Beiträge von Totti-Amun

Fuerteventura

The wind machine continued to blow on Day 3 of the 2017 - sponsored by René Egli - to provide another afternoon of explosive freestyle - although for a time the wind was almost too strong, even leaving the guys completely stacked on 4.0s. By the end of Day 3 a further two rounds of the men’s double elimination have been completed, while Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) remains on course to capture a 10th consecutive PWA Freestyle World Champion after successfully defending her single elimination crown against Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins).

Women's Current Top 3 - Maaike Huvermann, Sarah-Quita Offringa & Oda Johanne (left to right)

Freestyle

Double Elimination

Women’s

Maaike Huvermann found her stride today as the current vice-world champion, firstly ended the hopes of Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins), before exacting revenge against Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) with quite possibly her best heat so far on the PWA World Tour as she landed a mix of sliding moves and power moves to earn the right to face 9-time PWA Freestyle World Champion - Sarah-Quita Offringa in the winners’ final.

Maaike Huvermann

Winners’ Final

Huvermann produced another fine display in the final as she applied some genuine pressure against Offringa by rotating through a regular kono and a sick shuvit spock, while attempting a culo as she tried to bring all of her tricks to the table, but crucially the 19-year-old was missing a move on port tack, which is quite simply a mistake you can’t afford to make against the freestyle Queen. Offringa, may have been more nervous than usual after seeing Huvermann’s performance in the semifinal, and spending the entire day waiting, but the 26-year-old sailed with her usual swagger and style to keep her unbelievable unbeaten record in tact with a combination of shakas, burners, konos and a text-book toad as the Aruban gem takes another step towards world title No.10.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

Men’s

Double Elimination

Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) had to wait until almost the end of the day to sail his sole heat of the day, but when his time arrived the Frenchman produced a performance well worth waiting for as he posted the highest scoring heat of the day - 154.7 points - to end the hopes of Marco Lufen (Fanatic / NorthSails) who had sailed well earlier in the day to defeat Eliran Levi (Tabou / GA Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Jeremy Plüss (Tabou / GA Sails). However, the German was powerless to prevent Ruenes marching on his landed a pasko, shifty, air skopu and a trademark no-handed burner and he will now face Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) in the next round after the New Caledonian sent Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) packing.Anton

Antony Ruenes

Rick Jendrusch (Severne) enjoyed a fine day on the water as he staged a late comeback against Jamie Howard (JP) to setup a duel against Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), which needed a resail to decide the winner. In the first effort it was almost too windy with both sailors wildly out of control but in the resail the wind dropped and an enthralling battle followed with both pulling out all the stops. However, it as the young Dutchman who gained the upper hand with a powerful and fluid display to cause an upset. Jendrusch looked absolutely delighted upon hearing the result, while Akgazciyan cut a deflated figure. The 22-year-old will now face Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) after the Frenchman cut Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) comeback short.

Rick Jendrusch

Youp Schmit (99NoveNove / Avanti) dispatched of Johnny Yagen (RRD / RRD Sails) in his opening heat of the day with a powerful display, but then saw his comeback in the double halted by Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne), who learned from his mistakes on the opening day to sail a solid heat while still bringing his own unique, radical approach to the table as he landed a sick tweaked pushloop and a shifty to set up a tie against Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic).

Balz Müller

Frans began his comeback today, after a shock second round exit in the single and he eased his way past Loick Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails) in his first heat, before edging past Italy’s Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) in Heat 38b - who failed to complete his score sheet on port tack and missed out by just over 10 points.

Taty Frans

Heat 40b saw an extremely tight tussle between Tonky Frans (RRD / RRD Sails) and Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails), but in the end, it was Frans who sneaked through with the Italian missing a move on starboard tack. In the opening stages of the heat, Frans landed the biggest jump of the contest so far as he executed a massive stalled forward. The Boanirean will now face Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks), who sailed well in the howling winds to see off the challenge of Adrian Beholz (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg / Maui Ultra Fins).

