Chile World Cup 2024 – PWA IWT Wave Tour Matanzas - Day 1

The Chile World Cup 2024 – PWA IWT Wave Tour Matanzas event runs from April 1 to April 12 and includes a heavily stacked field of 54 Men (24 Challenger Men + 26 Pro Advance Seeds + 4 Wild cards) 17 Pro Women, as well as Masters, Juniors and Open AM divisions. With these many riders the Chile World Cup is the biggest 5-star international wave event in South America’s history, with around 100 competitors.

On day 1 the Chile World Cup kicked off with the juniors in chest-high swell at Matanzas, Chile.

Sol Degrieck set a new bar for Junior Girls, revelling in the uncrowded conditions as she showcased powerful bottom turns, critical lip hits and an aerial, proving she’s not only a top junior contender, but also a growing threat in the Pro Women. Degrieck was a standout of the entire day’s competition and was rewarded with the highest heat total of the day (12.90 points) and the top individual wave score – which almost went into the excellent range at 7.07 points.

Degrieck said: “It was good to sail without a lot of people. I got one really nice wave and I was happy to pull off an aerial and quite a lot of turns on it. I loved sailing with the other young girls. I was having fun on the water and that’s the most important thing.”

Noni Stuven, a young Chilean girl who is new to wave sailing, handled the conditions well to make her way into second place in the Junior Girls.

Ryu Noguchi won the first round of Junior Boys with some rapid flow and aggressive turns. Noguchi had a solid start, scoring his best wave in the first few minutes as the young Japanese rider smacked lips, rode with rapid speed and connected multiple sections with an attacking style.

Noguchi added: “It’s difficult for me, because where I am from is starboard tack, but my first wave was good, I got a set and had good flow on it.”