1. Why are you so passionate about windsurfing?

I'm so passionate about windsurfing because I really feel free in the middle of two amazing elements like the ocean and the wind.

2. What quality do you like most in other people?

One of the qualities I greatly value in a person is the ability to suffer and the ability to overcome any difficult situation.

3. What annoys or frustrates you the most?

To be paid very little like the world of windsurfing we have now, unfortunately even the top rider doesn't get the right money.

4. What do you most like in yourself?

I don’t know actually…

5. What do you dislike in yourself?

Sometimes I'm arrogant and missing patience.

6. What has been your best moment on tour?

For now it was in Korea when I won my first elimination this year.

7. What has been your worst moment on tour?

It was not in any specific event, but when I realise that the foil was going to introduced as a real discipline.

8. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you have given yourself when your career started?

To start 5 years earlier.

9. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

To keep going and truly believe in yourself.

10. What would be your perfect day?

I don't really know. I don't really have one picture in my mind about my perfect day,

11. Do you have any superstitions?

No, not really.

12. Which living person do you most admire?

Conor McGregor and A2 Albeau.

13. What is your greatest fear? 

To have to stop doing what I love and working like a slave for a living.

14. What is your most treasured possession?

Being free to do what I want.

15. If you weren’t a professional windsurfer, what would you like to be?

Maybe a professional skier or other sports for sure, nothing that involves the office.

16. Where is the best place you’ve been?

One of the best place is Tenerife in the Canary Island.

17. Where would you most like to go to that you haven’t been to yet?

I'd like to go to the States.

18. Who would you most like to have as a dinner guest, dead or alive?

Arnold Schwarzenegger 

19. First App you open in the morning?

WhatsApp

20. A phrase you live by?

FEAR AND MONEY NEVER SEEN.

Thanks, Bruno.

You can stay up to date with all of Bruno Martini’s latest news and adventures via his Social Media Channels:

Facebook: @brunomartini.ita160
Instagram: @martinibruno160

However, Bosson is already back with an action packed clip filmed at his home spot which features an explosive array of the latest power moves.

You can see Bosson’s explosive display via his Facebook Athlete here.

Wave

Women’s

After backing up her maiden podium on the world tour in Gran Canaria with another excellent second place - Poland’s Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) - currently leads the Women’s PWA Wave World Tour at the halfway stage of the season. The Pole has really upped her game this year with her solid wave riding giving her an excellent platform to build upon, while the addition of moves such as the one-footed backloop make her a serious threat.

Meanwhile, reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - bounced back brilliantly in Tenerife after missing out on the podium in Gran Canaria by continuing her winning run here, despite carrying a knee injury, to 4 consecutive seasons. Iballa continues to dominate in El Médano and is now prominently placed to defend her world title heading into the second half of the year.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) may have had to settle for a third place for the second event in succession, but the Aruban should take heart from the fact that she recorded 3 out of the top 4 highest heat scores. Unfortunately for Offringa, those scores came in in the earlier rounds and the 28-year-old may now need to defend her Sylt event title to keep her world title hopes alive this season.

Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) should be very happy with her display on the last day with the German just missing out on the podium in her first event of the season. 4th place represents Erpenstein’s best result in Tenerife - and a lot of that comes down to her aggressive wave riding with the 22-year-old holding 3 out of the top 5 wave scores set over the last week.

The top 5 was completed by debutant Johanne Mossink, Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins), Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), while Greta Benvenuti (I-99 / Challenger Sails / AL360) was unlucky to be drawn against Offringa as the Italian wouldn’t advanced from the majority of the other second round heats.

Men’s

Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) finally cracked his duck on the world tour, having come so close on a couple of previous occasions. The Australian laid down his highest scoring heat in the winners’ final - 23.75 points - which was the second highest of the event to deservedly claim his first win on the world tour. That victory sees Stone climb 3 places in the overall rankings into second place and he is now Ricardo Campello’s (Brunotti Boards) closest challenger, although Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) is not far behind and both Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) and Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), although less so, remain in the fight for the title.

Fernandez may have just missed out on the podium in Gran Canaria, but the Spaniard maintained his incredible record of consecutive podium finishes in Tenerife, which now stretches to 8 years (2012-19).

Philip Köster lost out to Fernandez in the semifinals by the narrowest of margins - 0.3 of a point to be exact - but the 4-time world champion again showed off moments of pure brilliance on the final day - landing trademark bolt upright, ankle dry double forwards, while tweaking numerous frontside airs and air takas and the German secured the final place on the podium by defeating Ricardo Campello in Heat 24. 

Ricardo Campello’s Tenerife curse seems to continue with the current world tour leaders wait for a first podium in El Médano continuing after a narrow loss to Stone in the semifinals. Statistically speaking though Campello couldn’t have done too much more with the 33-year-old recording the first and third highest scoring heats of the contest, while also recording the highest individual wave and jump scores. Fourth place may not have been the result Campello was aiming/hoping for, but it is still good enough to keep him in the No.1 spot heading into Sylt and Maui.

Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) didn’t enjoy his best year on the world tour last year after finishing 13th in Pozo and 17th in Tenerife before skipping Sylt, but that little break seems to have paid off with the 25-year-old building on his 9th place at the 2019 GCWWF with an excellent joint 5th place in Tenerife after causing an upset by eliminating Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX). Joint 5th here sees Martin rise to 7th in the overall rankings, tied with Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who also finished 5th in Tenerife despite having a broken toe. 

Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) and Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) also finished joint 5th which sees the Brazilian slip to 5th in the overalls, while Mussolini climbs one spot into 6th.

The overall top 10 is currently completed by Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails), while Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) and Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails), who set the joint second highest wave score - 9.5 points - share joint 10th after finishing 9th in both of the opening events. 

Elsewhere, Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), Adam Lewis, Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) and Dieter van der Eyken all bounced back with top 10 results having missed out in Gran Canaria.

Youth’s

The Boy’s and Girl’s Youth’s contest saw victories for; Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne), Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing), Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone), Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone) and Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing).

The PWA would like to extend their thanks to Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360) and José Morales plus their team for all their hard work - without which none of this would be possible!

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

After a busy month in the Canaries the tour will now go on a break for just under a month. We will be back from the 9th-14th September with more Slalom from Denmark in as the Hvide Sande PWA World Cup returns to the calendar.

For a full recap of everything that happened in Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Women's Wave

1st Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Josanne Mossink 
5th Arrianne Aukes (NED | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Caterina Stenta (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Men's Wave

1st Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
2nd Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)
5th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
9th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Adam Lewis (UK | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Moritz Mauch (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Boy’s U20s

1st Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde)
4th Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails)

Result U17 Boy’s 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne)
2nd Lennart Neubauer (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Cosme Martin (ESP | Fanatic)
4th Matsui Haru (JPN | Fanatic)

Result U15 Boy’s 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Hayata Ishii (JPN | RRD / Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Tobias Bjørnaa (DEN | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Carlos Kiefer Quintana (GER | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Giulio Gasperini (ITA | Starboard / Severne)

Result U13 Boy’s Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)

Result Girl’s U17s Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails)
3rd Ines Arija (Flikka / Severne)
4th Lina Thekook (Patrik / GA Sails)

Result Girl’s U15s Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
4th Lisa Wermeister

Women’s

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) sailed extremely consistently throughout and it was that level of consistency that would eventually see the reigning world champion claim the event title for a 4th consecutive year as she continued her recent domination of El Médano. Out of the 4 heats that Iballa sailed today, she posted 3 scores between 14.07-14:38 points 

Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) proved that her maiden podium in Gran Canaria last month was no fluke as the Pole backed up that performance with another brilliant display in Tenerife to earn back-to-back podiums on the world tour. Sniady got the better of Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) for the second time this season as she defeated the Aruban in the semifinals after landing a one-foot backloop. Sniady couldn’t find the jump she needed in the final to rival Iballa, but after securing back-to-back second places she now leads the world tour after the first two events.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) had to settle for third place again in Tenerife, but for a long time, it looked as though she may miss out on the podium with Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) leading the battle for 3rd and 4th for the majority of the heat. However, Offringa produced a buzzer-beater by earning her highest wave score with her final effort to snatch 3rd place. 

Erpenstein was making her first appearance of the season having missed the opening event in Gran Canaria and she slotted seamlessly back into the competition as she showed off her trademark aggressive wave riding approach to earn a hugely deserved 4th place.

Men’s

Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) has come close to winning the Tenerife PWA World Cup on a couple of occasions in the last few years - winning the single elimination in 2015 and finishing second again last year. The Australian looked a threat throughout today and he deservedly earned his place in the winners’ final after winning an extremely close semifinal against Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards). In the earlier round, it was Stone’s explosive wave riding that proved pivotal and against Campello, it was Stone’s wave-riding which separated the two sailors again. 

Campello wasn’t happy that his big double forward only scored 7.78 points, but he would’ve needed it to score at least 8.08 points in order to reverse the result as Stone won the heat by 0.29 points. In reality, Campello’s downfall was the fact that he was left counting a 4.75 point wave as his backup score. 

Stone then saved his best performance until last in the winners final against reigning event and world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) - as the 28-year-old posted his highest scoring heat of the contest - 23.75 points - at the perfect time to become the first sailor, other than Fernandez or Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), to win the Tenerife PWA World Cup since 2011, while also deservedly earning his first victory on the world tour. Stone signed off the final in style as he tweaked an aerial before backing it up with a taka to earn the joint second highest wave of the contest - 9.5 points.

Victor Fernandez continued his unbelievable record in Tenerife by making the podium again meaning the Spaniard has not finished outside the top 3 here since 2012. The reigning world champion couldn’t quite find a way to stop Stone, but showed off his silky smooth wave riding time and time again to navigate his way into the top 2 and should be very happy with his days' works.

Philip Köster completes the podium after claiming a clear cut victory against Campello in Heat 24. The German suffered a narrow defeat to Fernandez in the semifinals with just 0.36 of a point separating them, but is still well positioned for a shot at the title.

Ricardo Campello recorded the highest scoring heat of the competition - 25.62 points - against Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), while also recording the highest single wave score - 9.87 points - and highest single jump score - 9.27 - points - for a monumentally high double forward, but eventually had to settle for 4th place. However, given how the rest of the result played out Campello remains the world tour leader.

Elsewhere, Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) finishes in joint 5th alongside Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde), who caused an upset by eliminating Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) in Heat 19a and Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails).

With there only enough time to complete a single elimination this time around that means that 8 sailors share joint 9th: Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde), Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails), Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails), Adam Lewis (UK | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde), Moritz Mauch (GER | Severne / Severne Sails) and Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / Gun Sails). We will take a full look as the results in the summary on Tuesday

After almost 10 hours of competing the winners’ were then crowned just after 8pm at the beach to conclude a pulsating final day.

Youth’s 

U20s

After the completion of the single eliminations the Boy’s U20s was then concluded which saw Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) claim the top spot on the podium ahead of Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing), Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) and Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails).

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Women's Wave

1st Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Josanne Mossink 
5th Arrianne Aukes (NED | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Caterina Stenta (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Men's Wave

1st Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
2nd Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Ricardo Campello (VEN/BRA | Brunotti Boards)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)
5th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
9th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Adam Lewis (UK | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Moritz Mauch (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)

Result 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup - Boy’s U20s

1st Marino Gil (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Adam Warchol (POL | Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Miguel Chapuis (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Takara Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)

For a time it was windy, but the waves never really threatened to emerge and that led to the U20 Boy’s contest being cancelled after just two heats, which saw Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) and Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone) advance in the tricky conditions.

Given how off the mark the forecast was for today that raises questions marks about it’s validity heading into the last day tomorrow, which still looks solid on paper with 20-30 knots of wind and waves ranging from 1.8m-2.6m throughout the day. After a long day of waiting the sailors were eventually released just after 7pm and they will meet again tomorrow morning at 8:30 (GMT+1) for the skippers’ meeting - with a first possible start at 9am.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

The good news is that after a couple of lay days, the forecast for both Saturday, and particularly Sunday, looks extremely promising on paper with the wind and waves set to return just in time to provide a grandstand finale to the event.

After playing the waiting game all week we briefly caught up with current world tour leader - Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) and reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses):

PWA: Ricardo, so far you’ve had 5 days of waiting how are you dealing with it?

RC: “I’m just cruising, hanging with the friends and doing some computer work sometimes. Today as I saw the forecast I just rigged my smaller sales and sticker them up. Let's see what wind and waves bring in the next couple of days.” 

PWA: Is playing the waiting game tough for you? 

RC: “I try not to think about it much actually, I just try to stay relaxed and I just hope that when we do start they do it with the proper conditions, which so far this week Duncan has been pretty good with. We’ve had a little bit of wind but he didn't really push that much. There's a lot going on with the world title race and it could be like a gamble if the conditions are really bad but yeah, I’m just trying not to think about it and hopefully when we compete when It's good." 

PWA: What do you make of the forecast?

RC: “I don't know, I definitely don’t think that we will have time to finish the double, which then adds even more pressure in the single will be even harder because if you mess it up, you are pretty much done with no second chance. 

