Howling winds and glassy waves thrashed Tenerife's coast line for the opening day of the PWA world cup, ensuring the event site was buzzing with excitement as the action unfolded.

With perfect conditions teasing the sailors, the mammoth fleet of 46 men and 14 women were eager to hurry through the formalities of registration and kick the proceedings off at 1:30pm. A seamless operation run by head judge Duncan Coombs saw the majority of the men and women's single elimination completed in an adrenaline filled afternoon.

Men's Fleet

An efficient set of heats saw the opening round of the men's single elimination completed swiftly, and many of the big names make it past their initial adversaries. However it wasn't without its dramas.

Camille Juban (Gun / MFC) lost out in the second heat of the day due to a timing error, meaning he missed nine minutes of his heat and allowed his opponent, Frederico Infantino (AL 360 / Dakine) to slip through into the second round.

Brit, Adam Lewis (Starboard / Point-7) made his debut appearance on the PWA world tour, defeating US wave demon Kai Lenny (Naish / Naish). Lewis amazed the judges with his super late smacks on the wave, allowing him to pass through his first high pressure heat.

The Tenerife world cup witnessed Ex wave world champion Scott McKercher (Starboard / Severne) return to the competition scene, and be paired against fellow Australian wave ripper Jaeger Stone (Severne). Both sailors performed incredible aerial maneuvers and it came down to the wave riding to separate the pair. McKercher held out for the set wave out the back and clocked up a number of smooth turns, but it wasn't enough to fend off Stone and his new school moves.

Round two saw many of the top seeded sailors defend their positions and advance into the top sixteen. Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde) ripped apart every wave to advance past high flying Aleix Sanllehy. Philip Koster (Starboard / NeilPryde) proved that he wasn't just a one location wonder, destroying Albert Pijoan with his huge stunts and El Medano wave king Dany Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL 360) made use of his local knowledge to take down Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / North / AL360).

Lewis continued with his exceptional sailing in a close heat against John Skye (RRD / RRD). The sailors powered from wave to wave with stalled forwards in between, and they appeared to be fairly evenly matched, until a smooth taka from Skye saw him snatch the victory by just half a point.

Three outstanding sailors, Jules Denel (Exocet), Peter Volwater (Fanatic / MauiSails) and local hot shot Valter Scotto (Fanatic / AL 360 / Mystic), were on fine form as they sailed through their second heat of the day and into the third round.

As the men entered the final round of the day the tide was dropping rapidly and the wave were few and far between. The sailors had to plan their every move in order to maximise their maneuvers.