2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf PWA World Cup 5th-13th July

Köster survives a late scare to earn an eighth Pozo event title, and first 5-star victory since 2022, in even windier conditions than yesterday

The second day of the 2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup turned into more of a survival mission at times than anything else as winds well in excess of 50 knots pummelled Pozo Izquierdo to truly test the mettle of the world’s finest wave sailors. Predominantly, Pozo is known for it’s onshore winds, but today there was a lot more north in the wind, which gave Pozo a slightly different look with the wind being a lot more cross-shore, but ultimately after almost 10 hours of intense competition, nobody could prevent Philip Köster (Severne / Severne Sails) from returning to winning ways.

Highlights of Day 2

Wave

Men’s

Philip Köster ultimately survived a scare today, but the 5-time world champion was made to work extremely hard to defend his Single Elimination crown. In the Final against Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC), Köster had his rig ripped out of his hands when trying to initiate a forward loop, something you certainly don’t see every day, which just illustrates the ferociousness of the wind.

That left Köster swimming for his gear before having to run back up the beach for a new set, all the while losing valuable time as Browne continued to rack up the points. Just prior to Köster losing his gear, the Brazilian launched into a huge 10-point pushloop forward, which deservedly put him in command of the heat to send us into a Super Final.

Marcilio Browne forces a Super Final

If Köster was rattled from losing his gear in the previous heat, then you’d have been hard pushed to notice as within seconds of the green flag in the Super Final he launched into a perfect 10 point pushloop forward, which set the precedent as the 31-year-old built a solid eight point cushion with just under half of the heat to go. However, you don’t become a 5-time world champion (4x Wave & 1 Freestyle) without displaying plenty of fighting spirit and that’s exactly what Browne did as he dug deep to land an eight point pushloop forward before quickly following it up with 9.38 point stalled double forward to haul himself back into contention heading into the dying stages. Unfortunately for Browne though, Köster linked together his best wave of the heat with two minutes to go - 7.38 points - to hammer the final nail in the coffin as he deservedly secured his eighth event victory in Pozo Izquierdo, which also marks his first 5-star win since 2022.

Philip Köster remaining cool, calm & collected under pressure

Differences in Approach

What was very evident was Köster’s tactics in the finals… with the contest concluding during low tide, Köster definitely made a conscious decision to deliberately sail further upwind towards the judges tower, while Browne continued to hunt down by the bunker. Browne did indeed eventually find suitable ramps, but perhaps it was a telling factor of Köster using his additional local knowledge, which swung the tie in his favour as he certainly gave himself more scoring opportunities - the majority of Köster’s points were scored further upwind. The German was extremely disciplined with his approach and ultimately it paid dividends for him.

Philip Köster turns on the style with an arched backloop

For Browne this represents another top result and keeps him firmly in control of the world title race as he backs up his win in Chile with a solid second place here, while further reinstating him as quite possibly the best all round wave sailor in the world. The Brazilian is able to seamlessly switch from float and ride down-the-line to extreme onshore jumping conditions with consummate ease, which is again testament to his overall ability.

Marcilio Browne (left) with Philip Köster (right)

Windy, Windier, Windiest Ever?

After yesterday’s nuclear winds, it was hard to imagine that it could possibly get even windier, but that it surely did. When the top four re-entered the water this afternoon, Köster was armed with a 3.4m, Browne a 3.5m, Marino Gil a 3.3m (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) and Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC) a 3.4m and all four sailors said they were fully lit and could’ve happily been on smaller equipment, which should again just give some context to just how windy it was really was. In fact, when asking them if today was windier than the opening day the answer was a resounding yes, and not just slightly, but by significant margins.

Marino Gil did his best to hang on to his 3.3m, and still produced some moments of magic, but also experienced some painful looking crashes as he tried to tame Pozo’s winds. The 22-year-old couldn’t quite defend his event title, but by securing third place today that now means that he has finished on the podium for the last three years in a row here in Gran Canaria, which is no mean feat given the current level.

Marino Gil locked and loaded mid pushloop forward

Paré seemed slightly dejected after finishing fourth at this year’s Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup, which is perhaps more just an indication of his ambition, but with a little bit of time he’ll be able to look back at this as another solid result. I think it would be fair to say that the top four were a cut above the rest and tiny margins made the difference between progressing or tasting defeat. Against Gil in Heat 47, the Spaniard landed an insane 9.95 point double forward, but couldn’t find another ramp for his pushloop forward. Sometimes it also just comes down to how lucky / in sync with the ocean you are on that particular occasion.

Marc Paré in the groove

Liam Dunkerbeck (Duotone Windsurfing) gained four places from the single elimination as the local boy finishes in fifth place for the second year in a row here. The 21-year-old launched into some of the biggest jumps of the day, while he also brought Ricardo Campello’s brilliant comeback to an end in Heat 45.

Liam Dunkerbeck soaring high above Pozo

Campello will be left ruing his early exit in the single yesterday, which left him with a mountain to climb today and in such brutal conditions it was always going to be incredibly difficult to be able to sail the entire day at such a high level. The 40-year-old really started to pick up momentum as he posted a better heat total in almost every round he sailed to look like the threat everyone knows he is capable of being. Campello set the second highest scoring heat of the day in Heat 44 - 29.95 points - but couldn’t quite replicate that performance against Dunkerbeck in the next heat. In fact it took until the Super Final for Campello’s tally to be beaten when Köster posted 31.3 points. Campello fought back from 17th in the single to 6th in the double - and while that may not be the result he would’ve wanted it still represents an excellent result - particularly when you take into account that he hasn’t been training as often as he used to.

