Thomas Traversa wins his first ever event:“I’m super happy, I managed to find one really good wave and then a couple of ok waves. The wind was very, very, very light, but for once I had the advantage of being light. In this light wind I guess it was an advantage to be a light windsurfer. Yes, it’s crazy to beat Philip Köster – but he’s going to win all the rest.”

The top three on the podium – Pic: PWA/John Carter

The fourth day of the PWA KIA Cold Hawaii World Cup saw the double elimination completed as Thomas Traversa took on the 2011 and 2012 PWA Wave Champion, Philip Köster  in the super final. With the conditions looking marginal throughout the morning the sailors and the crowds had to wait for a few hours before the action began. Shortly before 1pm the wind picked up a touch and after a brief warmup session to check the conditions head judge, Duncan Coombs, made the call to begin the final. With the light winds and waves, the super final consisted of the best two waves over a duration of twenty-five minutes.

Double Elimination Super Final
The first blood in the super final went to Thomas Traversa as the Frenchmen made the perfect start in his bid for his maiden event victory. Traversa picked up a great first wave within the first few minutes, and he linked a super nice frontside, into backside followed by another frontside hit, whilst Köster’s first wave closed out on him, giving the early advantage to Traversa. A few moments later Traversa then scored his highest scoring wave of the heat, as he unleashed a couple of radical backside smacks, before finishing with a silky smooth frontside. After working his way upwind, Köster, delivered the wave of the heat. The double world champion opened with a quite brilliant backside 360 in the light conditions, before linking in a couple of extra front and backside hacks. This wave saw him score 7.88 points across the board and put Köster right back in contention, after a slow start.

However, Traversa notched up another solid wave and despite his best efforts, Köster, couldn’t find the wave he needed to respond as he scored 4.38 points for his final wave. The end result meant that Traversa’s better wave selection had secured him his first ever victory by 0.87 points, he also became the first man to defeat Köster, after a five event winning streak.

Thomas Traversa Backside Aerial – Pic: PWA/John Carter

A happy moment, Thomas and his girlfriend – Pic: PWA/John Carter

Philip Köster:“It was really tough out there, I spent a lot of my time looking for waves or making my way back upwind. I was on my biggest gear but it was so light that I found it super hard. Thomas sailed really well, I saw him getting tonnes of waves and doing a lot with them, that was pretty hard for me to watch, but that’s the way it goes. Yesterday was still a perfect day for me, I’m super stoked.”

Victor Fernandez: “It’s nice to be here one more time on the podium. This is a very special event for me. Thanks to everybody and to Traversa and Köster for giving the best show as possible in these light conditions.”

The forecast doesn’t currently offer much wind at the moment for tomorrow, but if it is too light for a super session then there will be a stand up paddleboard contest. The predictions for Saturday offer the best possibility of the super session, with the current forecast predicting strong starboard tack Northerlies.

RESULT PWA Klitmøller 2012

1. Thomas Traversa
2. Philip Köster
3. Victor Fernandez
4. Ricardo Campello
5. Kauli Seadi

CURRENT OVERALL RANKING

© Text: PWA, Matthew Pryor (cold hawaii), continentseven

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