Costa Teguise World Cup
A calm morning in Costa Teguise ensured the sailors we placed on standby from the word go, and the judges were left with the task of monitoring the wind.
As the morning progressed the trade winds kicked in allowing Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra), Remko De Zeeuw (F2 / Gaastra) and Yarden Meir (Fanatic / Simmer), to hit the water to take advantage of the occasional gust to pull switch chachoos and the occasional culo. However large patches of light wind made sure the conditions were unsuitable for a fair competition to take place.
The sailors spent the afternoon waiting for the wind to fill in, listening to the tunes on the beach and relaxing in the main tent. As the sun dipped down it was all change, Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra), Jose ‘ Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North) and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic) were first to test the waters, pumping into spock culos, shakas and double funnels, providing the crowds with a taste of the action to come.
Head judge Duncan Coombs announced competition would commence from 5pm, allowing three heats to be completed before the conditions died off.
Three heats full of excitement saw the demise of Meir and Yegor Popretinskiy (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) to world champion Estredo and Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails).
Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra) took on the mighty Thode in heat 21. Scheffers opened the heat with full force knowing it would take a lot to defeat his opponent. Thode fought hard however the light winds were causing a few problems in Thode's routine, seeing a surprised Scheffers work his way into the semi-final. Meanwhile Van Broeckhoven was going about landing his perfect power moves in the challenging conditions, whilst Phil Soltysiak (Starboard / Dakine) looked to be struggling to find enough power to complete his maneuvers.
Heat 22 saw Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / Simmer) take down Taty Frans with his collection of carefully polished maneuvers, displaying his one handed shaka, that saw him defeat Taty’s brother Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra) yesterday. On the other side of the heat Estredo flew past Saragoza who was struggling to deal with the complex conditions.
The PWA took advantage of the down time during the day, and caught up with four times world champion Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North) to find out his thoughts on the 2011 tour.
How are you feeling, entering this event after a slower start to the year than usual?
“It feels great to be here in Lanzarote for my sixth time. I always feel good when I am here, the conditions are great and the people are really friendly, I feel confident that I will sail well here.”
Do you prefer the Canary Island leg of the tour?
“I think the Canary Islands are great for freestyle, the wind is really strong and I really like the waves here and in Fuerteventura.”
Why do you think Kiri and Steven have won the events so far this season?
“They are both sailing really well this year and they improved a lot especially in the light winds. I don’t really like lighter wind so I haven’t been training in them, that much.”
Do you think you are more suited to the conditions in the Canary Islands than the earlier events on the tour?
"I much prefer the stronger winds and I think I am much better in them; I need the stronger winds to do the power moves and the aerial moves."
You have been doing a few waves events; do you hope to do a few more?
"I would like to do the entire wave series, I really enjoy the events, they are great for practicing and we will see how I do. I would also like to do some slalom events too; I have done some at home, but maybe not for a few years. I will concentrate on the wave and freestyle tour for now.”
Where do you hope to come in Lanzarote?
“I think the conditions are on their way, so I should be able to take advantage of the stronger winds and the waves to pull my air moves and hopefully I will do well.”
Results
1st Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / North)
2nd Anthony Ruenes (Tabou / Simmer)
3rd Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra)
4th Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra)
5th Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra)
With three heats completed the conditions retreated, and the sailors were released at 6pm. There is a positive forecast lined up for the third day of competition. Tune tomorrow for the skippers meeting at 10:00, with a first possible start at 10:30am.
Scope the Action
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