Tenerife PWA World Cup

Event Preview: Wave Sailing Elite Head For Tenerife For The Final Leg of the Canaries Tour

From the 5th-11th August, the best male and female wave sailors in the world will be descending upon El Médano, Tenerife, for their second battle of the season, which also concludes the Canaries leg of the tour.

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 close proximity. 

Wave

Women’s

With Daida Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) not competing for the remainder of the 2019 PWA Wave World Tour, that means that Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) effectively comes into Tenerife as the current world tour leader. The Pole released a video the day before the start of the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival (GCWWF) showing that she had upped her sailing level and she duly delivered in Pozo Izquierdo to cause a couple of big upsets by defeating Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) to deservedly earn her maiden podium on the world tour. Sniady will be a threat again in Tenerife and if she can bring moves such as the one-hand, one-foot backloop a top 2 finish could be on the cards again.

The season may not have started quite the way - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde/ Maui Ultra Fins) - would’ve wanted in Gran Canaria with the Aruban finishing third. However, you can expect to see her bounce back immediately in Tenerife where she has finished second on the last two occasions. Offringa showed glimpses of her best in Pozo and if you can consistently bring that level over the next 7 days she will be a serious contender for the event title. The 28-year-old will also come into the event on a high having just won her 12th PWA Freestyle World Championship in Fuerteventura. 

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) will come into Tenerife as the top seed having won here for the past 3 years. However, the reigning world champion has been dogged by a knee injury, which she sustained during preseason and will likely not be 100% fit with only a few weeks to recover between now and the GCWWF. Tenerife often has a bias for wave riding and if there is no, or only 1 jump to count, then Iballa may still prove tough to beat with her wave riding prowess often shining to the forefront here, it really just depends how much that knee injury impedes her.

Having missed the GCWWF, last year’s World No.4 Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) will be back in action in Tenerife and hoping to challenge for the podium, whilst juggling her studies at the same time.

14-year-old Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) took the world stage by storm when making her debut at the GCWWF last month and with the wave riding bias in Tenerife, which seems to be the young German’s strength, she could once again be battling it out for the top 5 with her surfy style catching the eye.

Elsewhere, the likes of Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins), Greta Benvenuti (I-99 / Challenger Sails), Birgit Rieger (Flikka) and Sarah Hilder (Simmer / Simmer Sails) will be battling for a place in the top 10.

Men’s

Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) finished 4th at the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival last month just as he did in 2018, but the reigning world champion should start Tenerife as the top seed having won here 3 times in the last 4 years - 2015, ’16, ’18 - while in 2017 the Spaniard finished second. To further bolster Fernandez’s credentials in El Medano the 35-year-old has not finished outside the top 3 here since 2012. The only slight cause for concern would be that Fernandez suffered a back/neck injury in Pozo Izquierdo after landing a huge stalled double forward, but he should have had enough time to get back to full fitness since then. 

Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) finally got his hands on the top prize in Pozo Izquierdo after defeating Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) in the single elimination and then winning a tight Super Final against Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins). That victory means Campello enters Tenerife as the world tour leader and he’ll be keen to keep the momentum going as he continues his bid for a first wave world title. Historically speaking Campello doesn’t have the best track record in Tenerife having never finished on the podium - but the 33-year-old did finish 4th here in 2018 and given his current situation the old form book could, and probably should be thrown out the window.

Between them Victor Fernandez and Philip Köster have the Tenerife PWA World Cup every year since 2011  - 5-times Köster, 3-times Fernandez - so it is going to be a tall order for anyone to crack their dominance of the event. Köster last won here in 2017 and after coming so close to victory in Pozo last month will be eager to return to the top of the podium here and his credentials speak for themselves.

Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) will be looking to bounce back immediately from a disappointing start to the season in Pozo - joint 17th - which was the Brit’s worst result since 2016. Lewis will be able to take confidence from the fact that he earned his first podium on the world tour here last year - doing so after setting a near perfect wave scoring heat - 10 points and 8.93 points - and it is his wave riding prowess, on a break that he knows like the back of his hand, that will make the 31-year-old a major threat again, while fellow locals - Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who no longer lives in Tenerife but has made the podium 3 times in the last 8 years (most recently 2017( -  and event organiser Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360) will also be hoping to bounce back from a disappointing result in Pozo and battling for the top 5 and beyond.

Another likely candidate for the event title is Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX), who is currently ranked 5th in the overalls. The Australian has finished as the runner up here twice in the last 4 years - winning the single elimination in 2015 and you can expect another strong showing from Stone this time around.

Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) has performed consistently in Tenerife over the last few seasons with a 2nd, 4th and a 6th place. The Brazilian looked to be in some of the best form of his life in Pozo last month and if he is in anything like that form he will be a serious threat for the event title.

Other names to look out for include Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails), who recorded his best result to date in Pozo - 6th. Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / Gun Sails) and Dieter van der Eyken, who both live in Tenerife, Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), who finished 7th here in 2018 and will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing start in Pozo. Teammates Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) and Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), should be in the mix for the top 10, while if the contest is mainly focused on waves Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails) could be a serious player.

Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) finished joint 9th in Pozo, but was then forced to withdraw from the contest before the double elimination with a fractured toe. The former world champion is set to try and sail in Tenerife, but he may be impeded from performing at his very best having only had a few weeks to recover. 

The forecast for the opening days looks quite promising with 1.3-2m wind swell expected, while winds of around 15-30 knots are expected, which would hopefully allow a quick start to the competition. The wind and waves are then forecast to drop by Thursday and Friday before returning over the weekend. Don’t miss any of the action by staying tuned to www.pwaworldtour.com

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 (All Times GMT+1)

- Registration 10-11am 
- Skippers’ Meeting 12:30pm 
- First Possible Start 1pm

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Women’s Wave

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)

Current Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men’s Wave

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)   

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