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POZO PWA WAVE 2023: HIGH TIMES  

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The 2023 PWA Gran Canaria world cup wave event at Pozo saw sailors reaching new heights; some of the top finishers tell us more about the competition. 

WORDS – Daida Moreno, Sarah-Quita Offringa, Lina Erpenstein, Ricardo Campello, Marcilio Browne, Robby Swift. 

PHOTOS – John Carter / pwaworldtour.com 

Marcilio Browne – 1st 

For the single elimination the conditions were epic! I also learned over the years that those days can take a lot out of you, especially if you add on some big crashes, which are inevitable. So my priority was to give myself a good chance to still be feeling good in case I did get to the final. My plan was to go really big on my jumps, but choose my ramps wisely as there were so many options and once I felt like I got the scores, just to focus on riding. It was really important for me to be on the sets and give myself lots of chances to wave ride as it really wasn’t easy, it was nuking all day, so sometimes even if you got a good set it was still very hard to ride, as the wind would at times literally just rip the sail out of your hands.  

Game plan 

For the double the game plan was completely different. I was only going to do a maximum of 2 heats that day, and the waves were super tiny. My game plan was to give it my all at anything that came at me, it didn’t matter if I crashed or not. I also had no problem repeating jumps, trying to improve the score even by the smallest of margins. The conditions were extremely difficult due to the lack of waves, so we mentally just had to forget about the first elimination standards and kind of adjust to smaller wave/jump scores and just try to make anything happen. I am so stoked to have been able to find a better flow in the second heat. 

Amazing 

The level was amazing! The younger generation really stepped up. Marc and Marino were ripping, also Ricardo and Phillip were some of the favourites in my eyes. But yes, after so many years, I think we were all stoked to compete in firing Pozo. It felt like we got kind of skunked the last year or 2, so this time everyone’s heats just went to another level and it was crazy to watch straight from round 1. Other than those guys, many more were ripping. Victor as usual, also Alessio impressed me, Liam, Takuma … the list goes on. Pozo is such a sick place for windsurfing. The level gets pushed so hard there every year, the heats don’t rely on sets so much if conditions are good, so when it’s on, everyone gets their chance to go nuts and it’s so fun to watch and good for the sport.  

Gear 

For the boards in the contest I pretty much had 2 main quad sizes – 79-litre (223 by 56.5 cm) and 84-litre (224 by 57.4 cm) prototypes. The 79-litre I rode with 14.5/9 cm MFC KS model fins, and the bigger boards I rode with sizes 250 of the MFC QS QUAD model.  

So I rode the 79-litre if it was anything from 3.4 to 3.7 weather. Sometimes 4.0 if the waves were bigger. The 84-litre I would ride with 4.2 and 4.5, sometimes even 4.0 if the waves were super small. I also had Nitro boards in case the conditions got really terrible, but I didn’t get to compete on them. For sails I had a full set of Banzai’s, but my most used sizes were 3.7, 4.0 and 4.2, and a couple of times on 3.4 also.  

Ricardo Campello – 4th
The single elimination, right on registration day, was probably the best conditions in Pozo’s competition history that I can remember; the level was insane. I was maxed out on my 3.7 and 75-litre quad and we had amazing waves. It was perfect until the last 2 heats when the tide was too low and conditions decreased a lot! 

I was really happy with my sailing, I was able to do push fowards and stalled doubles consistently in all my heats, but in my semi-final heat against Marino I wasn’t able to get a good second wave. I thought I needed a very high score, as Marino was really ripping, so I was really trying to land a 360, but I wasn’t able to. I should have just stuck to a good completed wave with some nice turns, as I only needed a 5.0 in the waves to made it through, but it didn’t go my way! I was super upset with myself to not make it to the final, but that’s just how competition is! The level is extremely high and any mistake could cost you a heat !  

 

Upset 

On the losers side against Marc in the single elimination I started really bad. I was super upset when I started my heat for not making it to the finals, but I was able to press the reset button and started all over again and was able to get good points and finished third!  

I thought we were not going to finish the double as the forecast was really bad and not much waves on the horizon until the last day. To me the head judge forced it doing the contest in those conditions after having an amazing first day. In the end it was a gamble and it could have gone either way. I spent almost 9 minutes of my heat searching for a ramp in the fight for 3rd place in the double and I Just couldn’t get one, and Marc got his two jumps in his first run so he had a bit of luck on his side. I did what I could with the ramps I had, but it wasn’t enough and Marc beat me, so I ended up 4th. I really wanted to be on the podium to have a better chance for the world title campaign, but it didn’t happen! 

