Pozo PWA World Cup

A look at the top contenders in the opening wave battle of the year

The wait is almost over for the start of the 2015 Gran Canaria Wind and Waves Festival, which is also the first time this year that we will see the most radical wave sailors in the world in action. Anticipation surrounding the event has been building over the past few weeks and from the look of the current forecast it should be nuclear windy from word go - hopefully ensuring plenty of spectacular gravity defying stunts.

Top Contenders

Men’s

Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) enters the event as the reigning Pozo champion having defeated an on-song Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) last year and both should be right in the thick of the action again with their jumping and wave riding repertoire. Expect to see rocket backloops and perfectly executed double forwards as both try to navigate their way to the top again. Campello could even look to pull out his new move the Voltwater - named in memory of Peter Volwater - to earn additional points.

2013 PWA Wave World Champion - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) had to settle for third place last year, but rumour has it that he’s been training hard than ever in order to recapture his world crown. The Brazilian is renowned for his jumping expertise on both tacks and you can be sure he’ll be calling upon his whole arsenal of tricks in order to be challenging for top honours come the end of the week.

Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) finished a disappointing fifth this time last year, but you would expect him to come bouncing back - especially if classic Pozo conditions prevail. The double world champion won his first Pozo PWA World Cup at the age of just 15 and has won in his back yard a further two times since, so if the twenty-one year old is on the top of the game it is likely he still remains the man everyone else needs to beat.

Of course the likes of reigning world champion Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne), Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX), Alex Mussolini (RRD), Dany Bruch (Starboard / Challenger Sails / AL360) plus many more are likely to be big dangers, but we’ll take a more indepth look at them in the full event preview, which will be released later in the week.

Women’s

The women’s division looks as though we’ll see another epic battle between the legendary Moreno twins, who have dominated the top of the game for so long and neither of them look like slowing down any time soon. Iballa (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) enters the event as the reigning world champion, but Daida (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) will still be the one to beat, having 1) won here last year and 2) having only lost in Pozo once in the last 15 years, which was to Iballa. Both women possess the skills to challenge many of the top ten with monster one-handed backloops, stalled forwards and wave 360s all on lock down. It promises to be another intriguing battle.

It looks as though the race to be crowned the Queen of Pozo will be a two horse race, but their will be plenty of women hoping to cause a major upset, but we will also take a full look at them in the event preview.

The start of the 2015 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival is only four days away. When the green flag goes up on the 12th July make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to follow the amazing action as it happens via the PWA live stream and live ticker.