The wind is apparently looking good for Sunday when it looks like its going to be really windy. I just saw Adam [Lewis] and Jaeger [Stone] rigging their 3.3s. Hopefully it’s strong and good. Here you always have to take a bit bigger sail and a board with more volume because sometimes in the waves you get stuck. But yeah, I love competing here when it's windy and there are waves as you can properly surf and do big jumps. So it's cool. In Pozo sometimes you can go really high, but the wave riding is not the same. So I'm looking forward to, and crossing my fingers for, good conditions.”

PWA: Thanks, Ricardo. Good luck for Saturday and Sunday.

PWA: Hi Victor, what do you think's going to happen in the next couple of days?

VF: “I think it looks like tomorrow we might do the first and second round [of the single elimination] and I think that Sunday looks incredible to me. So I'm really positive to finish this weekend. The forecast is looking windy for Sunday, so I’m rigging all the way down to 4.0m for now and then I might rig my 3.7m tomorrow. 

I think with the forecast the way it is then we’ll just run a single here I have the feeling that Duncan wants to run longer heats to get a good single elimination, rather than rushing through it and trying to start a double that we most likely won’t finish. There's no time, especially because in the last few days there hasn’t been any wind in the morning.”

PWA: Do you think just running a single puts more pressure on you?

VF: “Erm I don’t know. It obviously depends how you do. It could be really good or really bad for the guys currently on top depending how the single goes for them because there is no discard this year, so the results can/will have a big impact, but it’s the same for everyone so let's just see what happens.”

PWA; What are your tactics going to be?

VF: “I think equipment choice is critical here. It’s really important to be on the right sail and board because riding is super important here. I think if we run tomorrow then it’s probably only going to be one jump, so almost everything will be on the riding.”

PWA: Thanks, Victor. Good luck over the weekend.

So, heading into the weekend, Saturday looks as though we should see the Men’s Single Elimination resume, while the women should also enter the fray for the first time, while Sunday could provide a thrilling end to the competition with strong winds and solid waves currently expected. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 9:30am onwards - if conditions allow.

Earlier in the day we caught up with current World No.2 Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL36) for an interview which you can read below:

PWA: You earned your first ever podium in Pozo last month after coming quite close over the last couple of years…

JS: “Yeah, actually it happened to me twice now that I was in the battle for a third place and then the wind ran out. Two years ago in Pozo I made a come back through the whole double - I can remember that I had just come in from a heat against Sarah-Quita [Offringa] and then we stopped immediately. And then last year here I had a heat to defend my fourth place and then we stopped again. So it's happened twice already, it’s been a long battle.” 

PWA: How did it feel to finally get that podium? You had a couple of big victories against Sarah-Quita and Iballa Moreno to get there…

JS: “Amazing. Unbelievable. I think it's not that I got the podium, but it's how it happened. You know? Because it wasn't an easy route to  make the top 3. And you know, I was talking to the guys, like to get to two finals in Pozo in the single and double also, I don't know if that many people have done that [Besides Daida and Iballa]. So, I wouldn't exchange that for like a third place three years ago, if you know what I mean. Because it was how it happened, rather than that it happened, that it was so amazing. I still wake up in the morning and I go… arghhhh is it a dream?

PWA: Over the winter, or spring, you also did a camp with Marcilio Browne and Levi Siver, do you think that helped? And how much of an impact do you think that had?

JS: “I think every little bit helps. And you never know, like some of the tips that I have heard in the past, that are similar to what I've heard before, start to make more sense because It's the timing of them as well. 

I also think that hanging out with people, who know what they're doing, and then having them believing in you, showing you what you're good at, but also highlighting the things that you need to work on, while giving you the confidence that you're good enough is extremely important and that was probably the biggest thing for me and I think that's what they gave me.

Also I've been training a lot with Jorge [Philip Köster’s caddy], but more for actually sailing heats and working out a strategy and stuff makes a big different. I also sailed with Philip a lot in Australia this year, but I think it was more the mental training that I got from all these guys rather than the technical side because technically, I knew what I had to do already."

PWA: Having had those victories in Pozo now do you think that that's changed your mindset?

JS: “Yeah, I think my perspective has changed but it’s been kind of weird. In one way, I feel less pressure because I was like, wow, I finally did something good. So now I’m like, okay I can relax, but on the other hand, I'm like, well, now I'm in it to win it, so it's more pressure than before. So for sure it's changed.“ 

PWA: Okay, so to build on that, because you're in a position to win it now, how is it playing the waiting game in Tenerife this week?

JS: “You know, I'm really bad at doing nothing anyway at the best of times, so it's definitely playing on my mind, but to be to be fair even when I was losing, and coming outside the top 10, I was always stressed, so I would say that my current stress levels are about the same as that  in my current situation. It's only when I hit the water that I'm much calmer than I used to be. I'm really calm and collected once I’m out there, but before I go on the water, ask anyone and you’ll find out that I’ve checked the forecast 70 times and I have everything rigged right now from 3.7-5.0m and that’s for Thursday [today] when there was no forecast. So I am definitely anxious, but that's just how I am, I think.”

Thanks, Justyna. Good luck for the rest of the event. 

The forecast for Friday is marginally better than today, but with the waves expected to remain small tomorrow could well prove to be another lay day for the Pro’s, while there is a slim chance of some Youth action! The skippers’ meeting has been called for 12pm.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.
 

Men’s

Single Elimination

Camille Juban (Quatro / S2Maui) set the highest heat of the first round against Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) in Heat 1a as he set a score of 18.43 points. Juban also earned the joint highest single wave score - 7 points - after tweaking a frontside air and showing off vert snaps, while also landing a stylish backloop, which was the highest single jump of the day. Meanwhile, Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) comfortably dispatched of Logan Groenne (Goya Windsurfing) to also book his place in the second round. 

In Heat 2 Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) and Ben Proffitt (Simmer / Simmer Sails) easily navigated their way past Henri Kolberg (Starboard / Hot Sails Maui / Maui Ultra Fins) and Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails) respectively. Gollito landed a radical shifty, while also coming agonisingly close to sailing away from the only double forward of the day, while Proffitt equalled Juban’s highest wave score - 7 points - with three well-timed aggressive snaps. 

Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / Duotone) looked in impressive form in Heat 3 as the young Frenchman eased his way past Laurin Schmuth (Goya Windsurfing) with the 22-year-olds wave riding in particular being in a different league. Meanwhile, Baptiste Cloarec (Severne / Severne Sails) came out on top against fellow countryman Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) to progress.

Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Duotone), who is making his first appearance of the season, set the fourth highest wave score of the day - 6.87 points - in tricky conditions and his experience proved far too much for debutant - Tomer Shamgar - while Martin ten Hoeve produced to solid wave scores after showing an aggressive approach in the small waves to win a close heat against Pablo Ramirez (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg).

The final heat of the day turned out to be Heat 5 where Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) and Loïck Lesauvage (Goya Windsurfing) proved too strong for Max Horchgrassl (Severne / Severne Sails) Alex Grand-Guillot (Fanatic / Duotone).

After the completion of Heat 5 the conditions then deteriorated, and despite patiently waiting until after 7pm, the wind and waves never became suitable again, so the sailors were released for the day. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 11:30am (GMT+1) with a first possible start at 12pm, but based on the forecast the next couple of days do not look too promising on paper with lighter winds and smaller waves predicted.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Boy’s 

U17s

Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne) lined up against Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in the U17s Boy’s Final with both sailors dominating their semifinal heats against Cosme Martin (Fanatic) and Matsui Haru (Fanatic) respectively. In the final Neubauer made the brighter start with Dunkerbeck looking underpowered to begin with which allowed the young German to build an early lead after landing a 7.5 backloop and two decent waves of 4.5 and 4 points. However, once Dunkerbeck came in to change equipment the tie was turned on it’s head within a matter of minutes as the young Spaniard immediately landed a 9 point ankle dry backloop, before brilliantly working a wave both frontside and backside to earn an excellent 9 point score. That left Dunkerbeck needing only an average wave score, which he found at the second time of asking. Neubauer attempted almost 3-times the amount of wave rides as Dunkerbeck, but ultimately Dunkerbeck showed better wave selection and execution to claim the top spot on the podium.

Cosme Martin then claimed a decisive victory in the losers’ final to complete the podium ahead of Matsui Haru.

U15s

The 4-man U15s Boy’s Final saw Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone) taking on Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing), Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone), who qualified by winning the opening U13s Final yesterday, and Giulio Gasperini (Starboard / Severne) to decide the U15s title. The Final proved to be unbelievably close with Bjørnaa, Ishii and Kiefer Quintana all finishing the heat tied on 13.5 points, but ultimately the victory went to Ishii, who won the GCWWF last month, with the young Japanese sailor having the joint highest wave score with Bjørnaa, while having the better second wave score - 4.5 points compared to 4 points. Bjørnaa finished second while Kiefer Quintana claimed a hugely impressive 3rd place after landing a 6 point backloop with Gasperini completing the top 4.

The forecast for tomorrow looks more promising than today with slightly stronger winds and a small increase in wave size - 1.4m - and given how this evening turned out that could see the Pro fleet single eliminations begin. Priority for tomorrow will now also go to the Pro’s with the forecast for Thursday and Friday looking lighter and smaller. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 11am, but it may be a day of late action given how Tuesday panned out. 

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result U17 Boy’s 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne)
2nd Lennart Neubauer (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Cosme Martin (ESP | Fanatic)
4th Matsui Haru (JPN | Fanatic)

Result U15 Boy’s 2019 Tenerife PWA World Cup

1st Hayata Ishii (JPN | RRD / Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Tobias Bjørnaa (DEN | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Carlos Kiefer Quintana (GER | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Giulio Gasperini (ITA | Starboard / Severne)

Youth’s 

Girl’s U15s

Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) claimed a clearcut victory in the opening Girl’s U15s division after linking together a 7 point wave and a 4 point forward to defeat Lisa Wermeister (Duotone), María Morales (Goya Windsurfing) and Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone).

Girl’s U17s

Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone) looked to be in excellent form in her opening heat of the week as she linked together several stylish waves to deservedly win the U17s ahead of Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails), Ines Arija (Flikka / Severne) and Lina Thekook (Patrik / GA Sails).

A couple of attempts were made to run the Girl’s U20s, but on both occasions the wind dropped and it had to be cancelled.

Boy’s U13s

Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) came out on top against Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone) in the opening U13s battle of the week with the young German making the better of the tricky conditions.

Boy’s U15s

Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone) produced one of the highlights of the day as he landed the only backloop to deservedly win the first heat in the U15s ahead of Giulio Gasperini (Starboard / Severne) and Carlos Kiefer Quintana, while Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing) claimed victory in Heat 2 ahead of Elliot Foveau (Starboard / Severne) and Pepe Krause (Quatro / Hot Sails Maui).

The forecast looks quite similar as today for tomorrow and the skippers’ meeting will be held at 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 11am.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

El Médano is situated on the Southeast coast of Tenerife, just minutes away from the airport. Furthermore, its beautiful sandy beaches are blessed with glorious sunshine, regular trade winds and pumping waves year round, which makes this amazing spot a windsurfers haven, for all levels with different spots and conditions available within close proximity. 

Wave

Women’s

With Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) not competing for the remainder of the 2019 PWA Wave World Tour, that means that Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) effectively comes into Tenerife as the current world tour leader. The Pole released a video the day before the start of the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival (GCWWF) showing that she had upped her sailing level and she duly delivered in Pozo Izquierdo to cause a couple of big upsets by defeating Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) to deservedly earn her maiden podium on the world tour. Sniady will be a threat again in Tenerife and if she can bring moves such as the one-hand, one-foot backloop a top 2 finish could be on the cards again.

The season may not have started quite the way - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde/ Maui Ultra Fins) - would’ve wanted in Gran Canaria with the Aruban finishing third. However, you can expect to see her bounce back immediately in Tenerife where she has finished second on the last two occasions. Offringa showed glimpses of her best in Pozo and if you can consistently bring that level over the next 7 days she will be a serious contender for the event title. The 28-year-old will also come into the event on a high having just won her 12th PWA Freestyle World Championship in Fuerteventura. 

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) will come into Tenerife as the top seed having won here for the past 3 years. However, the reigning world champion has been dogged by a knee injury, which she sustained during preseason and will likely not be 100% fit with only a few weeks to recover between now and the GCWWF. Tenerife often has a bias for wave riding and if there is no, or only 1 jump to count, then Iballa may still prove tough to beat with her wave riding prowess often shining to the forefront here, it really just depends how much that knee injury impedes her.

Having missed the GCWWF, last year’s World No.4 Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) will be back in action in Tenerife and hoping to challenge for the podium, whilst juggling her studies at the same time.

14-year-old Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) took the world stage by storm when making her debut at the GCWWF last month and with the wave riding bias in Tenerife, which seems to be the young German’s strength, she could once again be battling it out for the top 5 with her surfy style catching the eye.

Elsewhere, the likes of Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins), Greta Benvenuti (I-99 / Challenger Sails), Birgit Rieger (Flikka) and Sarah Hilder (Simmer / Simmer Sails) will be battling for a place in the top 10.

