PWA Pozo 2012 – Day 1
The 2012 PWA Gran Canaria Wind&Waves Festival opened yesterday. The sailors were greeted with strong winds and waves. At 14:15 the first men´s heat got started and the girls got released for this first day of competition.
Continue reading to see who advanced on the first day of action
Round 1 saw 14 sailors competing in 4 heats. In Heat 1 Eric Sanllehy (Goya / MFC) and Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) advance against Albert Pijoan (Starboard / Severne) and Levi Lenz (Goya). Jonas Ceballos dominated heat 2, with Tuomo Naalisvaara (Starboard / Severne) also advancing over Arthur Arutkin (Starboard / Severne) and Pablo Ramirez (Goya / MFC). Heat three saw Leon Jamaer (Fanatic / Hot Sails Maui) and Moritz Mauch (Starboard / North) advancingover Gustav Hagestrom and Michael Kleingarn (Fanatic / Gaastra). In heat 4 Robert Baldyga (Quatro / MauiSails) advanced over Nicolai Litterscheidt, with a sick off the lip forward and nice backloops.
Around 3 PM round 2 began as riders battled to qualify for the top 16. Heat one round 2 pitted Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC), Dany Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL360), and Christopher Friis against each other. Bruch looked in top form, both in the jumping and wave riding department, also throwing the first double of the contest. The next heat saw John Skye (RRD / RRD / Mystic / MFC) and Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde) secure there spot in the next round. Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) and Marcilio Browne (Goya / Goya / MFC) also advanced, with Marcilio wowing the crowd with massive double forwards! The next heat saw Jules Denel (Exocet) beat out Ben Proffitt (Simmer), with former World Champion Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North) eliminating Ceballos. Ross Williams progress comfortably against Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti, and Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde), made no mistake of beating Jamaer with an assured display. Heat 14 saw Local Dario Ojeda (Tabou / Gaastra) progress along with Kenneth Danielsen’s (F2 / Simmer). Heat 15 saw team mates Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) and Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) advance. The final heat of the day saw the reigning World Champion Philip Köster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) showed his usual style after a bit of a shaky start advancing with Britain’s Phil Horrocks (Tabou / Gaastra).
The forecast was looking great for today as the Men`s elimination resumed at 9:30. We`ll have that news for you as soon as we can, it promises to be epic!