I have been in Tenerife for about 3 weeks now, and have to say its a really fun spot when there are good conditions! Our first week didn't have much wind or waves, but two days into the contest, we had some really nice conditions, and this week (I have 4 more days) is looking epic! El Medano is a lively town, there are lots of bars and shops with a more Spanish feel rather than some tacky resorts like elsewhere in the Canaries. It is always busy too, with lots more nightlife than Pozo! Here is an aerial picture from Ricardo's drone of the event site and a morning picture from John Carter at the PWA:
There were 22 girls registered for this event, a great turnout and even 3 British chicks! The day before the event started, all the competitors marched though the town with a drumming band, waving their country's flag's, before meeting in the centre of town and being called onto the stage for the official opening. This was awesome and such a great way to start the event and let the whole town know we were there! On Monday morning we registered and stickered up all our sails. The single draw is below, I had Montse Collado in my first heat.
The forecast looked good from Wednesday to Friday, but the judges decided to run straight away (and rightfully so incase the forecast was to dissappear). The Juniors were up first, followed by the ladies. My heat against Montse was run in pretty light winds and little waves, but I still managed to get my jumps in and some wave rides, pumping into my first forward! I was pretty happy to win this heat but I then had Steffi Wahl in my second heat who was 3rd in Pozo. Here are some photos from my first heat...
So first round of ladies over, we went straight into the second round where I was up against Steffi. The wind and waves dropped in this heat and I really couldn't get going. I didn't find any good waves or a bigger forward despite seeing her land one and in the end she had the edge and some good riding put her through. Steffi climbed all the way up to 4th in the single elimination, with Amanda 3rd, Daida 2nd and Iballa 1st.
The double elimination had much better conditions with waves and feeling powered! My first heat was against Alice Arutkin who had missed the single elimination due to missing her flight. Alice is again a very experienced competitor and won on both waves and jumps, with her table top scoring more than my forward, and some nice wave rides. I confirmed as I feared before this competition that I wasn't consistent enough on my wave rides, going more for broke with bigger hits that I only sometimes land rather than a safer competition style of riding, so I definitely need to improve on that! Alice went through 4 heats in the double to finish 6th overall, well done! This meant I came 13th overall, which with Pozo leaves me 11th in the World so far, with my goal to be top ten!
The double elimination had great conditions to finish the competition, with standout sailors (for me) being Sarah Quita Offringa, who as previously un-ranked, climbed 8 heats in the double and came 3rd place, and Victor Fernandez and Thomas Traversa for their style and consistency, (coming 3rd and 2nd respectively).
After the competition a Super Session was run, giving 20 minutes to score your one best jump. Originally this wasn't for women (Men and Juniors only-don't ask me why...), but as there were a few girls wanting to participate on the beach, a heat was run. I was actually pretty scared as I prefer riding to jumping and didn't actually realise it was a jump contest when I signed up! The conditions had backed down a little and I took a 4.7, but with the current and the weed it felt terrible, very pull-ey! Anyway, us girls had a great time, and I went for several backloops, landed a table top and a forward and tried my first stalled forward, landing on my back which I was happy with! I came joint 3rd after Justyna winning with a couple of landed backloops and forwards and Amanda with some pushloop crashes.
For winning this, Justyna got to have a go at the tow in windsurf jump session at Siam Park. Only the top men got to compete but it was sick to see her getting towed into the ramp! Hopefully if there can be more sponsors for the event girl's can be included next time! Here is an edit Markus and Gustav did of the session, it's amazing!
PWA Super Session @ Siam Park, Tenerife from MacG Productions on Vimeo.
Here is also the video from Day 5 of the competition, showing the last heats of the double elimination for men and women, and the men's super session.
Finally, a couple of shots from general sailing in Tenerife! I am hoping to make a video from the Canaries, but its very hard to get someone to sit on the beach and film!