Men’s

Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) finished 4th at the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival last month just as he did in 2018, but the reigning world champion should start Tenerife as the top seed having won here 3 times in the last 4 years - 2015, ’16, ’18 - while in 2017 the Spaniard finished second. To further bolster Fernandez’s credentials in El Medano the 35-year-old has not finished outside the top 3 here since 2012. The only slight cause for concern would be that Fernandez suffered a back/neck injury in Pozo Izquierdo after landing a huge stalled double forward, but he should have had enough time to get back to full fitness since then. 

Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) finally got his hands on the top prize in Pozo Izquierdo after defeating Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) in the single elimination and then winning a tight Super Final against Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins). That victory means Campello enters Tenerife as the world tour leader and he’ll be keen to keep the momentum going as he continues his bid for a first wave world title. Historically speaking Campello doesn’t have the best track record in Tenerife having never finished on the podium - but the 33-year-old did finish 4th here in 2018 and given his current situation the old form book could, and probably should be thrown out the window.

Between them Victor Fernandez and Philip Köster have the Tenerife PWA World Cup every year since 2011  - 5-times Köster, 3-times Fernandez - so it is going to be a tall order for anyone to crack their dominance of the event. Köster last won here in 2017 and after coming so close to victory in Pozo last month will be eager to return to the top of the podium here and his credentials speak for themselves.

Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) will be looking to bounce back immediately from a disappointing start to the season in Pozo - joint 17th - which was the Brit’s worst result since 2016. Lewis will be able to take confidence from the fact that he earned his first podium on the world tour here last year - doing so after setting a near perfect wave scoring heat - 10 points and 8.93 points - and it is his wave riding prowess, on a break that he knows like the back of his hand, that will make the 31-year-old a major threat again, while fellow locals - Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who no longer lives in Tenerife but has made the podium 3 times in the last 8 years (most recently 2017( -  and event organiser Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360) will also be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing result in Pozo and battling for the top 5 and beyond.

Another likely candidate for the event title is Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX), who is currently ranked 5th in the overalls. The Australian has finished as the runner up here twice in the last 4 years - winning the single elimination in 2015 and you can expect another strong showing from Stone this time around.

Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) has performed consistently in Tenerife over the last few seasons with a 2nd, 4th and a 6th place. The Brazilian looked to be in some of the best form of his life in Pozo last month and if he is in anything like that form he will be a serious threat for the event title.

Other names to look out for include Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails), who recorded his best result to date in Pozo - 6th. Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails) and Dieter van der Eyken, who both live in Tenerife, Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), who finished 7th here in 2018 and will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing start in Pozo. Teammates Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) and Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), should be in the mix for the top 10, while if the contest is mainly focused on waves Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) could be a serious player.

Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) finished joint 9th in Pozo, but was then forced to withdraw from the contest before the double elimination with a fractured toe. The former world champion is set to try and sail in Tenerife, but he may be impeded from performing at his very best having only had a few weeks to recover. 

The forecast for the opening days looks quite promising with 1.3-2m wind swell expected, while winds of around 15-30 knots are expected, which would hopefully allow a quick start to the competition. The wind and waves are then forecast to drop by Thursday and Friday before returning over the weekend. Don’t miss any of the action by staying tuned to www.pwaworldtour.com

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Tenerife — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Day 1 Schedule (All Times GMT+1)

- Registration 10-11am 
- Skippers’ Meeting 12:30pm 
- First Possible Start 1pm

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Wave

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER - Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Caterina Stenta (ITA / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Wave

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX )
6th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER - Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)   

Freestyle - Double Eliminations

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa started the day knowing that she was potentially just 9 minutes away from an unprecedented 12th PWA Freestyle World Championship. The Aruban faced Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)in the double elimination final and the 28-year-old made no mistakes as she exuded her usual power, flow and style to earn an incredible 12th Freestyle world title and her 16th overall.

Huvermann continues to provide Offringa with a stern test each time they meet, but the 21-year-old hasn’t yet cracked the code to prise Offringa’s cherished world title away from her. The vice-world champion wasn’t a million miles away again after landing a sick skopu on the way out, but couldn’t quite land the burner she so badly needed on port tack and was therefore left counting a shuvit, which didn’t inflict enough damage against the Queen of Freestyle. Huvermann finishes 2019 as the vice-world champion for the 4th consecutive year.

Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) successfully defended her third place from the single elimination by defeating Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) in Heat 34 with the Norwegian producing an accomplished display. However, Brødholt was then clearly aware that she would need bigger moves in Heat 35 to defeat Huvermann and in her attempt to land a skopu she ended the heat with just two moves on starboard tack. The 30-year-old once again completes the women’s event and overall podium.

Meanwhile, Arrianne Aukes finishes 2019 ranked 4th overall, while Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde) completes the overall top 5.

Men’s

Over the last 5 days, Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) has been in spectacular form with the Belgian showing off the kind of form that saw him crowned world champion in 2011. The 33-year-old set the highest score of the contest in the semifinal of the single elimination - 179.3 points - and in today’s final against Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) SVB recorded the second highest score of the competition - 177.4 points - to earn a thoroughly deserved victory that no one can have any complaints about. Victory today marks Van Broeckhoven’s first win on the world tour since 2015 in Leucate, France, and sees him rise from 9th to joint 3rd in the world rankings with Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne).

Yentel Caers won 4 heats on the bounce yesterday and the Belgian continued his hot form today to move into the podium positions after defeating Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) and Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360). Caers couldn’t stop the on fire Van Broeckhoven, but his second place here means that he is now tied on points with Schmit in the battle for the 2019 world title with both men recording the same results in the opening two events - a second and a fourth respectively.

Schmit will be delighted with his work this week with the Bonairean walking away from Fuerteventura with his best result here in his career - 4th - which keeps him firmly in title race contention.

Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) will rise one place in the overalls to 5th after finishing joint 7th here with Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), while Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) remains on course for his best overall finish to date - currently 6th.

The top 10 at this stage of the season is completed by Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), Sam Esteve, Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) and Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone), while Testa rises to 11th after completing the podium here.

Youth’s

Girl’s U20 

14-year-old Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone) claimed a clear cut victory over Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) with the young Slovenian winning all 3 U20 finals with powerful and styling flakas and spocks.

Boy’s U15

Takumi Moriya (Severne) completed the week unbeaten with the 12-year-old showing off an excellent variety of moves to see off Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone), Janus Wikle (Flikka) and Ancor Sosa Kather (Tabou / Point-7), who finish 2nd-4th respectively.

U20s Super Session

With the U20s being completed earlier in the week today saw a 15 minute Super Session held with U15s winner Takumi Moriya also joining the last Youth’s heat of the day. The Super Session was eventually won by Nil Bacon (Fanatic / Loftsails) after the young Frenchman landed a sick skopu 360.

Corto Dumond (Starboard / Severne) walks away as the U20 champion having defeated Taku Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) in the final on the opening day, while Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) completes the podium.

You can also see a full recap of the Slalom event in Day 5s news here. 

For a full recap of everything that happened from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just a couple of days time, we will be coming to you live from Tenerife to conclude the Canaries leg of the tour with the Tenerife PWA World Cup, which runs between 5th-11th August. Over the next 7 days, the best male and female wave sailors will be battling it out in el Cabezo! Don’t miss any of the action by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com - here you’ll be able to watch all of the epic action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

Result 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne)
4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Olya Raskina (RUS - JP / NeilPryde)

Overall Result 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Freestyle

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne)
4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Jazzy Zwerus (NED - JP / NeilPryde)

Result 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Freestyle

1st Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Yentel Caers (BEL - I-99 / Point-7)
3rd Jacopo Testa (ITA - RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
4th Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)
5th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL - Severne / Severne Sails)
6th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
7th Antony Ruenes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails / AL360)
9th Adrien Bosson (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Balz Müller (SUI - MB-Boards / Severne)
9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)

Girl’s U20s 

1st Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
2nd Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

Boy’s U20s

1st Corto Dumond (Starboard / Severne)
2nd Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Nil Bacon (Fanatic / Loftsails)

Boy’s U15s

1st Takumi Moriya (Severne)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
3rd Janus Wikle (Flikka)
4th Ancor Sosa Kather (Tabou / Point-7)

Freestyle - Double Eliminations

Women’s

Yesterday we mentioned that Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde) may be one to watch in the Double Elimination and the Russian proved why today as she won four consecutive heats to progress from the first round of the double into 5th place for the event. Olya firstly defeated Alex Escherich (JP / NeilPryde), Clare Elliot, Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone) and lastly Johanna Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) with Raskina’s consistency in Fuerte’s tricky waters proving pivotal.

Raskina’s come back was then brought to an end by Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) with Aukes successfully defending her fourth place from the single elimination after landing a regular kono and shakas on both tacks. Aukes will now face Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) in the first heat up tomorrow with a place on the podium up for stakes.

Men’s

The biggest news of the day involves world title hopeful, Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who came into the event leading the world title race having staged a stunning come back to win in Bonaire. However, after an earlier than anticipated exit in the single elimination here, the Bonairean would be required to produce another mammoth come back to keep his world title fate in his own hands.

Vrieswijk had got the better of Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) on his home waters of Bonaire, but the 9-time Freestyle World Champion is a different proposition in Fuerte and they would be pitched against each other again in Heat 29b - with the loser having to settle for joint 9th here. Something you’d have thought unthinkable before the start of the event.

Before their latest showdown heat, Vrieswijk said that he’d been sailing well and landing everything that he tried, but almost everything that could go wrong for the 23-year-old, did go wrong in this crucial heat with Vrieswijk crashing more moves in this heat than in the previous few seasons combined. Gollito also was not as his best from the beginning, but slowly found some rhythm to earn a bitter sweet victory, which saw him progress, but at the same time put a dent in his good friends title challenge. Vrieswijk did still produce a moment of magic with a shifty into shaka, but by that point the damage had already been self-inflicted. 

Having defeated Vrieswijk, Gollito then posted the second highest scoring heat of the day against - Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) - 170.6 points - having already posted the highest heat of the day in Heat 25b - 174.7 points - but then lost out by just 0.1 of a point to Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) in an incredibly close battle for 5th and 6th. Gollito had looked like he had hit top gear after looking slightly out of sorts in the single elimination and was incensed by the loss given that his technically more difficult flaka-into-ponch scored 1.3 points less than Caers’ Ponch360. That led to the reigning event champion being eliminated from the competition.

Caers was then involved in a battle of the Belgian’s as he faced former Freestyle World Champion - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) in a bid to move into the top 4 and Caers delivered another powerful display again to advance, which keeps the 24-year-old firmly in the title race - particularly if he can continue his come back tomorrow.

However, next up for Caers will be Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti), who seems very pumped up and having had a clean bill of health is sailing with a new level of power and consistency than in recent years and Vrieswijk’s early exit may give him even more motivation for Finals Day.

Dieter van der Eyken can be delighted with his play though this week - particularly after rounding off his contest with his highest heat score of the week against Caers - 159.6 points. Freestyle may not be the former world champions main focus these days, but he showed once again that in technically thought conditions that he is still one of the best around over the last 4 days.

Elsewhere, Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) and Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) finish in joint 7th respectively, which should be good enough for Ruenes to rise into the top 5 in the overall rankings. 

The top 10 is completed by Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails), Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), who was frustrated that his air kabikuchi against Yentel Caers in Heat 28b was adjudged to be outside the competition and therefore did not count. If it had then it is likely that he would’ve won as Bosson was then missing a move on port tack. Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne) completed a solid come back to also claim joint 9th alongside Vrieswijk, Passani and Bosson.

Vrieswijk’s title hopes are far from over, but the Bonairean would now probably rather see Yentel Caers defeat Schmit tomorrow and then see current event leader - Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails) - defend his single elimination crown. That would then create a scintillating scenario heading into the season finale in Sylt with Vrieswijk and Van Broeckhoven on 9.7 points, Schmit on 5 points and Caers on 6 points - all 4 sailors would then have all the play for, but before then there is Finals Day with all still to play for Caers, Schmit, Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) and Van Broeckhoven.

The skippers’ meeting for finals day of the 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup has been called for 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action on Super Saturday commencing from 11am - if conditions allow. With a similar forecast to today and clear skies predicted tomorrow should see an epic conclusion to the Freestyle.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Double Elimination
*Top 4 places may still change

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne)
4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Olya Raskina (RUS - JP / NeilPryde)

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Double Elimination
*Top 4 places may still change

1st Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)
2nd Jacopo Testa (ITA - RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
3rd Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)
4th Yentel Caers (BEL - I-99 / Point-7)
5th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL - Severne / Severne Sails)
6th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
7th Antony Ruenes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Giovanni Passani (ITA - Tabou / GA Sails / AL360)
9th Adrien Bosson (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Balz Müller (SUI - MB-Boards / Severne)
9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)

Freestyle

Single Elimination

Women’s

Current World No.1 & No.2 - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - successfully booked their place in the winners’ final  after overcoming Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) and Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) respectively in the semifinals.

