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| The 2003 Pozo Gran Canaria, PWA, Grand Slam Day 1 | | Posted On: 28/06/2003 | |
| The 2003 Pozo Gran Canaria, PWA, Grand Slam Day 1
Locals Dominate!
Friday June 27, 2003
Norwegian wild flyer Vidar Jensen (North) has taken first blood in the men’s single elimination here at the PWA, Gran Canaria, Grand Slam. In nuclear winds gusting over 40 knots Jensen defeated ex world champion Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde) in the men’s final in near perfect Pozo conditions. British sailor, Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde) was the only non-local sailor in the top four and took the third place today ahead of Canarian young gun Jonas Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic). In the women’s wave single elimination Daida Moreno (Mistral, North) once again produced the goods on her home waters and took victory after a thrilling battle with her sister Iballa Moreno (Mistral, North). Swiss sailor Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows) scooped third place after defeating Spanish local Nayra Alonso in the losers final.
Action kicked off shortly after ten this morning in solid forty knots of wind and 2-4 foot waves. With the tide on the push through until early afternoon the conditions were ideal for radical wave action and balls to the wall rocket airs.
Vidar Jensen was on formidable form throughout the day, especially with his aerials moves, which included huge back loops, one handed double forwards, Crazy Pete’s and tweaked out table tops. His road through to the final was tough but his radical jumps were instrumental in his victories against Chris Audsley (Fanatic), Robert Teriiteahau (North), Peter Volwater (F2, Arrows) Xavier Huart (Mistral, North) and Robby Swift (JP, Neil Pryde).
On the other side of the draw, Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Neil Pryde) also had a difficult route to the final and had to pull out all the stops in his heats against Douglas Diaz (North, Fanatic), Mads Bjorna (Gaastra), Marcos Perez, Jason Polakow (JP, Neil Pryde) and Jonas Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic). Dunkerbeck nailed some of the hottest wave manoeuvres today including backside and frontside wave 360’s and some gauging frontside carves.
The men’s final saw both sailors step on the gas. Although best of friends off the water, when it comes to competition it’s a different story. With ranking points and prize money at stake the battle was intense right down to the red flag. A lull in the sets seemed to be causing Dunkerbeck more problems than Jensen as the ex world champ failed to find any steep ramps to launch into his trademark monster one handed back loops. Jensen meanwhile found suitable waves to propel himself into some sick one handed forwards and massive back loops. With the heat reaching the closing seconds it could have gone either way. Jensen looked like he had the advantage in the jump section but Dunkerbeck had racked up some solid wave rides. Once again Dunks failed to find a decent ramp for what he had in mind whilst Vidar hit an outside blow delivered the final knockout punch in the shape of a one handle double forward which he landed in water start position. After an intense wait for the result, the judges were unanimous with their decision and Jensen took the win with a 5-0 decision.
The women’s competition here today boiled down to a scintillating final between the Moreno sisters, Daida and Iballa both riding for Mistral and North. After competing against the men, Daida returned to ‘business as usual’ and fought her way through to the final with an impressive display of radical jumps and aggressive wave rides. Iballa, was on the tougher side of the draw and courageously fought her way through heats against Anne Marie Reichman (Naish) and Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows). The final was a close run affair with both sisters playing for pole position in the opening round. Despite some massive forward loops and tweaked table tops from Iballa, Daida managed to clinch victory due to her more aggressive wave riding, which included a one handed aerial in the dying seconds of the final.
The forecast for tomorrow is for more nuclear winds so it looks like we will be straight into the wave double elimination following skippers meeting at 9.30am. Stay tuned for all the news, pictures and results from Gran Canaria the windiest, wildest and most radical event on the PWA world tour.
For more, go to PWA website
RESULTS
MEN’S WAVE SINGLE ELIMINATION.
1. VIDAR JENSEN (NORTH)
2. BJORN DUNKERBECK (NEIL PRYDE)
3. ROBBY SWIFT (JP, NEIL PRYDE)
4. JONAS CEBALLOS (GAASTRA, FANATIC)
WOMENS WAVE SINGLE ELIMINATION.
1. DAIDA MORENO (MISTRAL, NORTH)
2. IBALLA MORENO (MISTRAL, NORTH)
3. KARIN JAGGI (F2, ARROWS)
4. NAYRA ALONSO
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