The opening round of the 2010 PWA wave tour took place today in spectacular conditions off the Gran Canarian coast. The northerly direction meant that the usual relentless winds associated with Pozo didn't kick in with full force, but an 18-25 knot breeze with small waves was sufficient for the competition to begin.

During the early heats many of the sailors were struggling because they hadn't brought big enough gear. And, a few were left to battle it out on 4.0s or 4.5s when they would have preferred something larger.

Proper waves were also few and far between, forcing head judge, Duncan Coombs to lengthen the heat duration to 18 minutes. Normally the conditions allow two jumps and two rides to be scored in 8 minutes, unfortunately that simply wasn't possible in the conditions today. This meant many of the sailors were working for much longer periods than they're used to, with some having almost an hour of intense competition due to their heat being abandoned 3 times!

The first full round for the men managed to draw to a close, but the wind and waves backed off in the afternoon halting the proceedings.

Freestyle Meets Waves

When three times freestyle world champion, Jose 'Gollito' Estredo (Fanatic, North) met local lad Eleazar Alonso (Naish, Naish) it was a battle of the disciplines. No one would lend Gollito a wave board for the event, after snapping Klaas Voget's (Fanatic, Simmer, MFC) prize possession last year, so he had to put his Fanatic Skate through its paces in the waves! He sailed well, with an awesome air chachoo, but Alonso's stylish back loops and higher scoring rides saw him go through.

Locals Only

Tipped for the top by the PWA tour pundits, local rippers Jose Romero (JP, NeilPryde) and Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic, North) sailed their home spot with perfection. They both had some of the longest rides of the day, milking the waves until their fins hit the rocks, gybing back out, and boosting some huge jumps to advance through to the next round with ease.

Heat 7 was a similar affair with the two locals, Josep Pons Casasnovas (Severne) and Francisco Casas Garcia (Starboard, Severne) comfortably tearing Pozo to pieces. Yann Sorlut (RRD, Simmer) put up a good fight against Pons Casasnovas, but the local nudged ahead with an awesome back loop, and high scoring wave which saw him claim the best overall score of the day. Bonairean freestyler, Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra) nailed some stylish jumps in his heat against Casas Garcia, but couldn't quite match the local in the riding department, allowing him to pass through to the top 32.

How far these local guys will go, nobody knows. One thing is clear though - they rip in Pozo!

Slalom King Claims It In The Waves