Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival
To start Day 5 of the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves there was barely a breath of wind with hazy, overcast skies, which meant the outlook didn’t look good for today, but by midday, the wind machine returned to action to provide a short afternoon of sailing for the Youth’s, while the Pro divisions spent another day waiting for the conditions to improve.
Girl’s
15-18 Year Olds
Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / NorthSails) asserted her dominance in the 15-18 year olds division as she backed up yesterday’s victory with another decisive victory after landing a forward and a tabletop, while linking together a 6 point wave ride to deny Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who finished second again today, but Regina Villegas earned 3rd place today ahead of Maike Lang (NorthSails).
U14s
In the under 14s division Mar de Arce once again proved too good as she pulled off several rocket airs and a donkey kick to defeat Julia Pasquale (Goya Windsurfing) and Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing).
Boy’s
14-16 Year Olds
The opening round of the 14-15 year olds division was also completed before the conditions deteriorated further and the contest was called off.
In Heat 1 there was an exceptionally close battle between Adam Warchol (Goya Windsurfing) and Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing) with both sailors stomping big backloops, forward and tabletop forwards while being equally matched on the wave. In the end, it was the young Pole - Warchol - who advanced into the final on a tiebreak decision, while Friedl goes into the repechage.
Heat 2 saw a terrific performance from Japan’s Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) and he deservedly booked his place in the winners’ final, while Oliver Rodriguez (Fanatic / NorthSails) goes into the repechage round for a chance to claim the last spot in the final.
Yesterday’s winner - Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) - looked to be in fantastic form again as he made the most of the small conditions on offer to earn the highest scores of the day - 25.5 points out of a possible 30. The 14-year-old pulled off a big, stylish backside 360 which he backed up to earn an 8 point wave, while he also earned perfect 10s for a superb one-footed backloop and he will be the one that everyone else has to beat. Jose Antonio Casanova Perez is the final sailor to go into the repechage.
U13s
Jahdan Tyger (Severne) and Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne) continued their battle for the top two positions in the Under 13s fleet, but it was once again the young Brazilian who came out on top as he landed an excellent forward, while almost landing a backloop to move into a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head. However, Dunkerbeck was clearly pushing himself today as he pulled the trigger on the forward loop while continuing to attempt backloops and pushloops. Meanwhile, Miguel Casanova Perez pipped Pepe Krause to 3rd place this time around.
With the tide becoming too high and what waves there were backing off the sailors were released at 4:30pm and they will meet again tomorrow morning at 10am for the skippers’ meeting - with the action commencing from 10:30am (GMT+1) onwards. The forecast for tomorrow offers some potential again, but it will all depend on whether the wind funnels through with WindGuru suggesting that there may be to much North in the wind. However, there were concerns regarding today and the wind still came through, so hopefully it will do the same tomorrow.
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