Tonky Frans

The forecast looks promising again for tomorrow and the sailors will meet again at 10:30am for the skippers’ meeting - with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+1) onwards. Make sure you tune into www.pwaworldtour.com to watch all of the explosive action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result Women's Freestyle Double Elimination - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins

2nd Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Birgit Rieger (Flikka)

Result Men's Freestyle Single Elimination - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam

1st Jose ‘Gollito; Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails)

2nd Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

3rd Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails)

4th Yentel Caers (JP / Point-7)

5th Kiri Thode

5th Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses)

9th Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde)

9th Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing)

9th Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne)

9th Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks)

9th Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails)

9th Tonky Frans (RRD / RRD Sails)

9th Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg)

9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

Fuerteventura

As forecast, Fuerteventura delivered the goods for the second successive day, which enabled the men’s and women’s single eliminations to be completed in even better conditions than yesterday. Over the course of the day, there was plenty of world class action as the world’s best delivered an outstanding show. Come the end of the day though it’s the reigning world champions - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails) - who head up the event rankings after the 9-time and 7-time freestyle world champions produced superb performances to deservedly win the single eliminations.

Gollito on the road to victory

Freestyle

Women’s

Single Elimination

Last year’s World No.3 Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) sailed an excellent semifinal against vice-world champion Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) to book her place in the opening winners’ final of the event. The Norwegian started off in fine form by landing a regular kono before adding a skopu, flaka, shaka and forward loops on both tacks to setup a tie against reigning world champion - Sarah-Quita Offringa.

Oda Johanne makes the final

Winners’ Final

A Worthy Winner

Sarah-Quita Offringa peaked at the perfect moment as she produced her highest scoring heat of the contest in the final - 137.3 points - as she linked together another majestic display. The Aruban gem is going in search of her 10th successive freestyle world title and based on her latest showing it’s hard to see anyone stopping her. In the final Offringa landed an array of the latest power moves - burners, konos, culos - with shakas, air flakas and a massive toad to leave the result in no doubt, while unfortunately Johanne couldn’t scale the heights of her semifinal performance with the Norwegian completely overpowered on 4.0m. In reality, it wouldn’t have made a difference to the result with Offringa posting a score that would have rivalled many of the guys scores in the opening round of the double.

Sarah-Quita Offringa on song

Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) made the brighter start to the losers’ final against Maaike Huvermann, but the current vice-world champion gathered momentum as the heat progressed and a quick flurry of tricks earned her 3rd place in the single and the 19-year-old will now look to fight back in the double elimination.

Maaike Huvermann

Men’s

Reigning world champion - Jose ‘Gollito' Estredo - and vice-world champion - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) both sailed superbly in the quarterfinals and semifinals to set-up a mouthwatering winners’ final.

Gollito defeated Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) before producing the performance of the day to defeat Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) as the Venezuelan racked up a humungous total of 191.4 points with a spectacular display of sailing, while Vrieswijk manoeuvred his way past Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses) and Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails).

Winners’ Final

As expected the winners’ final produced plenty of fireworks with both Gollito and Vrieswijk producing an outstanding aerial display, while also landing the latest combinations as the action went off. Both sailors nailed backloops and spock culos in an evenly matched affair, but it was Gollito who came out on top in their opening clash of the season as he landed an air chachoo, shuvit cheeseroll and shuvit forward loop to gain the upperhand. Even a signature double air culo from Vrieswijk couldn’t prevent the 7-time world champion from winning the single elimination, as crucially, the 21-year-old was missing a move on port tack.

Jose 'Gollito' Estredo

In the battle for third and fourth place Yentel Caers took on Jacopo Testa and for the majority of the heat, it looked as though Caers had the final place on the podium wrapped up after dominating the duel at the beginning. However, as the losers’ final headed towards its climax the Italian found his rhythm and staged a superb comeback to secure a first ever podium and he will now do everything in his power to defend that position in the double elimination. Meanwhile, Caers was extremely disappointed that his bongka was adjudged to be outside the competition area, while he performed one of his best moves, a burner into one-handed burner, when he was out of moves on starboard tack. However, take nothing away from Testa, who has certainly stepped his game up and seems to be starting to fill his potential.

Jacopo Testa fights back

Double Elimination

After the conclusion of the single elimination, the double elimination soon began with the conditions continuing to fire and even in the opening round of the double there were several outstanding displays, which is testament to the level of the current standard on the world tour.

