On the second day of the Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup it remained very windy with 30 to 35, but the waves didn't quite play along. There was a long break in the afternoon to wait for the conditions to improve as the water rose. After a long day on the water - the last heat was not finished until shortly before eight o'clock in the evening - only the top eight riders in the women's event are still in the running, while only the top 16 remain in the men's event.
The format is a little different to previous years: Four starters always take to the water in a joint heat, with the best two progressing. In the following round, the heats will be recombined so that the two winners of the preliminary round do not compete against each other again. There will also be a change in the double elimination: according to rumours, the first eight positions from the first round will no longer be able to change - but not even livestream commentator Ben Proffitt knew any more details about this.
Waveriding ladies
Pauline Katz came to Pozo with her best World Cup result to date (4th in Chile) behind her. The 34-year-old got off to a confident start and won her first heat against Annagiulia Piccaglia and Lisa Wermeister, who was eliminated with a minimal deficit of 0.04 points.
In the following heat, Lina Erpenstein faced Alexia Kiefer Quintana. Alexia got off to a brilliant start in the heat and ended up with the second-highest score of the day with 19.95 points. She landed both forward and backward loops and showed outstanding wave rides with plenty of style and power. Meanwhile, Lina Erpenstein looked strong in the air but didn't really hit her waves, but still comfortably progressed to the next round in second place.
Offringa kicks off the event with a cracker
In the penultimate women's heat of the day, Sol Degrieck secured first place ahead of Julia Pasquale . The young Belgian caught her two best waves in the final phase - both of which earned her 5.12 points - while Pasquale moved ahead of Justyna Sniady. The Polish rider suffered a foot injury shortly before the contest and competed despite a suspected metatarsal fracture.
In Heat 6, reigning world champion Sarah-Quita Offringa not only made her first appearance at this event, but also this season, and immediately scored the highest points of the day: 21.01 points, that's quite something! However, she was in a close duel with Maria Morales for most of the heat, but in the final phase the Aruban came out on top with a perfectly executed backloop and a big stalled forward. Morales also finished in the top eight in second place, at the expense of wave returnee Oda Johanne Brødholt and Sylt winner Marine Hunter.
Waveriding men
Philip Köster put on a firework display right at the start: a double forward, a stylish backloop and a tweaked pushloop glided through earned him the second-highest score of the day. Köster was also very strong on the wave, landing takas and backside 360s - in this form, Köster is a hot contender for the title! Together with him, Takuma Sugi also progressed to the next round at the expense of Gregory Stathopoulos and Moritz Mauch. Mauch, however, scored one of the best wave scores of the day, including an incredible air taka.
Ricardo Campello made his first appearance of the year as if he had never been away. Campello showed strong jumps with double forwards and a stalled forward, while he also gave his all on the small waves. Nothing to be seen of "rusty", as he himself wrote in a post, but obviously highly motivated by its new sponsors. Antony Ruenes secured second place after beating Federico Morisio and Dany Bruch. Morgan Noireaux, the current world championship leader, was also eliminated - but he was not one of the Pozo favourites.
Marino Gil builds on his victory from last year
Last year's surprise Marino Gil, who finished second here last season, then took to the water in Heat 11. The young local scored the best points of the day in his very first heat with 26.72 points. The 21-year-old jumped the highest jumps of the day, spinning through a gigantic stalled double forward - which earned him 9.38 points - and a big one-footed backloop. He also conjured up fireworks on the rather small pozo rollers on the wave. In the battle for second place, Antoine Albert, Lennart Neubauer and Arthur Arutkin fought an incredibly close duel, which Arutkin won with a late stalled forward and thus secured his place in the top 16.
Pozo is not necessarily Thomas Traversa's favourite spot, but the Frenchman took a solid win in his heat thanks to a very good wave performance. Victor Fernandez also got off to a good start and relegated Josep Pons to the back of the pack. Liam Dunkerbeck also progressed safely to the next round. Antoine Martin and Leon Jamaer prevailed in their heat against Anton Richter and Mike Friedl.
In the penultimate heat of the day, Dieter van der Eyken also secured a place in the round of 16. The Belgian got off to a strong start with a high backloop and quickly put together two solid wave scores to secure a well-deserved victory ahead of Robby Swift. Both Takara Ishii and Adam Warchol got better jump scores than Swift, but both lacked good waves, so the Brit made it through in the end.
Sensation in the last men's heat of the day
The last men's heat then brought the upset of the day: reigning event winner and world champion Marcilio Browne had to take on Alessio Stillrich, Miguel Chapuis and Julian Salmonn. At first, things went perfectly for Brawzinho, who quickly produced a double forward and followed it up with a 4.75-point wave. However, the heat became more and more exciting as his rivals all rode brilliantly and closed in on the Brazilian. Stillrich won the heat with a double forward and a pushloop as well as some solid wave rides, but there was a tough battle for second place.
Browne as well as Chapuis and Salmonn took turns in second place in the final phase of the heat. The decision was then made by a one-handed, one-footed backloop from Salmonn, which took the Giessen native into the next round and knocked the reigning world champion out of the competition. Chapuis finished third, just 0.36 points behind.
Today, Monday, the wind is expected to remain strong at the World Cup in Pozo, but the waves are expected to improve a little. So it looks like the women's and men's wave riding will continue today. The first possible start is scheduled for 11:00 German time!