2024 Gran Canaria GLORIA PWA Windsurfing World Cup Pozo Izquierdo

Nuclear winds result in some surprise results as Sarah-Quita Offringa and Marino Gil are crowned the Queen & King of Pozo, while Philip Köster pulls the triple loop trigger

The forecast for Day 3 of the Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup promised windy conditions, but Pozo went fully nuclear with winds well in excess of 40 knots, which led to some stunning action. Pozo is an incredibly special place when it delivers conditions like it did at times today… there are very few places in the world that can deliver blue skies and such ferocious winds such as it did today. Those savage winds possibly caused a few shock results also…

The local boy prevails - Marino Gil

Wave

Women’s

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) made the perfect start to her season as she claimed her first victory in Pozo Izquierdo. The Aruban had finished second here on several occasions in the past, but usually found a Daida Moreno (Bruch Boards/ Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) shaped barrier in the way. However, with the Moreno twins no longer competing, Offringa seized the opportunity perfectly. The 22-time world champion made a flying start to the final as she quickly landed a pushloop, a backloop and a forward loop to place Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) under immediate pressure. That flying start made the difference as although Erpenstein slowly edged away at Offringa’s lead the German couldn’t quite find enough to reel her in. In the end, Offringa claimed a slender 1.29 point victory.

Sarah-Quita Offringa floating through a backloop

For Erpenstein, this represents her best result to date in Pozo Izquierdo. The German had finished third here on two previous occasions (2023 and 2017), but went one better this time around. Also, having earned her first event victory on the World Tour last time out in Chile, this result will see the 27-year-old become the new world No.1 for the first time in her career.

Lina Erpenstein

NEXT GENERATION PUSHING HARD

Meanwhile, Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) - 18 - earns her first podium finish at her home event after seeing off a valiant effort by Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) - 18 - who also claims her best result to date on the World Tour - 4th - as the next generation start to impose themselves on the full tour. Kiefer Quintana has now claimed back-to-back podiums after finishing second in Chile and will now firmly be in the hunt for a place on the overall podium come the end of the year. Both girls consistently landed back and forward loops, while taking an aggressive approach to their wave riding.

Sol Degrieck (Severne / Severne Sails) is the youngest member of the marauding next generation and the 14-year-old backed up her podium finish in Chile - 3rd - with a solid fifth place here, which she shares alongside Pauline Katz (Severne / Severne Sails), who sailed solidly throughout.

Men’s

Marino Gil (JP / NeilPryde) came came agonisingly close to winning his home event last year - losing out by just 0.04 of a point to then teammate - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) - in the single elimination, before forcing a Super Final in the double elimination, so he was clearly hungry to go one better this time out. The hugely popular local produced the highest scoring heat yesterday to send out a warning to his rivals and he was able to backup that today as he deservedly claimed his maiden victory on the World Tour after producing an accomplished performance. Gil has great awareness in the air, consistently landing stalled double forwards, while when presented with an ideal ramp he landed an almost perfect pushloop forward - 9.57 points - during the final to seal the deal after being placed under pressure by first time finalist - Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS). Gil also shone in the waves landing frontside 3s and takas to deservedly claim the top spot on the podium for the first time in his career.

Marino Gil going absolutey massive

In the preview, I wrote that it is almost impossible to make the podium without being able to both double forward and pushloop forward, however, that mould was broken today as Julian Salmonn qualified for his first winners’ final. The German produced an array of massive stalled forwards and one-hand, one-foot backloops, but the reason he managed to qualify for the final is because of his radical wave riding. Whether that was going vertical for a proper frontside snap, or rotating through frontside 3s, or goiters, it was truly his approach to wave riding that proved the difference. Even in the final, the 25-year-old outscored Gil, 14 points to 10.74 points in wave riding. while in the previous heat, 25a - where he faced 7-time event champion - Philip Köster (Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) - and Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) he also came out on top to progress. Salmonn’s bias towards wave riding was also clearly obvious as he often started his heats by wave riding, which is almost unheard of in Pozo, which is usually dominated by jumpers. Ultimately, Salmonn couldn’t quite reel in Gil, but second place represents a huge result for Salmonn!

Julian Salmonn

Philip Köster missed out on a spot in the final by just 0.42 of a point and the 5-time world champion seemed to use that as motivation in the b-final to secure the final place of the podium. For me, Köster made a gesture almost much the same as Jude Bellingham did for England on Saturday - stating I know I’m extremely good - without being arrogant - but just backing themselves with enough self belief to think you are the best. The 30-year-old may have been slightly aggrieved at missing out on a spot in the final and decided to pull the trigger of the triple forward loop for the first time since 2015. Not only did he pull the trigger, but he also got as close as anyone has ever got to landing a recorded triple loop.

Philip Köster

Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) will remember this day for a long time to come after the Belgian secured his best ever finish on the PWA Wave World Tour. Much like Salmonn, the Belgian 2015 PWA Freestyle world champion, inflicted much of his damage with his dynamic wave riding - consistently landing frontside 3s and taking a Jaeger Stone-ish approach to his wave riding. Van der Eyken was visibly delighted to have broken into the top four and rightly so!

Dieter Van der Eyken

Unfortunately, Alessio Stillrich (Simmer / Simmer Sails) will face some time on the sidelines after snapping a tendon in his leg. The Spaniard was leading Heat 22 before he injured himself and everyone wishes him a quick recovery.

