Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival

Day 4: Campello and Erpenstein Charge Back Through Double As Only Top 4 Men & Women Remain Standing At Close of Play

The action continued for the 4th successive day at the 2018 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival as Pozo Izquierdo continued to produce the goods allowing more progress to be made through the men’s and women’s double eliminations. In fact, at the close of play only the top 4 men and women remain standing as the competition edges ever closer to its conclusion, but today belongs to Ricardo Campello (Point-7) and Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) after both sailors fought their way back into at least 4th place and they will hope to carry forward that momentum when the competition resumes.

Wave

Women’s

Lina Erpenstein won four heats on the bounce in the double elimination to secure at least 4th place at this year’s Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival. The German was able to gather some momentum today as she first brought Oda Johanne’s (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) comeback through the double to an end, before doing the exact same thing to Maaike Huvermann’s (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) hopes to setup up a tie against Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne).

Alonso sailed first thing this morning - receiving a bye through the first round with Line Bang Wittrup (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) being forced to withdraw through injury - before sailing a strong heat to dispatch of Sarah Hilder (Simmer / Simmer Sails). The Spaniard’s better wave riding then proved to be the difference between herself and Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / Duotone). And the same was also true against Steffi Wahl (Sailloft Hamburg) in Heat 30b. This morning Wahl had racked up 15 points for her wave riding in Heat 27b, but she clearly didn’t enjoy this afternoon’s slacker waves as she struggled to find the same scoring opportunities and bowed out.

Erpenstein then edged a close heat against Alonso with the German progressing thanks to her jumping with the two girls almost tied on points for wave riding - meaning Alonso takes home 6th place in the double elimination. The 21-year-old then exacted revenge against Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) for yesterday’s defeat to advance into the top 4, while Sniady slips one place to 5th. Erpenstein will face Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) next in the battle for 3rd and 4th.

The PWA would also like to wish Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) a speedy recovery after the Turk suffered a suspected broken metatarsal this morning upon landing a forward.

Men’s

Ricardo Campello is still alive and kicking in the double elimination after winning 4 consecutive heats - although it wasn’t always plain sailing. Campello brought Dieter van der Eyken’s (Starboard / Severne) comeback to an end with a relatively straight forward victory, however, heading into the last minute against Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) the 33-year-old was staring defeat in the face with the two sailors tied on points. The Brit would’ve won the tiebreak on highest single wave score, but unfortunately for Lewis, Campello pulled out his highest scoring wave of the heat in the final minute to perform a buzzer beater - leaving Lewis to settle for joint 7th, while Campello marched on.

Next up for Campello was Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses) and these two produced the heat of the day. It was Stone who made the much brighter start with a one-hand, one-foot backloop and a 7.88 point wave score on his first wave, while Campello had no telling score after 5 minutes with only a crashed pushloop forward to count.

In the past Campello has become flustered and can often visually appear quite negative mentally after a less than ideal start, but not this time as he fought back with a perfect double forward and a pushloop forward, while land frontside 360s and powerful turns to progress. Campello then dispatched of Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) in what proved to be the final heat of the day and will face Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) in a rematch from the single elimination.

Stone finishes the double elimination in 6th place after defeating Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) and Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone), while losing out to Campello by just 0.69 of a point. The Australian excelled with his powerful and dynamic wave riding earning 4 wave scores of 7.75, 8.62, 8.10 and 7.75 from 6 waves, but crucially couldn’t land a push forward in these conditions to keep his hopes alive this time around - although you could see he wanted it with his final jump attempt. If Stone can learn to land push forwards in a wider variety of conditions then there is no doubt he would be a genuine title contender as he wave riding is second to none. *Of the remaining top 4 only Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) has not landed a pushloop forward

Elsewhere, Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo produced the highest scoring heat of the day (at the time) - 30.54 points - in Heat 44b against Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) to earn his first top 10 finish in the waves - joint 7th alongside teammate Adam Lewis.

Meanwhile, the top 10 is completed by Marc Paré, Robby Swift, who landed an insane pushloop forward to kick start himself against Josep Pons (Simmer / Simmer Sails) before landing a last second frontside 3 to beat the local boy, Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), who defeated Camille Juban (Quatro / Simmer) in the dying seconds, and Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Sunglasses).

The forecast for tomorrow suggests slightly lighter winds and smaller waves, so the decision has been made to prioritise the Youth fleets for the morning at least. They will meet for a 9am skippers’ meeting, while the men’s and women’s skippers’ meeting will be held at 2pm tomorrow afternoon - with a first possible start at 2:30pm (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 Women’s DoubleElimination - Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival
*Positions 1st-4th may still change

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Lina Erpenstein (GER - Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)

6th Nayra Alonso (ESP - Fanatic / Severne)

7th Maaike Huvermann (NED / Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

7th Steffi Wahl (GER / Sailloft Hamburg)

Result Men’s Double Elimination - Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival
*Positions 1st-4th may still change

1st Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)

3rd Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)

4th Ricardo Campello (VEN - Point-7)

5th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)

6th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses)

7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)

7th Adam Lewis (GBR - Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)

9th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)

9th Robby Swift (GBR - JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)

9th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL - Severne / Severne Sails)

9th Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Sunglasses)

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