British export Tanya Saleh reports from the first day of the AWT Cactus Cup, Punta San Carlos, Baja: Miraculously the whole crew and all compeitors managed to make it down to SoloSports Camp before midnight on the day before competition began in one piece. Well, sort of…

We woke to glassy head high surf which encouraged most to go for a surf or SUP before the first skippers meeting.

If you’ve never been to San Carlos before then you need to try and imagine rolling out of your tent facing the water every day. There is no phone signal, but there are amazing conditions, good company, and therefore there is such a laid back, chilled out vibe in camp.

With 6 potential days of competition ahead of us it was suggested that we would likely run a series of single eliminations until 2 discards are allowed (assuming conditions permit). The small sized fleet of 30 competitors would allow for a super relaxed event with the main stage being down at the point break.

And the conditions didn’t fail to deliver off the bat; head high to logo high waves with the guys on 4.7-5.0’s and the women on 4.2’s we finished round one before the day was out.

When you look at the board it’s really true to say that there were NO easy heats. Most of the competitors live in Maui, and watching the heats is like watching a pre-edited Windsurfing DVD.

Day 1 single elimination results:

Men’s

1st Kevin Pritchard

2nd Keith Taboul

3rd Matt Pritchard

4th Graham Ezzy

Amateurs’

1st Robert (Norway)

2nd Yossy (Israel)

3rd Jay (The Gorge)

Women’s

1st Miho (Japan)

2nd Tanya

3rd Sam (Maui)

4th Catherine (San Francisco)

Juniors’

1st Jordan

2nd Morgan

3rd Jay