Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup

June 29, 2024 Created by Chris Yates

Day 1: Carlos Kiefer Quintana earns victory in the Boy’s U18s as the next generation hit the water

The opening day of the 2024 Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup saw a relatively relaxed start to proceedings with the sailors registering between 10-11am. Once registration was out of the way, there was a slight waiting game for the conditions to improve, but by 4pm, the waves had increased enough on the pushing tide to allow the next generation of windsurfers to take centre stage.

Wave

Girl’s U21

Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) got off to a flying start in the U21 Girl’s as she produced a polished performance consisting of both front and backloops as well as some stylish wave riding to claim the opening victory ahead of Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) and Lisa Wermeister (Duotone Windsurfing).

Girl’s U18

Sol Degrieck (Severne / Severne Sails) proved too strong in the opening final of the Girl’s U18s. The Belgian landed a variety of forwards and tabletops, while she linked one solid wave together to see off the challenge of Annagiulia Piccaglia (Goya Windsurfing), who outscored Degrieck in the air, Lizzlotte Schilling Andrew and Trine Gobisch (Duotone Windsurfing).

Boy’s U18

Carlos Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) booked his place in the final after stomping an almost perfect double forward in the semifinals, which received one 10 points and two 9.5 point scores from the judges. Kiefer Quintana continued that form into the final, and although he couldn’t find a ramp for another double he still managed to land a stylish pushloop and a textbook stalled forward to claim a decisive victory ahead of Germany’s Leon Maethner (Duotone Windsurfing), Japan’s Ryu Noguchi (Starboard / Severne Sails and Belgium’s Arthur Van den Brande (RRD / RRD Sails). There was just half a point separating Maethner and Noguchi, but this time it went in the favour of Maethner.

Boy’s U15

In the opening final of the Boy’s U15s, Ryoma Sugi (North) struck first blood to come out on top against Bjørn Olesen (Severne / Severne Sails) and Yannik Kolb Gonzalez. Sugi was crowned the U15 PWA Wave World Champion in 2023, so it is perhaps not a surprise to see him make a strong start here in Gran Canaria.

Boy’s U13

There wasn’t much to separate Elías Antolín and Dennis Kolb Gonzalez in the the Boy’s U13 final with just 3 points separating them come the end of the heat. However, the tie went in the favour of Antolín this time around. Gonzalez was within striking distance of Antolín, but was left to rue counting a crashed backloop on his scoresheet, which proved to be the difference.

The forecast for tomorrow suggests that Pozo’s famous strong winds will continue, but we will have to wait until the morning to see whether it will be the wave or slalom fleets hitting the water. The skippers’ meeting for all fleets will be held at 9:30am, which gives a first possible start for waves at 10am, while the first possible start for racing with be 11am.

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