Youp Schmit (99NoveNove / Avanti) was on the wrong-side of a very close heat against Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) in just the second round of the double, but he again showed why he is such an exciting and dangerous talent as he produced the highest scoring performance of the first round with a polished display consisting of a pushloop, backloop and radical shifty to name just a few and he will now face 18-year-old Johnny Yagen (RRD / RRD Sails). The Young Israeli sailed out of his skin to defeat Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails Maui) - who was previously ranked as high as 6th in the world - which marks a disappointing return to the world tour for the Bonairean, but Yagen deserves all the plaudits and was visibly delighted upon hearing the result.

Youp Schmit finds his form

Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) was one of the other standouts in the double so far as the Dutchman found his best form to begin his comeback. The highlight being a shifty on the way in and also an air spock - the only person to have landed one.

Davy Scheffers on the road back

Elsewhere, Adam Sims (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg) produced an excellent jumping display to end the hopes of Julien Mas (JP / Gun Sails), while Italy’s Riccardo Marca (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) looked extremely impressive in Heat 31a with the Italian producing his best heat so far on the world tour.

Adam Sims

Italy’s Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) won an extremely close heat against Japan’s Yuma Kobayashi (Starboard / Severne), which saw the lead change hands on several occasions.

Julian Wiemar (Starboard / Severne) will be ruing not checking his equipment as the German was firmly in contention against Russia’s Yegor Popretinskiy (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) only for a snapped inhaul to ruin his chances of progression. In the final heat of the day, Italian Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) made the most of the diminishing conditions to book his place in the second round and he looks as though he can be a continued threat going forwards.

Francesco Cappuzzo

The forecast looks excellent again for tomorrow which should result in another day of world class freestyle. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am - with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+1) onwards. Make sure you tune intowww.pwaworldtour.com to watch all of the explosive action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Result Women's Freestyle Single Elimination - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam

1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins

2nd Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

4th Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result Men's Freestyle Single Elimination - Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam

1st Jose ‘Gollito; Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails)

2nd Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne)

3rd Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails)

4th Yentel Caers (JP / Point-7)

5th Kiri Thode

5th Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th Dieter Van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses)

9th Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde)

9th Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing)

9th Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne)

9th Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks)

9th Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails)

9th Tonky Frans (RRD / RRD Sails)

9th Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg)

9th Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

Fuerteventura

The opening day of the 2017 Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam - sponsored by René Egli - began with a bang as freestyle exploded on to the world tour. Fuerte provided the world class conditions it is renowned for - with stunt ramps and strong winds providing the ideal playground for the contortionists of the freestyle world to show what they are capable of and by the end of the first day of competition only the top 4 women and top 8 men remain standing in the single eliminations.

Freestyle Action

Freestyle

Women’s

In the women’s fleet, all of the top seeds safely survived their opening heat. First of all Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) produced a solid display to defeat Birgit Rieger (Flikka), while reigning vice-world champion Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) looked to be in good form as she progressed against Hanna Poschinger (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg), who was making her debut on the PWA World Tour and won her opening heat against Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins). Last year’s world No.2 and No.3 will now face each other in the semifinals.

Maaike Huvermann

In Heat 22a Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) sailed well to navigate her way past a tricky second round heat against Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde). The Russian made the brighter start to the heat, but as time progressed Aukes found her rhythm as she put together a fine heat by the end with shakas on both tacks. The 30-year-old now faces a tall order in the semifinal where she will face 9-time freestyle world champion - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - who busted out culos, burners and regular konos to post the highest heat of the day - 99.5 points.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

Men’s

Close Call

Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sail) had been in excellent form all day - posting the highest score of the first round - 153.6 points - before narrowly defeating Youp Schmit (99NoveNove / Avanti) in the second round to set up a tie against the current vice-world champion and reigning event champion Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne). The Frenchman continued his fine form and by the end of the heat there was just 0.03 of a point between them. Vrieswijk landed a kabikuchi in the dying moments of the heat, which proved pivotal and swung the heat in his favour. Both sailors were missing a move on port tack, so if Ruenes could have landed one of his air chachoo attempts then he would’ve progressed, but now he will have to wait for the double elimination to come back. So, Vrieswijk goes on and will meet Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Sunglasses) in the quarterfinals.

Antony Ruenes

Man on a Mission

Former world champion - Steven Van Broeckhoven - came out with all guns blazing today as he consistently posted some of the highest scores of the day to win both of heats with ease - dispatching of Loick Spicher (RRD / RRD Sails) and Albert with an explosive repertoire of powerful aerial moves and combos.

