Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam

July 11, 2023 Created by Chris Yates

Event Summary: The 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam draws to a close after an incredible 9 days of racing and wave sailing

The 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing Grand Slam really couldn’t have gone much better with world class competition taking place on each of the 9 days of the event, which allowed results to be gained in every discipline and category.

Racing returned to Pozo for the first time since 2009 and it certainly didn’t disappoint with some of the best racing we have seen in years, whilst top honours went to Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde). Meanwhile, in the waves there was simply no stopping Daida Moreno (Bruch Boards / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) in the Women’s, whilst Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) finally earned his place at the top of the event podium in Pozo for the first time in his career! You can read more about the Youth contest further down in the event summary.

Wave

Women’s

Daida Moreno (Bruch Boards / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) extended her unbelievable winning record in Pozo Izquierdo to 22 event victories since 1999. The only time Daida looked threatened at this year’s event was when she suffered a broken mast on her opening run of the Double Elimination final, but even with only half the heat left the multiple-time world champion came roaring back to claim another emphatic victory. Daida announced her retirement shortly after the final, but it seems high unlikely that anyone will ever get close to equalling her phenomenal total here as she brings down the curtain on a glittering career.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) tried to put a dent in Daida’s event winning record, but couldn’t quite find the means to land a telling blow to really put Daida under pressure this time around. Offringa sailed well throughout and another solid second here is enough to see the reigning world champion take the world title race lead having also finished second in Fiji last month.

Meanwhile, Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) completed the comeback of the Double Elimination as the German battled back from joint 5th in the single elimination to claim the final place on the prestigious podium.

Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) suffered a knee injury after the completion of the single elimination where she finished 3rd and eventually slips one place to 4th for 2023. The top 5 is completed by Justyna Sniady (North Sails / Maui Ultra Fins).

Men’s

Having earned multiple podiums here in the past, Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), finally gets to enjoy the sweet taste of victory in Pozo Izquierdo after a fantastic display of sailing. Browne has put in hours of training and dedication to earn his place on the top of the podium and the reigning world champion gets his just rewards. After a surprise result in Fiji - 17th - Browne’s bounce back to winning ways may also yet prove pivotal in deciding the world title later this year. Victory here sees him rise to third in the overalls and keeps him in touch of current world tour - Ricardo Campello (Naish / Naish Sails)

Marcilio Browne: “Beyond happy to win the Gran Canaria event. After so many years trying and finishing on the podium a bunch of times it means a lot to finally get the win. This event has always been high on my list and one of the most challenging for me.”

Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) pushed Browne all the way this year with the 20-year-old sailing out of his skin - much to the delight of the home crowd. Gil lost out to Browne in the final of the single elimination by just 0.04 of a point, whilst he was able to force a Super Final in the double elimination, which Browne would eventually win. Gil deservedly earns his first podium on the World Tour - second - after a hugely impressive performance and the 20-year-old will be one to watch for the remainder of the year. Gil also earned the only perfect 10 of the competition for an outstanding pushloop forward.

Marc Paré (Fanatic / Duotone) also records his best Pozo result to date as the Spaniard completes the podium here. Paré looked dangerous throughout and was disappointed to be knocked out of the double by Gil, but he’ll still be delighted with his result, which sees him climb to second in the overall rankings.

Ricardo Campello continues to lead the overall world rankings after a solid 4th place here, but the 37-year-old was gutted to lose a place in the double after Paré gained the upper hand in their latest battle. With two 5-star wave events remaining for 2023, Campello holds a 2,450 point lead as he aims to earn his first Wave world title.

Philip Köster (Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) fought his way back from joint 9th in the single to 5th place in the double after winning 4 consecutive heats. Köster hadn’t sailed before the event as he was still recovering from a broken bone in his foot from May, so only he will know if he was 100 percent fit, but with zero preparation it’s still an impressive result. The former 5-time world champion set the highest scoring heat of the contest in Heat 46b - 22 points.

Leon Jamaer (Flikka / GUNSAILS) walks away from Pozo with an excellent 6th place. The German sailed consistently throughout, whilst he fully went for it when he knew he needed something a bit special, which included sailing away from a pushloop forward in Heat 46a, where he would eventually bring Josep Pons’ (CS Custom Boards / Point-7 / Black Project Fins) come back to and end. The local himself records his best result to date on the World Tour - 7th.

