PWA Costa Teguise World Cup-Gollito is the Winner!

30.06.2008

PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 6, 29.06.08:

Jose Estredo is crowned as the event winner after six days of insane freestyle competition in howling Canarian trade winds. Fanatic´s Laure Treboux finished 2nd and Andre Paskowski 6th!

Entering the final day of competition, Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) and Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails) had both battled to win one double elimination each, meaning the final day would prove critical in deciding who would take home the event, and 2008 season lead.

In the women’s fleet, Sarah-Quita Offringa’s (Starboard, NeilPryde) dominance had already guaranteed her the event win, leaving the remaining positions to be challenged for in the final day’s third double elimination and Fanatic´s Laure Treboux (SUI-4) is in 2nd!

Down to the wire:
Shock came when the seemingly relentless Lanzarote trade winds failed to blow on the morning of the final day. The riders had no option but to endure the agonizing wait for wind.

With precious few hours remaining for the double elimination to run its course, the competition area lapsed into a nervous calm while the race committee decided on the fait of the event.

Late into the final nerve racking afternoon, Head Judge Duncan Coombs made his decision, and announced the event officially over. After five days of howling wind, Estredo was dubbed the men’s winner, and Offringa took top honors in the women’s fleet.

The 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Event Results:

Men’s Fleet:
1st Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC)
2nd Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra)
3rd Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC)
6th Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails)

Women’s Fleet:
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde)
2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails)
3rd Daida Moreno (North Sails)

Men’s Overall Rankings (after two events):
1st Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC)
2nd Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra)
3rd Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra)

This is the first freestyle event in the women’s fleet, so also stands as the overall rankings so far. The next event of the season sees Grand Slam action in Pozo, Gran Canaria.

PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 5, 27.06.08:

Pressure mounts, as the third successive single elimination is completed on the fifth day of competition in Lanzarote.

Hammering trade winds didn’t give sailors a moments rest on the penultimate day of competition in Costa Teguise. Wasting no time, the race committee launched directly into the third single elimination.

With all the riders fully dialed into the conditions, the action came thick and fast, however as the heat’s progressed and the finals ran their course, it would be the familiar faces of Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC) and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde) that once again stole the show to win in their respective fleets.

Single elimination shocks:
The first upset of the day came when local boy Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde, MFC), who’s currently ranked 9th in the competition, injured his foot whilst warming up for his first round heat. Unfortunately for Otaegui, his injury means he’ll be forced to sit out for the remainder of the competition, and may well miss the next freestyle showdown in Fuerteventura this July.

The next shock came when German Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde), who came fourth in the second double elimination, got knocked out in round two by an on form Mattia Pedrani (Mistral, North Sails, Dakine).

Single elimination 3 finals:
In the men’s losers final, Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC,) took on Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) in a battle for third place. Both sailors threw down the gauntlet to produce breath taking aerial moves. Highlights included Campello’s huge shovit spock and a towering air flaka, and Frans’s double puneta 900 and super smooth switch stance chacho. In a split decision, judges eventually awarded the victory to Campello, with Taty Frans settling for fourth position.

Fighting for third place in the women where Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails) and Iballa Moreno (North Sails). Moreno delivered a slick display of forward loops & a fully planning spock 540, but Treboux dominated with polished switch stance moves and an awesome air flaka to take victory convincingly.

The men’s final was a clash of freestyle titans Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) and Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC). Both armed with a huge aerial arsenal, the display was something of a spectacle. Estredo sprung into the day’s biggest shaka, only to follow it up with a perfect ponch-flaka combination. Thode showed defiance with his trademark air funnels, a double flaka diablo, double eslider and a t-bone. However, Estredo saved his big guns until last, nailing a shuvit spock 900 and a crazy air chacho to edge the victory ahead of Thode.

A women’s final of Offringa versus Daida Moreno (North Sails) served up intense action from the word go. Turning up the heat, Moreno planed out of a perfect eslider and then nailed a flaka diablo to pile the pressure on Offringa. Unphased by Moreno’s attack, Offringa summoned a brutish assault consisting of a puneta 540, double flaka, shaka and even an attempted air chacho. Moreno dug deep, but failed to reply to Offringa’s sizable repertoire, and had to settle for second place.

The current state of play:
The PWA rulebook stipulates that the results from a single elimination are only valid if the subsequent double elimination is completed before the competition ends. As a result, tomorrow’s sixth and final day of competition stands poised to deliver the crucial double elimination that will decide upon the event winner.

With the current standings, Browne and Estredo have both won a double elimination, and if the third double elimination is completed tomorrow, will both have one result they can discard. Tomorrow’s competition will then prove critical in deciding who will take the out and out event lead. To win, Browne has to defeat Estredo in the double, whereas Estredo simply has to stand his ground and hope that Browne will take an early exit.

PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 4, 26.06.08:

Jose Estredo continues his rampage to steal the event lead from Marcilio Browne while Sarah-Quita Offringa remains rock solid in first place for the women, following the second full double elimination.

Entering day four, Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) held the event lead, however Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails) stood poised to steal the top spot from the Brazilian in the upcoming double elimination.

In the women’s fleet, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde) held a firm grip on first place, but would have to defend her throne from attack in the double.

Men’s Double Elimination 2:
Day four started out with the shock defeat of current event leader Browne, at the hands of on form German ripper Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde). This left the door wide open for Estredo to claim the event lead.

As the day progressed, Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) and Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde) showed their thirst for victory, as they climbed the ranks from opposite sides of the table to meet in a monumental clash. The resulting bout was one of the closest yet, but Campello eventually took the victory, aided by a crazy backloop and a perfect shovit spock.

Meeting Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) in the next round, Campello had his work cut out to elaborate on the Germans effortless flaka 720 and super technical switch stance one-handed chacho 900. Delving deep, Campello summoned ponches, a huge misty flip and a culo to help him through to the next round.

Campello’s next hurdle was Günzlein. The pair exchanged formidable moves, including a one-handed burner from Günzlein and soaring air flaka from Campello, but ultimately Campello would be a victim of his own errors as he crashed numerous moves to open the door for Günzlein to advance.

Standing one heat away from the final, Günzlein would first have to slay Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) before getting his chance to challenge Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails) in the last battle of the elimination.

Going in all guns blazing, Günzlein busted out a crazy pushloop and a plethora of one-handed gems to test Thode. Unphased, Thode moved his sights in on Günzlein, and with precision accuracy, executed a machine gun like burst of moves to convincingly outclass his German rival. Thode would face Estredo in the double elimination final.

Almost redefining the discipline, Thode and Estredo waged freestyle war on each other, only in this case, the weapons of mass destruction were culos, shuvit spocks and ponch diablos.

In a clash that may well have had NATO nuclear weapons inspectors quivering in their boots, the final hit would be dealt by Estredo, who nailed a gravity defying air chachoo to condemn Thode to second position. Estredo’s victory also marked a changing of the guard, as Browne had to pass over the event lead to the Venezuelan.

Women’s Double Elimination 2
Japan’s Junko Nagoshi (Simmer Sails) mounted a sizable attack as she climbed the ranks of the double elimination. Her first victim was Russian Olga Raskina (JP), followed by Yolanda Freites De Brendt (Fanatic, North Sails), who performed well, but couldn’t match Nagoshi’s stellar attack.

Nagoshi’s downfall would come when she came up against savvy freestyler Daida Moreno (North Sails). Moreno’s diversity and hit rate proved too much for Nagoshi, who failed to reply to the Spaniards impressive repertoire.

A stone’s throw from the final, Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails) and Daida Moreno exchanged punches in an action packed heat that saw Treboux nail punetas and clew first punetas. Moreno mounted an impressive attack but couldn’t match Treboux’s consistency.

The final showdown pitched Offringa against Treboux in a rematch of the previous day’s heat. Treboux skied an awesome shaka to pile the pressure on Offringa. In response, Offringa dealt out a crippling blow which included a kono, a flaka, and a grubby diablo. On the final horn, Offringa had edged the victory, further reinforcing her event lead.

PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 3, 26.06.08:

Jose Estredo delivers a fatal blow to Marcilio, as he stands poised to take the event lead, while Sarah-Quita Offringa tenaciously dispatches her rivals to defend her first position stronghold.

The Lanzarote wind machine was once again turned to full power for another day of freestyle carnage in Costa Teguise. With a full double elimination in the bag, day three turned up the heat to deliver another successfully completed single elimination.

Men’s Single Elimination 2:
The opening round progressed in a strengthening breeze, with the sailors opting for lower sliding moves over the bigger aerial maneuvers seen the previous day. Purely by chance, Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) advanced to face his brother, Tonky (F2, Gaastra) in round two, producing an epic Frans head-to-head.

The subsequent brawl was arguably the closest fought heat of the day, and saw Taty nail a super technical spock 900. Tonky replied with a polished assault, including a sky-high shaka off the rolling swell out back. After much deliberation, the judges awarded Taty the (2-1) victory.

The quarterfinals saw upset at the hands of German freestylers Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde), and Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North). The pair, seemingly hell bent on victory, lay waste to Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde) and event leader Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) to advance into the semi final.

Also reserving their spots in the final four were Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails), who defeated Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde), and Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra), who put a premature end to Taty Frans’s elimination run.

The semi final trampled all known boundaries to the floor, to serve up a hefty dose of freestyle mayhem. Günzlein lined up against Estredo and Paskowski took on Thode. Casting early nerves aside, Paskowski pieced together a comprehensive heat, which included a funnel diablo in the ankle deep water opposite the judges’ tower. Un-phased, Thode stepped up, unleashing combination carnage on Paskowski in his seemingly effortless style. Thode advanced.

