With Tenerife winds reaching in excess of 50 knots at times and waves up to mast high, Philip Köster collects his second victory of 2017, while Iballa Moreno fought back to deny Sarah-Quita Offringa in the PWA World Tour.
Wave - Women's
Iballa Moreno suffered a shock semifinal exit at the hands of Sarah-Quita Offringa in the single elimination, but the reigning world champion staged a rousing final day comeback to earn her first victory of the season after defeating Offringa, twice to deny the Aruban her first port tack wave event win.
Success in Tenerife sees Iballa take control of the title race heading into the Autumn season.
Sarah-Quita Offringa may feel that this was a missed opportunity for her as she was only a minute away from winning the event. However, Iballa produced a brilliant buzzer beater of a wave to deny the 26-year-old.
Nonetheless, after a disappointing fifth position to start the season in Pozo, Gran Canaria, the Aruban should be delighted with the way she bounced back to earn second place here, which sees her rise to third in the overall rankings.
During the quarter finals and opening half of her semifinal - Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) - looked to be in the same rich vein of form that saw her win the opening event of the season, but disaster struck for the 18-time world champion midway through her semifinal against Lina Erpenstein (Patrik / Severne) when she injured herself jumping, which led to her having to withdraw from the contest.
Daida remains second in the overall rankings after still finishing third here, but now faces a race against time to be fit in time for Sylt at the end of September.
Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / Mystic) produced one of the comebacks of the double elimination as she won four consecutive heats to rise to fourth place from ninth. Sniady found her rhythm and flow to defeat Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360), Greta Benvenuti (Patrik / Point-7 / AL360), Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) before exacting revenge against Lina Erpenstein for her narrow defeat in Pozo.
Erpenstein couldn't quite defend her top four position this time around, but has still made an excellent start to the season with third and fifth place finishes which sees her ranked fourth in overall standings after two events.
Men's
Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was quite simply in a league of his own in Tenerife as he obliterated the rest of the competition with an outstanding jumping and wave riding display as he showed again why he is the best port tack wave sailor in the world.
Köster's blend of powerful rail turns and tricks earned him an emphatic victory to make it two wins out of two since his return from injury and the 22-year-old is on course for a fourth world title. If he sustains his current level of form it's hard to see anyone stopping him.
Reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / NorthSails / Shamal Sunglasses) - won here last year, but couldn't find a way to stop a dominant Köster on this occasion.
The Spaniard finished 3rd in the single elimination but fought back into the top two after winning two tough battles against Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) and Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails) in the double elimination.
Fernandez is still in touch with Köster heading into the second half of the season and could still yet defend his world crown.
Local legend Alex Mussolini excelled at his home spot once again as he earned his 3rd podium finish in seventh years in Tenerife. The Spaniard was in inspired form on Day five, which saw him take home second place in the single with trademark frontside 360s and massive one-handed, one-footed backloops inflicting the damage.
Mussolini couldn't quite defend that position in the double, so he falls one place to third here, but will be absolutely delighted with his performance over the last week which means he rises to sixth in the overalls.
Marcilio Browne produced another valiant come back through the double elimination - just as he did in Pozo - as the Brazilian fought back into fourth place from ninth with victories over Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / NorthSails) and lastly Adam Lewis (Fanatic / NorthSails / SWOX), which sees him rise into the overall top three.
The Brazilian also racked up the highest scoring wave of the contest - 9.88 points - after landing a sick frontside three right in the pocket against Dany Bruch (Starboard / Flight Sails / AL360 / Shamal Sunglasses, who has to settle for ninth place at his home break.
Adam Lewis came into Tenerife on the back of equalling his best ever result on tour - joint seventh in Pozo - and the Brit continued his fine start to the season, which saw him break into the top four for the first time in his life after defeating Browne in the single elimination.
Withal, the 29-year-old couldn't quite hold off the Brazilian in the double, but he still finishes in a fantastic fifth place and ranked fifth in the overall rankings after the opening two events.
Lewis's teammate - Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / NorthSails) - has been on the radar for quite some time as one of the most promising young wave sailors in the world and this week saw the22-year-old produce a breakthrough performance as he bounced back from a disappointing start to the season in Pozo - 17th - by breaking into the top six for the first time.
Stillrich ended Marc Paré's (Simmer / Simmer Sails) stunning comeback, before producing a last minute double forward to earn a high profile victory against Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses) to move into the top six.
Stillrich then achieved a higher jumping score than Marcilio Browne with a trademark super tweaked pushloop and a double forward, but couldn't quite find the wave scores he needed as he bowed out of the competition with his head held high.
Jaeger Stone has to settle for joint seventh place in Tenerife after a narrow loss to Stillrich and the Australian is now ranked joint eighth in the overalls with Dany Bruch.
Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) also finishes in joint seventh after dispatching of Aleix Sanllehy (Tabou / GA Sails), Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) and Camille Juban (Quatro / Simmer Sails) - before Browne ended his hopes. After an excellent start to the season Traversa is ranked 4th overall and in contention for the prestigious podium.
Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) produced a stunning comeback in the double as the Youth World Champion found his best form to win four heats on the spin as he ended the hopes of Britain's John Skye (RRD / RRD Sails), Belgium's Dieter van der Eyken (Starboard / Severne), France's Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / NorthSails) and Germany's Klaas Voget (Fanatic / NorthSails), with a series of fantastic performances which also saw him land quite possibly the highest jump of the the contest - a monstrous stalled forward against Arutkin. Paré's storming come back sees the 19-year-old break into the top 10 for the first time in his career and he really looks like a potential world champion in the making in the future - as the new crop of young and talented wave sailors took down many of their older and more experienced peers during this event.
Elsewhere, Ricardo Campello (Point-7) had settle for joint 9th despite being the only sailor in the competition to land a pushloop forward. Camille Juban and Dany Bruch complete the top 10.
Girl's: 15-18 Year Olds
Nicole Bandini (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) proved too much for Alexa Escherich (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) in the girl's 15-18 year olds final as the Italian landed a stylish forward and attempted a frontside air to come out on top.
U14s
Meanwhile, Julia Pasquale (Fanatic / NorthSails) sailed well to win the U14s division, but 11-year-old Mari Morales (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing) also put on a fine display to take second place.
Boy's: 16-18 Year Old
Noah Vocker (Fanatic / NorthSails / Maui Ultra Fins) had to come through the repechage heat to book his place in the final, but once there he made no mistake in the final to claim a decisive victory with the 18-year-old landing a massive one-handed backloop to see off competition from Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde) and Valentino Pasquale (Fanatic / NorthSails), who finish second and third respectively.
14-15 Year Olds
Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing), who won a couple heats in the main event lived up to his top seed reputation to deservedly take the win ahead of Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails) and Mike Friedl (Goya Windsurfing), who complete the podium.
Tenerife once again further enhanced it's reputation as one of Europe's premier wave sailing destinations and the level of sailing we have seen over the past seven days is arguably some of the best we have been lucky enough to witness. The young talent of the tour seems to be thriving with many of the aspiring sailors taking down their better known counterparts over the course of the week. After another incredible instalment of the Tenerife PWA World Cup we are already looking forward to returning in 2018 - thanks to the organiser and the sponsors for their continued support.
(www.sailing.org)
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