World Cup Pozo: Stormy start - Köster wins by a wafer-thin margin in the single

When seasoned World Cup pros pull 3.0 and 3.3 sails onto the water, you know the time has come. Pozo Izquierdo fired from all cylinders at the start of the PWA/IWT World Cup. Due to the promising wind forecast, the start was moved forward without further ado and the first green flag went up just in time for lunchtime. Although the top seeded riders didn't have to get involved in the action until round two, the heats in round one were also absolutely worth seeing: double loops, towering forwards and wave 360s are obviously now part of the standard repertoire of the second guard too.

Campello comeback ends early

The comeback of Ricardo Campello, who returned to the big stage with a wildcard and his own sails after a one-year break from windsurfing, was also eagerly awaited. However, his comeback was already over in round 2 - despite a double forward and pushloop forward, he lost out to Philip Köster and Takuma Sugi - Campello simply lacked a good wave score to make it into the quarter-finals and must now pin his hopes on the second round.

Things went much better for up-and-coming rider Anton Richter, who showed that he has the potential to make his mark in the near future: With massive one-footed backloops, double loops and stalled forwards, the young rider from Kiel survived two rounds - defeating last year's runner-up Julian Salmonn and Antoine Martin, among others. It was not until the quarter-finals that he came to an end against Spaniards Victor Fernandez and Miguel Chapuis. Local Josep Pons, on the other hand, ended his first-round heat in hospital after painful contact with his fin, requiring numerous stitches.

Pozo challenges even the best

With gusts of over 50 knots, even the best riders struggled. Catapults, heavy back slaps and trips onto the rocks - the conditions in Pozo pushed everyone to the limit.

People in the chat are asking for drone footage. Do you have any idea how windy it is out there? Ben Proffitt in the livestream

What visibly set the elite apart from other riders, however, was their ability to remain unperturbed by setbacks, knowing that a single good run could turn the intermediate result in the 14-minute heats on its head - and so the top favourites successfully pulled their heads out of the noose.

After a short break, the eagerly awaited semi-finals took place in the late afternoon: as expected, Marc Paré, Pozo veteran Victor Fernandez, Philip Köster and the German-Canadian Moritz Mauch, who won his semi-final ticket with incredible wave 360s and the highest goiter of the day.

After a shaky start, Paré only got rolling after about five minutes - but then he really got going. A perfect stalled double forward brought him the highest score of 10.0 on the scoresheet, a cushion that he did not allow to be taken away until the end of the heat. Philip Köster also quickly found his flow - in the end he scored over 29.8 points and a ticket to the final. Moritz Mauch tried everything again this time, but ultimately paid tribute to his weaknesses in the jumps.

Last year's winner Marino Gil Gherardi, Miguel Chapuis, Alessio Stillrich and world champion Marcilio Browne faced each other in the second semi-final. From minute one, it was down to the wire. After less than three minutes, Browne had an almost unassailable lead with Stalled Double Forward and Pushloop Forward, and then he even pulverised Köster's high score from the first semi-final with Backloop off the Lip and other high wave scores. Marino Gil Gherardi did the same minutes later with 31.7 points - the bar was set for the final.

Is Köster showing the triple?

Showing the Triple Forward Loop has been Philip Köster's mission since his first attempt a few years ago. But for the other riders - Paré, Gil Gherardi and Browne - this milestone is also absolutely within reach. To cut a long story short - the triple was nowhere to be seen this time. But pretty much everything that is usually possible was: all four riders performed towering delayed double loops, perfect pushloop forwards and goiters. Marino Gil even managed a Klei (Wave-360 into Taka), but in the end it was Philip Köster and Marcilio Browne who decided victory between themselves - at the end of the 16-minute heat they were separated by a wafer-thin 0.06 points.

Similar conditions are also expected tomorrow, so there will be plenty of opportunities for a rematch - and perhaps also for the triple forward.