The 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Event Summary

After five days of high wind and no holes barred competition, the sun sets on one of the most memorable freestyle events to date. In its wake, Jose Estredo and Sarah-Quita Offringa emerged as the dominant forces, taking home the event win.

Situated on the east coast of Central Lanzarote, the popular tourist resort of Costa Teguise played host to the second stop on the men’s freestyle circuit, and the first outing of the year for women’s freestyle fleet.

The area is famed for its superbly consistent trade winds that blow throughout the summer months, and this event was no exception. From the outset, howling wind battered the shoreline, providing perfect conditions for a six-day long freestyle standoff.

Day 1

The men took to the water first, pulling out all the stops from the word go. Some of the finest action came from heat 17b, where the UK’s Andy Chambers (JP, NeilPryde) took on Bonaire’s Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra). It’s a tribute to Thode, when underdog Chambers strung together a run that included burners, double spocks, 8-foot high shakas & numerous flaka combos and still couldn’t topple the freestyle maestro.

Progressing into the afternoon, it was Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC), Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC), Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra) and Kiri Thode who emerged as the dominant forces, and advanced into semi final.

Browne turned up the heat to deliver faultless one handed burners to compliment his high, powerful repertoire and was eventually rewarded with the victory over Thode. Estredo showed determination, but pushed too hard, resulting in numerous crashed moves, opening the door for Campello to claim his position in the final, alongside Browne.

The final was on another level. Browne stated his intentions early in the heat with a smoking one-handed air funnel, only for Campello to reply almost directly afterwards with the same move. However, ultimately it was consistency that reaped the greatest reward, and Browne toppled Campello with a stellar performance to win the first single elimination.

In the women’s fleet, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Gaastra) emerged as the person to beat, and challenging her in the final was Daida Moreno (North Sails). Moreno fought hard, but when push came to shove, failed to match Offringa’s technical, and tactically brilliant routine, leaving Offringa to take victory.

Day 2

Pumping swell and hammering wind made the second day of competition arguably the stand out day of the event. Thirty foot high aerial maneuvers were common place, with literally every heat producing truly outstanding moves.

Leading the charge on the top stop was Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra), who’s seemingly unstoppable run cleared him a path to within touching distance of the final. Along the way he toppled formidable freestylers; Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard, Gun Sails, MFC), Andre Paskowski (Fanatic, North Sails) and Normen Günzlein (JP, NeilPryde), with a barrage of moves which included his trademark shuvit spock and some of the biggest ponchs seen all day.

As the heats continued to advance, the level of sailing seemed to rise exponentially, and even the dialed Tonky Frans had to accept defeat at the hands of Kiri Thode’s freestyle wizardry. However, the following heat Thode was forced to succumb to Estredo’s sustained barrage of high scoring moves, paving the way for an epic Estredo versus Browne final.

When crunch time came, the pair went off, piecing together a fusion of technical freestyle with mammoth airtime to evoke an awe inspiring final.

When the scores were counted up, Browne emerged the victor, claiming the first double elimination of the event as his, Estredo stood tall in second, with Campello in third and Thode in fourth.

In the women’s fleet, Japan’s Junko Nagoshi (Simmer, Dakine) pieced together two crippling heats, defeating Yolanda Freites De Brendt (Fanatic, North Sails) and Silvia Alba Orozco (MFC) to advance her into the final stages of the women’s elimination. Having found her form she posed a considerable threat to day one’s fourth place finisher, Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails).

Treboux had her work cut out to match Nagoshi’s slick clue first puneta’s, and had to delve deep into her bag of tricks to eventually defeat her rival with some super technical switch moves in the testing conditions.

Advancing into the final, Treboux stood to challenge Offringa’s dominance. Defiant, Offringa dealt out a hefty dose of super technical moves that took their toll on Treboux’s defenses, opening the door for her to secure victory in the first double elimination. Treboux took second, Daida Moreno third, and Iballa Moreno fourth.

Day 3

With a full double elimination in the bag, the Lanzarote wind machine was once again turned to full power to deliver another successfully completed single elimination on day three.

Starting the day, homeboy Antxon Otaegui (JP, NeilPryde, MFC) showed early form, defeating dialed in Frenchman Akgazciyan. His downfall would come when he met Estredo in the subsequent round, and despite sailing a phenomenal heat, failed to match the Venezuelan’s aerial presence. 

German freestyle powerhouses Normen Günzlein and Andre Paskowski showed their mettle to advance into the losers final, with familiar faces, Estredo and Thode going head to head for the top spot.

