PWA Tenerife World Cup 2011 Day 1

by PWA on 15 Jul 2011 PWA Tenerife World Cup 2011 day one welcomed the sailors with mast high waves and twenty knots of wind. The crowds on Tenerife's shores were dazzled with down the line gold and enormous aerials from the world’s most radical wave sailors.

With perfect conditions teasing the sailors, the mammoth fleet of 46 men and 14 women were eager to hurry through the formalities of registration and kick the proceedings off at 1:30pm. A seamless operation run by head judge Duncan Coombs saw the majority of the men and women’s single elimination completed in an adrenaline filled afternoon.

An efficient set of heats saw the opening round of the men’s single elimination completed swiftly, and many of the big names make it past their initial adversaries. However it wasn’t without its dramas.

Camille Juban (Gun / MFC) lost out in the second heat of the day due to a timing error, meaning he missed nine minutes of his heat and allowed his opponent, Frederico Infantino (AL 360 / Dakine) to slip through into the second round.

Brit, Adam Lewis (Starboard / Point-7) made his debut appearance on the PWA world tour, defeating US wave demon Kai Lenny (Naish / Naish). Lewis amazed the judges with his super late smacks on the wave, allowing him to pass through his first high pressure heat.

The Tenerife world cup witnessed Ex wave world champion Scott McKercher (Starboard / Severne) return to the competition scene, and be paired against fellow Australian wave ripper Jaeger Stone (Severne). Both sailors performed incredible aerial maneuvers and it came down to the wave riding to separate the pair. McKercher held out for the set wave out the back and clocked up a number of smooth turns, but it wasn’t enough to fend off Stone and his new school moves.

Round two saw many of the top seeded sailors defend their positions and advance into the top sixteen. Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) ripped apart every wave to advance past high flying Aleix Sanllehy. Philip Koster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Dakine) proved that he wasn’t just a one location wonder, destroying Albert Pijoan with his huge stunts and El Medano wave king Dany Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL 360) made use of his local knowledge to take down Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North / AL360).

Lewis continued with his exceptional sailing in a close heat against John Skye (RRD / RRD). The sailors powered from wave to wave with stalled forwards in between, and they appeared to be fairly evenly matched, until a smooth taka from Skye saw him snatch the victory by just half a point.

Three outstanding sailors, Jules Denel (Exocet), Peter Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails) and local hot shot Scotto Valter (Fanatic / AL 360 / Mystic), were on fine form as they sailed through their second heat of the day and into the third round.

As the men entered the final round of the day the tide was dropping rapidly and the wave were few and far between. The sailors had to plan their every move in order to maximize their maneuvers.

Dario Ojeda (Tabou / Simmer / Dakine / MFC) looked to be on a high after his third place finish in Pozo, putting a stop to Volwater’s advances. Aggressive wave riding from Brazil’s Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) made sure the face of PWA TV Ben Proffitt (Simmer) returned back to his commentary booth and Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) suffered at the hands of Ross Williams (Tabou /Gaastra).

The men’s heat will pick up the action from heat 21 and 22 tomorrow; the sailors will be unleashing their most daring moves to decide who will make it into the top four.

Victor Fernandez Lopez (Fanatic / North) claimed the highest scoring wave of the day in his heat against Jose Romero (JP / NeilPryde). Romero was nowhere to be seen when the heat was running, allowing Fernandez Lopez to relax and go for his biggest moves. Fernandez Lopez spotted the set wave and went about pulling two astounding vertical cuts backs and a huge aerial off the lip. The judges were blown away by his performance and awarded him two nines and an eight.

The women took to wave arena as the tide was at its lowest, making the conditions particularly tough. The fleet had to particularly tactful during their heats to select the best waves and avoid the rocks.

Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) opened the afternoon with an enormous forward loop, keen to prove to her competitors that she meant business. Jaggi went on to defeat her opponent Julia Meijer, with a well-chosen wave enabling her to pull three smooth frontside turns.

Eva Oude Ophius (Naish / Naish) sailed her way to victory passed Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North) with a clean set of wave rides and a forward loop of her own.

First to fall victim to the rocks was Heike Reimann (Hot Sails) in her heat against Fanny Aubet (JP / NeilPryde). Both sailors focused on their wave riding which saw them quickly lose ground downwind. Aubet made a narrow escape over the rocks; however Reimann wasn’t quite so lucky, catching her fin and rendering her unable to complete the heat and therefore granting Aubet an easy pass into the next round.

The most impressive wave riding in the women’s fleet came from Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne). Alonso stole the show with a display of aggressive cut backs and accurate wave selection guaranteeing the judges awarded her with maximal points and her entry into the second round.

The women’s fleet will pick up the action tomorrow from heat 21 and 22 where the wave ripping twins Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) and Daida Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) will take centre stage to defend their positions at the top of the overall rankings

The show must go on.

After a mammoth afternoon on the water and deteriorating conditions making the heats particularly tough, the sailors were released at 7:30pm. The action will continue tomorrow morning, the skippers meeting is planned for 8:30am with a first possible start to competition at 9:00am.