years ago. The 18-time world champion, who is now a full-time physio, drew upon all of those qualities today to fight back and claim another fantastic victory here as she extends her incredible run in Pozo, which has seen her win all but one event here since 1998. Daida produced the moment of the day in Heat 34 against - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - as she landed an amazing frontside air 360 to earn 8.25 points, whilst she later landed the biggest jump of the entire contest with a huge 6m stalled forward to win the Red Bull Rockets contest, whilst also setting up another all Moreno Twins final. Daida was able to come out on top in the final to force a Super Final, which proved to be a close affair. Iballa made the better start to Heat 36 as she landed a forward and backloop, but Daida soon fought back with a stalled forward before edging into the lead with a stylish one-handed backloop to cement herself as the Queen of Pozo once again! Iballa may not have been able to quite defend her Single Elimination crown, but she should still be very proud of her performance over the last 9 days, which saw her return to the event podium having just missed out in 2019 - 4th, whilst the legendary Moreno Twins secure the top two places in Pozo Izquierdo for the first time since 2017. Reigning World Champion - Sarah-Quita Offringa - starts the year with a solid third place. The Aruban displayed several excellent performances throughout this year’s event, but couldn’t match Daida’s explosive display in the battle for second and third today. The other standout performance of the day goes to - Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) - who stormed her way back through the Double Elimination after a shock early exit in the single. The 25-year-old was on fire throughout today as she consistently landed huge stalled forwards and pushloops to win five heats on the bounce against; Lucia Trivino Delgado (Severne / Severne Sails), Marine Hunter (KA Sail), Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone), Isabel Trivino Delgado (Severne / Severne Sails) and Justyna Sniady (North Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), which saw Erpenstein climb all the way into fourth place before Offringa ended her come back.

Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) spent the afternoon watching - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) go on a rampage as the Brazilian climbed all the way through the Double Elimination to setup a tie against the German in the final. Köster having been on the sidelines all day watching the action go down came flying out of the blocks as he opened with a stalled tabletop double to earn - 8.88 points - to set the tone. The 5-time world champion then set the beach alight as he landed a 7.1 metre stalled double to earn another 8.88 points - before bettering that effort by the end of the heat with a perfect pushloop forward - 9.25 points - which was landed almost immediately after Browne stomped a tabletop double of his own, to put the result in no doubt. Köster hasn’t put a foot wrong the entire and deservedly walks away with a 7th event title in Pozo. Browne will be absolutely delighted with his comeback today, which saw the 2013 Wave World Champion win 6 consecutive heats to climb all the way into second place, which is not only a great result in itself, but it also puts the 33-year-old in command of the title race as he now jumps to the top of the overall rankings with a 3,745 point lead over his next closest rival - Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails). Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) may not have been able to defend his second place from the single elimination, but the Spaniard showed plenty of innovation today as he landed a clew-first frontside 360, whilst the 3-time world champion also walks away with the title of the Men’s Red Bull Rockets after landing a huge 8.9 metre stalled forward in Heat 50. Even a perfect 10 - the only one of the event for an incredible pushloop forward - was not enough for Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails) to stop Browne’s come back as Campello lost out by just 1.49 of a point. Campello finishes this year’s event in 4th, which sees him rise to 5th in the overall rankings. Like so many before him, Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), couldn’t quite crack the formula to stop Browne in his tracks even after earning the highest wave score of the day - 7.75 points - for a radical frontside 360 and backside air. TT walks away with a solid 5th place.

Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) was one of the other standout sailors today as the 19-year-old consistently launched into some of the biggest jumps of the day. In fact, Gil was only pipped to the Red Bull Rockets award in the second to last heat of the day by Fernandez with Gil earlier landing a huge stalled forward - 8.8m - in Heat 44a against Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) - which was awarded the maximum 7.5 points for that manoeuvre. This event marks a landmark for Gil as he records his first top 10 result on the PWA World Tour.
That concludes an action packed Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup, we hope you’ve enjoyed the action of the last 9 days. We’ll take a look a deeper look at the result in the event summary, which will be released early next week. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks again to the organisers and all the volunteers, who make the event possible.