Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam

July 2, 2023 Created by Chris Yates

Day 1: Marcilio Browne pips Marino Gil to the Single Elimination crown by the narrowest of margins at a pumping Pozo Izquierdo

With conditions firing right from the word go on the opening day of the 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam little time was wasted in beginning the Men’s Wave contest at a pumping Pozo Izquierdo. True classic Pozo conditions greeted competitors with 40-50 knot winds and stunt ramps everywhere providing the ideal playground for the world’s best wave sailors to try showcase their ability and wow the crowds.

Men’s

Wave

Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) made the perfect start to his Pozo campaign as he defeated local boy Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) by the narrowest of margins in the Single Elimination Winners’ Final - just 0.04 of a point separated the two teammates by the end of an epic battle. Browne was one of the standout sailors throughout with the Brazilian posting the highest scoring heat of the day in his opening heat against Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing) - 32.38 points - and the 34-year-old would continue that rich vein of form as he posted 3 consecutive heat scores over 30 points with a combination of stalled double forwards and pushloop forwards, whilst showing plenty of variation on the wave. Last year Browne fought back in the Double Elimination to claim second place, but today he goes one better, which is the the first time that the reigning world champion has stood on top of the podium in Pozo. Browne will now look to defend his place in the Double Elimination.

Marino Gil thoroughly entertained the home crowds throughout the opening day as the local consistently pulled off a series of tremendous performances to book his place in the top 4 in Pozo for the first time. For a while, it looked as though his journey may end in the semifinals as he faced an on form Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails), but the 20-year-old pulled off a one-foot backloop buzzer beater to book his place in the final, whilst sending the crowd into raptures. Gil almost pulled off a carbon copy against Browne in the in the final, but agonisingly fell just 0.04 of a point short. However, Gil will be absolutely delighted with his performance today and he is already guaranteed his best result on tour and his first podium. The Spaniard also currently leads the Red Bull Rockets after earning perfect 10s in the final for a monstrous 11.6m pushloop forward!

Campello will no doubt have been gutted to have been denied a place in the final in the dying seconds, but the current World Tour leader is still in an excellent position to challenge for the event title after securing third place in the Single Elimination. The 37-year-old came out on top of an incredibly tight heat against Marc Paré (Fanatic/ Duotone) in the battle for third and fourth place, but he eventually edged out his Spanish rival by just 0.12 of a point.

Just as in the case of Marino Gil, 4th place in the Single Elimination represents Paré’s best result to date in Pozo. The Spaniard took down Jake Schettewi (JP / NeilPryde), Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) and teammate - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) - on his way to the semifinals before Marcilio Browne ended his hopes in the single, but he has an excellent platform on which to build upon.

The Power of the Pushloop Forward & Double Forward

One of things that was clearly evident today was just how critically important the pushloop forward, and at least a double forward - if not a stalled double forward - have now become in order to reach to latter stages in Pozo. All of today’s top 4 consistently performed both in order to dispatch of their rivals.

Upset of the Day

There were some question marks about the fitness of Philip Köster (Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) before the event, but after his performance in his opening heat it seemed like any doubts about his foot were firmly quashed as he produced an extremely polished performance. However, the 5-time world champion made a string of uncharacteristic errors in Heat 20b, whether that was due to his foot hampering him or not remains to be seen, which opened the door for Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) to cause a huge upset and the Frenchman duly obliged by taking down Köster after linking together two solid waves and a big backloop and a double forward. In the end, Denel advanced by just 0.01 of a point to progress into the top 8, whilst Köster now faces an uphill task to defend his event title as he currently occupies joint 9th after the single elimination.

Currently, Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone), Antoine Martin (Starboard / NorthSails) and Leon Jamaer (Flikka / GUNSAILS) sit alongside Denel in joint 5th at the close of the opening day.

The top 10 is currently completed by Liam Dunkerbeck, Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing), Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy Sails), Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS), Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), Alessio Stillrich (Simmer / Simmer Sails), Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) and Köster.

The forecast for tomorrow is slightly lighter than today, whilst it is expected that there will still be waves, so the focus for Sunday will remain with the wave fleets. The sailors will meet again tomorrow morning at 9am with the action commencing from 9:30am (GMT+1) onwards - conditions depending.

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Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Men’s Wave Single Elimination

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