Steven Van Broeckhoven

Sailor of the Day

7-time PWA Freestyle World Champion - Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails) posted the highest scoring heat of the day proving he means business again this year as he goes on a quest for world title No.8. The Venezuelan racked up 175.3 points against Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) with a combination of radical jumping - stalled forward, air chachoo and a pushloop - as well as pulling off technical combos such as double burners and double culos. Plus he also landed a new combination… a shuvit forward loop, which he punched the air in celebration upon landing.

Gollito Estredo

Upsets

Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) produced the first major upset of the competition as the New Caledonian ended the hopes of Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) in the second round with a textbook kabikuchi and a technical spock into kono inflicting the majority of the damage.

Antoine Albert

Heat 19b was always going to be a close heat between Tonky Frans (RRD / RRD Sails) and Dieter van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) and that’s the way it played out. Originally it looked as though Tonky had booked his place in the next round, but unfortunately for the Bonairean a couple of van der Eyken’s moves had been incorrectly judged, which resulted in the result being overturned and the Belgian will now face Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails).

Dieter Van der Eyken

Testa came into the event off of recent success in Lanzarote and the Italian carried that confidence and form into today as he clinically dispatched of Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails), who will be disappointed with his result in the single, before going on to defeat last year’s world No.5 Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks) with another impressive display.

Jacopo Testa

Elsewhere, Kiri Thode progressed against Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne), but Müller had his chances to reverse the result. However, he overcooked too many of his moves and was crucially missing a move on port tack. The 2013 world champion will now face Yentel Caers (JP / Point-7) in what should be another pulsating duel.

Yentel Caers

Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) is the remaining sailor to have booked his place in the quarterfinals after the Frenchman beat fellow countryman - Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) in Heat 18a.

Adrien Bosson

The forecast looks superb again for tomorrow with the promise of further strong winds and similar stunt ramps as today, which should guarantee a pulsating end to the single eliminations. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10:30am - with the action commencing from 11am (GMT+1) onwards. Make sure you tune intowww.pwaworldtour.com to watch all of the explosive action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is the next stop on the 2017 PWA World Tour and the next 10 days will see more world class windsurfing. The first 5 days of the Fuerteventura PWA Grand Slam (21st-30th July) - sponsored by René Egli - will belong to the contortionists of the windsurfing world as the men’s and women’s freestyle fleet prepare to enter the competition fray for the first time this year, while the following 5 days will see the world’s fastest sailors return to action for the 4th time this season.

Sotavento

Sotavento is located on the Southeast coast of Fuerteventura and has developed a world-class reputation due to its year round sunshine, stunning golden beaches and most importantly, as its name suggests, strong winds, which create some of the most exhilarating conditions on the PWA World Tour. Fuerteventura is one of the most challenging stops on the tour for the freestylers, but it can also be one of the most rewarding when there is a swell running as it produces the perfect stunt ramps for the freestylers to launch into the latest aerial power moves, while the slalom fleet will be reaching for their smallest gear and trying to reach the end of the course unscathed.

Ones to Watch

Freestyle

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) comes to Fuerteventura in search of an unprecedented 10th PWA Freestyle World Championship and the 26-year-old will enter the sole women’s freestyle event of the year as the overwhelming favourite. Offringa sails with style, power and consistency that no one else has managed to rival and it’s hard to see anyone bringing her 9 year unbeaten record to an end.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

However, the standard in women’s freestyle is rising and if someone is to give Offringa a serious run for her money then you’d have to think it will either be the young and talented Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - who finished last season as the vice-world champion - or Oda Johanne (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) who have the best chance of providing an upset with both improving year on year and starting to land some of the latest power moves.

Maaike Huvermann

Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) will be doing everything in her power to return to the overall podium for the first time since 2013 (injured in 2014) and if she can sail consistently in Fuerte’s choppy waters then she’ll have every chance of doing so, while Russia’s Olya Raskina (JP / NeilPryde) will also be a challenging for the top 4.

