POZO GRAN CANARIA PWA GRAND SLAM DAY 8

A rare day on the shores of Pozo Izquierdo

Tuesday July 16, 2002
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We are still on hold here at the PWA Gran Canaria, 2002 Grand Slam. The
nuclear winds of Pozo wind have currently deserted us but look set to
return before the end of the competition. This morning the sponsorship
flags at the contest site were barely fluttering in the wind, even the
huge fans, which surround the event site had stopped turning. SThis time
of year in Pozo it is a rare event to have less than 30 knots plus! By mid
afternoon the breeze picked up and some sailors took to the water but
conditions never quite picked up to the levels required for official action.

Lacking competition sailors have been relaxing in Pozo¹s town. Café
Cutre
and the Bar de Ola have apparently been doing a roaring trade with their
specialty bocadillos. Day seven has been a chance for recreation and
relaxation although the sailors are well aware that here in Pozo it could
be blowing 50 knots within 48-hours.

With three days still remaining of the competition there are still plenty
of scores to be settled. Last years winner Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Proof, Neil
Pryde) who is currently lying in second place of the men¹s wave
competition will be hungry to get his revenge over arch rival Kevin
Pritchard (Bic, Gaastra) who beat him in the single elimination final. The
big man from Spain who recently married here in Gran Canaria is
celebrating his 33rd birthday today. July 16th is also the birthday for
young Ricardo Campello (JP, Neil Pryde) of Venezuela. Campello who is
seventeen today has performed brilliantly here in Gran Canaria and is
holding third position after three rounds of men¹s freestyle. The fact

Campello shares the same birth-date as the twelve times world champion
could be omen for the future!

Ricardo Campello
"I am not partying tonight that will only happen if I win. My goal is to

be a world champion. Hopefully I will be celebrating being the world
champion in freestyle by the end of this year!"

With only three days of the event remaining the tension is building here
in Gran Canaria. When competition resumes the stakes are high in both wave
and freestyle. The current leaders will be under huge pressure to hold
their nerve as the chasing pack challenge for the podium positions.