The finals brimmed with insane aerial action, Estredo busted out air flaka diablos and Thode spun through dizzying double spock cana bravas, while Paskowski and Günzlein almost redefined the word slick with their perfect sliding moves.

The judges eventually rewarded Estredo with first place, leaving Thode to take a well deserved second, and Günzlein edged ahead of Paskowski to take third.

In the women’s division, the final was to be a rematch of the previous days double elimination final between Offringa and Treboux. From the outset, Offringa seemed to raise her game to a whole new level, with a run that included; a shaka, air flaka, eslider, funnel and a grubby diablo to name but a few. This comprehensive repertoire secured Offringa another victory, with Treboux looking dangerous in second, and Daida Moreno mounting her attack in third.

Day 4

Entering day four, Browne held the event lead, however Estredo, who’d shown his thirst for victory in the previous day’s single elimination, stood poised to steal the top spot from the Brazilian in the upcoming double.

Drawing the day’s first blood was one of freestyle’s freshest faces, Japan’s Hiroumi Yoshida, who sailed out of his skin to defeat Rafael Cervero Climent (Loft Sails) in his first round clash.

Entering round two, Yoshida displayed an immense desire for victory, but Quincy Offringa (Starboard, Severne) would prove to be his stumbling block. Offringa claimed the victory, going on to defeat Canada’s Philip Soltysiak (Starboard, Dakine) before going out to 2007 Freestyle World Champion Browne.

Browne struggled to get to grips with the lighter conditions and made a shock exit at the hands of Günzlein, leaving the door wide open for Estredo to steal the event lead.

Waiting in the wings, Estredo bided his time while his challengers fought for the chance to take him on. In this case it was Thode, who’d advanced with the help of his heat-demolishing air funnels.

Cool, calm, and collected, Estredo showed his class, nailing a gravity defying air chachoo to condemn Thode to second position. Estredo’s victory also marked a changing of the guard, as Browne had to pass over the event lead to the Venezuelan.

There was a sense of deja vu when the women’s double elimination final once again pitched Offringa against Treboux. Treboux, hungry for retribution, dealt out formidable blows which including a soaring shaka. However defiant Offringa showed no signs of intimidation, and went on to piece together one of her finest runs, to reap victory and further reinforce her event lead.

Day 5

Pressure mounted, as the third successive single elimination was completed on the fifth day of competition. Trumping the bill was Estredo who, in a familiar final showdown with Thode, nailed a shuvit spock 900 in the testing conditions. Thode was let down by his weaker port tack sailing and was forced to hand another victory to Estredo.

A women’s final of Offringa versus Daida Moreno served up intense action from the word go. Turning up the heat, Moreno planed out of a perfect eslider and then nailed a flaka diablo to pile the pressure on Offringa. Unphased by Moreno’s attack, Offringa summoned a brutish assault to overthrow Moreno and continue her unbeaten run.

Day 6

Entering the final day of competition, Browne and Estredo had both battled to win one double elimination each, meaning the final day would prove critical in deciding who would take home the event, and 2008 season lead.

Shock came when the seemingly relentless Lanzarote trade winds failed to blow, and Head Judge Duncan Coombs announced the event officially over. After five days of insane aerial antics and non-stop action, Estredo was dubbed the men’s winner, and Offringa took top honors in the women’s fleet.

Raising the bar, the 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup was an undoubted success, and stands as a tribute to the sponsors and local organizers, without whom, this exceptional event would not have been possible. We look forward to returning next year for more awe inspiring freestyle revelry on Costa Teguise’s idyllic coastline. 

The 2008 PWA Costa Teguise World Cup – Event Results

Men’s Fleet

1st Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC)
2nd Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra)
3rd Ricardo Campello (JP, NeilPryde, MFC)

Women’s Fleet

1st  Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, NeilPryde)
2nd Laure Treboux (Fanatic, North Sails)
3rd Daida Moreno (North Sails)

Men’s Overall Rankings (after two events)

1st Jose Estredo (Fanatic, North Sails, MFC)
2nd Marcilio Browne (Mistral, Gaastra)
3rd Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra)

The tour now rolls on to Pozo for the 2008 Gran Canaria PWA Grand Slam, which starts on the 3rd of July.  Be sure to check www.pwaworldtour.com from then to follow the action with our live event ticker, daily news summaries, video footage, awesome photo galleries, online elimination ladders and more!

Or, for more information contact the PWA office via [email protected]

PWA / Andrew Buchanan