Kauli Seadi

With strong south-westerly winds forecast for the entire day, many of the competitors were at the beach at dawn getting dialled into the conditions. However, the minute the competition was supposed to begin the wind backed off forcing head judge, Duncan Coombs to put the contest on hold. By 13:00 it had returned enough for the first heat to start, and with the waves often reaching 2.5m in the sets, Klitmoller was ready to rock the windsurfing world.

Rain squalls and strong gusts hammered their way through the contest area every half an hour causing havoc with the sailors who found it hard to choose the correct gear. 5.7s and 5.3s were the sails of choice for the bigger guys, whereas 5.3s and 4.7s were the weapons used by those a little lighter. Board choice was extremely open and purely down to weight and personal preference with single fins, twin fins, trailer fins, thrusters, and quads all seen scattered on the stones throughout the day.

Kauli Returns

With a less than perfect score earlier in the year, it was only a matter of time before the three times former world champion, Kauli Seadi (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) fought his way back to the top of the fleet. With Klitmoller firing and Seadi hungry for the kill, anyone that stood in his way was soon seen on the beach with their head in their hands. During the final it was a close fought battle, with both Seadi and his team mate Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) trying hard to please the judges in the toughest conditions of the day. Campello opened with an awesome wave, and then nailed some sky-high rotations putting Seadi on catch up right from the start. Ten minutes later and Seadi was still to score a second decent wave, but in the final few seconds he picked up a set and tore it to pieces edging him ahead of his Venezuelan buddy.

Champion Sound

“I’m super stoked to have won especially against Ricardo in the final. He had a really good double forward so I was a bit scared about the result, but I knew I’d scored two good waves. It feels amazing to be back on top after my poor result earlier this season in Gran Canaria, so I’m really happy right now.”

Ricardo Campello one handed and one legged forward!

Ricardo’s Rocket Airs

The Venezuelan madman, Ricardo Campello upped the stakes round after round by launching into orbit and dropping a hand or a foot. During one huge stalled forward he resembled a full on spread eagle with both his front hand and front foot right off his gear. Jumps like this take balls of steel, but after witnessing triple loops from this insane aerial anarchist in the past we’re hardly surprised when he risks life and limb to progress through a heat! The daredevil also racked up some serious wave scores today with a sick top turn helping him advance into his first ever wave final!

Vertical Dany

When the German born ripper turned Canarian resident, Dany Bruch (Patrik, Severne) caught a wave all eyes on the beach were fixated directly on him. His vertical style, mixed with new-school slides, and chunky section snaps were the best combination the judges saw all day. Not only that, but he also kept the crowds amused with his near death double forwards, which he wasn’t quite landing but still plucked up the courage to try heat after heat! If tomorrow brings with it plenty of wind, we could see Bruch battle his way right to the top.

Consistent Kev

The former world champion, Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine) ended the day on high with his best result in waves for over a year. He nailed his trademark one footed backloops time after time, and racked up the points by milking the waves for all their worth. After a tiring day, he couldn’t understand how he’d advanced so far, commenting that his wave riding was so boring that anyone he beat should be ashamed! All jokes aside it’s an awesome result for the American, who after almost twenty years on tour is still smacking lips with the best of them!

Move Of The Day

Despite going down to an on form Bruch, the 2009 Pozo champion, Philip Koster (Starboard, NeilPryde, Dakine) was without a doubt one of the standout performers of the day. His ankle dry double forwards are now his signature move which all too often help him to annihilate his opponents, and score him a healthy ten points almost every time.

Results

1st Kauli Seadi (JP, NeilPryde, MFC)

2nd Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC)

3rd Dany Bruch (Patrik, Severne)

4th Kevin Pritchard (Starboard, Gaastra, Dakine)

Dany Bruch one legged back-loop

Eye On The Horizon

The forecast for the next few days looks absolutely epic, so there’s bound to be a double elimination here in Denmark, giving those that fell a chance to fight back! Victor Fernandez (Fanatic, North, MFC), Klaas Voget (Fanatic, Simmer, MFC), and Marcillio Browne (Fanatic, North, MFC) will all be looking to make amends for their early exits from the contest today.

Live Mash Up

The competition was streamed live throughout the day, so you could watch the action wherever you were in the world. Check it all out by following this link HERE and make sure you follow the double when it gets going tomorrow!

Keep in the groove

For more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com

There’s also a dedicated event website which can be found at www.worldcup.coldhawaii.eu

Or for more information, please contact the PWA office via info@pwaworldtour.com

All footage is from the last couple of weeks in feb/march 2010.
I was injured for most of jan/feb so it was good to finally get back on the water before going home.
Try not to laugh at the lowest double attempt ever!! haha..