Pons shares seventh place with Alessio Stillrich (Simmer / Simmer Sails), who looked back to his best and 28-year-old deservedly earns his best result since 2017 - when he finished 6th in Tenerife and 9th overall - before suffering a broken leg in South Africa in early 2018. Stillrich will now try to use this result to gather momentum for the remainder of the season.

The top 10 is completed by Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing), who achieves his first top 10 result on the World Tour, Antoine Martin (Starboard / NorthSails) and Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone).

Slalom

Women’s

Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails) sailed superbly over the 3 days of racing in Pozo to deservedly earn her first event victory on the World Tour. The Spaniard only finished out the top 3, three times in 15 eliminations, whilst she was able to win 6 of them. Victory in Gran Canaria also sees Alabau claim the world title race lead with a 300 point advantage over - Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) and Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) - who are both on 20,200 points each after finishing 5th and 3rd her respectively.

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) drew upon all of her previous racing experience to claim an excellent second place here. The Aruban hasn’t been training much slalom, but sailed unbelievably consistently here - only finishing outside the top 3 once in 15 eliminations. Offringa claims podium finishes in both the Slalom and the Wave to cap a fantastic 9 days.

It was little bit of a case for what could’ve been for Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) after the Brit let several winning positions slide over the course of the event. However, Gibson will be able to take a great deal of confidence heading into Fuerteventura at the end of the month as she clearly possesses all the speed necessary to compete for the event titles. Gibson eventually finished 4th in Pozo and sits fourth in the overalls as well.

Men’s

Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) bounced back from a bit of a disappointing result in Italy - where a couple of errors cost him dearly - in perfect fashion as the Croat claimed his second victory in three events. Marotti made a flying start to the event by winning both of the opening eliminations and he never relinquished the lead from there. Marotti’s victory here sees him rise to third in the overall rankings - 600 points behind World Tour leader - Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails).
Rutkowski remains in pole position as he looks the defend his world title from last year and the Pole has made a very strong start to the season. The 31-year-old has qualified for all 14 Winners’ Finals so far this season and he’s showing exactly the kind of consistency it takes to win another world title. Rutkowski felt he didn’t race at his full capacity here, but still earned a solid second place, so he could be even more dangerous in Fuerteventura.

Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils) pipped Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) to the final place on the podium in the final race after a tough battle, which sees the Frenchman move into second place in the overalls - 200 points behind Rutkowski, whilst Iachino has to settle for fourth place here, having been third for much of the event. Expect to see the Italian charging in Fuerteventura as he looks to earn his first podium of 2023.

Like his teammate Enrico Marotti, Nicolas Prien (JP / NeilPryde) competed on the foil in every race in Pozo, which paid dividends for both sailors. Prien finishes 5th here, which represents his best result to date, whilst he signed off the event in fashion by claiming his first bullet on the World Tour.

Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) was the only sailor in the 10 eliminations to be able to claim a bullet on the fin - much to the flying Dutchman’s delight. Vonk sailed solidly throughout and walks away with a solid 6th place, just 0.7 of a point ahead of Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails), who did well to bounce back from a slow start to the event to finish 7th.

The top 10 is completed by Michele Becker (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils) - 8th - Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) - 9th, who claimed his first bullet on the foil in Elimination 8 - and Jimmy Thieme (Fanatic / Duotone), who competed on fin in every race and earns his best result so far - 10th.

Red Bull Rockets

Daida Moreno and Marino Gil won the 2023 Red Bull Rockets contest with Daida jumping to a height of 7.4m, whilst Gil pulled a pushloop forward from 11.6m, which incidentally is also the jump he earned perfect 10s for.

Youth Wave

U20 Girl’s

Alex Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) had to come through the repechage round, but once she reached the final she was in dominant form as she saw off Isabel Triviño Delgado (Severne / Severne Sails) and Maria Morales Navarro (Goya WIndsurfing), who complete the podium.

U20 Boy’s

There was no stopping reigning U20 world champion - Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) - from making the perfect start to his title defence. Dunkerbeck sailed confidently throughout to make it back-to-back victories at home. Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) came back through the double to claim second place ahead of Tobias Bjørnaa (Fanatic / Duotone), who completes the podium.

