POZO GRAN CANARIA PWA GRAND SLAM DAY 5

Saturday July 13, 2002
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Kevin Pritchard (Bic, Gaastra) of the USA has taken first blood in the
men¹s single elimination wave competition after defeating local maestro

Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Proof, Neil Pryde) in a thrilling climax to a day of
extreme wave action. Held in relentless 40 knot winds Pritchard pulled off
two amazing one legged back loops in the final, which gave him the edge
over Dunkerbeck on his home waters. Daida Moreno (North, Mistral)
meanwhile continued her winning streak by taking the women¹s wave final

over Karin Jaggi (F2, Arrows) of Switzerland.

Competition was put on hold until noon today whilst the judges waited for
the waves to build. The predicted swell started to show its face by late
morning and with 40 knots of wind cranking through rocket air was the
order of the day.

Pritchard opened up his account with a first round victory over Francisco
Onrubia of Spain. He waited until his second round heat against Pozo local
Juan Enrique Garnica before he pulled out the first of his one legged back
loops. His route to the final then continued with a tough string of heats
against Tristan Boxford (Fanatic, North) Scott McKercher (Starboard,
Naish) and Josh Angulo. On the other side of the draw the big man from
Spain, Bjorn Dunkerbeck quashed challenges from Jorge Garcia, Dario Ojeda
(Proof), Jonas Ceballos (Gaastra, Fanatic) Levi Siver (F2, North) and Nik
Baker (Mistral, North).

In the final both sailors were matching each other move for move.
Dunkerbeck was throwing massive one handed back loops and huge stalled
forwards. Pritchard replied with two consecutive one-legged back loops
followed by a radical tweaked tabletop. In the wave riding Dunkerbeck
struggled to find a connecting wave but still managed to ride with his
usual power and precision. Pritchard meanwhile seemed to find the better
of the sets and ripped his way all the way into the beach. After a nervous
wait for the verdict the five man judges panel gave the decision to
Pritchard with a 3-2 majority.

Kevin Pritchard
³I am pretty happy and pretty shocked too! It is pretty hard to Dunk the

Dunk in Pozo. It is still not over, he is going to come back strong in the
double I am sure. I¹ve been holding back my one legged back loops for this

event. It seems like I got a jump start with that move²

In the equally breathtaking losers final Nik Baker needed to pull of a
table top forward, an enormous back loop and a Crazy Pete in order to fend
of the challenge of Josh Angulo. The move of the day in the men¹s
competition today an incredible double loop from Orjan Jensen (North,
Proof) in his heat against his brother Vidar (North). Orjan advanced only
to go down in his next encounter in the quarter finals against Angulo.

The women¹s final between Daida Moreno and Karin Jaggi was action packed

form start to finish. Moreno seemed to take the lead early after nailing
several incredible back loops in the severe conditions. Jaggi was
determined not to go down without a fight and replied with a back loop and
a push loop. The final and could of gone either way but the judges gave
the decision to Moreno. The women¹s losers final was won by Anne Marie

Reichman (Naish, Boards, Naish sails) who defeated Colette Guadagnino (JP,
Neil Pryde).

Daida Moreno
³I am pretty happy. Today we finally had some waves and now we have
results in both disciplines. It was tough out there, the waves were not so
consistent so it was hard to find the right ramps!²

The forecast is for more ballistic wind and waves tomorrow so its looks
like we will be going straight into the men¹s and women¹s wave double

eliminations.