Huvermann made the brighter start and led for the majority of the final, but couldn’t quite hang on as after a slightly conservative start - perhaps due to the lighter winds - Offringa asserted late on with a flourish of power moves and combos to get on top late on, which sees her take a massive step towards earning a 12th Freestyle world title. Huvermann clearly knew she needed a stronger move on starboard tack to combat Offringa, but unfortunately the 21-year-old missed her rig duck in the dying seconds when wanting to attempt a culo and with that her chance in the single elimination was gone. 

In the semifinals. Oda Brødholt managed to beat Huvermann on port tack - 41.5 points to 36.5 points - but with the best 4 moves from 7 to count on each tack, the Norwegian was crucially missing a move on starboard tack, which potentially cost her a spot in the top 2 in the single elimination. There’s no doubt that Brødholt has a preference for windier conditions, but she made no mistakes in the battle for 3rd and 4th, against Aukes in Heat 16, to secure third place in the single and the 30-year-old will have her eyes firmly focused on progressing up the ladder In the double elimination.

Meanwhile, Aukes finished in a solid 4th place and will now look to defend her position in the top 4 against any of the women who attempt to make a comeback in the double elimination. As things stand the top 5 is currently completed by Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone), Clare Elliot, Johanna Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde), but Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde) will be one to watch in the double elimination. The Russian will have to come from the first round of the double, but if she can start to build some momentum, she has the potential to produce an excellent come back.

Men’s 

Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) deservedly claimed victory in the Men’s Single Elimination with the Belgian posting the two highest scores of the contest so far in the semifinals and the winners’ final. In the semifinal against Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) Van Broeckhoven posted a monstrous score of 179.3 points, while in the final he again posted a huge tally of 174.1 points to earn his first win in a single elimination on the world tour since April 2015. The Belgian looked explosive throughout and could prove a hard man to pin back in the double elimination given his form thus far.

Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) booked his place in his first winners’ final on the world tour after defeating the 2015 event and world champion - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) - in the semifinals after posting the third highest score of the competition thus far - 165.9 points. The Italian is now guaranteed his second PWA event podium - adding to his previous podium in Sylt, 2017.

The podium at this stage is completed by world title hopeful - Youp Schmit - after the Bonairean secured third place in the single elimination ahead of van der Eyken. There is obviously still a long way to go with the double elimination to come, but as things stand Schmit would head to the top of the overall rankings with current world tour leader - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - sat in joint 5th place after an earlier than anticipated exit yesterday.

Dieter van der Eyken completes the top 4 at the moment, but the Belgian looked a little bit frustrated with his performance at times today knowing that he had a realistic shot at making the podium. However, after several failed port tack moves in the battle for 3rd and 4th with Schmit the 27-year-old was left counting a forward loop as his 4th move. 

The Men’s Double Elimination began shortly after the completion of the Single Elimination and the first round went virtually as you would expect. However, Niclas Nebelung (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) produced a late come back to cause an upset against Loïck Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails), while Corto Dumond (Starboard / Severne) came out on top of the battle of the young guns by claiming victory in a close heat against Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins).

Dudu Levi (Gun Sails) produced the highest scoring heat in the first round of the double - 145.6 points - but then couldn’t quite replicate that performance in the second round against Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde). The Israeli led for the majority of the heat, but a late forward loop and a shuvit spock by the Frenchman proved enough to sneak Akgazciyan into the next round.

In the opening heat of the second round teammates - Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) and Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) - sailed a big heat with Passani currently ranked 5th in the overall rankings, while Scheffers came into the event in joint 7th.  Unfortunately, Scheffers didn’t enjoy his best heat with the Dutchman failing to complete his scoresheet - only 3 counting moves on each tack rather than the 4 required  - meaning Passani advanced. This will go down as a missed opportunity for Scheffers as the moves the 27-year-old did land generally scored higher, but his failure to fill his scoresheet cost him dearly.

The forecast for tomorrow looks every so slightly lighter than today and we may have to wait until the afternoon for the contest to resume with more cloud cover expected during the morning. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11am onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Women’s Single Elimination

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne)
4th Arrianne Aukes (NED - Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Fuerteventura PWA World Cup - Men’s Single Elimination

1st Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL - Starboard / Gun Sails)
2nd Jacopo Testa (ITA - RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
3rd Youp Schmit (NB - I-99 / Avanti)
4th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL - Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Amado Vrieswijk (NB - JP / Severne)
5th Antony Ruenes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Yentel Caers (BEL - I-99 / Point-7)
5th Sam Esteve (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

Freestyle

Women’s

The women entered the Freestyle arena for the first time this week and the top seeds survived unscathed in their opening battles with all the current top 4 women in the world ranking all progressing into the semifinals.

Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) both came into the event carrying slight injuries with Brødholt tweaking her should and Huvermann her hand, but both girls safely progressed as they defeated Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone) and Clare Elliot (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) respectively.  The current World No.2 and No.3 will now meet in the semifinals as their rivalry continues.

Meanwhile, Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) overcame a tough first round draw against Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde), who was making her first reappearance after being absent last year, to book a place in the quarterfinals and the Dutch girl produced an efficient display to defeat Johanna Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and book her place in the semifinals.

Aukes will now face a difficult task though as she will take on 11-time Freestyle World Champion and current world tour leader - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - in the semifinals. The Aruban wasted little time in her heat against Jazzy Zwerus (JP / NeilPryde) to quickly rack up the highest score of the day - 114.9 points- after landing culos on both tacks, a burner, a future and the pick on the bunch - a perfect spock culo. If Offringa maintains that level of sailing then she may prove almost impossible to stop once again.

Men’s

While the top seeds in the Women’s Single Elimination may have survived the day unscathed, the same cannot be said for the Men’s draw with none of the current top 7 sailors in the world ranking progressing into the top 4 on a day full of close calls, upsets and disgruntled sailors. 

The first name into the semifinals was Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) after the Italian produced one of the biggest upsets of the day by defeating current World No.1 - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - in what proved to be a very tight heat. Testa landed a sick planing double culo, bongka, spock-into-kono and a kabikuchi to earn a narrow earn a 5.5 point victory. Vrieswijk landed a double culo and kabikuchi of his own, while also earning his highest single score for an air funnel into burner, but was incensed that his pasko could score lower than a regular burner by Testa. However, that by itself would not change the result and you can take nothing away from Testa who sailed a solid heat. Vrieswijk will now have to do things the hard way, just as he did in Bonaire, by fighting his way back through the double elimination.

The next name into the top 4 was the 2015 event and world champion - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) - after the Belgian took down Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) with an assured display. Ruenes was upset that his air funnel into burner didn’t count, but it was adjudged to be completed one second after the buzzer, but even if it would have counted the Frenchman still would’ve needed it to score at least 22.7 points to win the heat.

Steven van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails) then faced Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) in the battle of Belgium in Heat 14a and come the end of the heat there was almost nothing to separate the two sailors. Van Broeckhoven was deemed to have edged the duel on port tack by 1.5 points, while Caers scored 0.8 of a point more on starboard tack with both sailors scoring 20 out of 20 for variation. That meant Van Broeckhoven had won the tie by 0.7 of a point and the former world champion was delighted upon hearing the result.

Since the end of the day, it has since come to light, under a review, that a move was missed between Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) and Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) and the two sailors will now have to resail their heat tomorrow. Earlier in the day, Schmit had caused a huge upset by defeating top seed - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - who looked frustrated at times during his heat.

Elsewhere, Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) was not impressed to have missed out on a spot in the top 8 against Jacopo Testa with the Dutchman clearly feeling that he had won the heat. Scheffers felt several of his moves were underscored and/or adjudged to be the wrong move. 

Meanwhile, Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), missed out on a place in the top 8 by the narrowest of margins to Antony Ruenes, but the vice-world champion remained extremely composed upon hearing the result and will now look to battle his way back through the double elimination. 

The forecast for tomorrow predicts lighter winds than the last two days, but given the inaccuracy of the forecast for both Monday and Tuesday, we will just have to wait and see what happens with the conditions. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 10:30am (GMT+1) for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start at 11am.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

At the end of the opening day of Freestyle, only the first 5 heats of the Men’s Single Elimination could be completed in tricky conditions, while earlier in the day the Youth’s also battled it out.

Freestyle

Single Elimination - Men’s

The first heat of the Men’s Single Elimination saw Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) take on U20 champion - Corto Dumont (Starboard / Severne) - and despite the 17-year-old putting on an excellent display it would be current world No.7 - Scheffers - who would advance, while Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) produced an assured display to defeat Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and the Italian will now face Scheffers in the round of 16.

Heat 2a saw Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde) claim a clear cut victory over Ricardo Marca (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins), while on the b-panel current world tour leader - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) hit the water for the first time this week. And while the Bonairean wasn’t at his absolute best in the tricky conditions he still had more than enough in the tank to end the hopes of Eilon Wilson (Patrik / Point-7).

In Heat 3 Italian Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Challenger Sails) made a bright start to successfully navigate his way past Britain’s Max Rowe (Simmer / Simmer Sails), while Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) had far too much fire power for Aron Etmon (Starboard / S2Maui) on the b-panel.

Heat 4a proved to be the heat of the day and Taty Frans (Point-7) can feel a little unlucky that he faced Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) as they posted the second and third highest scores of the day - 151.1 points and 148.9 points respectively. Both sailors sailed with power and finesse and in the end, there was almost nothing to separate them, but unfortunately for Frans, he lost out by just 2.2 points. Frans will now have to wait for the double elimination to mount a comeback. Ruenes, meanwhile, will mean last year’s runner up here - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins).

The last two heats of the day saw Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne) win the battle of the Swiss as the 25-year-old defeated Loick Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails) after asserting late on! Müller will now face Steven van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails) after the Belgian set the highest score of the day - 159.8 points - against Niclas Nebelung (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) in Heat 5b.

The sixth heat was started but with the wind dropping back the heat was eventually cancelled and with that, the opening day of Freestyle was called off. The forecast for tomorrow looks as though it should be windy again and hopefully there will be clearer skies so that the wind can stabilise. The sailors will meet again at 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 11am.

Youth’s Contest - Sponsored by Severne

Girl’s U20s

In the Girl’s U20s Final Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone) claimed an impressive victory over Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra), who is still recovering from injury and sailed with a knee brace. Eržen made a strong start by landing a smooth spock and a stylish flaka to win the first final of the week.

Boy’s U15s 

12-year-old Takumi Moriya (Severne) made an impressive start to the Boy’s U13s contest as the young Japanese sailor won all 3 finals completed today ahead of Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone), Janus Wikle (Flikka) and Ancor Sosa Kather (Tabou / Point-7).

Boy’s U20s 

Last year Corto Dumont (Starboard / Severne) won the U17s division and he made the perfect start to the contest today by defeating Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) in the winners’ final of the U20’s, while Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) completes the podium after getting the better of Nil Bacon (Fanatic / Loftsails) in the battle for third and fourth place.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Girl’s U20s 
*Result may still change

1st Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
2nd Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

Boy’s U20s

1st Corto Dumond (Starboard / Severne)
2nd Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Nil Bacon (Fanatic / Loftsails)

Boy’s U15s
*Result may still change

1st Takumi Moriya (Severne)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
3rd Janus Wikle (Flikka)
4th Ancor Sosa Kather (Tabou / Point-7)

Slalom

Men’s

At the start of the final day of racing, the battle for the event title was still a three-horse race between Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) with just 3 points separating the big top 3. 

However, to remain in the race for the event title Iachino would be required to win Elimination 8 and that’s exactly what the Italian managed to do as he led from start to finish to claim a crucial bullet - his third of the week. 

Behind him, Albeau and Mortefon were locked in another epic tussle with the two heavyweights continually exchanging places, which led to a drag race for the finish line which Albeau would eventually win to secure an important second place as that result would then eliminate Mortefon from the event title race, leaving just himself and Iachino to battle it out!

The odds at this point were largely stacked in Albeau’s favour as a top two finish would guarantee him the title, and given that AA had only finished outside the top 2 twice in the preceding 8 races it seemed unlikely. While, in the scenario that Albeau was to finish 3rd or worse, Iachino would still be required to win the 9th Elimination.

In the end, Albeau didn’t leave the result in any doubt as he did what he does best in Sotavento by claiming a decisive bullet in the final elimination of the week to claim his 12th victory here in last 14 years - continuing his unbelievable dominance of the event. Having started the event very consistently the 25-time world champion then threw down the hammer in the second half of the event by winning 3 out of the last 4 races. Albeau came into the event tied on points with Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone), but leaves Fuerteventura with a 600 point lead.

The big top 3 have been truly dominant here, once again proving that they are in a different league to the rest of the fleet. In windsurfing terms they are the equivalent of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the tennis world, such is their unbelievable dominance and consistency on the racecourse. Between them, they qualified for 26 out of 27 winners’ finals (96.3%), while between them they also won 8 out of the 9 eliminations completed (88.89%) - 3x Albeau, 3x Iachino, 2x Mortefon. In the event rankings, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) was the next closest challenger in 4th, but he was a staggering 29.6 points behind Iachino in 3rd place.

