Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) has only lost once in Pozo in the last 16 years, so she deservedly entered the first event of the year as the favourite. The 18-time world champion shone in the windsurfing limelight again with monstrous stalled forwards, trademark one-handed backloops and some dynamic wave riding to see off all of her challengers, which sends Daida into the title race lead at this early stage, while also confirming her figure as the undisputed Queen of Pozo. After winning the 2017 Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival we caught up with Daida for an interview.

When are you going to let someone else win here? ;)

Never. Ever. I don’t know everybody is asking me when I’m going to retire and if I’m not tired of winning all the time, but I’m not. It’s my home spot and it’s the place where I most like to win because I train so many hours over the year here and I still have the drive and desire to win. So as long as I have sponsorship and help from the industry and outside the industry then I will continue to give my best. I always want to try and perform bigger and better moves, but that isn’t always possible without epic conditions. However, I think anyone who windsurfs never gets tired of windsurfing. And one of my goals is to just go out there and have fun and try and go bigger.

Were you pleased with how you sailed?

Yeah I was happy with how I sailed… I mean I could’ve done more moves but during a heat unless the conditions are really epic it’s really difficult / nearly impossible to perform all the moves. Overall I was happy with my sailing and it was good enough to win all my heats, so I was just happy to score some big points for my jumps and wave riding. 

Last year Iballa had a problem with her board in the semifinal and Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra) took full advantage to defeat her - this year normal business was resumed with a Moreno twins 1, 2 - that must also be pleasing? You must want to beat her again in the overalls though…

Yeah Iballa finished 3rd here in 2016, but still won the overall anyway. After I got cancer I won the title in 2013, but that year it wasn’t really a tour because there weren’t many contests, so I would like to win again the overall for sure before I retire in a few years.

Retirement...?

Yeah, I mean I’m 40 this year. Who knows if I’m still going to be competing when I’m 45. My main goal is to win another world title after my illness. It was a big fight for me and it would be great for me and my family if I could manage to win another one. Last year it was really tight with Iballa with just 1 point between us in Tenerife and half a point in Sylt, I hope that this year I can sail a little bit better in Tenerife and then hopefully get conditions in Sylt to give me a chance to secure the world title.

What will you be up to between now and Tenerife?

I’ll be packing up the event and then I’ll continuing my work as a physio. At the moment I’m planning to travel to Tenerife about 5 days before the event. In the meantime I’ll sail a spot here in Gran Canaria which is similar to Tenerife for some extra training and trying to get used to sailing on a bigger sail and board. 

Any celebrations after winning the first event of the year? 

I just celebrated on the final night at the closing ceremony with my friends and family. My dad was here - he cannot talk and is in a wheelchair as he suffered a brain stroke this time last year. I’m just really happy and grateful that he can be here to join the celebration.

Congratulations again Daida. See you in Tenerife.