Vento e onde sul mitico spot di La Torche per il quarto giorno del PWA Grand Slam, dopo il nulla di fatto del giorno 3. Un tabellone single portato a termine con la super vittoria di Ricardo Campello (Point-7, Patrik), Thomas Traversa (Tabou, GA Sails) secondo. Terzo Brawzinho (Goya) e quarto uno straordinario Robby Swift (JP, NP). Per i prossimi giorni sono previste le gare di slalom e se il wave finisse così avremo prima dell’ultima tappa di Maui, Thomas Traversa primo in classifica generale seguito da Victor Fernandez e da Campello.
Ricardo Campello: “I did it !!!!!! I couldnt Be happier , I finally manage to Win an Elimination in Waves , after being very close many times I finally made it and Im super happy , we had the best conditions this year so far on competition here , Wind Waves sun and a lot of people watching us on the water made an amazing day for me! If the wind and wavs dont come back I will be the winner of this event and Now I jumped from 7th to 3rd on the World Ranking with Tomas Traversa Leading and victor Fernandez on 2nd place , so alot will be decided in Maui on the Ranking , thank you all for the support! Thanks Julian Schlosser for capturing the moment!”
Results After Single Elimination – Men’s Wave
1st Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC)
2nd Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC)
4th Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX)
5th Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde)
5th Alex Mussolini (Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC)
5th Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails)
FOTO Julian Schlosser
LA TORCHE PWA GRAND SLAM
Day 4: Thousands flock to La Torche as Ricardo Campello shines to claim victory after an epic day
La Torche produced the conditions everyone has been eagerly awaiting on day four of the La Lorche PWA Grand Slam as the contest burst into life. Winds of 20-30 knots, combined with half-mast to logo high waves and sunshine set the perfect platform for the world’s most radical sailors to wow the thousands of adoring fans, who had gathered on La Torche’s pristine white sand beaches, and they certainly weren’t disappointed as the standard of the action went, quite literally, sky high with explosive moves being thrown left, right and centre. After an epic day of competition – Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) – laid down the gauntlet to claim his first single elimination victory since Denmark, 2011, and he will now be praying that he can hold onto his lead as he looks to secure his maiden event win on the PWA Wave World Tour.
Men’s – Wave
Single Elimination
Winners’ Final
Ricardo Campello lined up against Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) in the winners’ final and the duo enjoyed an enthralling battle, that went down to the bitter end. Traversa was on the hunt to setup back-to-back victories, whilst Campello was searching for his first elimination victory since 2011. TT started the heat by looking for a double forward, knowing that he’d need to go big to defeat Campello, but after two failed attempts he reverted to a big and stylish one-handed backloop. Meanwhile, Campello, responded with a tweaked pushloop before bailing out, in spectacular fashion, of a double forward. At this point, Traversa then opened up a lead as he racked up the highest wave score of the heat, going fully under a peeling lip before being projected into an aerial, such was his timing, before backing it up with a couple of foam climbs. However, Campello, saved his best moment until a couple of minutes until the end as he launched into a perfectly executed double forward – earning him 9.44 points – which also earned him the single elimination victory. If results stay the same then Campello will rise to third overall, after discarding seventeenth place from Tenerife.
The wait is finally over for Ricardo Campello, who had this to say: “Well I still cant believe it, I have been fighting for a win on a wave for a long time, my dream is to become wave world champion and I really want to do it, it is still not over but I hope the results can remain as it is! I’m super happy competing here in France, especially with the amazing crowd and the best conditions we have had on tour so far – sunny, windy, wavy, amazing crowds, good result… what else could you ask for?? Thank you all for the support.”
However, Traversa, won’t be too disappointed with the result as Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North / MFC) had to settle for joint fifth, meaning the Frenchman’s second place takes him to the top of the overall world rankings – for the time being at least – with just one event to go. To secure his place in the top two of the single elimination, Traversa pulled off a sick frontside 360 on the final wave in his semifinal against – Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) – which he duly claimed on the exit knowing exactly what was on the line.
Having missed out on a place in the top three at the previous two events, the reigning world champion put the disappointment of missing out on the winners’ final behind him to defeat – Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins / SWOX) – and return to the top three. On his way to third the Browne stomped another double forward, as well as a double kicked, one-footed, backloop to do the damage. Brawzinho also nailed the best and biggest jump of the day with a massive stalled double forward. Swift, was looking for back-to-back podiums, having earned his first ever podium finish in Denmark, but still enjoyed a fantastic day on the water as he defeated qualifier – Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Point-7) followed by Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC). Swift, then went one better with a hugely impressive victory against Victor Fernandez. The Brit was also the only man to sail away from a pushloop forward today, as well as stopping numerous doubles and linking, fluid, powerful waves. Elsewhere, Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde), enjoyed his best day to date on tour as he claimed joint fifth alongside, Victor Fernandez, Alex Mussolini (Tabou / GA Sails) and two-time PWA Wave World Champion – Josh Angulo (Angulo / Gun Sails) – who showed he still has all the weapons to do some serious damage. Martin, defeated Martin ten Hoeve (Goya Windsurfing / Point-7), first before taking down Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) to earn his biggest victory so far, with the highlight being a radical goiter.