Arrianne Aukes

Men’s

Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic / NorthSails) produced a superb comeback in the final event of the 2016 season to earn himself an incredible 7th PWA Freestyle World title as he showed his champion winning qualities again while denying Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) a maiden world title. The Venezuelan oozes style and will enter the first event of the season as the narrow favourite, but he’s going to have his work cut out if he wants to make a winning start to his title defence with the aforementioned Vrieswijk coming into the season opener as the defending event champion after an explosive performance last year.

Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo

Vrieswijk is considered one of, if not the brightest spark in the freestyle world right now and it would seem only a matter of time before the 21-year-old gets his hands on his first world title. Will this year be the year? Time will tell, but with only two events there will be absolutely no room for errors.

Amado Vrieswijk

Also in with a serious title shot in the opening event of the year will be the hugely talented Belgian - Yentel Caers (JP / Point-7) - who had a breakthrough season in 2016 as he broke into the world’s top 3 for the first time. The 22-year-old won the single elimination here last year and he’ll be heavily fancied for another deep run this time around.

Yentel Caers

Belgium seems to produce world class freestylers and two former world champions - Dieter van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne) (2015) and Steven van Broeckhoven (JP / NeilPryde / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) (2011) - will be serious threats. Where others seem to falter in Fuerte’s choppy waters, Van der Eyken seems to excel the trickier the conditions get, while van Broeckhoven will be looking to bounce back from a slightly disappointing 2016, which saw the 31-year-old record 3 solid, but unspectacular 9th places.

Dieter van der Eyken

The level on the freestyle tour continues to go through the roof with more radical and crazy stunts being thrown down right throughout the fleet. Other names to look out for include Canada’s Philip Soltysiak (Starboard / Sailworks) - 5th overall for 2016 - and consistently battling it out for the top 10 and beyond.

Philip Soltysiak

Balz Müller (Patrik / Severne) - who is possibly one of the craziest and most innovative sailors on the planet. The Swiss seems to have found a way to channel that energy into winning heats and he’s certainly a sailor you can't take your eyes off when he’s on the water.

Balz Müller

Frenchman Adrien Boston (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) earned two podiums last year and if it wasn’t for a disappointing result here - 17th - then he’d have been challenging for top honours and you’d have to fancy him for a strong display - especially given his success on the European tour, which saw him take the event title in Tarifa, while you can also expect to see fellow countrymen Nicolas Akgazciyan (99NoveNove / Challenger Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) and Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) in the thick of the action.

Antony Ruenes

Of course you can’t talk about freestyle and not mention the other key players from Bonaire - an island that has produced an outstanding crop of freestylers - so you can also expect to see the legendary Frans brother’s - Tonky Frans (RRD / RRD Sails) and Taty Frans (Starboard / GA Sails / Mystic) - Youp Schmit (99NoveNove / Avanti) styling their way into the top 10, while former world champion Kiri Thode should be obvious threat - if he’s fully fit and ready to compete again after missing the final event of the year in 2016, which saw him drop to 17th in the overall rankings.

Tonky Frans

Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails) has long been considered one of the brightest talents in freestyle and it seems that he is now starting to fill that potential on the competition scene having produced an outstanding comeback at the recent EFPT event in Lanzarote to win the contest ahead of van Broeckhoven and he could be a real contender again if finding that sort of form.

Jacopo Testa

Meanwhile, Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails) will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2016. As will Germany’s Adrian Beholz (Patrik / Sailloft Hamburg / Maui Ultra Fins) who suffered an injury hit year.

Davy Scheffers

Slalom

After 5 days of freestyle, the world’s fastest sailors will take their turn in the windsurfing spotlight for their 4th battle of the year. Last year Fuerte produced some of the best racing ever seen, so fingers crossed it can do the same again.

Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) heads up the rankings coming into Fuerteventura after a great start to the season which saw him claim a convincing victory in Costa Brava and a 3rd place in Japan. The 23-time world champion was untouchable here last year as he tamed Fuerte’s ferocious winds and choppy waters to claim an emphatic victory and he’ll be looking to win his 4th successive event title over the next 5 days.

Antoine Albeau

Reigning world champion - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Point-7 / Shamal Sunglasses) - and vice-world champion - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / NorthSails / Chopper Fins) - are currently tied on points in 2nd and 3rd and will be eager not lose any more ground to Albeau - otherwise it would look like a long way back to prevent AA from marching to a 24th world crown. Iachino looked slightly off the pace in Costa Brava and was delighted to make the podium so it will be interesting to see if he has found the formula to unlock the blistering pace he has shown in the last few seasons.

