2009 Cabo Verde PWA World Cup - Day 1 reports

19.10 Kauli won the single elimination. 2nd Josh 3rd spot belongs to Kevin and Goya is 4th. Check out the results of single elimination.

18.45 With the light fading fast, the heat draws to an end. The finalists had arguably the most testing conditions of the whole day. Results will be announced shortly on the main stage here at Ponta Preta.

18.35 Seadi and Angulo both select set waves from the tip of the point. Angulo launching into a huge off the lip, with Seadi choosing to ride his wave the whole length of the reef to the inside. Both quality waves.

18.28 The wind’s dropped right down for the final, making wave selection absolutely crucial. Seadi’s been waiting out the back, choosing only to pick off the biggest and best waves. His tactics pay off with a really solid ride right to the inside. Pritchard chooses to play a similar game, picking off a solid set wave and heading in to nail a perfectly timed one footed aerial.

18.22 Angulo kick starts the final with a short but decent ride including a one handed aerial. Goya follows with 3 super vertical bottom turns right in the pocket. Seadi and Pritchard are waiting out the back for the sets to roll in.

18.11 The final is scheduled to start shortly. Sailing in the final will be Angulo, Goya, Seadi and Pritchard. The light is slowly fading here at Ponta Preta but we’re hoping it hold out until the end of the final. Stay tuned.

18.03 The judges are still calculating the scores from heat 22, the finalists will be announced shortly. Stay tuned!

17.49 Seadi rolls in with another stunning ride, he’s looking on form. Pritchard and Lenny have also added another wave to their tally’s. Lenny scoring a big aerial, and Pritchard going for a super late one handed air.

17.43 Pritchard racks up another solid wave score to his already decent total. This is going to be another real close heat to call. At the moment Seadi and Lenny may have the edge but there’s plenty more waves to be had.

17.42 Lenny just had a scorcher, he’s looking super confident in this heat.

17.39 Seadi and Pritchard have both just chalked up a high scoring wave each. Pritchard sided with going for super late smacks in the critical section, while Seadi weaved some smooth turns into a decent off the lip.

17.34 Lenny just went for a  back-door entry, airing the main peak. A ballsy move from him. Guilloul just picked up a big set wave, getting super vertical all the way down the line, then going for a goita on the inside

17.30 Heat ends, next up it’s heat 22: Guilloul, Lenny, Pritchard, Seadi (top two advance).

17.26 Angulo just stomped a mamoth aerial, the crowed loved that one, Goya followed it up with an equally slick air of his own. Classy stuff right now.

17.23 A stunning wave from McKercher, he was going beyond vertical on some of his bottom turns. It looks like too little too late from Swift who’s struggling to get back upwind to the break.

17.21 This heat’s mind boggling, it’s sheer class. Angulo, McKercher and Goya are just killing it out there. Swift’s working his way back to the break on new gear, but has work to do.

17.14 Angulo just picked off a quality wave with two perfect aerials and the usual one handed top turn, that’ll be a good one to have on the score sheet. Swift went for the section but slightly miss timed it, paying the ultimate price of a snapped mast on the rocks. In the mean time McKercher notched up a quality set wave.

17.07 Heat ends, stay tuned for the result. Next up is heat 21: Angulo, Goya, Swift, Mckercher (top two advance).

17.00 Still more quality coming out of heat 20, there’s going to be no low scores on the judges score sheets at the end of this one. There’s only minutes left and still it’s an impossible call to single out two people. The judges are going to have their work cut out here.

16.57 This ones a super close heat, it looks like its going to come down to the wire. There’s literally nothing between them right now.

16.51 On the water right now it’s Siver, Pritchard, Volwater, Seadi (top two advance).

16.47 Advancing from heat 19 are Guilloul and Lenny.

16.25  Taboulet picked off a huge set out the back but a huge section closed out, forcing him to eject and lose his gear to the rocks. Lenny is killing it in this heat, endless waves and all high scoring, similarly Guilloul has dominated leaving Caballos and Taboulet leagues behind them on the scoring.

16.18 Lenny picks up a decent wave but falls attempting a flaka on the face. Guilloul pulls into a smaller wave but works it for all it’s worth: 2 aerials and some super late hooks under the lip. Taboulet has found a couple of rides but failed to impress so far.

