Chile World Cup
No holds bar seemed to be the theme of the day, with Challenger Finals and Round 1 of the Pro Men and Women. Today’s conditions had plenty of wind and sunshine with consistent head high waves that occasionally reached logo high on sets.
Challenger Finals
The Women’s Challenger round was won by Dominica Osman (Argentina), with Camila Curinao making her way into second, only just ahead of 12 year-old local, Noni Stuven. Dominca dominated the heat, with a good top to bottom surf style of riding on well selected waves to qualify for the Pro Women’s competition.
The Men’s Challenger final had whittled down 24 contenders into a four-man final. Vicente Gonzalez started strongly, with some good turns and an aerial on his first wave. He then backed that up with plenty of time to spare, to assert a dominant lead that he maintained for the entire final.
The battle for second position was more intense between Lucas Meldrum (Duotone / Duotone Sails), Finn Mellon (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) and Tomer Shamgar (Future Fly / RRD Sails). Shamgar was sitting in fourth place for most of the heat, but rode a peeling wave from very deep and finished with a perfect aerial to jump into second place in the last minute of the heat.
Pro Women’s Round 1
Heat 1 of the Pro Women’s saw dominant performances from Justyna Sniady (North Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Sarah Hauser (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing). Both showcased strong snaps in the pocket and attacked the end section.
Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) linked together her best wave in the final minute of heat 2 - performing multiple lip smacks to take the win ahead of Maria Morales Navarro (Goya Windsurfing).
Young gun Alexia Quintana (Duotone / Duotone Sails) produced a standout performance with fast snaps under the lip of some good-sized sets. Quintana was well rewarded and finished with the highest heat total in the women’s. Meanwhile, Lisa Wermeister (Duotone / Duotone Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) just snuck into second after showing great wave selection and strong turns.
The dropping evening wind in Heat 4 didn’t stop Jane Seman (Severne / Severne Sails), who found multiple good waves in her heat and proceeded to attack sections with speed. Pauline Katz (Severne / Severne Sails) let her Canary Islands experience shine to cement her position through to Round 3.
Pro Men’s Round 1
The Pro Men’s started with a cracking heat that included 2023 World Champion Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing, former Chile finalist Camille Juban (AV-Boards / S2Maui), Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) and Shamgar. By the end, less than two points would separate first from fourth. Browne’s perfection was unmatched in the first exchange, with a 7.23 that included multiple top to bottom turns in the pocket and a solid aerial to finish. The 3-time wave world champion found reasonable back up waves, but nothing that matched his first. After a shaky start, Juban showcased his aerial excellence with two airs on one wave. In the last two minutes and still needing a decent back up, he pulled off a radical tweaked air off the main peak to take the lead.
Alex Vargas (Naish) nailed his start to Heat 2 with a 6.50 on his first wave, schooling the spectators in how to ride Matanzas. The Chilean easily found several back-up scores to maintain the lead, whilst Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails) just knocked out Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) and Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins) in an incredibly tight aerial battle for second place - just 0.44 of a point separated second to fourth.
Federico Morisio (Starboard / Severne Sails) exhibited the results of his lengthy stays in Chile, sailing fast and timing aerials perfectly. On a smaller set, he pulled off multiple aerials and a goiter to lock in his progression to the next round. Local Arnaud Frennet scored a good set from deep and performed several critical aerials to get the best wave of the heat, but couldn’t find a back up. Miguel Chapuis (Flikka / North Sails) was sitting in third for most of the heat, but pulled a goiter right in the last minute to sneak into second place.
Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins) and Jules Denel (Tabou / GA Sails) crafted a complete French domination of Heat 4. Noireaux’s superior wave knowledge, aggressive turns and aerial prowess had him pegged as a safe round 1 bet for progression, while Jules Denel hammered home a 7.77, with multiple, beautifully timed aerials to take the win.
Antoine Martin (Starboard / North Sails) continued the French attack in Heat 5 with a solid mix of fin slides in the pocket, aerials and a one-handed lip hit for his best wave score of 7.77. Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) just snuck into second place with a decent aerial performance.
Last year’s winner, Philip Köster (Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) tested his bag of tricks with big tweaked aerials, power turns and some goiter and wave 360 attempts. However, it was Marino Gil Gheradi (JP / NeilPryde) who threw solid spray, landed good aerials and even pulled a taka to progress in first place.
Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) and Victor Fernandez (Duotone / Duotone Sails) pulled multiple aerials and hard hitting turns in the pocket to fight off local ripper Benjamin Fabres to successfully progress from Heat 7.
But the show stopper was Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS) who came out with all guns blazing in the final heat of the Pro Men’s. The German connected four strong aerials to earn an excellent 8.63 points, which would be the highest single wave score of the day. Current tour leader, Bernd Roediger (Flikka / Hot Sails Maui / Black Project Fins) had to settle for second, but still accumulated the third highest heat total of the day.
The Pro Men’s and Women’s are likely to continue tomorrow, with finals possibly running over the weekend.
Follow the competition at LiveHeats (Surazo Infernal World Cup), on our IWT YouTube Livestream or on our social media channels (@IWTwavetour / @pwaworldtour).
Follow the live competition scores on LiveHeats. The full Live Broadcast will be streamed on the IWT Wave Tour YouTube channel, and the official IWT event page. Follow on social media channels @IWT_Wave_Tour and @PWAworldtour.