Matteo Iachino

Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Mystic / Shamal Sunglasses) has an excellent record here over the last couple of seasons with a 2nd and a 3rd and the Brit comes into Fuerte perfectly poised in 4th place and ready to challenge for the overall podium again. Williams is usually one of the most consistent sailors and will be hoping to complete a hat-trick of podiums come the end of the event.

Ross Williams

Finian Maynard (99NoveNove / Gun Sails) won here in 2012 and he is seeing his hard work over the winter pay dividends already this season. The 42-year-old shred 10 kilos during the off season and has been rewarded with a 4th place in Japan, while a 13th place in Costa Brava sees him currently sitting in 5th place. If everything clicks into place then Maynard could well emulate the success which brought him that event title in 2012.

Finian Maynard

Argentina’s Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) has been very consistent so far this season with 8th and 11th place finishes and with a little more look things could’ve been even better. However, Costa Hoevel didn’t enjoy Fuerte last year as he recorded a disappointing 21st place and he’ll be keen to put those memories behind him.

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel

Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) went from hero to zero in the blink of the eye as he experienced the highs and lows of racing. The man from Saint Maarten sailed brilliantly to win in Japan, but then had a bit of a shocker in Costa Brava where he could only muster a 20th place. Quentel comes into the event 7th in overalls. Can he recapture that form from Japan?

Julien Quentel

France’s Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) sits in 8th place just ahead of Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / NorthSails) - who is another sailor to have produced in different performances. The 24-year-old earned his first ever podium in Japan before recording a disappointing 21st in Spain.

Jordy Vonk

The top 10 is currently completed by Germany’s Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails). Also, keep an eye out for Italy’s Andrea Cucchi (Starboard / Point-7), Bonaire’s Taty Frans, Israel’s Arnon Dagan (RRD / NeilPryde) and France’s Pascal Toselli (99NoveNove / Loft Sails / Chopper Fins), who agonisingly missed out on the podium in Costa Brava by just one point.

Sebastian Kördel

Of course, there are a whole host of other sailors who are more than capable of breaking into the top 10 and as we have seen already this season there really are no easy heats and almost anyone has the potential to book their place in the winners’ final.

Fuerteventura is famous for its strong winds and the forecast suggests we’ll be competing from the word go and it should be an amazing show - particularly with the possibility of some swell - which should make the freestyle an even more dynamic spectacle. Make sure you stay tuned into www.pwaworldtour.com between 21st-30th July to watch all of the explosive action as it happens via the PWA live stream.

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Fuerteventura — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Pozo

Highlights Day 6 - Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival

Pozo delivered the howling winds it is renowned for over the last 7 days with winds approaching 50 knots accompanied with small waves for the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival. Despite the small waves on offer, the action on offer was anything but small as the most talented wave sailors in the world produced a remarkable display to kick off the 2017 PWA Wave World Tour in spectacular fashion.

Daida Moreno

Women’s

Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) continued her incredible dominance of Gran Canaria to be crowned the Queen of Pozo once again as she fought off the challenge of her sister Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in the final. The twins have been at the top of the wave sailing world for the last two decades and show no sign of slowing down as they continue to keep the rest of the competition at bay. Daida takes a deserved early season lead in the title race and will look to gather more momentum in Tenerife, while Iballa will be looking to level up the scores as she goes in search of a 4th successive world title.

Daida Moreno and Iballa Moreno No.1 and No.2 in Pozo again

We caught up quickly with Daida after claiming another victory at her home spot to ask her when she’s going to let someone else win here - we’ll have a full interview with Daida next week: “Never. Ever. I don’t know everybody is asking me when I’m going to retire and if I’m not tired of winning all the time, but I’m not. It’s my home spot and it’s the place where I most like to win because I train so many hours over the year here and I still have the drive and desire to win. So as long as I have sponsorship and help from the industry and outside the industry then I will continue to give my best. I always want to try and perform bigger and better moves, but that isn’t always possible without epic conditions. However, I think anyone who windsurfs never gets tired of windsurfing. And one of my goals is to just go out there and have fun and try and go bigger.”