U17 Girl’s

Girl’s U17

Sol Degrieck (Severne / Severne Sails) claimed a clear cut victory in the Girl’s U17 division as the 13-year-old dominated all three finals with a combination of forward loops and snappy wave riding. Annagiulia Piccaglia secured second place just ahead of Lizzlotte Schilling Andrew (Angulo / Duotone), who takes home third. The two girl’s were tied after a second and a third place in the first two finals, but Piccaglia was able to win the last battle.

Boy’s U17

In the Boy’s U17, Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Fanatic / Duotone) was the standout sailor as the young German busted out a 10 point double forward to comfortably advance into Winners’ Final where he would meet Arthur Van den Brande (RRD / RRD Sails). The young German proved unstoppable though with a variety of one-handed backloops and perfect stalled forwards. Van den Brande did well to battle back into second place after having to come through the repechage round. Meanwhile, in the battle for bronze Ryu Ngochi (Starboard / Severne Sails) produced an excellent display to defeat Iu Pijoan (Severne / Severne Sails)

Boy’s U15

Ryomi Sugi (Severne / Severne Sails) lined up against Javier Escribano Toribio (Goya Windsurfing) in the Winners’ Final after the young Spaniard came back through to repechage round to progress all the way into the top 2. Escribano Toribio landed his first ever pushloop in the final, but even that amazing effort couldn’t stop Sugi from claiming the top honours with the young Japanese sailor managing to do slightly better on the wave to take the top spot on the podium ahead of Escribano Toribio, who claims an excellent second place. The podium is completed by Peter Gobisch (Fanatic / Duotone) as the young German produced a solid display to defeat Bjorn Olesen (Severne / Severne Sails) in the battle for third and fourth place.

That concludes what has been an absolutely epic 9 days in Pozo Izquierdo. There’s been an incredible amount of action with competition being held on every day of the event, which meant that we were able to gain results in all disciplines and categories. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to Björn Dunkerbeck and his team for all their hard work and we look forward to returning in 2024. That’s it for now from Gran Canaria, we’ll be back from the 27th July with more Freestyle and Slalom as the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam runs until the 5th August. Congratulations once again to all the winners.

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Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Women’s Slalom

1st Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui / LOKEFOIL)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Men’s Slalom

1st Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
2nd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins / Phantom Foils)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
5th Nicolas Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Jordy Vonk (NED | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
8th Michele Becker (GER | Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils)
9th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Jimmy Thieme (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Women’s Wave Double Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP | Bruch Boards / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
4th Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Justyna Sniady (POL | NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

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

1st Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
2nd Marino Gil (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Marc Paré (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Ricardo Campello (VEN / BRA | Naish / Naish Sails)
5th Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
6th Leon Jamaer (GER | Flikka / GUNSAILS)
7th Josep Pons (ESP | CS Custom Boards / Point-7 / Black Project Fins)
7th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Adam Warchol (POL | Goya Windsurfing)
9th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / NorthSails)
9th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - U20 Boy's

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
2nd Lennart Neubauer (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (DEN | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Anton Richter (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Hayata Ishii (JPN | RRD / RRD Sails)
6th Samuele Ferraro (ITA | Patrik)
7th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne / Severne Sails)
7th Marc Alonso (ESP | Ezzy Sails)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Master’s

1st Ben Proffitt (UK | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
2nd Dario Ojeda (ESP | Flikka / Flight Sails)
3rd Toni Pijoan (ESP)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Girl’s U20 Wave

1st Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Isabel Triviño Delgado (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails)
3rd Maria Morales Navarro (ESP | Goya WIndsurfing)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Girl’s U17 Wave

1st Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
2nd Annagiulia Piccaglia (ESP)
3rd Lizzlotte Schilling Andrew (ESP | Angulo / Duotone)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Boy’s U17 Wave

1st Carlos Kiefer Quintana (GER | Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Arthur Van den Brande (BEL | RRD / RRD Sails)
3rd Ryu Ngochi (JPN | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Iu Pijoan (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Boy’s U15 Wave

1st Ryomi Sugi (JPN | Severne / Severne Sails)
2nd Javier Escribano Toribio (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Peter Gobisch (GER | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Bjorn Olesen (DEN | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Women’s Slalom

Result 2023 Gran Canaria PWA Windsurfing World Cup - Men’s Slalom

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