The forecast looks incredibly windy again tomorrow and with the Pro Wave event completed it could be the turn for Slalom X to take place in some nuclear conditions!

Forecast for the next couple of days

We’ll take a full look at the event rankings in the event summary.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

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Liam Dunkerbeck and Ben Proffitt claim victories in the U21 Boy’s & Master’s Wave in pumping Pozo

The 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup continued to deliver conditions for the fourth straight day, which led to a full eight hours of fierce competition on the water. The U21 Boy’s were called into action first thing this morning and were lucky enough to compete in undoubtedly the best conditions of the event thus far with 40 knot plus winds and proper waves, which led to plenty of terrific action throughout the day as the Master’s and Men’s wave fleets also entered the water.

Double trouble

Wave

U21 Boy’s

Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) earned a hard fought win in the U21 Boy’s Wave as he fended off a stern challenge from Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), who had to settle for second place. Dunkerbeck and Neubauer both landed excellent double forward loops to make a strong start to the heat and there wasn’t much between them in the air until Dunkerbeck landed a radical one-footed forward loop. However, it was Dunkerbeck’s superior wave riding that really set him apart as he deservedly earned the victory to remain on course to defend his event crown from last year. Neubauer secured second place ahead of compatriot - Gregory Stathapoulos (Goya Windsurfing) - who claims the last place on the podium, while Italy’s Samuele Ferraro (Patrik / Patrik Sails) completes the top four.

Liam Dunkerbeck

Master’s

After the completion of the U21 Boy’s, the Master’s fleet hit the water and after the semifinals, Ben Proffitt (Simmer / Simmer Sails), Michael Friedl (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing), Valter Scotto and Sandro Dálessio lined up for the final. Proffitt had sailed proficiently to book his place in the final and the voice of the PWA continued that form to claim a decisive victory. The Brit landed a solid backloop and stalled forward, but inflicted a lot of damage in the wave riding department as he displayed frontside 3s and aggressive frontside snaps to claim the top spot on the podium. Meanwhile, Friedl secured second place after landing a one-foot backloop to see of the challenge of Tenerife’s Valter Scotto and Sandro Dálessio.

Ben Proffitt

Men’s Double Elimination - *Only up to the top 9

After a shock exit in the second round of the Single Elimination, Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), found himself in the unfamiliar position of starting in the first round of the Double Elimination. The best the Brazilian can hope for from Pozo this year - having won here in 2023 - is fighting back into an equal joint 9th place due to the new format. The 35-year-old made a pulsating start to his come back as he set the second highest scoring heat of the contest - 29.63 points - to cruise into the next round. Browne must be left slightly ruing that he couldn’t quite produce that performance in the Single, but he has at least started to claw back what could yet prove to be valuable points in the world title race. Also qualifying from Heat 28 is Stathapoulos.

Marcilo Browne

Elsewhere, Adam Warchol (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) landed a backloop off the lip to win Heat 29 ahead of Federico Morisio (Starboard / Severne Sails). Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) and Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing) both made it through a tight Heat 30, while Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) produced a buzzer beater to sneak through Heat 31 as the heat winner alongside Tomer Shamgar (Future Fly / RRD Sails) as José Romero (Mistral / Challenger Sails) lost out in the dying seconds.

Adam Warchol

Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins) came into the event leading the World Tour rankings and just like Marcilio Browne, he will be doing his best to salvage as many points as possible after also being involved in the first round of the Double. Noireaux made no mistakes at the beginning of his come back as he won Heat 32 ahead of Josep Pons (Point-7 / Black Project Fins).

Meanwhile, Titouan Flechet (Tabou / Hot Sails) claimed a decent victory in Heat 33 ahead of Lennart Neubauer, while in Heat 31 Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / Sailloft Hamburg) looked sharp to claim the the top spot ahead of Takara Ishii (RRD / RRD Sails), who also sailed well.

Dany Bruch

In the final heat of the day, Miguel Chapuis (Flikka / Point-7) set the second highest score of the first round - 24. 53 points - to safely progress into the next round, while Moritz Mauch secured the remaining spot in the second round.

Miguel Chapuis

The forecast for tomorrow still promises to be extremely windy with WindGuru currently calling for winds anywhere between 18-33 knots, so Wednesday should see plenty of action on the water. After the opening three days, which have been dominated by waves, Slalom X will be given the priority for tomorrow, so brace yourself for some carnage as the world’s best racers ready themselves for battle. The skippers’ meeting for both Wave and Slalom X has been called for 9:30am (GMT+1) with a first possible start for Slalom X at 11am and 10am for the remaining wave sailors.

The forecast for the next couple of days

Also, if you haven’t seen the highlights from yesterday, which saw the Men’s and Women’s wave champions crowned then be sure to click the link below:

Finals Day highlights

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Gran Canaria— including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Also if you don’t already, follow us on our Social Media Channels:

- Facebook: @PWAWorldTourWindsurfing

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Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Wave

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

2nd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)

3rd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Duotone Windsurfing)

4th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)

5th Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Pauline Katz (SUI | Severne / Severne Sails)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde)

2nd Julian Salmonn (GER | Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS)

3rd Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

4th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

5th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde)

7th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN)

8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)

9th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Sails)

9th Leon Jamaer (GER | Flikka / GUNSAILS)

9th Arthur Arutkin (FRA | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Boy’s U21 Wave

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)

2nd Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Gregory Stathopoulos (GRE | Goya Windsurfing)

4th Samuele Ferraro (ITA | Patrik / Patrik Sails)