Daida trademark one-handed backie

A Week to Remember

This week will live long in the memory of Lina Erpenstein (Patrik / Severne) with the 20-year-old earning her first ever podium on the PWA Wave World Tour. Last year the German caught the eye with her no fear approach to jumping and fluid turns and after another winter of training under her belt she has firmly announced herself on the world stage.

Lina Erpenstein

Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / Mystic) felt slightly hard done by in the single elimination as Erpenstein was adjudged to have won an extremely tight heat. However, the Pole responded in the perfect manner in the double as she won 4 heats on the spin - defeating Serena Zoia (99NoveNove / LoftSails), Sarah Hilder (Simmer / Simmer Sails), Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne) and perhaps most impressively Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) to earn a superb 4th place, which is her best ever result.

Justyna Sniady

Sarah-Quita Offringa will have come into the opening event of the year with high hopes having finished second here in 2016, while finishing third overall, and will no doubt be disappointed with her 5th place, but the 26-year-old was as graceful and classy in defeat as she is in victory and you can expect to see her bounce back in Tenerife, while before then she will be aiming to win an unprecedented 10th freestyle world title in Fuerteventura.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

Men’s

A Dream Return

Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) enjoyed a dream return from injury as the former 3-time world champion quickly returned to winning ways as he defeated reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / NorthSails / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) - in an extremely tight final. In all honesty, it was like the 23-year-old had never been away as he landed trademark stalled doubles and pushloop forwards, while his wave riding looked like it may have even benefitted from an enforced break.

Philip Köster on his winning return: “Approaching the start of the season I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to compete, so even just to be participating was a big thing for me. After all the surgery and rehabilitation it’s amazing to be back. The first heat was more than a test than anything just to see if I could jump high, but after that I just forgot about my knee and decided to fully go for it. Usually my injury would take over a year to recover from, so I'm even happier to be back ahead of schedule. It’s no secret that the last year has been really, really tough for me with lots of physio and rehab - for the last 3 or 4 months I’ve been going to the physio for 6-8 hours each day, so its definitely been the toughest year of my life. I also wasn’t sure that after such a serious injury whether I’d be able to windsurf to the same level as before - particularly jumping - but everyone around me has been so positive and I’ve worked really hard to come back as strong if not stronger than before. Mentally I think it’s really improved me and I'm just unbelievably happy to win the event.”

Philip Köster is back

Fernandez makes a solid start to his title defence and continues his incredible run in Pozo, which has seen the Spaniard finish in the top 2 since 2006 - highlighting his unbelievable consistency and world class sailing ability and he’s perfectly poised heading into Tenerife.

Victor Fernandez

On paper this isn’t Thomas Traversa’s (Tabou / GA Sails) strongest event, but the Frenchman demonstrated why he has already been crowned the PWA Wave World Champion once with a series of superb displays which saw him defeat Ricardo Campello (Point-7) in the battle for 3rd and 4th and TT will be delighted to walk away from the opening event of the year by claiming the final place on the prestigious podium.

Thomas Traversa

Ricardo Campello looked to be the man that everyone else may have to beat after his opening couple of performances in the single elimination as he earned perfect jumping scores (20 out of 20) with double forwards and pushloop forwards. However, he was then taken down by Traversa and unfortunately there than wasn’t suitable conditions to finish the double elimination. Fourth place keeps the Venezuelan/Brazilian firmly in the title race contention.

Ricardo Campello

Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) finished joint 9th in the single elimination after meeting Campello in just the third round, but he fought his way back with a succession of splendid performances as the Brazilian took down Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), Omar Sanchez (Carbon Art / KA Sail), Adam Lewis (Fanatic / NorthSails / SWOX) and Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / SWOX), which sees the 2013 PWA Wave World Champion start the season off with a 5th place.

Marcilio Browne

Robby Swift also fought his way back into 6th place after finishing joint 9th in the single elimination. The Brit has had an excellent record here in recent years and he kept that fine run going as he gathered momentum in the double by defeating Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde), Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) and Dany Bruch (Starboard / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) before Browne proved too strong.

Robby Swift

Adam Lewis produced one of his best heats against Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) in the single elimination to sit in joint 5th place and successfully ended Moritz Mauch’s (Severne / Severne Sails) comeback in the double, before running into an on fire Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) meaning the Brit finishes the opening event of the year in joint 7th, which is his best result since 2012 when he also finished joint 7th in Sylt. Dany Bruch (Starboard / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses) also finishes in joint 7th to make a decent start to the season and the German will be an even bigger threat back in his home stomping ground of Tenerife in August.

