PWA Tenerife World Cup 2011 – Incredible conditions on day 2

by Ed Sinclair on 16 Jul 2011 PWA Tenerife World Cup 2011 is being held from 14 to 20 July in El Medano in the Canary Islands.

El Medano cements its name as a world class windsurfing location as incredible conditions power Philip Koster and Daida Ruano Moreno to into first place and allow the majority of the double elimination to be completed.

Tenerife delivered outstanding conditions throughout the second day of the competition. Winds reaching up to twenty-five knots and mast high waves ensured the action was amazing and the world’s elite wave sailors were able to reach astronomical heights with their aerial acrobatics, and rip the waves to pieces with their radical turns.

Head judge Duncan Coombs wasted no time in announcing the heats would be twelve minutes long and the best jump, and two wave rides would count towards the sailors overall scores. The action kicked off at 9:30am sharp from women’s heat 21.

Women’s Fleet
The sister’s Daida Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) and Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) dominated heats 21, 22 and 23 defeating Fanny Aubet (JP / NeilPryde), Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne), Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) and Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne) respectively to earn them entry into the winner’s final.

Jaggi and Alonso were left to battle each other for valuable third place in the loser’s final. Jaggi opened the heat with her trademark forward loop, whilst Nayra focused on her super smooth wave riding. Alonso took the advantage in the final few minutes of the heat, landing a clean forward loop and selecting a huge wave to ride all the way to the inside, securing her third place finish.

Women’s Final
Tenerife witnessed a familiar sight on the PWA world tour, as the Moreno twins went head to head in the final. Iballa held the advantage in the opening few minutes of the heat, landing a stalled forward and then moving quickly onto a large wave to pull three aggressive turns. Both twins displayed an exceptional level of control of their equipment and made use of the whole competition area to land the largest jumps and select the finest waves.

After her initial backloop crash, Daida pulled her performance back, picking out a mast high wave and landing two frontside aerials. She then focused on her jumps and landed an enormous stalled forward loop to take the victory.

Men’s Fleet
Philip Koster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Dakine) kicked off the men’s heats with a colossal double forward loop to provide him with an early advantage over his opponent Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde). Meanwhile Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) put a stop to Dario Ojeda’s (Tabou / Simmer / MFC / Dakine) quest in the single with his slick wave riding.

On the other side of the elimination local El Medano wave rider Dany Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL 360 ) made use of his local knowledge to defeat Brit Ross Williams (Tabou /Gaastra). In the first major upset of the day Australian high flier Jaeger Stone (Severne) amazed the judges with his distinctive top turns and control on the waves to sail passed the 2010 wave champion Victor Fernandez Lopez (Fanatic / North / MFC).

Stone and Koster continued with their rampaged in heat 23, both sailors excelled on the waves taking down Seadi and Bruch, landing them a well-earned position in the winner’s final.

Men’s Final
The tide was at the optimum height for the men’s winners’ final allowing mast high waves to roll into the competition area. The sailors opened the heat with huge jumps, Koster landed a mammoth stalled double forward loop and Stone stuck a tweaked pushloop. With a jump in the bag the sailors focused their attention on to wave riding. Stone continued to wow the judges, pulling vertical top turns and two aerials on one colossal wave. Koster replied with an aggressive cut back sending a huge wall of spray into the air and then turning straight into a taka. Confident with his performance Koster entertained the crowds with a one handed and one footed backloop in the closing minutes of the heat. Koster was awarded the single elimination win at the awards ceremony on the beach.

Double elimination
Eager to take advantage of the epic conditions the judges continued directly into the double elimination providing the sailors with the opportunity to cover up any mistakes made in the single and boosts their overall scores.

Men’s Fleet
The standout sailor from the men’s fleet was Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra). The exceptionally talented Spaniard sailed through seven incredible heats to earn himself a position in the top six. Mussolini’s ability to select the finest waves and perform perfect wave 360’s and taka’s saw him defeat Camille Juban (Gun / MFC), Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC), Ben Proffitt (Simmer), 2010 wave champion Fernandez Lopez, the wild Moroccan Boujmaa Guilloul (Starboard / Severne / Mystic) and finally a really close heat against Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC).

In the heat against Campello, the Venezuelan launched into action with a double forward loop, and quickly moved on to work on his wave scores, Mussolini struggled to find a ramp to launch off but stole the show with his wave riding. With no jump points, Mussolini was at a disadvantage throughout the heat, it came down to the final minute before he landed a perfect one handed and one footed backloop to secure the victory with a 5-0 decision from the judges.

The double elimination also observed Marcilio Browne (Fanatic / North / MFC), Kenneth Danielsen (F2 / Simmer / MFC / Mystic) and ex-wave champ Scott McKercher (Starboard / Severne), dominate in their opening three heats of the double elimination earning them all thirteen place finishes.

The wild Moroccan Guilloul earned himself his highest ever finish in a PWA competition, working his way through three heats to raise his position to seventh. Guilloul impressed the judges with his super tweaked pushloops and his relaxed wave style on the wave.

Wave of the Day
The highest scoring wave of the whole competition came early in the double elimination from Mussolini in his heat against Juban. Mussolini spotted the set wave early on, and made sure he was in the right place to pick it up. As the wave built up, Mussolini timed his move to perfection launching into a wave 360 that sent him three foot above the lip; he landed planing back down the wave face. The judges award Mussolini with straight ten’s for his amazing maneuver.

Women’s Fleet
The women’s fleet witnessed Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North) and Japan’s Waka Nishida advance through their initial heats against Julia Meijer and Amanda Beenen (Dakine).

Aubet’s forward in the second round put a stop to Arutkin’s further developments in the double elimination and Treboux dominated in her heat against Nishida.

Treboux continued with her rampage in the double elimination playing her consistent card to defeat Germany’s Heike Reimann (Hot Sails) and Eva Tsape (F2 / North). Treboux will advance to face Jaggi in the battle for fifth place tomorrow morning.

Results:

Men’s Fleet
1st Philip Koster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Dakine)
2nd Jaeger Stone (Severne)
3rd Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde)
4th Daniel Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL 360)
5th Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra)

Women’s Fleet
1st Daida Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne)
2nd Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne)
3rd Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne)
4th Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne)
5th Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North)

With the conditions deteriorating the sailors were released at 6:30pm. The final action packed heats of the double elimination will continue tomorrow morning with the skippers meeting at 9:30 and the first possible start to competition at 10am. PWA World Tour website