16.15 Advancing from heat 18 are Swift and KcKercher.

16.14 Heat ends, next up it’s Taboulet, Guilloul, Ceballos and Lenny (top two advance).

16.10 Advancing from heat 17 are Angulo and Goya.

16.06, Sorlut claims wipeout of the heat with a ‘over the handle bars’ right in the critical section. The crowd seemed to like it, Sorlut probably didn’t.

16.05 McKercher seems to have rearranged all his gear into its component parts on the rocks. Not a pretty sight.

15.59 Sorlut picks up a beast out the back and rips it through to the inside, that’ll be a decent score from him. Swift drops into the second wave of the set, a mast high beauty.

15.57 Fernandez gets on a chunky set wave, linking up a handful of bottom turns with an aerial off the inside section. Swift and Mckercher take the remaining sets, Mckercher’s wave is massive!

15.48 Swift picks off a set wave and notches up some decent hacks, followed by a floaty air over the section. Wave of the heat so far. McKercher replies with a smooth ride to the inside. Sorlut and Fernandez are still to contribute anything significant.

15.44 Next up it’s Swift, McKercher, Fernandez and Sorlut (top two sailors advance).

15.42 Advancing from the previous heat are Seadi and Volwater.

 

15.36 Voget comes in on the rocks after taking a brutal beating from a big set. Somehow his gear’s still intact! Baker works a decent wave including one super late, vertical hit. Solid sailing from him.

15.33 Baker, Goya and Angulo just went off! Three set waves and three sets of world class riding. Nothing to choose between them, just fully committed riding in mast high surf.

15.29 The winds got pretty light for this one, but there’s still some chunky logo to mast high sets coming through. Baker’s picked up some solid looking waves but has still to select a wave that works through to the inside, that said he’s worked well with what he’s had.

15.22 Goya starts the heat with a high scoring wave, including a beast of an aerial linked into several massive smacks. He’s delivering some moments of pure genius. Angulo isn’t to be outdone, he’s put in some classic one handed top turns and linked his rides all the way to the inside.

15.19 Heat ends, next up is the first of the round two heats: Baker, Voget, Angulo, Goya (top two sailors advance).

15.12 More sets roll in. Seadi launches into a super smooth attack, punishing a decent logo high wave right to the inside. Volwater and Skye follow suit. Loads of decent waves in this heat.

15.05 Skye picks out another solid set but fails to take full advantage of it. Volwater boosts a colossal air in front of the judges tower.

15.01 Seadi gets onto a smaller set wave and works it for a few turns, crashing out on the inside. Volwater catches the wave behind, aerialing over Seadi’s fallen rig.

15.00 Pritchard and Siver advance from the previous heat. Siver had the highest scores.

14.56 The sets roll in. Seadi claims the biggest prize with some super vertical cut backs and fluid bottom turns all the way through to the inside. Skye notches up a decent ride but failed to find an aerial amoungst it.

14.53 Heat ends. Next on the water is heat 14: Volwater, Skye, Seadi, Silva (top 2 sailors advance).

14.46 After a super slow heat to begin with, finally 4 mast high beauties worked their way down the point. Pritchard and Siver made the most of them, both clocking high scores. Siver especially with 2 sizably aerials.

14.32 Pritchard starts the heat well with a 6 turn ride to the inside. There’s a big gap between sets right now and the wind seems to have dropped right down.

14.08 Heats will resume shortly with heat 13: Campello, Siver, Pritchard & Ojeda (top 2 sails advance). Heat duration has now been extended to 22 minutes from 18 minutes. Most sailors are competing on 5.0m to 5.5m sails and 80-90L boards. The sets are coming through at logo to mast high, having backed off slightly from about 1-2 hours ago. Stay tuned.

14.00 Apologies to our live ticker audience, we’ve been having a few technical issues with the internet connection here at Ponta Preta. Updates will be given as frequently as possible, but there may be a delay on the live ticker coverage. Thanks for your patience.

 

13.45 Heat cancelled, too few set waves were coming through to make it a fair heat. Competition is currently on standby until further notice.

