Thrilling Finale In Pozo

The final day of the PWA Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival lived up to expectations as Pozo provided a full day of fantastic competition – spanning nine action packed hours – to conclude the event.

By the end of the day a result had been gained in both the men’s and women’s division as Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) produced a magnificent display to be crowned the champion of Pozo for the fifth time in his career, whilst Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) reasserted her dominance by reclaiming her Pozo crown having lost out to her sister Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in 2012.

Single Elimination – Men’s

Winners’ Final

Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) lined up against Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) in the winners’ final, in the heats prior to the final both sailors had been firing on all cylinders and they continued their rich vein of form over the next fourteen minutes. Fernandez made the perfect start as he rotated through a double forward, quickly followed by a one-handed backloop. Campello on the other hand endured a frustrating opening five minutes as he failed to hunt down the ramp he required for his usual radical aerial antics. With his nerves settled, Fernandez, continued to rack up the points as he delivered a superb goiter followed by a backside air and a further two, aggressive backside hacks. Campello in the meantime managed to land a big double forward, but with things not quite going to plan, until now, Campello headed back to the beach to change up equipment size. By this point Fernandez had built a healthy lead and it looked for all the world that the Spaniard would claim a relatively comfortable victory. However, Campello wasn’t about to lay down and take defeat lightly and the Brazilian responded with an extraordinary, fully planing, one-handed, one-footed forward loop. With just a minute to go Campello trailed by just 0.3 of a point, but he couldn’t link a final wave worth 6.66 points or more and with that Fernandez deservedly claimed his fifth victory in Pozo.

Victor Fernandez on today and claiming the first victory of the year, “When we arrived at 7am this morning I think everyone was low on motivation looking at the conditions, but when I looked to my caddy we both agreed that I should go out on the water. After I did a few rides and jumps I think Duncan decided to start. We started with Klaas and Kenneth and I think it was good idea to start because after that we basically didn’t stop. I was really happy with my wave riding in the final, I think this was the best I did all day. I think my best jump was in the semifinal against Brawzinho with my double forward and also one-handed, one-footed backloop. I had to push myself to the limit in every heat, but I’m just delighted to win the first event of the year.”

Close Call

The quarterfinals saw a monster match up between Ricardo Campello and Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in what proved to be the closest heat of the entire contest. In fact the dual ended as a dead heat, but Campello advanced due to his superior wave score. The Brazilian was as radical as ever in the air, but earned an almost perfect – 9.125 points – after combining a sick backside air with a frontside wave 360 and a few slashy backsidee hacks.

Move of the Day

One of the moves of the day occurred in the losers’ final from the reigning world champion – Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC). The Brazilian launched into an amazing stalled double forward as he was awarded 10.88 points. Brawzhi’s stalled double was made even better by the fact that he was still accidentally hooked in on the way up, but still had the control and audacity to land the move almost perfectly.

Alessio Stillrich (Starboard / North) also deserves a special mention after achieving his best finish to date on the PWA World Tour – joint fifth alongside Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC), John Skye (RRD / RRD / MFC) and Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) respectively. The nineteen year old demonstrated his trademark super tweaked pushloops – also executing them one-handed – whilst also attempting double forwards in his attempt to break into the top four and beyond.

Single Elimination – Women’s

Winners’ Final

The legendary Moreno twins – Iballa Moreno and Daida Moreno – once again faced each other in a winners’ final and produced their usual outstanding display of tricks early this morning. Daida made a strong start to the final as she stomped a one-handed backloop, before quickly accumulating her highest wave score of the heat as she delivered four aggressive frontside hacks. In the meantime, Iballa, landed a perfectly rotated backloop before unleashing more of her trademark, vertical, snappy turns. The twins actually finished the heat with equal wave scores, but Daida was able to clinch victory, for the first time since 2011 in Pozo with a massive stalled forward.

Steffi Wahl (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) secured the final place on the prestigious podium as she defeated Amanda Beenen (Tabou / GA Sails) by the narrowest of margins. On the wave only 0.6 of a point separated the two girls, but Wahl was just able to edge the contest in the air as she landed a forward loop and a super tweaked tweaked tabletop.

Overall Results PWA Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival – Men’s

1. Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC)
2. Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC)
3. Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC)
4. Jaeger Stone (SSD / Severne)
5. Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC)
5. Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North)
5. John Skye (RRD / RRD / MFC)
5. Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

Overall Results PWA Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival – Women’s

1. Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2. Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3. Steffi Wahl (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg)
4. Amanda Beenen (Tabou / GA Sails)
5. Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD)
5. Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Mystic)
5. Carmen Afonso Martin
5. Alice Arutkin (Fanatic / North)