Mortefon finishes the event in an excellent second place after getting the better of Iachino in the final race of the day, while Iachino completes the podium. Mortefon remains 3rd in the overall rankings, while Iachino climbs from 9th to 5th and both men will be firmly back in the hunt for the 2019 world title if they can record solid results in Denmark - as they will then be able to discard a 12th and 25th place respectively. 

In the end, Julien Quentel was extremely fortunate to hang on to his fourth place as after yesterday’s quarterfinal exit in Elimination 7, the 33-year-old should’ve been eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of both of today’s eliminations. Quentel was outside the top 4 in both Elimination 8 and 9 as they headed for the final mark and on both occasions, the sailors in comfortably qualifying fell to offer Quentel a much-needed lifeline. Quentel would then go on to finish 10th and 7th, which was crucial with Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) remaining in 5th place by just 1.3 points after finishing 6th and 7th today.

Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) finished the event with a flurry to cement his 6th place in the event rankings, which is the Pole’s best result to date on the world tour. Rutkowski has sailed extremely consistently for the entirety of the event never finishing outside the top 14, while he ended the event with a superb 3rd place and with a little bit more luck earlier in the event he could’ve finished even higher.

Jordy Vonk finishes the event in 7th place, which keeps the flying Dutchman second in the overall rankings, while Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) enjoyed an excellent end to the event with a 4th and a 9th today, which sees him rise 5 places into 8th. 

Elsewhere, Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins) signed off the event with his best result in a single Slalom elimination - second - which sees the 30-year-old climb one place into 9th, while Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) falls two places to 10th after two quarterfinal exits today.

The top 16 is completed by Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails) and Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins). 

Freestyle Recap 

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) look set for a title race showdown here after a thrilling battle in Bonaire earlier this year, which saw Huvermann force a Super Final. Offringa eventually came out on top and will start as the favourite for the event, but there’s no doubt that Huvermann is bridging the gap each year. Offringa’s consistency in Fuerte’s tough choppy waters may prove critical in deciding the event and world title, but it promises to be an intriguing battle.

However, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), will be hoping to impose herself on the top two and could very well do just that. The Norwegian has been locked in several tight battles with Huvermann in recent years and will be determined to gain the upper hand this time around. 

Elsewhere, Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) should be in an around fourth place, but a spot on the podium may prove a step too far. Meanwhile, Johanna Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) will be hoping to challenge Aukes for fourth place as will Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde), who returns to the lineup after missing last year’s event. 

Men’s

With the Freestyle coming after the Slalom this year - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who is currently ranked 12th in the Slalom - has chosen not to compete in the racing as he understandably prioritises his bid to finally get his hands on the Freestyle world title. The Bonairean completed a sublime comeback in Bonaire to claim victory on home waters, which puts him in pole position coming into Fuerte. Vrieswijk won the event here in 2016 and knows another win here would cement his spot at the top of the rankings.

Vrieswijk’s biggest rival in recent years has been 9-time PWA Freestyle World Champion - Jose ‘Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - but the Venezuelan finds himself in the unusual position of coming into Fuerte ranked in a lowly 13th after a shock loss to Julian Mas (Gun Sails) in Bonaire, which more than likely rules him out of this year’s title race. However, Vrieswijk can expect no favours from Gollito, who will no doubt be looking to return to the top of the podium. The 30-year-old has won here for the last two seasons and could well complete a hat-trick.

Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) is currently Vrieswijk’s closest rival in second after the Bonairean won the single elimination in Bonaire, but couldn’t quite hold on to that crown while sailing through injury. However, whether Schmit can keep up with the pace remains to be seen as he last finished in the top 10 here in 2013.  World No.3 Julien Mas (Gun Sails) has chosen not to compete.

Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) should be a major threat over the 5-day freestyle battle with the Belgian finishing on the podium here in each of the last three years. Caers will also come into the event full of confidence having just been crowned European Freestyle champion.

You can also expect to see strong performances from Italian Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360), who was one of the standout sailors in Bonaire and he deservedly earned his best result yet - 5th with his finesse and power catching the eye.

Elsewhere, Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) usually performs well here and will be hoping for a result in the top 5. Meanwhile, current vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - will be hoping to return to the podium here. The Frenchman was a little unlucky in Bonaire as he posted one of the highest scoring heats of the contest, but ran into an on fire Vrieswijk. Bosson finished 2nd here last year and has all the latest moves on both tacks and could challenge for the event title again.

Other names to keep an eye out for are Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails), Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), all of whom usually deal well with the tricky conditions. Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) is currently ranked 7th in the overalls, but sometimes struggles here Fuerteventura so it will be interesting to see how he fares.

The Freestyle fleets will be registering for the competition tomorrow morning between 10-11am (GMT+1) with the skippers’ meeting then been held at 12:30pm with a first possible start at 1pm. With an excellent forecast to come the Freestyle looks set to start with a bang!

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Overall Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom

1st Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne)
4th Julien Quentel (SXM / Patrik / Gun Sails)
5th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
7th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
8th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)
9th Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins)
10th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails)

With the second discard coming into play it seemed like there were plenty of sailors willing to risk pushing the start line as there was a multitude of premature starts.

Slalom

Men’s

Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) has been within striking distance of the top spot throughout the event, almost appearing to stalk previous leaders Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) at times, but after winning the thrilling finale of Elimination 6 yesterday and then powering to victory in Elimination 7 today, Albeau moves into an ominous lead heading into the final day. The 25-time world champions record here is unrivalled in Fuerteventura having won here every year since 2006 - apart from 2012 and 2013 (no slalom) - and it’s hard to see him surrendering the two point advantage he now holds. 

However, you never know, particularly when it is Albeau’s two biggest rivals who are chasing him and with no further discards to come there is still absolutely no room for error. Mortefon is yet to finish outside the top 3, but now trails Albeau by two points, while Iachino is a point further back in 3rd. The 3 slalom heavyweights are set for an epic final day showdown - with potentially huge title race implications.

 A victory for Albeau would see him extend his lead at the top of overall rankings with his current closest challenger - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - down in 6th place, while a victory for either Mortefon or Iachino would reignite their title challenge.

Away from the big top 3, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) remain 4th and 5th respectively - with Quentel discarding his quarterfinal exit today, but Bordes is now just 5.3 points behind him, so could yet challenge for 4th place. Realistically speaking the podium positions are already tied up, but it is just a case of deciding the order such has been the dominance of the big top 3. 

After continually hitting the crossbar this week, sometimes through no fault of his own, things finally ran smoothly for Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) with the Pole deservedly qualifying for his second winners’ final of the week. The 27-year-old made an excellent start and went on to record his best result of the week - 4th - which sees him rise two further places to 6th in the event rankings. 

However, at the moment you could almost throw a blanket over the 6th-8th places with just 4 points currently separating Rutkowski, Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses), while Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), who won today’s losers’ final is only a further 4 points further back.

The top 10 is currently completed by Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins), who qualified for back-to-back winners’ finals yesterday to surge up the rankings, but the Frenchman was a little annoyed with himself today after surrendering the last place into the semifinals of Elimination 7 to Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins). The Frenchman held 4th place as they rounded the last buoy, but couldn’t hold off Algret who produced an excellent final gybe. However, despite a quarterfinal exit the 30-year-old still climbs 3 places from 13th-10th.

Elsewhere, Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) will be kicking himself for dropping his last gybe in Heat 10 as the Croat was comfortably qualifying for the semi-finals - he remains 11th. Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) has been hot and cold at this event but will be pleased with today’s efforts after qualifying for his second winners’ final of the week. The Aruban went on to finish 6th which sees him climb 4 spots into 12th, while the top 16 is currently completed by Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) - 13th - Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails) - 15th - Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 16th, but after back-to-back 5th places Tristan Algret is in the position to strike - currently 17th but trails by just 1.5 points.

The forecast for Monday looks quite similar to Sunday mornings, but during the afternoon the wind is expected to be stronger, providing that the clouds don’t interrupt the local effect. The plan for tomorrow, if the wind is suitable, is to complete two more eliminations and the sailors will meet again at 11am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 12pm (GMT+1).

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom
*After Seven Eliminations

1st Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Julien Quentel (SXM / Patrik / Gun Sails)
5th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
7th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
8th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
9th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)
10th Alexandre Cousin (FRA - Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins)

Slalom

Men’s

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) leapfrogs both Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) and Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) into the current No.1 spot after enjoying a superb day, which saw the Frenchman record back-to-back bullets and a third place from the 3 eliminations completed today. Mortefon claimed a clearcut bullet in the opening elimination of the day and then produced a moment of magic at the second gybe of Elimination 5 to dive inside Iachino, before completing a feat which not many sailors manage - especially in Fuerteventura - by overtaking Albeau on the exit to claim a superb victory, which took Mortefon to the top of the event rankings.

However, after Albeau secured his first, and the final bullet of the day, in what some are dubbing one of the greatest racing finals in history there is just 0.3 of a point separating Albeau and Mortefon, while Iachino is now 5 points off the lead, but the Italian stands to reduce that deficit upon completion of the Elimination 7 with the second discard coming into play. The big top 3 have pulled well clear of the rest of the fleet and the next two days of racing should see a thrilling 3-horse race for the event title unfold!

The final of Elimination 6 saw two of the titans of Slalom - Iachino and Albeau - go head-to-head in an absolutely epic encounter with either sailor refusing to give an inch in a colossal tussle. You can read their recounts of the final below:

Antoine Albeau: “I'd have to say that that maybe the best final I did in my life but it was a big big fight with Matteo [Iachino]. I was a little bit faster on the first reach so I took the lead but I don't know he had some better gybes, so he was coming back at me. I think I was trying to protect the first place too much you know, trying to put him in  my wake and stuff instead of just going for it. And then at the last gybe again he had the better swell than me and I think he was even leading at one point but I knew that I'm going faster on that reach so I came back and then I think he had a little spin out or something and he went straight into my back and then he fell that was it, but it was just amazing you know!

I was totally focused on Matteo and at the end when I cross the finish line I was looking back at all the pack and they were so far behind it was like crazy you know - it's like we push so, so, so much that we were just flying at the front. The conditions were super hard because there’s a little swell plus the chop is super narrow between the two peaks of the wave. And it’s just very radical. We are all with 6.2-6.4m, so it's enough power just to fly easily over 30 knots and then you can you can have a problem, you know?

We will see at the end who wins. All three of us are there fighting for the first place. And yeah, the one who's gonna make a mistake is gonna have problems! It’s exciting it’s been a long time since 3 people were fighting for the event title.Super happy to finally get a 0.7.”

Matteo Iachino: “I nailed the start and then we came together at the first gybe and I knew on both of the way outs I had a chance to get a better line and at the last gybe I actually got a better line finally because I pushed him down, while I could go wider and dive inside. Then we were on the same swell, but I was above him so I thought ah okay now I can go down and kill him off you know. But then a gust hit is and that delayed me from doing that. Then we were side-by-side fighting and I just decided to go all in, so I just sheeted in and went full power. As soon as we were level, and I wasn’t in front anymore, he pointed me up a bit more and the nose got loaded from the sail because I pointed too, but I couldn’t hold it anymore and I catapulted.

It never crossed my mind to settle for second. I wanted to win. I love these conditions. It’s fun to race in it. I wait for the whole season to race in these conditions, so **** that! It was fun out there and there’s still a long way to go I think.”

While there is still very little separating the big top 3 there is undoubtedly a bit more pressure on Iachino now as Mortefon and Albeau are yet to finish outside the top 3. Iachino’s only blemish on his scorecard is a 9th from Elimination 5 after the Italian was eliminated in the semifinals after missing his boom on a rig flip after the opening gybe when leading the heat. The 29-year-old ended up finishing 6th in Elimination 6 but should be commended for his go for it attitude when many would have simply settled for second place.

Elsewhere, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) jumps two places into 4th after recording 3 top 10 finishes today - a second,  a 9th and a 10th.

Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) may have expected to lose more places in the event rankings after a quarterfinal final exit in Elimination 4 was followed by a second round exit in the 5th after sailing in the wrong heat, which threatened to undo all of his handwork in the opening two days. However, luckily for the Frenchman none of the sailors around him were able to inflict much damage and a 7th place in Elimination 6 stands him in good stead heading into tomorrow with the potential to discard an 18.5 from Elimination 5.

After a quarterfinal exit in the opening race - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - bounced back strongly by recording a 4th and an 11th place and with the way the other results went to day that sees the flying Dutchman climb to places into 6th, while Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) falls two places to 7th.

Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) drops one place to 8th, but the Pole’s unlucky streak seems to continue. Rutkowski was prominently placed in the semifinal of Elimination 4 - only to be taken down by Iachino’s flying rig, despite trying to give the Italian plenty of room, while he was again hampered by Iachino when well placed in the semifinal of Elimination 6. - that led to Rutkowski diving down the inside of Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) at the second buoy in a desperate attempt to regain a place in the top 4, but that ultimately cost he and Toselli a chance with both men going down. Overall though the 27-year-old does seem to have found a new level of mental strength and maturity and despite further setbacks recorded results of 12th, 11th and a 10th. With a bit more luck on his side Rutkowski could be much higher and he remains one to watch heading into the final two days.

