Victor Fernandez and Philip Köster have raced against each other in more finals in Pozo than anyone else and even the PWA statistics don't give an exact count of how many. What is certain is that Philip celebrated his first triumph at the age of just 15 in 2009. Victor first lifted the trophy at the PWA World Cup in Pozo in 2006. Victor went on to win the Wave World Cup a total of three times, while Philip can even call five titles his own. It is therefore fair to say that two absolute giants of windsurfing met in the final of the PWA World Cup on Gran Canaria. In the small final, Pozo title defender Ricardo Campello and Thomas Traversa, two completely different types of surfers, battled it out for third place.
Optimal show in sub-optimal conditions in the PWA World Cup Final
Expectations for the final of the PWA World Cup were extremely high, given the victories of the two opponents. One would have wished for much better conditions for their show. As presenter Ben Proffitt said in the livestream: "Are these typical pozo conditions with gale-force winds and big waves? No! But they are definitely conditions where you can have a fair contest. They are the same for everyone and it shows who can get the most out of these conditions."
But Victor and Philip were not deterred by the external circumstances. The two PWA World Cup veterans patiently searched for a good ramp for a double loop at the start - now a standard jump among the world's top riders, where you only get top marks from the judges if it is extremely delayed or garnished with a table top. The judges penalised Victor for his first double, which landed quite "wet", with a score of 4. Things went better for Köster, who scored a 7.12 for his first jump. Victor then had difficulties completing his wave rides in 360s. On top of that, he had damage to his luff and had to come to the beach for an unscheduled pit stop and rig change. Fortunately, he didn't lose any time or nerves, as his high double forward with an 8.0 score showed.
Köster dominates the final with monster jumps
Philip also came to the beach for a pit stop, albeit a well-planned one. Just like a well-trained pit crew in a car race, Philip changed the board and rig in a matter of seconds. Perhaps he learnt this from his visit to the ADAC GT Masters race in Zandvoort a few weeks ago. With a little more power, Köster then laid the foundation for victory at the PWA World Cup in his home country with a perfect table top double. The jump was worth 8.75 points to the judges. After that, he was able to concentrate on surfing and extended his lead over Victor with a 6 wave. He tried to counter with a good table double forward (8.0) and scored the highest score of the heat with his last wave (6.75), but Köster had already sealed the deal with a monstrous stalled double with 9.38 points. Incidentally, he also took over the Red Bull Rockets classification with this jump. The height of the jumps is measured and at the end of the event the surfer with the highest jump receives 2500 euros in prize money. Philip's stalled double is now at the top of the rankings with 6.9 metres. Philip was also able to get over the fact that he was unable to perform a backloop of the lip while riding off. In the end, Köster won relatively clearly with 28.01 to 23.25 points. Afterwards, it was pure joy for the winner. His wife and child, his family and of course his caddy Jorge were waiting on the beach.
"In the final, you just have to give it your all, and that's exactly what I did. I'm just very happy now."
Victor Fernandez now has the chance to force a super final against Köster in the double, if it can still be completed today.
Campello vs. Traversa - two worlds collide
In the battle for third place at the PWA World Cup in Pozo, Ricardo Campello and Thomas Traversa were two completely different surfing worlds. Campello with his extremely powerful style and radical jumps and Traversa with his cat-like style on the wave, who can also get a lot out of small humps. His only shortcoming, but a decisive one at this level, is that his jumps, especially the double forward, cannot keep up with the absolute top riders. And as Ricardo Campello didn't show any weaknesses in the small final when riding the waves either, he won the small final at the PWA World Cup with a lead of almost six points.
After the award ceremony for the single elimination, the men's double elimination started straight away and it became clear how high the level of the four top riders in the finals was. In roughly the same conditions, the action level in the first round of the doubles was several levels lower and it became clear how difficult it was to find good waves to jump and ride in the conditions.
Today, the organisers want to try and pull off the men's and women's doubles at the PWA World Cup. An ambitious plan. You can follow everything in the livestream on the PWA page.
Andreas Erbe
Chief editor surf