After the PWA event in Pozo, we see again the same two faces on the top of the podium: Philip Köster and Iballa Moreno. On the final day the riders got welcomed again with strong wind and excellent waves at the beach of El Cabezo. The action was big: we saw again a Triple loop attempt by Philip in the final, perfect Wave 360s, great waverides by Alex Mussolini and the first landed Goiter in a ladie´s heat by Iballa Moreno.
The decision to start day 4 very early was the right one. The wind picked up to 45 knots and the waves were growing. Hundreds of spectators lined up on the beach and even on the road. When it comes to the finals you better do not miss any action as the riders are high up in the air, the men and the ladies, too.
Philip Köster and Iballa Moreno
THE MEN´S ELIMINATION
In the first two heats of the fourth day of competition we saw, Gran Canaria top local Dario Ojeda, starboard tack expert Marcilio Browne, local OTC manager Adam Lewis and RRD top teamrider John Skye, advancing into the top 12.
We saw a resail of Traversa vs. Ojeda then, which got won by Thomas Traversa. The resail got caused, because Traversa had grabbed a wave, on which Dario was on. In the following heat Traversa took down Kauli Seadi with an impressive wave selection and a perfect Wave 360 plus double Forwards. Kauli presented himself extremely aggressive on the waves and had several excellent waverides with more than three turns, but missed some difficulty points in his air- and wavemoves. Compared to Gran Canaria, he improved his result by two places finishing in 7th.
On the bottom of the heat ladder John Skye took out Scott McKercher, who took it easy and commented: “That´s life. I did not my best waveriding today.” Probably he missed some points in jumps, as Skye is an very complete sailor with excellent skills in jumping and waveriding. The battle of the two local sailors Mussolini and Lewis was an extremely tight one. Lewis performed a perfect Wave 360° and grab jumps, but in the end it was Mussolini, who won by 0.5 points. And, the run of Mussolini continued. Already in Gran Canaria Alex told us on the last day: “For me just a place on the podium will be a good result. And I can show much more in wavesailing than I did in Pozo!” An incredible wave selection with highest difficulty impressed everyone on the beach, his opponents and the judges. He combined Aerials with Wave 360s and landed almost everything he tried. Alex combined his smooth waveriding style with power moves. All moves looked extremely easy! As well on the jumps he went higher as usual landing massive Backloops one footed and extremely stalled Forwards.
Mussolini defeated his teammate Thomas Traversa in heat 47 and continued with a victory against local and event organizer Dany Bruch in heat 48. Afterwards he defeated Ricardo Campello, who landed one of the biggest stalled Double Forwards of the event and Victor Fernandez, who was not sailing with his usual consistency. Mussolini was on fire!
Perfect one handed Goiter by Philip Köster – Pic: PWA/John Carter
THE WINNERSFINAL MEN
After winning 6 heats in a row the Tabou/Gaastra rider faced Philip Köster in the final. Thruster versus Twinfin. Both on a 3,7 m. Gaastra vs. NeilPryde. And still his waverides were good and powerful enough to beat the world champion in the wave riding scores. He rotated through perfect Wave 360s and Takas, but Philip Köster nailed a perfect rotated Pushloop Forward and a perfect Double Forward, which resulted in the highest possible score on the jumps and in the victory in the second PWA event of the season. Again the high precision, difficulty and height in the airmoves secured Philip Köster the victoy. By the way, this was his 5th PWA wave event victory in a row. But Mussolini could show that there is a chance to beat Philip.
Alex Mussolini with his signature move – Pic: PWA/John Carter
Watch what Philip Köster says about his victory, his equipment and his upcoming plans
THE WOMEN´S ELIMINATION
In the ladies category Iballa Ruano Moreno was in great form winning twice against her twinsister Daida Moreno, who had won the single elimination. Iballa scored with extremely high Backloops, Pushloops and stalled Forwards. And she even landed a perfect Goiter in the first heat against Daida.
She proofed that she improved her level in jumping and kept her consistency in waveriding. Daida sailed really well, landed many big airmoves, but missed in the end some height and waverides compared to Iballa. It´s nice to see such a high level in ladie´s wavesailing. As well Karin Jaggi and Laure Treboux sailed great. Karin landed a big Pushloop and a Backloop. Laure went for an Aerial and a Backloop as well.
German Steffi Wahl secured a 5th place defeating Amanda Beenen, who improved a lot since she has been living at El Medano for the last months. Eva Oude Ophuis landed a Backloop pretty flat and compressed her nerves in the vertebraes heavily. She won her first round heat, but got transported into the hospital straight. First result of the medical check: Medulla Compression. Let´s hope that it is not too bad and she will be back on board very soon! We wish Eva Oude a quick recovery!!!
Goiter by Iballa Moreno – Pic: PWA/John Carter
Daida Moreno tweaked – Pic: PWA/John Carter
Watch what Iballa Moreno says about her second victory in a row. Sorry, the vid is not really sharp.
We asked once again race director Duncan Coombs to resume the PWA Wave Worldcup Tenerife for us
THE PRESENTATION CEREMONY
Iballa gets the spray
Champagne shower for the men
FINAL RESULT OF THE 2012 PWA TENERIFE WAVE WORLDCUP:
Ladies:
1. Iballa Ruano Moreno
2. Daida Ruano Moreno
3. Karin Jaggi
4. Laure Treboux
5. Steffi Wahl
Men:
1. Philip Köster
2. Alex Mussolini
3. Victor Fernandez
4. Ricardo Campello
5. Dany Bruch
[…] interviews and infos about the final day at El Cabezo you can check out in our report from day 4 here. Double Elimination – Winnersfinal. Heat of Philip Köster, with which he won the […]