13.43 Siver just destroyed a wave. Awesome top to bottom stuff and a tweaked tail grab thrown in for good measure. The judges liked that one.

13.40 Campello claims the first wave of the heat with a tidy cut back but fails to make the next section. Siver makes a very average wave look awesome with some super tight turns.

13.32 Next up it’s heat 13: Campello, Siver, Pritchard & Ojeda. Top two sailors advance.

13.29 Ceballos nails 4 consecutive aerials on the inside section in the dying minutes of the heat. Heat ends.

13.25 Horrocks has reduced his gear to small pieces on the rocks.

13.32 Lenny, Browne and Caballos pick off three consecutive monsters, Lenny kills his with a truly epic aerial, one of the finest so far.

13.20 Browne and Caballos compete for a wave, Browne claims it and secures a decent ride, only on a relatively small wave.

13.14 Horrocks and Lenny share a wave, but Horrocks goes down, luckily it’s a luck exit for him & he escapes the rocks. Ceballos boosts a massive aerial behind them, carrying on into a high scoring wave.

13.10 Heat ends, next up is Browne, Horrocks, Ceballos & Lenny. Top two sailors advance.

13.06 Polakow picked up real nice set wave but cranked his top turn just too hard, dropping off the back.

13.03 Guilloul strings together a solid mix of top to bottom turns and aerials, the crowd were loving that wave.

12.56 Ezzy picks off a decent set, right to the inside including an aerial. Polakow steps up with a huge set, classic top to bottom stuff with a perfect one handed aerial.

12.53 Guilloul tucks into a solid looking wave but fails to make the inside section, Traversa crawls up the beach from an epic wipe out in the previous heat. His gear looks to be in about 10 pieces.

12.47 Heat 5 is on the water. Taboulet, Guilloul, Polakow & Ezzy.

12.34 Heat 4 is underway: Traversa, Sorlut, Fernandez and Lopes. Best two sailors advance.

12.30 Mckercher throws a few tidy aerials on a small but long wave moments before the heat ends. Juban also scored some really smooth aerials right by the rocks.

12.25 Swift just pulled into far and away the best wave so far; a massive peeling beast, complete with 2 aerials and some monster gauges.

12.16 Heat three is underway: Swift, Mckercher, Bruch & Juban.

12.10 Heat 2 ends with Angulo nailing three aerials in a row, awesome stuff.

 

12.05 Williams gets knocked down by a huge set. He;s swimming for his gear which is on the rocks. In the meantime Goya throws down some super smooth riding to the inside.

12.03 Angulo pulls into a big set, cranking his trademark one  handed top turn and a stunning aerial. He knows this spot well.

12.01 Williams picks off a set wave and rides it right down the point to the inside with a decent aerial in the mid section. On of the better rides of this heat.

11.52 On to the next heat: Goya, Angulo, Williams & Mussolini. The best two sailors advance.

11.50 Baker and Voget advance from the first heat.

11.46 Heat info: 4 man heats, the best two sailors advance. Heat duration: 18 minutes.

11.45 Baker’s killing it. He’s just picked off a mast high monster out the back and cranked 5 super vertical turns right to the inside. The finest riding of the heat so far.

11.40 Heat 1 is running: Baker, Porcella, Voget & Ten Hoeve. The best two sailors advance.

11.15 The swell continues to roll in here at Ponta Preta. The riders are currently getting briefed on the day’s competition at the skippers meeting, and competition should get underway shortly, though it’s likely to be later than the proposed 11.30am start.

 

10.50 We don’t want to speak too soon, but conditions are starting to switch on in a big way. Mast high sets have started rolling in and there’s frequently much bigger. We’ve already had a taste of things to come, with massive aerials, trashed gear and epic swell lines racking up. We could be on for a classic Ponta Preta day here.

09.40 Head to logo high sets are rifling down the point at Ponta Preta at fairly frequent intervals. The riders are currently warming up on the break while registration goes on.

09.00 Good morning and welcome to day 1 of coverage of the Cabo Verde PWA World Cup. The 32 man wave fleet are currently being registered, with a first possible start to competition scheduled for 11.30am. At present there’s a building westerly swell breaking at Ponta Preta and strong cross-offshore winds. Tune back in shortly for the next update.