Elsewhere, Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) regains his place in the top 10 - 9th - while Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) completes the top 10 and the end of day 3. The Croat recorded his best ever result in the opening elimination of the day - second - and is now well placed to battle for an overall top 10 come the end of the event. 

Marotti doesn’t have much room for error though with Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) just a point behind in 11th, while Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) and Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins) are only a few points further back.

After qualifying for a first time in 4 years - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - will undoubtedly be slightly disappointed with how today unfolded. The 21-year-old suffered two quarterfinals exits, but a 12th place in Elimination 5 is still enough to lift him into 16th. 

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom
*After Six Eliminations

1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) 
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Julien Quentel (SXM / Patrik / Gun Sails)
5th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) 
8th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) 
9th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)
10th Enrico Marotti (CRO - JP / NeilPryde)

Slalom

Men’s

Overnight event leader - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - came out on top of a scintillating battle with Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) in the Winners’ Final of Elimination 3 to extend his lead from 0.3 of a point to 1.6 points at the end of play today. Both men came absolutely hammering down the first reach, but it was the Italian who was able to gain the advantage after rounding the first mark and he sailed faultlessly over the remainder of the course to claim back-to-back bullets. 

Albeau pushed Iachino all the way on the first reach but couldn’t land a blow on the Italian this time around. AA was pushing so hard that he gybed the first mark with both feet in the straps. Albeau may not have claimed a bullet yet, but the 25-time world champion is still perfectly placed to attack the top spot over the next 3 days and you wouldn’t bet against him eventually coming out on top. Especially given the the fact that he was won here every year since 2006, apart from 2012 when Finian Maynard (FMX Racing) won and 2013 when there was no Slalom. Albeau will be eager to stop Iachino in the next race though, as if the vice-world champion was to win Elimination 4, he would then hold a perfect record with the discard coming into play and from that point it could be a long way back.

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) wasn’t far behind in 3rd place and is only 2.6 points behind Iachino and 1 point behind Albeau after the completion of the latest race. The big top 3 are threatening to dominate the event with there now being a 7 point gap to the next nearest challenger - Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) - who maintained his excellent start to the event by securing his best result yet - 4th.

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) is the most significant mover of the day within the top 16 after the Brit managed to recover from a quarterfinal elimination in Elimination 2 with his second 5th place finish of the week today, which sees Williams gain 7 places from 12th to 5th and he still remains very much in the picture for a potential podium finish. 

Like Williams, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) also rises into the overall top 10 - 6th - after recovering from his piece of bad luck in the second race yesterday by qualifying for the winners’ final today to finish 7th, which sees him climb from 11th to 6th.

Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) was unlucky to not make at least one winners’ final on the opening day and the Pole continued to look quick and confident today, which led to him booking his place in the top 8. Rutkowski rises a few places from 10th to 7th after Elimination 3. 

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) and Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) finished 10th and 12th respectively in today’s race and remain in 8th and 9th place, while Finian Maynard falls 5 places from 5th to 10th as does Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) who drops from 6th to 11th, while Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails), who started the day in 7th place finishes day two ranked 14th with all 3 men facing quarterfinal exits today.

Mover of the Day 

Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) suffered a bit of a day to forget yesterday, but he successfully pushed the reset button today to produce somewhere close to his best form. The 21-year-old found himself in the very first round of Elimination 3, but won his opening two heats before going on to qualify for the winners’ final and eventually finishing in an excellent 6th place. That result sees Westera rise 12 places from 32nd to 20th and the young Aruban could potentially gain plenty of ground yet with the discard tom come as he is currently holding a 42.5 point result from Elimination 2.

The top 16 is currently completed by Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) - 12th - Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) - 13th - Gabriel Browne (S2Maui) - 15th - and Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Chopper Fins) - 16th.

Heading into the weekend there is another windy forecast to come for Saturday and with a slight drop in temperature expected hopefully the wind patten returns to normal and kicks in earlier than today to allow for a full day of racing to be completed. The sailors will meet again at 10am tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+1) onwards.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom
*After Three Eliminations

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
4th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Ross Williams (GBR - Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
6th Julien Quentel (SXM - Patrik / Gun Sails)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) 
8th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
9th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)

Slalom

Men’s

At the end of the opening day there is almost nothing to separate the ‘Big Top 3’ - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde), Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) and Matteo iachino (Starboard / Severne /  Shamal Sunglasses) - with all three men making a bright start to the event by qualifying for both of the winners’ finals. However, it is Iachino who currently holds a slender lead at the top of the overnight event rankings after winning the second elimination to hold a 0.3 of a point lead. Mortefon and Albeau both recorded a second and a 3rd each and are perfectly positioned heading into Friday.

Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) often sails well here and the Frenchman made a solid start to the event today - qualifying for both winners’ finals before finishing 5th and 6th respectively and he currently occupies 4th place in the event rankings ahead of Finian Maynard (FMX Racing), who recorded two top ten results, Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) and Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / RRD Sails) - who both qualified for the top 16 in the opening two races.

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) came into the event tied on points with reigning world champion Antoine Albeau, but the Flying Dutchman rode his luck today. The 26-year-old was off the pace in the opening elimination and suffered a shock quarterfinal exit. Then in the next elimination it looked as though Vonk would be facing a semifinal exit, only for Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) to produce a poor last gybe to gift Vonk the last place in the winners’ final, which he duly grabbed with both hands before going to finish 4th and get his event up and running! Vonk sits in 8th place at the end of day one.

One sailor who really caught the eye today was Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) with the Dane consistently timing brilliant starts to put himself into contention in virtually every heat he sailed. Kornum was leading his semifinal in elimination one, but fell in on one of the gybes to miss out, but then made the winners’ final of the second elimination after a slice of good luck for himself, and a big piece of misfortune for Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails). Kornum then went all out in the final, but just jumped the gun to be disqualified, but is still currently ranked 9th after a solid day.

Rutkowski completes the current top 10, but things could’ve been even better for the Pole had he not been extremely unlucky in the opening semifinal of elimination two. The 27-year-old looked destined for the winners’ final, but on the final reach, his mast exploded just metres before the finish line, which cost him a place in the top 8. Rutkowski regathered his thoughts though and would go on to win the losers’ final and seemed upbeat at the end of the day with a lot of positives to take away from today.

Things started perfectly today for Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) with the 33-year-old leading from start to finish in the opening winners’ final to claim a decisive victory. However, Quentel then suffered the misfortune of his own in the quarterfinal of the next race. The man from Saint Maarten was prominently placed in Heat 10 as they headed for the second buoy, but with Quentel right on the tail of then leader - Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) - there was nothing he could do to avoid crashing when Algret crashed entering the second gybe. That left Quentel with a quarterfinal exit and he dropped from 1st to 11th on completion on the second elimination. The good news for him is that there is still plenty of racing to come. 

The top 16 is currently completed by Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic), the Brit finished 5th in the opening elimination before looking like hooking in on the first gybe in the next quarterfinal and despite a quick recovery he couldn’t quite make the top 4. Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) - 13th - Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 14th - Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) - 15th - and Andrea Ferin (I-99 / Challenger Sails / AL360).

Elsewhere, John Skye (RRD / RRD Sails) did well to make the top 16 in the second elimination, while Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) and Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) came from the first round of Elimination 2 to make the top 16.

Current world No.5 - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) had a bit of a day to forget with the 21-year-old failing to progress through a heat and he will just now need to reset and start tomorrow with a fresh head with plenty of time to still recover.

Unfortunately for Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails), it looks as though the German’s contest may be over before it even began with the 28-year-old suffering a nasty foot injury when trying to re-arrange someone else’s flying gear on the beach and in doing so kicked a fin - requiring 8 or 9 stitches. Everyone from the PWA would like to wish Sebastian a quick a successful recovery.

The forecast looks slightly windier for Friday and given the fact that many of the sailors were already on their smallest equipment today at times, tomorrow could prove to be a real handful, which should provide plenty of exhilarating racing. The sailors will meet again at 10am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11am onwards!

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - Men’s Slalom
*After Two Eliminations

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA - Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA - Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)
4th Cedric Bordes (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Finian Maynard (KV - FMX Racing)
6th Antoine Questel (FRA - I-99 / S2Maui)
7th Cyril Moussilmani (FRA - RRD / RRD Sails)
8th Jordy Vonk (NED - Fanatic / Duotone)
9th Sebastian Kornum (DEN - JP / NeilPryde)
10th Maciek Rutkowski (POL - FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)

Sotavento is located on the Southeast coast of Fuerteventura and has developed a world-class reputation due to its year round sunshine, stunning golden beaches and most importantly, as its name suggests, strong winds, which create some of the most exhilarating conditions on the PWA World Tour. Fuerteventura is one of the most challenging stops on the tour for the freestylers, but it can also be one of the most rewarding when there is a swell running as it produces the perfect stunt ramps for the freestylers to launch into the latest aerial power moves, while the slalom fleet will be reaching for their smallest gear and trying to reach the end of the course unscathed. 

Slalom

Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) and Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) come into Fuerteventura currently tied on 19,600 points, but it will be Albeau who starts the fourth slalom event of the year as the heavy favourite having won here for the last 5 years. Last season Albeau was simply untouchable here as he completed the event with a perfect record - winning all 4 eliminations and he’ll be a hard man to stop.

Vonk, meanwhile, will look to maintain his title challenge having finished 2nd and 4th so far this year. Last year Vonk produced a breakthrough performance to finish 4th overall and will be buoyed by the fact that he recorded his best result yet in Fuerte last year - also 4th - while he also won his first elimination on the world tour in South Korea and he will be looking to notch up another bullet here.

The other two members of the ‘Big Top 3’ - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses) - have suffered a slightly topsy turvy start to the season. Mortefon began the season in perfect fashion by winning in Marignane, France, but then finished 12th in South Korea and comes into Fuerte ranked 3rd. While Iachino bounced back from a disappointing 25th in Marignane by winning in South Korea to climb back into 10th in the overalls. Both will be keen to return to the podium here and reduce the deficit between themselves and Albeau/Vonk.

Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) - 4th overall, Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - 5th overall and Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), who earned his first podium in South Korea - 6th overall will all come into Fuerteventura full of confidence as the trio are all enjoying their best seasons to date on the world tour and will be eager to maintain that momentum over the next 5 days. 

Having been forced to retire last season from an ongoing virus - Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) - has made a solid return to the race course - recording a 10th and 14th so far this season, which sees the Austrian ranked 7th overall.

Elsewhere, Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) comes into Fuerte ranked 8th overall, but you can expect to see him challenging for the top prizes here. The Brit has finished on the podium in 3 out of the last 4 years, while he finished 5th here in 2018 and he should make another bold bid for the top 3.

Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) completes the top 10 in 9th place and the German will look to rediscover the form that saw him podium in France having then finished a disappointing 23rd in South Korea.

The slalom has seen a real mixed bag of results this year, but other notable sailors to keep an eye out for include last year’s world No.5 and 7 Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) and Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins), who currently find themselves ranked 16th and 22nd in the overalls. 

Bruno Martini (I-99 / Challenger Sails) is currently ranked 11th and will be looking to maintain pace as he bids to break into the overall top 10 for the first time in his career. The Italian won his first race in South Korea and could be a threat again. As could the likes of Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), Finian Maynard (FMX Racing), who won here in 2012, 20-year-old Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7), Frenchman Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) and teammates Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) and Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), who showed glimpses of being back to his best in South Korea. There are plenty of other sailors who could also be involved in the battle for the top 16 and beyond, but there are too many to name. 

Freestyle

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) look set for a title race showdown here after a thrilling battle in Bonaire earlier this year, which saw Huvermann force a Super Final. Offringa eventually came out on top and will start as the favourite for the event, but there’s no doubt that Huvermann is bridging the gap each year. Offringa’s consistency in Fuerte’s tough choppy waters may prove critical in deciding the event and world title, but it promises to be an intriguing battle.

However, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), will be hoping to impose herself on the top two and could very well do just that. The Norwegian has been locked in several tight battles with Huvermann in recent years and will be determined to gain the upper hand this time around. 

Elsewhere, Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) should be in an around fourth place, but a spot on the podium may prove a step too far. Meanwhile, Johanna Rümenapp (I-99 / Gun Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) will be hoping to challenge Aukes for fourth place as will Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde), who returns to the lineup after missing last year’s event. 

Men’s

With the Freestyle coming after the Slalom this year - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who is currently ranked 12th in the Slalom - has chosen not to compete in the racing as he understandably prioritises his bid to finally get his hands on the Freestyle world title. The Bonairean completed a sublime comeback in Bonaire to claim victory on home waters, which puts him in pole position coming into Fuerte. Vrieswijk won the event here in 2016 and knows another win here would cement his spot at the top of the rankings.

Vrieswijk’s biggest rival in recent years has been 9-time PWA Freestyle World Champion - Jose ‘Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - but the Venezuelan finds himself in the unusual position of coming into Fuerte ranked in a lowly 13th after a shock loss to Julian Mas (Gun Sails) in Bonaire, which more than likely rules him out of this year’s title race. However, Vrieswijk can expect no favours from Gollito, who will no doubt be looking to return to the top of the podium. The 30-year-old has won here for the last two seasons and could well complete a hat-trick.

Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) is currently Vrieswijk’s closest rival in second after the Bonairean won the single elimination in Bonaire, but couldn’t quite hold on to that crown while sailing through injury. However, whether Schmit can keep up with the pace remains to be seen as he last finished in the top 10 here in 2013. The same could also be true for Julian Mas, who earned a brilliant first podium in Bonaire, but often struggles in Fuerte’s choppy waters.

Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) should be a major threat over the 5 day freestyle battle with the Belgian finishing on the podium here in each of the last three years. Caers will also come into the event full of confidence having just been crowned European Freestyle champion.

You can also expect to see strong performances from Italian Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360), who was one of the standout sailors in Bonaire and he deservedly earned his best result yet - 5th with his finesse and power catching the eye.

Elsewhere, Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) usually performs well here and will be hoping for a result in the top 5. Meanwhile, current vice-world champion - Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) - will be hoping to return to the podium here. The Frenchman was a little unlucky in Bonaire as he posted one of the highest scoring heats of the contest, but ran into an on fire Vrieswijk. Bosson finished 2nd here last year and has all the latest moves on both tacks and could challenge for the event title again.

Other names to keep an eye out for are Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / Gun Sails), Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), all of whom usually deal well with the tricky conditions. Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) is currently ranked 7th in the overall, but sometimes struggles here Fuerteventura so it will be interesting to see how he fares.

As previously mentioned there’s an excellent forecast to come, so you won’t want to miss any of the action to come. You’ll be able to follow all the racing and freestyle as it happens via the PWA live stream @ www.pwaworldtour.com.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Schedule For Day 1: (All Times GMT+1)

- Registration 10-11am

- Skippers’ Meeting - 12:30pm

- First Possible Start - 1pm

You can watch the pushloop challenge to see who wins @ https://youtu.be/2GsNI4vNs_w

Women’s

Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) continued her dominance in Gran Canaria as the multiple-time world champion made no mistakes in the opening wave event of the year. Daida became the first woman to land an air taka during a competition, while also coming close to landing a double forward on her way to an 18th victory in the last 19 year’s. Upon winning the 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival Daida also announced that she would be taking a break from the sport for the remainder of the season and will thus not be present at any more events in 2019.

That means that Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) is effectively the world tour leader heading into Tenerife after the Pole deservedly earned her best result on the world tour and first podium after finishing in a superb second place. Just before the event Sniady released a video showing that her sailing had gone up another notch or two and she duly delivered when it mattered most - landing pushloops, backloops and tabletop forwards, while also showing extra aggression and power on the wave to defeat Iballa Moreno in the semifinals of the single elimination, before successfully defending her second place against Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins).

Third place won’t have been the result that Offringa was either hoping for nor expecting, but it still represents a decent start to the season and she remains well placed for a shot at the title with the news that Daida won’t be present at the other events. You can expect to see the 28-year-old charging for a top two finish in Tenerife next month.

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) - had to settle for 4th place in the opening event of the year with the reigning world champion having to sail with a knee injury suffered months before the event. Unfortunately, while competing in Pozo, Iballa then hyperextended her right knee landing a backloop, but still plans to compete in Tenerife despite not being 100% fit.

One of the biggest stories of the women’s double elimination featured Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) after the 14-year-old staged a stunning come back to finish 5th in her debut event. Quintana has a real surfing style to her wave riding and looks a great prospect for the future.

Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) finished 6th, while Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins) share equal 7th.

Men’s

Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) made the perfect start to the season as he became the first man to crack the Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) / Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) stranglehold over the event title here. Between them, Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) had won every year here since 2006, but Campello rewrote the history book with a series of inspired displays. The Venezuelan/Brazilian was clearly delighted to finally get his hands on the top prize in Pozo Izquierdo and now has the perfect platform to build upon as he looks to win his maiden wave world title.

Philip Köster climbed one place in the double elimination from 3rd to second, but may still look at this as a major opportunity to complete a hat-trick of event wins. The 4-time world champion posted the highest score of the contest against Fernandez - 45.39 points out of a possible 50 - but crucially in the Super Final against Campello he was missing his 3rd jump when only needing a score of 4.51 points or better to win.

For the second year in a row Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) makes the podium in Gran Canaria with the Brazilian sailing brilliantly throughout. He may be a little disappointed not to have quite defended his second place - eventually finishing 3rd - after his pushloop forward in the dying seconds against Köster came up just - 7 points rather than the 7.85 points he required to win the heat. Browne looks in fantastic form though and will be involved in the title race.

Like last year, Victor Fernandez walks away from Pozo Izquierdo with a solid 4th place and given with how last year played out he’ll be quite happy with that start to the season. The Spaniard injured his back in the semifinal of the single elimination against Browne landing a huge stalled double forward, but was able to sail in the double and he’ll now have a couple of weeks to try and fully recover before trying to defend his event title in Tenerife!

Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) recovered from 9th place in the single to finish one place better than last year here - 5th. The Australian revelled in the slightly wavier conditions during the double elimination unleashing hammer blow turn after hammer blow turn to win 5 consecutive heats. The Australian should be an even bigger threat in Tenerife having finished on the podium there 3 times in the last 4 years.

Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) just missed out on a place in the overall top 10 last year - 11th - but has been on the radar for the last few years as someone who is one to watch carefully. The 21-year-old didn’t disappoint in the opening event of the year as the young Spaniard earned his best result on the world tour - 6th - and an overall top 10 spot this season will be the minimum he is hoping for after a bright start.

Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) starts the wave season by matching his result here from 2018 - joint 7th alongside Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who will probably be quite happy with that start to the year and the Spaniard should be a bigger threat in Tenerife!

The top 10 in Pozo was completed by Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who was forced to withdraw from the competition after the single elimination due to a foot injury, but TT should be back for Tenerife. Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails), who earns his first top 10 finish, Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) - all of whom finish joint 9th.

Notable absentees from the top 10 in Pozo include last year’s world No.6 - Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), who starts the season with his worst result since 2016 - joint 17th. The Brit was angered by Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail) interfering with at least one set wave during Heat 39 of the double elimination, but with the two sailors on opposite sides of the panel, nothing could be done. Lewis will now look to bounce back in Tenerife as will Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) and Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360, who finished 13th and 17th respectively here. 

Youth’s

The next generation of windsurfers also showed an incredibly high level during the latest stop on the Youth PWA Wave World Tour as their level continues to rapidly improve. In the Girl’s fleets there were victories for Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) in the U15s, Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone in the U17s and Alex Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), while in the Boy’s there were victories for; Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) in the U13s, Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing) in the U15s, Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui) in the U17s, while 16-year-old Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) met his goal of winning the U20s division this year.

The Moreno Twins are continually trying to evolve their event into a bigger and better version every year and this year was no different with the GCWWF being the first windsurfing event to remove single-use water bottles, while there is still a long way to go this is a positive and essential step not only for the windsurfing world, but the world in general and it fits perfectly with the new initiatives of the PWA in striving to become plastic free and carbon neutral over the coming years. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the Moreno Twins and their fantastic team for all their hard work and dedication and we look forward to return next year.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just a few days time we’ll be coming to you live from Fuerteventura with the next installment of Slalom (25th-29th July) and Freestyle (30th July - 3rd August) from the 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - sponsored by Rene Egli. You’ll be able to watch all of the epic action via the PWA live stream!

For a full summary of all the developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s Double Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER - Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Caterina Stenta (ITA / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s Double Elimination

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX )
6th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER - Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U15s

1st Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
4th Isabel Trivińo Delgado (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U17s

1st Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails)
3rd Inés Élez (Severne)
4th Lina Thekook (Patrik / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U20s

1st Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Regina Villegas (North)
3rd Lisa Witte 

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U13s

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
3rd Miguel Becerra (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U15s

1st Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Giulio Gasperini (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U17s

1st Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui)
2nd Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Lennart Neabauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Adrian Artiles (Goya Windsurfing / Simmer Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U20s

1st Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) 
2nd Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails)
3rd Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)

In the U20s fleet Baptiste Cloarec (Severne / Severne Sails), Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), José Casanova (Fanatic / Duotone), Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails), Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails), Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone), Henri Kolberg (Hot Sails Maui / Maui Ultra Fins) and Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) all qualified for the Boy’s U20s Super Session Final and in the end Cloarec would go on to win the final ahead of Gil and Sugi after landing an excellent double forward.

In the U17s Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne) came out on top after landing a massive backloop, while Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui) finished second with a big double forward effort. Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) completed the podium.

The prize giving ceremony will be held at 8pm (GMT+1) this evening and we will be back on Thursday - coming to you live from Fuerteventura with 5 days of Slalom followed by 5 days of Freestyle! Congratulations to all the winners.

Result Boy’s U20s Super Session Final

1st Baptiste Cloarec (Severne / Severne Sails)
2nd Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails)

Result Boy's U17s Super Session Final

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne)
2nd Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui)
3rd Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

In the Boy’s U13s+15s Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) claimed the top spot on the podium after landing a brilliant backloop, while Hayata Ishii (Goya Windsurfing / RRD Sails), who won the U15s contest earlier in the week, took home second place just ahead of Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone).

Isabel Delgado (Goya Windsurfing) won the Girl’s U15s super session ahead of Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) and Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) with a forward loop and all the girl’s progressed into the U17s and U20s Super Final, which was eventually won by Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails), who landed a stalled forward.

Tomorrow will see the Boy’s battling it out in the U17s and U20s fleets to conclude the 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival. The skippers’ meeting for the Super Session will be held at 12pm (GMT+1) on Saturday.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result Girl’s U20s+17s+15s Super Session Final

1st Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails)
2nd Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Isabel Delgado (Goya Windsurfing)

Result Girl’s U15’s Super Session

1st Isabel Delgado (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone)

Result Boy’s U13s+U15s Super Session

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Hayata Ishii (Goya Windsurfing / RRD Sails)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone)

Double Eliminations

Women’s

The opening women’s heat of the day saw reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - pitted against Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) in a battle for the podium. The heat was a close run thing with Iballa accumulating the higher jump scores, and things remain evenly balanced on the wave front until Offringa produced a moment of magic to rotate through a radical taka to earn 8.5 points - which proved to be the difference as Offringa progressed.

Having sailed so well against Iballa, many thought that Offringa would then use that performance as a stepping stone to gather momentum and fight her way up the podium. However, the Aruban produced an uncharacteristically below par display at a critical time and was ultimately eliminated by Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360), who sailed another solid heat landing an excellent tabletop forward and a backloop, while also earning the highest single wave score of the heat. Offringa started strongly with a big stalled forward and high tweaked pushloop, but then crashed numerous big backloop attempts. The real problem for Offringa was on the wave as the 15-time world champion only recorded two wave ride attempts during the entire 15-minute heat, which cost her dearly.

Waiting for Sniady in the final would be Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who came absolutely flying out of the starting blocks to rack up over 25 points in the first 4 minutes after landing a completely dry big stalled forward, a trademark one-handed backloop all the way, while unleashing several flowing, slashy cutbacks. Sniady started slowly and while she did recover towards the end of the heat with a good table forward there was no chance for the Pole to reel in Daida, who added a table forward to her scoresheet to seal the victory, while she also pulled the trigger on a double forward, which she wasn’t far away from landing! Daida’s latest victory in Pozo means she has now recorded victory here 18 times in the last 19 years! 

Men’s

Between them - Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) - have had a stranglehold on the event having won it every year between them since 2006. However, that all changed today with Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) fending off a late charge by Köster to win the opening wave event of the year!

Köster had started his comeback through the double elimination against Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) and he began with a real statement of intent as he posted the highest score of the whole contest - 45.39 points - meaning he only dropped 4.61 points out of a possible 50. 

Köster would then face a rematch against - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) - and the two of them produced another epic heat, just as in the single with both men leaving nothing on the line. Both sailors landed huge double forwards and tabletop double forwards, while remaining very evenly matched on their wave scores. Critically, however, Köster was able to land an almost perfect pushloop forward to earn 9.7 points, while Browne had crashed his 3 opening efforts, but the tied remained in the balance heading into the final minute with Browne requiring a 7.85 point jump or better to win. Unfortunately for Browne his last minute pushloop forward fell just short at 7 points and Köster marched on to setup a final against Campello, while Browne completes the podium in Pozo.

Köster then claimed a clearcut victory against Campello in the final after Campello made a slow start and failed to complete his scoresheet meaning there would be a Super Final to follow. 

At this point the decision was made by the Head Judge to extend the heat duration by 5 minutes to 20 minutes in a winner takes all battle. Campello used the one heat break to recompose himself and the 34-year-old produced a much better performance in the Super Final landing a massive double forward - 8.5 points - a pushloop forward - 9.2 points - and a tweaked pushloop to place Köster under pressure. 

The 4-time world champion duly responded with a huge stalled double forward to earn perfect 10s and also landed a big one-foot backloop to earn a further 6.12 points and with the German well ahead in the wave riding department it seemed Köster was well poised to attack. However, instead of focusing on jumps Köster focused on waves, much to his caddies despair who was desperately running up and down the beach trying to communicate that information to Köster. Seemingly unbeknown to the 25-year-old he only required a 4.51 point jump to win the heat, but it wasn’t until the dying seconds that he launched into a make or break tabletop double forward, which he couldn’t quite sail away from and with that Campello cracked the Köster/Fernandez strangehold. With the benefit of hindsight a big stalled forward or tweaked pushloop would’ve done the job.

