John Skye – pic: PWA/Carter

The 2005 Guincho Estoril PWA World Cup – Day 3

Friday June 17, 2005

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g05_kauli goes through Courtesy of pwa/Carter

After a long day of waiting for wind, the 2005 Estoril Guincho PWA World Cup was back on in the early evening with the first heat of round # 3. The third day saw the most challenging conditions of the contest so far. Light onshore winds, a large swell and patches of fog reducing visibility to almost zero demanded the most of the last remaining sixteen riders.

Today’s opening heat was a classic battle between the old and young generation. Jason Polakow (KA-1111, JP/ Neil Pryde) against Victor Fernandez (E-42, Fanatic) and Bjorn Dunkerbeck (E-11, North) versus Kauli Seadi (BRA-253, Quatro/ Naish). Seadi was on fire, pulling off wicked moves like a sick air chachoo, flaka’s and ponches on the waveface and solid rides. Dunkerbeck threw in two forwards and a backloop and caught some sizeable waves, but the Brazilian simply couldn’t be contained and advanced to the quarter finals.

g05_victor fernandez Courtesy of pwa/Carter

Spanish high flyer Victor Fernandez was up against Jason Polakow. While Polakow was initially having trouble with the light onshore conditions, Fernandez was on a roll sticking strong table tops and catching some good rides. Polakow got more into the game as the heat progressed with a big backloop and two forwards, but it turned out not to be enough to stop Fernandez who secured his place in the quarters at the expense of the Australian.

Next up were John Skye (K-57, F2) vs Ross Williams (GBR-83, Starboard/ Gaastra) and Julien Taboulet (F-100, JP/ Neil Pryde) against Francisco Porcella (US-69). On the jump front, Skye opened with a forward loop and pulled off a massive pushloop, taking the edge over Williams, in spite of Williams sticking a big backloop. Williams put up a strong fight with some respectable rides given the difficult conditions, but in the end Skye had the upper hand making the most out of the onshore winds displaying some strong waveriding skills.

Julien Taboulet’s first jump of the heat was an impressively late forward loop. Porcella landed two forwards and a backloop in the meantime. But it was Taboulet who convinced the jury with his waveriding, going through to the last eight competitors, ending the ride for Porcella.

g05_john skye Courtesy of pwa/carter

The next heat between Robby Swift (K-89, JP/ Neil Pryde) and Diony Guadagnino (V-69, Neil Pryde) and Alex Mussolini (E-30, JP/ Neil Pryde) and Kevin Pritchard (US-3, Starboard, MauiSails) was cancelled halfway through due to lack of wind.

SINGLE ELIMINATION LADDER

As the wind didn’t return for the day, the single elimination will continue tomorrow with the last two heats of round # 3 before the final eight sailors will decide once and for all who goes home with the gold here at the 2005 Estoril Guincho PWA World Cup. The forecast for the final two days of the contest is looking excellent, so make sure to log onto www.pwaworldtour.com for the outcome of the second wave event on the PWA tour. For the latest video footage from Portugal, go to high.tv