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ROBBY SWIFT K-89 has an excellent record not only here in Pozo but in most PWA wave events and he kept that fine run going: In the single elimination he fought his way to 9th place. Then, he gathered momentum in the double by defeating Jules Denel FRA-41 in a super close battle, Jaeger Stone and local Bruch to finish 6th.Read Robby’s event report below…

Robby Swift flying over GC – Thanks to PWA / John Carter for all the photos!..LEON JAMAER G-208 impressed with a solid performance in every heat and proved that he is a great all-rounder in all conditions.

Leon Jamaer G-208..This was not the event for our French team riders:

Early exit for JULES DENEL FRA-41 in the first elimination: in his first heat he missed a good scoring wave. In the double elimination he sailed 4 high scoring heats to meet his team mate Robby Swift where he only lost by 0,14 points – frustrating for him was that he felt the judges did not award his 1-handed, 1-footed moves highly enough.

Jules Denel FRA-41..ANTOINE MARTIN F-193 showed an amazing performance in the week before the event. But in his heats he missed the waves from these training days and could not show any of his crazy trademark moves.

Antoine Martin F-193..The fleet of talented and motivated JP Young Guns was big.

First of all, our best-known young gun, JAKE SCHETTEWI USA-25 sailed very constant in the Port tack conditions which he is not what he is used to. And he was one of the few who participated in the Youth and the Men’s class. In the Youth he finished 2nd and 3rd in the two eliminations which also gave him the 2nd rank overall in the 16-18y class.

Jake Schettewi USA-25..The surprise of the second elimination was MIGUEL CHAPUIS E-99: he had a very disappointing first elimination but came back strong in the second. Landing a radically tweaked pushloop and a backloop earned him the victory in this elimination –just ahead of his team mate Jake– and a 4th place overall.

Miguel’s cousin MAX HOCHGRASSL E-50 stayed below his expectations. Sailing their windy home spot Tarifa, the two cousins steadily push their own limits and will be tough contenders in the future!

Miguel Chapuis E-99 and Max Hochgassl E-50..Last but not least – the young ladies: ALEXA ESCHERICH G-200 was crowned Rookie Freestyle World Champion by the PWA last year in Fuerte and this year she had her debut in Gran Canaria. To cut it short: she did extremely well! Alexa gained her first PWA experiences in the Women’s fleet but sailed great in her age class where she managed to finish second in both eliminations and overall!

Alexa Escherich G-200..JP results 15-18 Year Old Girls#2 – Alexa Escherich – G 200

JP results 16-18 Year Old Boys#2 – Jake Schettewi – HI 101#4 – Miguel Chapuis – E 99

JP results Men’s Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival#6 – Robby Swift – K 89#13 – Jules Denel – FRA 41#13 – Leon Jamaer – G 208#17 – Antoine Martin – F 193#33 – Federico Morisio – I 676

——————–Best JP rider and best British sailor Robby Swift reports:

.Pozo is always an exciting event. It’s the first time we all see each other after our winter training. I am continually surprised just how much everyone improves over the years. I always get there feeling really confident and then after a few days, I’m reminded just how professional and motivated the whole fleet is nowadays as everyone is so strong in all areas.

This year was no exception. We had an epic 3 day run of big waves and nuclear winds before the event. It seemed like just about everyone was there and everyone was going off. I remember sitting and watching for several hours those days and it was like a non stop full action video section. People were just going crazy. It was amazing to watch.

In the event, the wind was there but the waves were a bit of a let down. It’s hard to tell from the photos and video just how small it was as the level of the sailors is so high that people make stuff happen off almost no waves but it was literally about knee to waist high and at the very best points of the tide, there were some occasional shoulder to head high waves coming in. The PWA crew did their best to squeeze out a full single for the men and women and most of the double for both fleets too, so it was a pretty successful event all in all, especially considering the horrible forecast we had.

It was pretty much impossible to get through a heat without landing a perfect double and a big 1 hand 1 foot backloop this year. The wave riding scores were also pushing up in the 7-9 point range too, with almost everyone pulling off 1 or more technical 360 on every wave, and more than likely a combination of 2 or even 3 big wave moves on the same wave.

It was really rewarding for me to make it back past some extremely tough opponents in the double elimination. I beat local Dario Ojeda, then Jules Denel, then Jaeger Stone and then another local boy, Dany Bruch before I had a slightly worse heat against Marcilio Browne who was absolutely on fire, so I didn’t feel too disappointed when they announced the result. Making all those heats and, more importantly, sailing as well as I could in such hard conditions gave me a lot of confidence and I am really looking forward to Tenerife, hoping that the waves will be a little bigger there, as they usually tend to be!

And one last thing that stuck out in my mind was the level of the kids’ competition. There are so many young sailors now, hungry to improve and really competitive with each other. It’s fun and refreshing to watch and I’m sure several of them will be making life hard for us in the pro fleet before very long!

CheersRobbyK-89