9 days of competition, 9 days of wind and waves 

Put Pozo on the map ones again as one of the windiest places in the world! The level was higher than it ever was before, find out below how our team lived through the event and what gear they were riding!

Daida’s statement on her victory:

If I had to describe in one word the whole event Gran Canaria wind and Waves Festival, it just comes out of my mind PERFECT. The organization, the conditions and of course the result for me. 

I sailed most of my heats with 3.3 and 3.0 sail, and my new mako 74 liters. Really happy this year with the performance of my new gear. The boards are turning great, with perfect rail to rail work allowing me to throw loads of spray and keep a lot of control & speed for my riding. It resulted in better wave scores as in previous years and shows the gear is working perfectly.

It’s my 20th victory at home, 50th on the world tour which is something that means a lot to me. It’s a reward for all the hard work I put into my sailing and although it might look easy from the outside it’s the result of hours of training on and off the water. Each event win is difficult and none of them are given. This is my last event of the year as I take a break of competitive sailing for personal health reasons, this is not a goodbye but a see you later, hopefully on the water! 

GEAR:

Mako 74
Blade 3.0 & 3.3
Enigma Wave 140 – 190
340 RDM Blue
Cyclops 24
Lux harness

Despite scoring the highest heat score total in the QF’s Iballa Moreno never found her rythm in the final stages of the competition settling for 4th after struggling with an ongoing knee injury she sustained training in Fuerteventura:

Personally, my event result wasn’t good, but I was happy I could compete in it despite my injury. The highlight for me was watching Daida win with the highest level on the water by far. The new 2020 equipment made it just in time and I was happy to enjoy the new sails and boards on the water straight away. I was mainly using my Blade 3,3 and the Mako 74L. I’m now looking forward to taking the upcoming 2 weeks to recover well for the next event PWA event in Tenerife where I hope to defend my event title from last year.

GEAR:

Mako 74
Blade 3.0 & 3.3
Enigma Wave 140 – 190
340 RDM BLUE
Cyclops 24
Lux Harness

MENS DIVISION

In the mens division was saw a level that previously unseen on the world tour in both jumping and onshore wave riding. With moves that were not landed previously in the competition where now getting landed multiple times in heats giving some extremely close heats. Philip Koster fought his way back in the double-elimination from a 3rd place all the way to a super final to miss out on the event victory by a min. margin.

Philip Kosters statement:

This year the PWA Pozo event has been incredible, I have never seen so many competitors going for high-risk moves in the contest and it was really cool to be part of it. I have been using most of the times my Blade Pro 4.2 and my custom 4.0, I prefer not to go much smaller in sails since I like to be powered up for high jumps.

After becoming 3rd in the single I still had a good chance to advance in the double-elimination, I managed to win some very tough heats and could work myself up to 2nd place after losing in the super final.

Now I’m looking forward to the next PWA event in Tenerife. I will mostly train at home in Vargas which is very similar to Cabezo, if there is a really good forecast in Tenerife I might go over for 1 or 2 days but for now, I just want to enjoy sailing at my doorstep in Vargas.

GEAR:

Blade PRO: 4.2 & 4.0
Enigma boom 140 – 190
RDM RED 370
Cyclops 36

Jaeger Stone

started with an early loss in the single-elimination to fight back in the double-elimination with 5 consecutive heat wins to claim a spot in the top 5.

During the single elimination I felt like I was sailing and jumping well but was a little lost for waves, struggling with my wave selection and timing. Something I can learn from. In the double elimination I sailed with confidence, was clear with my decisions and patient with my wave selection. I tried to just enjoy my sailing and focus on my strengths. Was happy to climb back up to 5th place.

I just arrived in Tenerife to prepare for the next event in 2 weeks.

Gear:

S1 Pro: 3.6 & custom 3.3
RDM Blue 340
Enigma boom 140 – 190
Air Harness

THE YOUTH TAKE OVER

That the future is guaranteed in the sport of windsurfing, is ones again proven by the incredible inscription number of nearly 60 juniors for the GC competition that runs alongside the PWA main event.

In the U15 category, Guillio Gasparini finished runner up to finish second in his age group securing his first podium finish in the youth category.

I’m very happy to finish second here in Gran Canaria, it’s the best reward I can have for my training over winter with my father and coach in Rome. It’s only my second official competition and my first big result. The sensation is amazing and gives me a great boost of motivation to pursue my dream and improve my level. Training for Tenerife is already on!

Gear:

XS3 – 2.5

In the U17 we saw an excellent performance by Liam Dunkerbeck who made big steps overwinter in his jumps in addition to his already excellent wave riding to claim second place in his youth category after an extremely close final:

Liam Dunkerbeck: “The event here in Pozo was ones again a super fun event with good times with old & new friends from all over the world. We scored some nice conditions for the youth event at the start of the week and ended the event with a super fun supersession. In the main event, I finished second and I was happy to win the supersession. Now I’m looking forward to Tenerife to compete there in 2 weeks.

Gear:

XS-3 2.5
AIR harness

In 3rd was Lennart Neubauer, who came over from a fresh victory in the EFPT at Lanzarote and is already on Fuerteventura for his next Freestyle event:

“The Gran Canaria event is one of my favorite events every year. It’s well organised, has good conditions and friendly people. I personally really liked the youth competition because it pushes you a lot to go higher in your jumps and waves rides. I now learned pushloop and I keep on improving my riding because of these competitions, already looking forward to competing here in Fuerteventura!”

GEAR:

Blade 3.0
340 RDM BLUE
Enigma 140 – 190
Cyclops 24
AIR harness

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