Tenerife PWA World Cup
After a short overnight hop, skip and a jump from Fuerteventura, the stage is now set for the final stop on the Canaries leg of the tour, which will see El Médano play host to the best wave sailors in the world for the 2018 Tenerife PWA World Cup, which starts today and runs until 11th August. The Women will be lining up for their 3rd battle of the season, while the Men will be competing for the 2nd time.
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 a close proximity. The forecast has been improving all the time for the week ahead and there should be more exciting battles ahead as the world’s most radical sailors prepare to throw down their biggest and best moves in order to come out on top.
Wave
Women’s
After the opening 2 wave events, there is almost nothing separating the current top 3 women - Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins).
In fact, there is currently a 3-way tie on 19,800 points, but it it is the twins who hold the joint lead with a win and a third place each, while Offringa has earned 19,800 points from her two 2nd places, but trails on tiebreak.
Iballa will start as the narrow favourite though having enjoyed great success here - winning the contest for the last two seasons, while she has not finished outside the top 2 since 2011.
However, Daida, who has won the event 4 times since 2011, will be a huge danger, especially given the performance she produced in Pozo Izquierdo last month. In 2017 Daida broke her ribs in the single elimination meaning she had to settle for 3rd place but will be looking to make it back-to-back event wins this time around.
Meanwhile, you can expect to see Sarah-Quita Offringa more pumped up than ever with a genuine shot at the title - especially if she can find a way to clinch a second victory on the PWA Wave World Tour.
Outside of the current top 3 - Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) - has been very consistent with two 4th places so far this season and should be there or thereabouts again, while fellow German Steffi Wahl (Sailloft Hamburg) will be an even bigger threat in Tenerife, having produced some of the best wave riding in Pozo and wave riding can quite often be more important here.
Elsewhere, Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) should be fighting for the top 5 and beyond again, while the likes of Nicolae Bandini (Fanatic / Duotone), Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), Sarah Hilder (Simmer / Simmer Sails) and Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) will hope to make an impression. Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) also lines up again and looks to be improving all the time.
Men’s
Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) is the man that everyone else has to beat as the reigning world champion and after such a confident and impressive display in the season opener in Pozo Izquierdo. Some may think that Tenerife’s more wave riding bias may open up the field slightly, but last year he looked incredible here in light winds and waves - generating more speed and power than almost anyone during the double elimination. If the 4-time world champion is in a similar mood this time around it’s hard to see anyone denying him.
The top candidates to challenge Köster would have to be Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses), who will be looking to regain his spot on the podium having missed out in Pozo after finishing 4th, 2013 PWA Wave World Champion Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), who made his best start to a wave season by finishing 2nd in Gran Canaria, Ricardo Campello (Point-7), who is still searching for his first wave world title and looked very dangerous in Pozo until his comeback in the double elimination was ended by Browne. Campello is certainly the other best-equipped jumper in the world to challenge Köster- while possessing more than enough turns and manoeuvres to challenge for top honours.
Elsewhere the local crew of Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who finished 5th in Pozo will be an even bigger threat in Tenerife - finishing 3rd here last season - as will event organiser Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Sunglasses) and Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), who used to live here and made it all the way to the top 4 in the single elimination before finishing 5th in 2017.
Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) will look to bounce back from his worst result in 8 seasons after finishing in joint 17th in Pozo. You wouldn’t have expected to see TT finish there especially after completing the podium in 2017 - but Pozo is probably his weakest event and you can expect to see a reaction as he looks to bounce back. The better the waves the more dangerous Traversa will become.
Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses) has an excellent track record in Tenerife, which includes winning the single elimination in 2015 and he should be in contention again - particularly with his explosive wave riding. Stone consistently racks up some of the highest wave scores on the tour - alongside Lewis - and that could prove pivotal here.
Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) spent a couple of months training for the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival and that more than paid off with the Venezuelan earning his first top 10 finish in the waves - joint 7th - and there won’t be many wanting to face him.
Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) has been showing glimpses of brilliance for the last couple of seasons and a joint 9th in Pozo is an excellent starting point on which to build. Meanwhile, Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), who now lives in Tenerife will be hoping for another top 10 finish as will Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), who looked in fine form. The Brit may well be hoping to go one or two rounds further here though.
Outside Chance
Depending on the conditions then Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) could be a player. Mauch was the only man to score a 10 point wave score in the season opener and the 22-year-old is one of the best wave riders in the world. However, there is a major downfall with Mauch’s jumping and ideally there would be no jumps to count in order for him to be a big threat, while he may be able to get away with it with one jump and two waves. However, if the conditions allow for two jumps or more to be judged then it’s hard to see Mauch getting any further than joint 9th.
Of course there are a whole bunch of other sailors who could easily feature in the top 10 and beyond too - Antoine Martin (NeilPryde), Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) and Morgan Noireaux (JP / S2Maui) to just name a few.
Youth’s
The next generation of wave sailors will also be taking to the water again over the coming 7 days. We’ll have a confirmed entry list today, but in Pozo Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone), Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone), Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne), Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) and Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) were the sailors to take the top spot on the podium in their respective age categories. Unfortunately, Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who won the Girls U20 will likely miss the event after injuring herself in Pozo.
The forecast for the week ahead has been improving all the time and although the opening day (today) looks like a lay day, there is then the potential to run some Youth heats tomorrow before the Pros later in the week. Tenerife has produced a result 2011 and looks set to maintain it’s 100% record, but who will come out on top? Find out by tuning into www.pwaworldtour.com from today until 11th August.
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
- Skippers’ Meeting 1pm
- First Possible Start 1:30pm (GMT+1)