After the fireworks of Koester’s colossal performance on day one, all eyes were on the wounded winner to see if he could reproduce his form in the super final. The triple loop crash had clearly rang Koester’s bell with a hard blow to his head. But even in pain, Koester wasn’t letting up. A proud dad hugged his son on the shore after another decisive victory. Victor proved again what a danger man he is at Pozo or any conditions for that matter and a second at Pozo had him smiling the smile of a man who knows a world title comes from a foundation of top tier results. Mussolini, Bruch and Traversa rounded out the top five with results they too will gladly carry to the title battle for the long year ahead.
Winning at Pozo is ‘’still about waveridng’’ as Robby Swift sagely observed, noting that he, Marcilio and Ricardo can sometimes spend too long looking for the perfect jump ramps while those sailors who don’t have their explosive jump armoury rack up valuable wave riding points. Regardless of your style preference what is common throughout the fleet is that to do well you have to make the effort to come early and hunker down for the long haul in Pozo. The likes of Victor and Marcilio spend up to 6 weeks training here prior to the event to try and dial into the unique conditions. The prudent sailors make sure they practice and sail at all stages of the tide and not just in the best conditions as the nature of competition and the venue means that conditions throughout the day and heat to heat can vary greatly. For Victor his results have come from years of lengthy and methodical training at Pozo, they are not an accident. Thomas Traversa while not spending the same length of time in Pozo training, is one of those sailors who thrives on extreme conditions and the thrust of competition which makes him push harder and display his crazy style we all know and love.