 I think Marino was really ripping, as well as Marc and Marcilio Browne, but after Marino took me down I was cheering for him. He was really on point and he almost got Marcilio. 

Robby Swift – 13th 

I had arrived in Gran Canaria 2 weeks prior to the event and we had an extremely uncharacteristic spell of absolutely no wind for almost the entire time. Just 2 days before the event started, we were able to get on the water and I had some new prototype Combats with me which I was desperate to try out. I ended up really liking them, so I used them for the event. In the heats I was on 3.7 or 3.3 in the single elimination and then 4.0 and 4.2 in the double. I used my Ultimate Wave 75 in the single elimination when the waves were quite decent, set up as a quad, and then my Magic Wave 75 and 82 in the double when it was almost flat. 

Tough draw 

In both eliminations, I managed to get drawn against one of the hardest competitors very early on. Marino Gil in the single elimination and Philip Köster in the double. I had a pretty decent plan in my head of what I would do and I stuck to that. I did go for it a little more in the single against Marino as there were decent waves and it was really windy, so I moved from trying to do a regular double and a 1 hand 1 foot back loop to trying to do a stalled double and a push loop forward. I rotated the push forward but it was a really small wave, so I didn’t end up counting that one and had to revert to the 1 hand 1 foot back loop. The stalled double I did was actually really high and I was pretty proud of myself, even though I landed really hard on my back and was only awarded a 5.8 or something like that for that jump. If I had rotated a tiny bit more around, then it would have been a really good score. Against Philip in the double, the conditions weren’t good enough to go for a push forward, so I stuck to my original game plan and came so close to beating him. I ended up losing by 0.25 of a point, but put up one of the best heat score totals of the day in that heat, so I was happy with my sailing. 

Scores 

For wave riding, in Pozo, I like to try to find a wave where I can have some sort of flow and try to move from one move straight to the next, mixing in tricks with turns. It’s really hard as there aren’t many waves that let you do that, but I found a couple of decent ones in both the single and the double and mixed some backside tweaks with some takas and 360s. Overall I was pretty happy with my wave scores. 

Level 

The level of the whole fleet was much higher this year. Most people were landing doubles consistently and the wave riding was also a lot better to watch. It’s fun to see the progression year on year. Philip did amazingly well despite a very injured foot and Marino went one step further to prove he is a really hot contender for the tile at that event. Marc Paré was also on fire, showing a huge variety of moves in the air and on the waves. Braw was a standout in all the practice sessions and in every heat. It’s amazing how solid he is there considering it is the exact opposite of the conditions we mostly sail at home. It just goes to show how much work he puts in to be able to sail like that over there. 

Amazing  

One heat that was pretty amazing was Antoine Martin against Alessio. Antoine started with an insane stalled double at the start of the heat and then Alessio responded with a perfect but smaller double. Then Alessio pulled off a crazy goiter towards the end of the heat, which put them on exactly equal points and they had to break the tie by going to the highest wave score, which was for Alessio’s goiter wave. It was a pretty intense battle. 

Also the Braw / Marino battles were really close. I think it was 0.4 of a point in the single that Braw won by, and then something similar in the first final of the double elimination where Marino got the win. When the 2 sailors are going so hard and pulling off such amazing moves, it must be really hard to judge and it was extremely exciting to watch and see the scores come in one after another. 

Daida Moreno – 1st 

The contest was full of action, as it always is here in Pozo. We were able to run a double elimination and it wasn’t until the very last day that we completed the double. To me the perfect conditions were in the first day of competition on Saturday, but the judges decided to complete only men’s single elimination, and women sailed the single in much worse conditions of wind and waves the next day. I sailed the single elimination with a 4.0 Severne Blade and 78-litre Bruch Madness board, set up with Maui Ultra Fins thrusters – 9+16 cm. I found the thruster in Pozo a better option to get more lift jumping and more control in wave riding in stronger winds. 

Pushing 

It wasn’t until 7 days later were we were able to complete the double (men and woman). I sailed most of the time with my Severne Blade 3.5 and Bruch Madness 68-litre, a perfect combo for pushing my limits jumping and wave riding. It was then when I was able to pull a perfect 360 during the final against Sarah-Quita. The heat started pretty bad for me, as I broke my mast in the first reach trying a back loop, and by the time my caddy arrived with spare gear I looked at my watch and had only 8 minutes left to sail against a multiple world champion. I tried to stay calm and do what I know I can do. I felt pretty comfortable with my new boards and all I had to do was to have fun. I think I scored the highest heat score of the women’s competition in just 8 minutes; it was a great feeling. 