Adam Lewis

PWA vice-world champion Alex Mussolini starts the season with a solid, but unspectacular joint 9th place alongside last year’s world No.5 Jaeger Stone ). Both would have probably been looking to finish higher up the ladder, but both will be a much bigger threat in Tenerife providing there are bigger waves on offer with Musso and Stone being two of the best wave riders in the world. The same can be said of Moritz Mauch (Starboard / Severne), who also finishes in the top 10, but had his comeback stopped by Adam Lewis, while Omar Sanchez (Carbon Art / KA Sail) also kicks off the season with an excellent top 10 result.

Omar Sanchez

Youth’s

Girl’s

15-18 Year Olds

Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) recorded a perfect result in the girls 15-18 year olds fleet with three cut wins for the Italian. 15-year old Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) walks away with second place, while Maike Lang (NorthSails) takes third.

Nicole Bandini

Under 14s

Mar de Arce won a sail off against Julia Pasquale (NorthSails) to take the event victory. de Arce, who is the Spanish Slalom Champion in her age division, landed several rocket airs, but the decision couldn’t have been tighter with Julia Pasquale almost landing a forward loop on several occasions, which would have swung the decision in her favour.

Mar de Arce

Boy’s

16-18 Year Olds

Noah Vocker (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) looked to be in superb form in the first elimination as he claimed a deserved victory, but was then slightly out of sorts in the second elimination - still finishing 3rd - which sees him claim the overall title ahead of Jake Schettewi (JP / Hot Sails Maui) and Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / NorthSails).

Noah Vocker

14-15 Year Olds

Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) claimed a clear cut victory in the Under 14 division as he landed one-footed backloops, tabletop forwards and backside 3s to defeat Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing) and Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails), who complete the top 3.

Marino Gil

Under 13s

Jahdan Tyger (Severne) claimed a decisive victory over Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne) with the Brazilian’s better jumping earning him the title with landed backloops and forwards. However, Dunkerbeck has shown some unbelievable wave riding and has been pushing his jumping all week - competing against Tyger - and has already started landing forwards and backloops. 11-year-old Pepe Krause (Point-7) completes the podium ahead of Miguel Casanova (Fanatic / NorthSails).

Jahdan Tyger

The Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival was a huge success again with Pozo once again proving itself as one of the windiest destinations in the world. The PWA would like to extend their thanks to the Moreno Twins, without whom the event wouldn't be possible, and also to all the sponsors and local people for their continued support and hospitality. We will look forward to returning in 2018.

That's it for Pozo for 2017

You can recap everything from the 2017 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result 2017 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Women’s

1st Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Lina Erpenstein (Patrik / Severne)

4th Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / Mystic)

5th Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

Result 2017 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival - Men’s

1st Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Victor Fernández Official (Fanatic / NorthSails / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

3rd Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails)

4th Ricardo Campello (Point-7)

5th Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing)

6th Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / SWOX)

7th Dany Bruch (Starboard / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

7th Adam Lewis (Fanatic / NorthSails / SWOX)

9th Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails)

9th Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Windsurfing Sunglasses)

9th Omar Sanchez (Carbon Art / KA Sail)

9th Moritz Mauch (Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 15-18 Year Old Girls

1st Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde)

3rd Maike Lang (NorthSails)

4th Regina Villegas

Result Under 14s Girls

1st Mar de Arce (Point-7)

2nd Julia Pasquale (Goya)

3rd Maria Morales (Goya)

Result 16-18 Year Old Boys

1st Noah Vocker (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Jake Schettewi (JP / Hot Sails Maui)

3rd Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / NorthSails)

4th Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde)

5th Henri Kolberg (Starboard / Hot Sails Maui)

Result 14-15 Year Old Boys

1st Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing)

2nd Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing)

3rd Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails)

4th Adam Warchol (Goya Windsurfing)

5th Oliver Rodgriguez (Goya Windsurfing)

Result Under 13s Boys

1st Jahdan Tyger (Severne)

2nd Liam Dunkerbeck (Severne)

3rd Pepe Krause

4th Miguel Casanova Perez