Ricardo Campello fought back into 6th place

With more wind and waves on the horizon, it looks as though Monday will see the women hit the water for the first time this week. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 9:30am (GMT+1) with the action commencing from 10am onwards.

We’ll take a look at the full results in the Event Summary at the end of the event.

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

- Instagram: @pwaworldtour

- X: @pwaworldtour

- YouTube: @pwaworldtour

Result 2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)

2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing / MFC)

3rd Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde / MFC)

4th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC)

5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Duotone WIndsurfing)

6th Ricardo Campello (BRA / VEN)

7th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)

8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails)

9th Miguel Chapuis (ESP | Flikka / North Sails)

9th Moritz Mauch (GER | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

11th Antoine Martin (FRA | Goya Windsurfing / MFC)

11th Mike Friedl (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)

Daida Moreno makes winning return to competitive scene as women take centre stage

After the men had taken centre stage for the opening two days of the 2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup, today was the day for the best female wave sailors in the world to showcase their skills on the global stage. With there still being plenty of wind and waves on offer the Women’s Single Elimination was completed by the early afternoon and there were several standout performances along the way, however a familiar figure, Daida Moreno (Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), returned with a bang to claim victory in the Single Elimination.

An elated Daida Moreno

Wave

Women’s

Daida Moreno may not have competed for two years, but you’d have been hard pushed to tell as she showed very few signs of rustiness in the Single Elimination. Daida steadily built momentum on her way to the final, and as she has done so many times throughout her career, she saved her best performance until last as she posted her highest scoring heat in the final - 23.58 points. Where the other women seemed to struggle with the wind picking up in the final, Daida seemed to thrive as she landed a huge stalled forward, a stylish one-handed backloop and also pulled off a radical goiter to deservedly take the current event lead.

Daida Moreno makes a winning return

Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) started the final on a 3.7m, but after one run immediately came in to change down to 3.3m, but even then the reigning world champion said she was massively overpowered as the wind had picked up that much. After a somewhat slow start, Offringa did start to move through the gears, but she couldn’t quite find what she needed to deny Daida in the final, so she has to settle for second place for the time being. Offringa will have one more bite at the cherry in the Double Elimination to see if she can overhaul the Queen of Pozo.

Sarah-Quita Offringa tweaks a pushloop

Sol Degrieck (Severne / Severne Sails) produced the performance of the day in the semifinals as the 15-year-old posted the highest score of the Single Elimination - 24.5 points. The young Belgian has been impressing the judges for a couple of years already with her aggressive, no fear approach, but today she raised that bar again as she landed a frontside aerial and a taka to earn 7.5s for her two waves. In the air, Degrieck landed a stylish pushloop and a forward loop, while she also played around with the tweaked variety and even pulled the trigger on a double forward in a breakout performance. Unfortunately, with the wind once again going nuclear, she couldn’t quite replicate that performance in the final, but she still earned the last spot on the podium - for now at least - which is the first time she has broken into the top three in Pozo and in the right conditions it genuinely looks like she could give anyone a run for their money.

Sol Degrieck produces the standout performance of the day

Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) successfully negotiated her way into the final, but unfortunately injured her shoulder in the semifinals, which all but ended her chances of mounting a challenge in the final. We’ll have to wait and see if the German, who finished third here last year, is able to defend her place in the double.

Alexia Kiefer Quintana mid backloop before injuring her shoulder

Double Elimination

Shortly after the conclusion of the Single Elimination, the double began and particularly towards the early evening the women were treated to some of the best conditions of the entire event thus far as a new swell started to pulse into Pozo with proper head-to-logo high lines rolling through.

After the opening five rounds of the double, it’s Justyna Sniady (Flikka / North Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) and Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing), who have battled back through the draw and they will now meet each other in Heat 45 next as they vie for a place in the top five and beyond.

Justyna Sniady

Sniady produced a confident performance in Heat 44 to comfortably advance, but Morales left it critically late to deny 15-year-old Lizzlotte Schilling Andrew (F2 / F2 Sails), who deserves an awful lot of credit for how she sailed in the main draw today, a place in the next round.

Maria Morales leaves it late to advance

The forecast for Tuesday looks quite light on paper with just 10-13 knots predicted on the forecast. However, with this being the ‘Home of the Wind’ that can still easily turn into a windy day, so the Women and Youth fleets will meet at 09:30am (GMT+1) tomorrow morning for the skippers’ meeting with a first possible start at 10am- conditions depending.

The forecast for the next few days

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

- Instagram: @pwaworldtour

- X: @pwaworldtour

- YouTube: @pwaworldtour

Current Ranking Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Women’s Wave Single Elimination

1st Daida Moreno (ESP | Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)

3rd Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)

4th Alexia Kiefer Quintana (GER | Duotone Windsurfing)

5th/6th Justyna Sniady (POL | Flikka / North Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

5th/6th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)

Result 2025 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup - Men’s Wave

1st Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)

2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing / MFC)

3rd Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde / MFC)

4th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC)

5th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)

6th Ricardo Campello (BRA / VEN)

7th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)

8th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails)

9th Miguel Chapuis (ESP | Flikka / North Sails)

9th Moritz Mauch (GER | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

11th Antoine Martin (FRA | Goya Windsurfing / MFC)

11th Mike Friedl (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)