In the other half of the draw, Günzlein was forced to delve deep into his sizeable artillery to try and match Estredo’s contorted aerial rotations. Estredo’s sustained barrage of trickery would eventually cripple Günzlein, who simply couldn’t reply to moves like Estredo’s double one-handed punetas. Estredo advanced.

The elimination final pitched Estredo against Thode in a heavy weight freestyle duel. The heat brimmed with insane aerial action. Estredo busted out air flaka diablos while Thode spun through dizzying double spock cana bravas. There was literally nothing between the two sailors. On the final horn, there was a tense wait before the judges eventually awarded the decision in favor of Estredo.

In the all German Losers final, Paskowski and Günzlein almost redefined the word slick with their perfect sliding moves. Paskowski hurled himself into death defying shakas and Günzlein got technical with funnel 360 combinations. Eventually Günzlein edged ahead to claim third place, and Paskowski settled for a well deserved fourth.

Women’s Single Elimination 2:
The eight strong women’s freestyle fleet was quickly narrowed down to a semi final consisting of Daido Moreno (North Sails) versus Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails), and Iballa Moreno (North Sails) versus Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde).

The Moreno’s battled in their heats, but failed to match Offringa and Treboux’s more technical switch moves, setting up a rerun of day two’s double elimination final between Treboux and Offringa.

Treboux’s consistency dwindled under the pressure of the final, while Offringa raised her game to a whole new level. In a run that included; a shaka, air flaka, eslider, funnel and a grubby diablo to name but a few, Offringa convincingly took down her opponent. Treboux took second.

The losers final was won by Daida Moreno, who had to do little more than a handful of moves to dispatch her sister Iballa, who struggled to find her rhythm.

Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 2, 25.06.08:

Marcilio Browne and Sarah-Quita Offringa stand their ground in the double elimination to claim the early event lead ahead of determined runners up Jose Estredo and Laure Treboux.

Howling wind and a building swell provided all the ingredients for a mind blowing freestyle showdown, on day two of the 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup. On the agenda was the first double elimination, following the successful completion of the single elimination on day one.

With all the sailors reseeded back into the elimination ladder at the point they were knocked out, Brazil’s Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) and Aruba’s Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde) occupied the top spots. This meant they effectively had to wait until the end of the day to see who would climb the ranks and challenge them for their positions.

Men’s Double Elimination:
Kick starting proceeding were the men, who quickly showed what was possible in the outstanding conditions. Many of the heats wouldn’t have looked out of place in a wave event, as the sailors seized the opportunity to launch off the reef break into tweaked pushloops, backloops, double forwards and sky-high freestyle moves.

Leading the charge on the top stop was Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra), who’s seemingly unstoppable run cleared him a path to within touching distance of the final. Along the way he toppled formidable freestylers; Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard, Gun Sails), Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) and Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde), with a barrage of moves which included his trademark shuvit spock and some of the biggest ponchs seen all day.

On the other side of the draw, sibling Taty Frans (Starboard, North Sails) looked like he might be planning a similar assault on Browne’s stronghold, however local boy Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde) showed him otherwise, when he launched into a monumental double forward loop off a huge set. Taty Frans could only stand in awe, and humbly admitted defeat to the stoked Spaniard.

As the heats continued to advance, the level of sailing seemed to rise exponentially, and even the dialed Tonky Frans had to accept defeat at the hands of Kiri Thode’s (Starboard, Gaastra) freestyle wizardry.

Entering the final few heats, Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails) and Thode went head to head in one of the closest heats of the day. Estredo piled on the pressure with a massive tweaked pushloop, only for Thode to reply with a one handed burner and an air funnel. The moves were all off the scale, but Estredo dealt the final blow with a mind blowing triple spock to end Thode’s campaign.

Estredo stood one heat away from the final, however to advance he’d have to outperform Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde). In a heat that saw pushloops, backloops, burners and double forwards, Estredo eventually managed to sway the judges his way, getting his chance to topple the 2007 World Champion, Browne.

The final witnessed a fusion of technical freestyle with mammoth airtime. Browne seized the early lead, pulling a funnel cana brava, one-handed burner, a culo and a crazy air chachoo, all within Estredo’s view. Rising to the challenge, Estredo fought back with a puneta-culo combination and a mind-boggling shuvit spock 900.

As the final scores were tabulated, Browne emerged the victor having successfully defended his first place from the previous day.

Women’s Double Elimination:
Japan’s Junko Nagoshi (Simmer, Dakine) pieced together two crippling heats to advance her into the final stages of the women’s elimination. Having found her form she posed a considerable threat to day one’s fourth place finisher, Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails).