Take nothing away from Campello though as he sailed brilliantly under pressure when it mattered the most, while he also showed off the radical side that makes him so fun to watch, throwing a trademark one-hand, one-foot forward loop while also trying a massive forward-into-air spock and he deservedly walks away with the event title here and makes the perfect start to the season in his bid for a first wave world title.

The plan for the last two days of the event is to run a Youth’s Super Session. On Friday the Boy’s U13s and U15s and the Girl’s U15s, U17s & U20s will compete, while on the Saturday the Boy’s U17s and U20s will take the centre stage one last time. The sign up for the Youth’s tomorrow will be held at 12pm (GMT+1) with a first possible start at 1pm.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s Double Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER - Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Caterina Stenta (ITA / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s Double Elimination

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX )
6th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER - Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

Double Elimination

Women’s

The real story in the women’s double elimination involves Alexia Kiefer Quintana, who finished second in the Girl’s U15s earlier in the week. The 14-year-old came back from the second round of the double elimination, all the way into 5th place as she won 4 consecutive heats defeating Maeli Cherel (Severne / Severne Sails), Birgit Rieger (Flikka), Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins). The youngster looks a real prospect for the future and already possesses great style and aggression on the wave, while also landing planing forward loops.

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) eventually brought Kiefer Quintana’s come back to an end and the reigning world champion will now face Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) in the battle for third and 4th tomorrow.

Men’s

Jaeger Stone (Severne / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses) completed a solid come back today as he battled back from 9th place in the single to 5th place in the double elimination. The Australian first dispatched of Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) before going on the end the hopes of Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), who had earlier caused the upset of the day by defeating Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360), Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) and finally Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) with a series of impressive performances as he showed off his trademark rail game and jumping prowess. Stone’s come back was then brought to and end by reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) - who posted the highest scoring heat of the day 32.32 points. The Spaniard will now face Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) tomorrow in a bid for the podium.

Marc Paré completed an almost identical come back run to claim his best result yet on the world tour - 6th - after winning 4 heats on the bounce as he took down Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde) and Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), while he produced his best performance of the day against Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) landing a huge double forward and stalled forward, while linking together two waves in the excellent range to move into the top 6 for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, Paré didn’t have his best heat against Stone, but will still be delighted with a great start to the season.

Elsewhere, 20-year-old Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails) earned his first top 10 finish on the world tour - 9th - after coming through from the first round of the double. The German inflicted plenty of damage with his wave riding, while landing several massive jumps to progress past Alex Grand-Guillot (Fanatic / Duotone) and Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) before claiming impressive victories against Adam Lewis (Fanatic/ Duotone) and local boy Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail) before losing out to Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone).

Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) also came from the first round of the double to record his first top 10 finish on the world tour since 2016 as he gathered momentum in the double elimination. The 25-year-old produced a late pushloop forward - one of the only ones of the day - in Heat 41a to snatch victory from Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / Duotone).

With a similar looking forward for Thursday, we should see an epic finale to the 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival. The sailors will meet again at 10:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 11am onwards.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s Double Elimination

*Top 4 places may still change

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER - Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Caterina Stenta (ITA / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Current Ranking 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s Double Elimination
*Top 4 places may still change

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses)
6th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER - Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

Women’s

Single Elimination

Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) posted the highest score of the day - 35.28 points - against Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) in the semifinals to deservedly book her place in the winners’ final with an insane air taka, earning 9.62 points, being the pick of her moves. Unfortunately, the conditions deteriorated for both the men’s and women’s finals making sailing extremely difficult, but Daida still managed to perform a backloop, tweaked pushloop and a stalled forward to claim victory in the single elimination.

Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) is now guaranteed her first ever podium on the PWA Wave World Tour after the Pole performed brilliantly today, while also causing a major upset in the semifinals as she defeated reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) to qualify for her first ever winners’ final. Sniady landed backloops, forwards and pushloops throughout to move into the top two while consistently scoring waves in the good-to-excellent range as she demonstrated that she has taken her sailing to another level over the winter. Sniady is now guaranteed 3rd place at worst, no matter what happens in the double, and will be absolutely delighted with today’s efforts!

Having recovered from the disappointment of not making the winners’ final - Sarah-Quita Offringa - recovered to secure the final spot on the podium in the single elimination. Although, now she will only be looking to move upwards in the double. The Aruban outscored Daida in the jumping department in the semifinal, but couldn’t find the wave scores she required this time around. 

Reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno - posted the highest score of any of the top 8 women in the quarterfinals - 25.26 points - but then seemed to struggle in the nuclear conditions. Iballa consistently launched into big backloops, but couldn’t quite hold onto the landings, while seeming too overpowered to inflict any damage with her wave rides, which are usually her most deadly weapon. Iballa will now no doubt be focused on trying to fight her way into the top 3 in the double elimination.

The top 5 is currently completed by Marine Hunter (KA Sail), Birgit Rieger (Flikka), Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins).

Men’s 

Single Elimination

Current vice-world champion - Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) - earned the best birthday present possible as the just turned 34-year-old won the single elimination ahead of Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) with a series of world class performances. In the winners’ final, Campello posted the highest score of the contest - 41.33 points - after putting on a jumping and wave riding masterclass. On his way to victory, Campello landed a huge double forward, a perfect pushloop forward, a tweaked pushloop, while posting two scores in the excellent range, which included a sick tabletop aerial. Campello will now look to defend his top spot in the double!

For the second year in a row Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) qualified for the winners’ final in Pozo Izquierdo after winning a blockbuster heat against reigning event champion - Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - in the semifinals. Both sailors produced an outstanding display with huge pushloop forwards, double forwards and backloops off-the-lip, but eventually Browne came out on top by 40.95 points to 38.97. In the final, Browne filled his jump scoresheet again, but couldn’t quite find the waves he needed. 

Philip Köster received a bye in the round of 16 and the quarterfinals after Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) was forced to withdraw from the contest through injury, but in reality that may not have been the best preparation for the latter stages of the contest. The 4-time world champion sailed exceptionally well in the semifinals but then crashed much more than people are used to seeing in the battle for third and 4th place, which may just be testament to just how hard to conditions became for the finals. Köster completes the podium in the single elimination and you still can’t rule him out from coming back through the double elimination as he seeks to complete a hat-trick of event wins here. 

Reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) - suffered a narrow loss to Campello in the semifinals with less than a point between them, but then, like Köster, the Spaniard looked out of sorts in Heat 24 as both he and the German failed to complete their scoresheets, which is basically unheard of for these two juggernauts. There were some rumours on the beach that Fernandez may have suffered some kind of injury, but we do not have official news to confirm that at this stage!

The top 5 is currently completed by Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) and Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), while Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail), Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses), Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360), Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / Duotone) and Josep Pons (I-99 / Point-7) will all be looking to defend their place in the top 10 in the double elimination at a minimum.

Double Elimination

After a one hour break, the men’s double elimination began and the opening two rounds have been completed at the close of play. 

Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails), who finished second in the U20s, caused a big upset in the opening heat as he dispatched of last year’s world No.15 Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), while elsewhere, local boy Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) also faced a first round exit from the double at the hands of 18-year-old - Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) as the next generation made their mark in the main draw. Chapuis then went on to win a tight heat against Ben Proffitt (Simmer / Simmer Sails) and will now face Josep Pons in the third round.

Meanwhile, several sailors started a successful comeback by recording back-to-back victories - firstly Loïck Lesauvage (Goya Windsurfing), Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde), Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails), U20s Champion Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne), Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) and the previously mentioned Miguel Chapuis. 

The wind and wave look set to continue into Wednesday with a similar looking forecast for tomorrow, meaning there should be another epic day of action on the cards. The sailors will meet again at 10am tomorrow morning with a first possible start at 10:30am (GMT+1).

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s Single Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s Single Elimination

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
5th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
5th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)

Women’s

Single Elimination

The top seeds in the women’s draw survived the first day of competition unscathed to safely progress into the top 8. 

Vice-world champion - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - made an assured start to her campaign as she posted the second highest score of the day - 23.86 points - to dispatch of Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone), who won the U17s yesterday. Pasquale was a little unfortunate to be drawn against Offringa as she would’ve progressed from the a-side on the panel, which saw Marine Hunter (KA Sail) defeat Serena Zoia (Fanatic / Duotone).

Defending event champion - Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) - set the highest scoring heat of the day - 26.75 points - as she landed a trademark stalled forward, big backloop and earned a 7.25 point wave to make a confident start. On the other side of Heat 10 Birgit Rieger (Flikka) claimed an impressive victory against Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / Duotone) with the Austrian landing a backloop.

In Heat 11 - Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - saw off the challenge of Nuage Le Derff (Severne / Severne Sails) on the a-side, while Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) navigated her way past Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) with an efficient display.

Reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) - sailed in the final women’s heat of the day and she made light work of Svetlana Kolpikova Bala to set up a quarterfinal tie against Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins) after the Italian survived a late comeback by Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne/ Maui Ultra Fins).

Men’s

During the morning and early afternoon the men’s fleet was reduced to just the top 16 sailors, but with the tide becoming too high and conditions deteriorating the contest was then placed on hold. However, after an hour the competition resumed with the wind cranking up an extra notch and the ramps improving with the tide dropping back, which allowed the round of 16 to be completed after 4pm in over 35-40 knots of wind.

The restart - Heat 17 - saw the vice-world champion - Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) - in action against Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) for a place in the top 8. The Brazilian/Venezuelan needed to at the top of his game, with Paré producing an excellent display, which included a sick stalled double forward - 9.1 points - and luckily he was as he posted the second highest score of the day - 33.88 points. With the wind picking up from earlier Campello was able to land a trademark pushloop forward and double forward, while recording wave scores or 8.65 and 7.5 points. On the a-side, Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) manoeuvred his way past Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) with the Brit missing his second jump score.

Reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) - earned the only 10 point wave ride of the day against Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail) on the way to posting the fourth highest score of the day - 30.83 points to book his place in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard will now face Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) after the German came out on top of an extremely close heat against Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX). In the end, there was just 0.17 of a point between them.

Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone), who finished joint 7th here in 2018, claimed the scalp of world No.4 Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses) in Heat 19a as the 9-time Freestyle world champion continues to evolve his wave sailing skills. In the previous round, it was Gollito’s jumping that helped him past Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), but against Stone, it was his wave riding that proved to be the difference as he posted an almost perfect 9.68 point wave after combining a goiter and a frontside 360 on the same wave. Stone actually outscored Gollito in the air, but for a change, the Aussie struggled to find wave scores in the tricky conditions, which is usually his forte.

On the b-side, last year’s runner up - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) - recorded the third highest score of the day, just behind Campello, on 33.63 points. The Brazilian posted two excellent jump scores - 9 and 9.45 points - for a massive double forward and pushloop forward, while also recording one wave in the excellent range as he showed why he is one of the favourites for the event. Browne will now go head-to-head against Gollito for a place in the semifinals.

Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / Duotone), who missed the entirety of last season through injury made a winning return against Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), but then suffered a narrow defeat to Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who was absolutely delighted to progress. Advancing Into the top 8 guarantees TT a better result here than last year when he had to settle for 17th place. Traversa will no face hat-trick seeking Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who posted the highest score of the day in the round of 32 with 35.38 points after landing a backloop off the lip, an air taka and a bolt upright pushloop forward despite the less than perfect conditions.

By the end of the day all four of last year’s top 4 - Köster, Browne, Campello, Fernandez - are safely into the quarterfinals, while between them, they ominously hold the top 4 highest scores of the day:

1st Philip Köster - 35.38 points
2nd Ricardo Campello - 33.88 points
3rd Marcilio Browne - 33.63 points
4th Victor Fernandez - 30.83 points

Elsewhere, Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) showed once again that he is one of the best onshore wave riders in the world, however, his suspect jumping cost him again against Robby Swift in the second round. Josep Pons (I-99 / Point-7) sailed through the pain barrier to advance into the third round before deciding not to sail against Köster in order to save himself for the double elimination, while the youthful talents of Loïck Lesauvage (Goya Windsurfing) and Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) enjoyed the closest heat of the day with just 0.06 of a point separating them come the end of the heat - in Lesauvage’s favour.

The forecast for tomorrow shows similar wind strengths to today and a slight increase in wave size from 1.4m to 1.6m, which should see the conclusion of the single eliminations. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10am onwards.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U15s

1st Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
4th Isabel Trivińo Delgado (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U17s

1st Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails)
3rd Inés Élez (Severne)
4th Lina Thekook (Patrik / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U20s

1st Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Regina Villegas (North)
3rd Lisa Witte 

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U13s

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
3rd Miguel Becerra (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U15s

1st Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Giulio Gasperini (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U17s

1st Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui)
2nd Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Lennart Neabauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Adrian Artiles (Goya Windsurfing / Simmer Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U20s

1st Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) 
2nd Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails)
3rd Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)