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| The 2003 Pozo Gran Canaria, PWA, Grand Slam Preview | | Posted On: 17/06/2003 | |
| The 2003 Pozo Gran Canaria, PWA, Grand Slam Preview
Monday June 16, 2003
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The PWA world tour is all set to hit the windswept shores of Pozo, Izquierdo for one of the biggest and most spectacular events of the season. Commencing on the 26th of June through ‘til the 3rd of July the best male and female windsurfers on the planet will be fighting it out for Euro 130,000 prize money and valuable points towards the PWA end of year rankings.
Both fleets will be battling it out in front of the imposing backdrop of the huge wind fans at Pozo, in wave and freestyle disciplines. Reigning PWA wave champion Kevin Pritchard (Gaastra, Starboard) should be back on the starting grid following a foot injury sustained in Hawaii earlier this season. Pritchard won last years final in Pozo against Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde), after busting out an incredible one handed, one footed back loop in the closing seconds of the heat. With this trick now let out of the bag, chances are that many other sailors will be adding the maneuver into their routines this year. Other contenders to watch out for this year are Nik Baker (Mistral, North) Vidar Jensen (North), Scottie McKercher (Starboard), Jason Polakow (JP, Neil Pryde) and Jonas Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic).
Many sailors will have stationed themselves in Gran Canaria for several weeks prior to the event. Serious training and tuning is required to acclimatize to the wild winds and radical conditions that have put Pozo on the map.
For the first time in the history of the PWA world tour a women will be competing in the men’s wave competition. Current Women’s wave champion Daida Moreno has been granted a special wild card to go head to head with the male sailors. Needless to say most men are keeping their fingers crossed that they will not have to lay their reputations on the line and face Daida in the heat of battle.
The freestyle competition is likely to be sensational. With the likes of Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde), Antoine Albeau (Neil Pryde, AHD) and last years world champion, Matt Pritchard (Gaastra) all ready to go to war…the action is going to be insane! A mixture of old school moves, new school moves, secret moves, jumps and mind boggling trickery, has meant that freestyle has established itself as an extremely competitive and exciting part of the PWA tour. Not to be discounted are names such as Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde), Diony Guadagnino (Neil Pryde), Kauli Seadi (AHD, Naish) and Douglas Diaz (Fanatic, North) all representing the new school generation of young gun freestylers.
The women’s wave and freestyle events are likely to be dominated by local sisters Daida and Iballa Moreno. The twins live in Pozo so have the advantage of local knowledge over the other female challengers. Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows) of Switzerland and Anne Marie Reichman (Naish) of Holland are the main contenders to the Moreno sisters with both having proven track records and enough experience to take pole position.
Pozo is at its best when the regular trades from the Northeast are blowing. Due to its wind consistency (over 250 days per year over 15 knots) there is no place on earth where the jumps are so high. When it is really howling (35-45 knots) the locals don’t call it jumping anymore…they call it flying! Generally the wind will be side/onshore port tack with waves anywhere from 1-2 meters. On the left side of the bay the waves crumble on sandbanks while on the right hand side up to the bunker on the point they break on shallow rock boulder reef. Because of its superb conditions, Pozo has generated some of the most talented jump specialists in the word. Among the most famous are Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde) Daida and Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North), Marcos Perez, Vidar Jensen, (North), Orjan Jensen (North), Jonas Ceballos (Fanatic, Gaastra) and Dario Ojeda.
Stay tuned into the PWA web site for all the news, pictures and results as the action unfolds. Also keep posted for news on live broadcasts from the event on www.high.tv where ground breaking broadband technology will bring you the speed, the height, the wipe outs and the power of wave sailing right to you online daily.
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