| Kiri Thode manages stylish moves at the 2010 PWA Costa Teguise |
| Friday, 02 July 2010 20:01 |
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The world’s top tricksters awoke to an overcast sky this morning which frustratingly halted any thermal effects from boosting the usually consistent trade winds to a suitable level for competition until late in the evening. Luckily, spirits were held high throughout the day, so when the time came, those at the front of the fleet were ready for action. The men managed to find seven minutes of consistent wind enabling them to complete their semi-finals, but the women were left sinking out to sea as soon as their flags went up. Head judge, Duncan Coombs and the rest of his crew, made every effort to get the competition going with each gust, but in the end it just wasn’t enough, and had to be abandoned for another day. Men After a successful previous day, Canadian Philip Soltysiak (Starboard, Dakine) met Bonairean Kiri Thode (Starboard, Gaastra) in the men’s semi-final. Soltysiak put together a slick repertoire of diverse, stylish, and technical moves, but Thode managed to creep ahead on the judge’s sheets. Thode is now one step closer to victory with a pass straight through to the winner’s final, whilst Soltysiak will have to remain content in the loser’s. On the other side of the draw, born and bred styler, Tonky Frans (F2, Gaastra) battled it out for a place in the final with the 2009 world champion, Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (Fanatic, North). Again, both sailors had an extremely close heat, but Estredo managed to edge out in front with an awesome funnel cana brava launching himself straight into the final with his old rival Thode. This leaves Frans to fight it out for third with Soltysiak. Women After a failed attempt to run the winner’s final the women’s competition remains at exactly the same point as yesterday with two times world freestyle champion, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard, Vandal) waiting patiently to meet Yoli Freites De Brendt (Fanatic, North). The forecast looks more hopeful for the final day of competition, and the organisers will make every effort to get the competitors out on the water to finish the single elimination, and hopefully the double too.
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