PWA World Tour heads to Gran Canaria

by Vivienne Masters on 1 Jul 2012 PWA Pozo World Cup is being held from the 2nd to the 7th July 2012. The elite of the wave sailing world will be returning to the shores of Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria, to launch the inaugural wave event of the 2012 PWA World Tour.

This years competition in Pozo, promises to be more spectacular than ever, as the legendary Moreno twins, who are the organizers, have transformed the event into the Gran Canaria Wind and Waves Festival. The action on the water in Pozo is guaranteed, but the Moreno twins have gone one step further this year by ensuring there will be copious amounts action off the water too. A myriad of activities shall be run alongside the PWA event, day and night, to guarantee that there is something on offer for absolutely everyone. It’s going to be an event of epic proportions and one you cannot afford to miss.
Pozo Izquierdo is internationally famed in the windsurfing world due to its unrelenting wind and steep waves. The combination of these two factors creates the perfect playground for the world’s most extreme sailors to defy gravity and perform the biggest stunts on the planet. The local effects mean that even the slightest breeze can soon be accelerated to nuclear strength, with the wind peaking at around fifty knots. Don’t be surprised to see even the biggest guys reaching for the smallest equipment available, as Pozo looks to separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls.

Six days of howling winds and pumping waves as the most radical sailors in the world take to the waters of Pozo. The opening event of the 2012 PWA Wave World Tour will see the men and women’s fleets fighting it out for a prize purse of €50,000, as well as competing for those vital world tour points at the beginning of the season.

Men
All eyes are sure to be focused on wonder kid and reigning World Champion, Philip Köster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who possesses more weapons in his arsenal than a Swiss army knife. The eighteen year old is looking to defend his Pozo crown after winning the event in 2011, and Köster will be looking to wow the judges, once again, with his ankle dry double forwards, crazy pushloop forwards and radical wave riding. There are also rumors circulating that he will be pushing for the triple loop once more, so we won’t be able to take our eyes off of him.

Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) has finished the past two seasons as Vice World Champion, so the Venezuelan will be hungrier than ever to go one better this year. The freestyler has come of age as a wave sailor since switching disciplines in 2009 and he is, without doubt, one of the most radical windsurfers to have ever graced the water. Campello is another man who has the triple forward in his sights, having attempted them numerous times before, so the race is on to see who can land one first. He’ll be throwing double forwards left, right and centre, as well as monster backloops combined with his slick freestyle repertoire on the wave.

The 2010 World Champion Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North) will be looking to reclaim his Pozo title after being narrowly edged out by Köster last season. Fernandez is familiar with the conditions that Pozo throws up and he revels in the howling winds. He’s another sailor who makes double forwards look effortless. The Spaniard will also be launching into rocket-propelled backloops whilst chucking shed loads of spray with his super tweaked aerials.

Local boy Dario Ojeda (Tabou / Gaastra / MFC) completed the top three in Pozo last year, as he took full advantage of his local knowledge to carve his way through the fleet, before going on to enjoy his best season on tour to date by finishing sixth. The Canarian looks to have improved again this year, by improving the consistency of his double forwards and adding perfect wave 360s and one handed takas to his off the lip range.

Three times World Champion Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) is always a major threat. The Brazilian has enough experience and expertise to be rivaling the podium positions come the end of the week. Seadi will undoubtedly deliver some of the best wave riding of the contest with his super fluid style, as well as throwing some incredible aerial maneuvers.

Brazilian Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne (Goya / Goya / MFC) is another freestyler who has switched disciplines to focus on the waves, and he’s starting to attract more and more attention as he progresses. Browne is continually increasing the freestyle influence in his wave riding, and he is rumored to be landing double takas to complement his already powerful and aggressive riding style. In addition to this Browne’s jumping repertoire speaks for itself.

There’s also a whole host of other sailors who are gunning to break into the top ten such as; Britain’s Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) who has fully recovered from his latest foot injury and is ripping on the water again. He’s been out in Pozo training before the event, so expect big things from him. The man from Tenerife, Daniel Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL360), is a major threat, as he showed last year. Expect explosive port tack jumping and silky smooth wave riding as he looks to make an assault on the top positions. Teammates Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) and Alex Mussolini (Gaastra / Tabou) will also be right in the thick of the action. Don’t be surprised if we see some upsets either as the local boys; Eleazar Alonso (JP / NeilPryde), José Romero (JP / NeilPryde) and Omar Sanchez (Simmer) will use every trick in the book to knock out their big named rivals.

Women
The legendary Moreno twins, Daida Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) and Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) will be looking to continue their dominance of the Pozo event, having been at the top of the rankings for the past twelve years. The twins boast jumps, which would rival some of their male counterparts, and combine their airtime skills with devastating wave riding. It’s hard to see how anyone will be able to stop them, but you never know.

Gran Canaria local, Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne), finished last season in third place overall, but she will be absent from proceedings this year as she embarks on the challenge of becoming a mother for the first time. Silvia Alba (Quatro / Goya) is also in the same boat, which means the twins biggest rivals are out of the running, for the time being at least.

With both Alonso and Alba missing from the line up, it does mean that the door is open for an intense battle for the remaining podium position. The probable favorite and closest rival to the Moreno twins, would appear to be the former World Champion and multi-talented Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne). She’ll be using all of her guile and experience to ensure that she is on the podium come the end of the week.

Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) spends her winter’s training in the perfect waves of Western Australia, so she’ll be looking to call upon all the hours of hard training to force her way into the top three. The French woman has skills aplenty to transfer across from her freestyle sailing, so she’s definitely one to watch over the duration of the competition.

The women’s wave scene is abundant with young talent at the moment, and this influx of fresh young blood is driving the level higher and higher. Expect to see some of the fearless youngsters pushing for the top places. Unfortunately the current leader of the British wave sailing tour, Justyna Sniady (Quatro / KA Sail), will be absent from the event after breaking her foot in preparation for the event. We wish her a fast recovery and hope to seen her back on the tour soon.

The forecast is looking epic for the start of the competition on July 2nd, which means we are guaranteed sky high jumping, radical wave riding and some absolutely massive crashes as the best sailors in the world go as big as they possibly can. Don’t miss a thing by tuning into the PWA live PWA World Tour Gran Canaria Wind and Wave Festival website