Treboux had her work cut out to match Nagoshi’s slick clue first punetas, and had to delve deep into her bag of tricks to eventually defeat her rival with some super technical switch moves in the testing conditions.

Advancing to meet Iballa Moreno (North Sails), Treboux again sided with technical moves, over safer lower scoring alternatives. Moreno played a similar game, but struggled to find her rhythm, and was forced to succumb to the Swiss freestyler’s superior repertoire.

Continuing on her rampage, next in Treboux’s sights was Daida Moreno (North Sails). The heat served up some big moves, with Treboux pulling clue first punetas, to Moreno’s reply of towering stalled forward loops and fully planning grubbys. Ultimately, Treboux’s more technical routine was rewarded with the win, meaning the final was a battle between Offringa and Treboux.

Offringa fired in with a hefty dose of super technical moves, including flakas, puneta diablos and esliders to name but a few. Treboux replied, but got caught on the downwind side of the sailing area and struggled to find the pace to match Offringa. The final decision was conclusive; Offringa had won hands down, securing a crucial first place victory in the first double elimination.

PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Day 1, 24.06.08:

Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne and Sarah-Quita Offringa set the standard for the forthcoming days, securing crucial first elimination victories on day one of competition.

Costa Teguise, on Lanzarote’s rugged east coast became the focal point of global windsurfing, as it opened its doors for the start the PWA Freestyle World Cup.

First on the agenda was the registration of the men’s and women’s freestyle fleets, which was completed by early afternoon, leaving only a short lunch break before competition could launch into action.

Famed for consistent conditions, Costa Teguise brought ample servings of wind for the first single elimination, delivering 20-25 knots of cross-offshore perfection.

The men took to the water first, pulling out all the stops from the word go. The first round progressed without upset, paving the way for some explosive action in the subsequent rounds.

It started to become clear who the dominant forces were, as round two followed its course. Some of the finest action came from heat 17b, where the UK's Andy Chambers (JP, NeilPryde) took on Bonaire’s Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra). It’s a tribute to Thode, when underdog Chambers strung together a run that included burners, double spocks, 8-foot high shakas & numerous flaka combos and still couldn’t topple the freestyle maestro.

The quarterfinals consisted of the eight biggest names in freestyle, all poised to unleash their aerial arsenals. The action came thick and fast as World Champion Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) deployed misty flips and huge ponchs on German Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde). Günzlein replied with kono’s and one-handed shakas but ultimately failed to provide an adequate rebuttal to Browne’s polished performance.

On-form Thode dismissed rumors that he’s all slide and no pop as he executed massive shakas, kono’s and combination moves to defeat his more than competent rival, Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde).

Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde) had to deliver near perfection to defeat Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra) who seemed hell bent on advancing to the semis. In a run that witnessed a soaring backloop and one of the slickest spock-ponch combos of the day, Campello dispatched the determined Frans.

In the last of the quarters, Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) took on teammate Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails). Paskowski showed form but failed to reply to Estredo’s sky-high air shakas and high scoring combination moves, Estredo advanced.

The star-studded semi final went off in the building swell, with height being the name of the game. Browne turned up the heat to deliver faultless one-handed burners to compliment his high, powerful repertoire and was eventually rewarded with the victory over Thode.

The second semi final was a clash of the titans, as Campello went head to head with Estredo. The resulting duel churned out more combinations than any other heat. Estredo showed determination, but pushed too hard, resulting in numerous crashed moves, opening the door for Campello to claim his position in the final, alongside Browne.

The finals were on another level. Browne stated his intentions early in the heat with a smoking one-handed air funnel, only for Campello to reply almost directly afterwards with the same move. In the losers final a similar game was being played, Estredo skied a one-footed forward loop, so Thode delivered his own version.

Ultimately, it was consistency that reaped the greatest reward, and Browne toppled Campello with a stellar performance, similarly Estredo, who crashed less, edged ahead of Thode in the losers final.

In the women, the eight woman fleet was quickly whittled down to a semi final consisting of Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails) versus Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde), and Iballa Moreno (North Sails) against her sister Daida Moreno (North Sails).

The strengthening conditions tested the semi finalists. As the heat progressed Daida Moreno and Offringa produced the greater hit rate of landed moves, defeating their rivals and advancing into the winners final.

With conditions getting ever more testing, the final pushed the sailors ability to the limit. Daida Moreno linked a flaka on the way in with huge one footed forward loop on the way out. This wasn’t going to be enough though, as Offringa steadily built up a base of moves before pushing for the more risky, higher scoring maneuvers. This tactical game rewarded here with the elimination win.

In the losers final, Iballa Moreno showed she was more suited to the howling wind than Treboux, who linked together some nice sliding moves, but failed to match Moreno’s presence in the air.

Source: PWA