Forecast 

I knew by looking at the forecast that the women were not going to compete with the same conditions that the men did on the first day; they got to sail with super nice waves and 50-knots of wind. Instead, we were sailing in 28/30 knots with much smaller waves by the ‘bunker’. Obviously my plan was to start winning the single elimination, so I was more relaxed for the double, knowing I had a double chance in the final. It all went as planned, and I actually had more fun with the double elimination conditions, as at least we had more wind and waves. 

Level 

I retired from competition at this event and I have to say that it was done in the best moment of women’s windsurfing. There is a quite big fleet of charging young woman competing and soon they will prove themselves much better sailors as they push each other every day, learning back loops, push loops, stalled forwards and many more moves in the waves. As for myself, I will continue improving my sailing in the waves for sure. Getting more selective in the jumps I guess, due to my experience and age! But for sure I want to get my double forwards rolling sometime soon, hopefully on camera too! My favourite moment of the contest was probably the final against Sarah-Quita with half of the time gone and fighting back under pressure, and the Red Bull Rockets jumping event. 

Sarah-Quita Offringa – 2nd 

Usually I spend 6 weeks in Pozo before the contest, but this year we had the Fiji contest right before. By the time I made it to Pozo, there were only 2 weeks left until the contest. And to everyone’s surprise, we had no actual decent conditions until 2 days before the contest! I was shocked to see Pozo windless for so long. Because of this I felt completely unprepared for the contest. It became much more of a mental game and I had to rely on past experience during my heats. The highlight of the competition, and at the same time a little bit disappointing for the women, was watching the boys score all-time Pozo conditions for their single elimination. It was awesome to watch and I’m so proud and impressed to see some new faces are fighting for the top spots and really pushing the level in waves now. It really feels like the new generation has showed up and is ready to dominate. But I would have loved to have been out there myself too. Of course it’s hard to say what the best call would be, but competing in mediocre conditions the day after was anticlimactic. Whatever action the women would display, would never look as epic as the day before. That said, if there would be any day I could beat Daida, it would be in the less extreme Pozo conditions we competed in! 

Conditions 

Overall I’m happy I made it to the final as the conditions were changing quite a bit. When I was up against Iballa I needed to do a gear change and grab my bigger set, the 4.0 NeilPryde Combat sail and 82-litre Starboard Ultra board. 

I’m happiest about that heat because I managed to secure a back loop and a good wave ride when it mattered. So going to the final felt like a bonus. In the final heat I was underpowered on my 4.0 and didn’t feel as carefree as in my earlier heats. It’s like against Daida I’m almost trying too hard. I didn’t have a bad heat, but I couldn’t go above and beyond and finished 2nd. 

Double 

In the double elimination we had similar conditions to the single elimination, just a tad bit harder because it was more onshore. I was happy to put a stop to Lina’s amazing comeback as that was a close heat. But again I couldn’t bring the heat to Daida. I get disappointed in myself, but in the end it just takes something more tangible than wishful thinking to win a heat off Daida in Pozo. I wasn’t magically going to bust out a double forward trying it by chance, or land that backside 360 in the heat. I need much more consistency to beat her at her home spot. Either way, for me it’s a pleasure competing against her in Pozo. It pushes me to do better. I also see she busts out some of her best moves in the heats against me, and I’m happy that I can bring that out in her! 

Lina Erpenstein – 3rd

 

In the single elimination, the wind wasn’t quite as strong and I was on my 4.0 and big board – a Nano 77-litre set up as a quad – 14 cm back and 9 cm rear. I love this board because it has quite some rocker and I can put it wherever I want on the wave by making tight turns. In the double I did 5 heats and sailed different conditions in every one of them, using sails from 3.3 to 4.0 and my 72 and 77-litre Nanos. But actually for the women we got better conditions for the double elimination. I was really happy we got to compete again after a long week of waiting. In the heats I was trying to stay calm and build some momentum, because I knew I wanted to climb high. In the end I made it to third place and was super happy about that. I really enjoyed the day of the double elimination. Winning heat by heat, while being challenged more and more, is a really fun feeling. Also I am very happy about putting a good heat together against Sarah-Quita Offringa and losing by only half a point. A podium is a really good start to my competition season. 

During the prize giving I was still in my wetsuit from my heats. After that I realized that all my sails and boards were still rigged at the beach, while everyone else had already derigged. Rookie mistake! Luckily I had some good friends helping me out and within half an hour we had everything packed up and back at my van.