Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival

Event Summary: 9 Days of Epic Windsurfing as Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival Opens 2019 PWA Wave World Tour in Style

Pozo Izquierdo is famous for it’s nuclear winds and perfect stunt ramps and over the last 9 days It certainly didn’t disappoint with several days of winds over 40 knots creating the perfect platform for the world’s best sailors to boost into bigger and more radical tricks than ever before as the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival showed why it has the reputation of being one of the most spectacular events on the world tour.

Women’s

Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) continued her dominance in Gran Canaria as the multiple-time world champion made no mistakes in the opening wave event of the year. Daida became the first woman to land an air taka during a competition, while also coming close to landing a double forward on her way to an 18th victory in the last 19 year’s. Upon winning the 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival Daida also announced that she would be taking a break from the sport for the remainder of the season and will thus not be present at any more events in 2019.

That means that Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) is effectively the world tour leader heading into Tenerife after the Pole deservedly earned her best result on the world tour and first podium after finishing in a superb second place. Just before the event Sniady released a video showing that her sailing had gone up another notch or two and she duly delivered when it mattered most - landing pushloops, backloops and tabletop forwards, while also showing extra aggression and power on the wave to defeat Iballa Moreno in the semifinals of the single elimination, before successfully defending her second place against Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins).

Third place won’t have been the result that Offringa was either hoping for nor expecting, but it still represents a decent start to the season and she remains well placed for a shot at the title with the news that Daida won’t be present at the other events. You can expect to see the 28-year-old charging for a top two finish in Tenerife next month.

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) - had to settle for 4th place in the opening event of the year with the reigning world champion having to sail with a knee injury suffered months before the event. Unfortunately, while competing in Pozo, Iballa then hyperextended her right knee landing a backloop, but still plans to compete in Tenerife despite not being 100% fit.

One of the biggest stories of the women’s double elimination featured Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) after the 14-year-old staged a stunning come back to finish 5th in her debut event. Quintana has a real surfing style to her wave riding and looks a great prospect for the future.

Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) finished 6th, while Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins) share equal 7th.

Men’s

Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) made the perfect start to the season as he became the first man to crack the Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) / Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) stranglehold over the event title here. Between them, Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) had won every year here since 2006, but Campello rewrote the history book with a series of inspired displays. The Venezuelan/Brazilian was clearly delighted to finally get his hands on the top prize in Pozo Izquierdo and now has the perfect platform to build upon as he looks to win his maiden wave world title.

Philip Köster climbed one place in the double elimination from 3rd to second, but may still look at this as a major opportunity to complete a hat-trick of event wins. The 4-time world champion posted the highest score of the contest against Fernandez - 45.39 points out of a possible 50 - but crucially in the Super Final against Campello he was missing his 3rd jump when only needing a score of 4.51 points or better to win.

For the second year in a row Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) makes the podium in Gran Canaria with the Brazilian sailing brilliantly throughout. He may be a little disappointed not to have quite defended his second place - eventually finishing 3rd - after his pushloop forward in the dying seconds against Köster came up just - 7 points rather than the 7.85 points he required to win the heat. Browne looks in fantastic form though and will be involved in the title race.

Like last year, Victor Fernandez walks away from Pozo Izquierdo with a solid 4th place and given with how last year played out he’ll be quite happy with that start to the season. The Spaniard injured his back in the semifinal of the single elimination against Browne landing a huge stalled double forward, but was able to sail in the double and he’ll now have a couple of weeks to try and fully recover before trying to defend his event title in Tenerife!

Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) recovered from 9th place in the single to finish one place better than last year here - 5th. The Australian revelled in the slightly wavier conditions during the double elimination unleashing hammer blow turn after hammer blow turn to win 5 consecutive heats. The Australian should be an even bigger threat in Tenerife having finished on the podium there 3 times in the last 4 years.

Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) just missed out on a place in the overall top 10 last year - 11th - but has been on the radar for the last few years as someone who is one to watch carefully. The 21-year-old didn’t disappoint in the opening event of the year as the young Spaniard earned his best result on the world tour - 6th - and an overall top 10 spot this season will be the minimum he is hoping for after a bright start.

Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) starts the wave season by matching his result here from 2018 - joint 7th alongside Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who will probably be quite happy with that start to the year and the Spaniard should be a bigger threat in Tenerife!

The top 10 in Pozo was completed by Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who was forced to withdraw from the competition after the single elimination due to a foot injury, but TT should be back for Tenerife. Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails), who earns his first top 10 finish, Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) - all of whom finish joint 9th.

Notable absentees from the top 10 in Pozo include last year’s world No.6 - Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), who starts the season with his worst result since 2016 - joint 17th. The Brit was angered by Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail) interfering with at least one set wave during Heat 39 of the double elimination, but with the two sailors on opposite sides of the panel, nothing could be done. Lewis will now look to bounce back in Tenerife as will Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) and Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360, who finished 13th and 17th respectively here. 

Youth’s

The next generation of windsurfers also showed an incredibly high level during the latest stop on the Youth PWA Wave World Tour as their level continues to rapidly improve. In the Girl’s fleets there were victories for Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) in the U15s, Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone in the U17s and Alex Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), while in the Boy’s there were victories for; Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) in the U13s, Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing) in the U15s, Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui) in the U17s, while 16-year-old Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) met his goal of winning the U20s division this year.

The Moreno Twins are continually trying to evolve their event into a bigger and better version every year and this year was no different with the GCWWF being the first windsurfing event to remove single-use water bottles, while there is still a long way to go this is a positive and essential step not only for the windsurfing world, but the world in general and it fits perfectly with the new initiatives of the PWA in striving to become plastic free and carbon neutral over the coming years. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the Moreno Twins and their fantastic team for all their hard work and dedication and we look forward to return next year.

Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour?

In just a few days time we’ll be coming to you live from Fuerteventura with the next installment of Slalom (25th-29th July) and Freestyle (30th July - 3rd August) from the 2019 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - sponsored by Rene Egli. You’ll be able to watch all of the epic action via the PWA live stream!

For a full summary of all the 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 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s Double Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (POL - Simmer / Simmer / AL360)
3rd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU - Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP - Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER - Fanatic / Duotone)
6th Maaike Huvermann (NED - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Caterina Stenta (ITA / RRD Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s Double Elimination

1st Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN - Brunotti Boards)
2nd Philip Köster (GER - Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marcilio Browne (BRA - Goya Windsurfing)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP - Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS - Starboard / Severne / SWOX )
6th Marc Paré (ESP - Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN - Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP - RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA - Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER - Bruch Boards / Gun Sails)
9th Leon Jamaer (GER - JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA - JP / NeilPryde)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U15s

1st Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Lina Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
4th Isabel Trivińo Delgado (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U17s

1st Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Mar de Arce (Star-Fish / Loftsails)
3rd Inés Élez (Severne)
4th Lina Thekook (Patrik / GA Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Girl’s U20s

1st Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Regina Villegas (North)
3rd Lisa Witte 

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U13s

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Val Eržen (Flikka / Duotone)
3rd Miguel Becerra (Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U15s

1st Hayata Ishii (RRD / Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Giulio Gasperini (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U17s

1st Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails Maui)
2nd Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Lennart Neabauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Adrian Artiles (Goya Windsurfing / Simmer Sails)

Result 2019 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Boy’s U20s

1st Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) 
2nd Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails)
3rd Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing)

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