2001 Vargas Gran Canaria PWA Wave Grand Prix Day 4

It was balls to the wall action here today at the Vargas, Gran Canaria, PWA wave Grand Prix. With wind and waves building throughout the day, competition commenced early this afternoon and three rounds of the men’s single elimination were completed. The eight remaining sailors who have made it to through to the quarter finals are Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Proof, Neil Pryde) Marcos Perez (Mistral, North) Pierrick Wattez (Bic, Neil Pryde) Josh Angulo (RRD) Kevin Pritchard (Bic, Gaastra) Vidar Jensen (Drops, North) Peter Voltwater (F2, Arrows) and Xavier Huart (Mistral, North).
From the word go today the action went ballistic as sailors battled it out on the water. Huge jumps were going off in every heat and amongst the moves performed today were double forward loops, Table top forwards and huge one handed back loops. The big upset of the day had to be the elimination of World Wave Champion Francisco Goya (Fanatic, Arrows) by French sailor Xavier Huart. The Argentinean wave guru seemed under powered for much of his heat, he managed to fill out his scorecard but Huart had far better waves and bigger jumps.
Matt Pritchard (Gaastra, AHD) returning to competition after his ankle injury was another victim in the early rounds and was defeated in the second heat of the day by Aussie sailor Steve Allen (Fanatic, Gaastra). Josh Stone (JP, Neil Pryde) was the next big name to fall with local sailor Marcos Perez the man to blame for Stones misery!<photo1> <br>Amongst the big moves of the day was a huge double forward by the crazy French sailor Robert Teriitehau (North, Bic). Powered up on his 4.4m Robert had the crowds all cheering at his monster jump, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get him through his heat against yet another local Gran Canarian Dario Ojeda Nilsen (Neil Pryde). <br>The stage is now set for a dramatic climax to the men’s single elimination tomorrow. The wind is still howling and it looks like we are going to be in for another awesome day of radical action. <photo2>Also on standby for tomorrow are the women’s fleet and Moreno twins, Daida and Iballa will be hungry to do well here on their home waters. <br> <br>MARCOS PEREZ <br>“It was really good today. In the afternoon the waves were quite big and we had enough wind for big jumps and side-shore wave riding. My next heat is against Bjorn, he is sailing really well in these conditions and he knows the spot the same as me. I was on a 4.2m sail today which is my favourite sail size to use in the Canaries” <br> <br>JOSH ANGULO <br>“I had fun today, it was real hard for me but I am hanging in there. The wind was a bit gusty so it was hard work out there, I was using all of my energy the whole time! I am stoked!” <br> <br>FRANCISCO GOYA <br> “The wind just dropped during my heat, there was not much I could do! I have to take the long road now!” <br> <br>KEVIN PRITCHARD <br>“It was pretty good out there, the conditions were awesome. I am pretty stoked to get through today. I have Vidar in my next heat so that is going to be a tough one, we will have to see how it goes!” <br> <photo3> <br>VIDAR JENSEN <br>“It was just getting better and better all day. I am pretty happy with the way I sailed and I am looking forward to tomorrow. I am going to have a good night’s rest tonight. Today worked out perfect for me, I had a lot of fun!” <br></photo3></photo2></photo1>