Guess who’s the new poster boy for the Vandal Sails Riot ad campaign?

Check out this video on Boardseeker.com of the first day at the PWA world cup in Pozo with some nice action from Alex Mussolini. In his first round he drew a tough heat against one of the qualifiers, but he just ‘tore it apart’. Nice one Alex, now pull your pants a bit higher and go for the title!

The conditions in Pozo this year weren’t that great, the waves were on the small side and the winds weak by Pozo standards – 4m weather in the single and 3.7m in the double elimination. Although not epic, the conditions certainly were good enough and provided great wave, jumping and trick action.

Philip Köster was obviously the stand out sailor but before talking about him I’ll give my view on some other sailors. Thomas Traversa had a great comp, he realised what he could and couldn’t do and like many great PWA competitors from the past he simply sailed to his strengths. He had three main jumps: backloop, stalled forward and double forward and quickly nailed them giving him time to choose the best set waves to ride. As the waves are given a higher overall score Thomas used his excellent riding skills to rack-up as many points as possible by carving and hitting both front-side and back-side. This tactics severed him well and he is currently third overall in waves this year.

Thomas Traversa stalling it

Alex Mussolini, confident and happy on his new boards and sails had an excellent competition. Really fighting in his heats and sailing intelligently he was stopped in the single by a sic backside wave 360 by Dario Ojeda and by an on- form Ricardo Campello in the double. It was great to see Alex nailing doubles in his heats and I feel we may see him back to form, placing well in future competitions.

Alex Mussolini

The conditions did not really appear to suit Kauli Seadi, who seems to do better in howling winds or decent sized waves. He is also pushing his gear in many directions trying different shapes and fin configurations – if there had been more wind during the month before the competition then he (and maybe Brawzinho) would have fared better. Both Jonas Ceballos and Dario Ojeda had a great event. Nailing wave 360’s, backloops and really reading the waves well, as you expect from two of the top locals! Jonas has the best one-handed backloop on tour and Dario nails the best backside wave 360 at Pozo.

Kauli Seadi

Jonas the backloop maestro

Ricardo Campello really didn’t do much in the weaker winds of the single elimination, but with stronger winds and a hunger to climb up the rankings he stormed through the heats in the double. I’ve said before how much I enjoy Ricardo’s sailing when he is on form in Pozo and this year was no exception. He does excellent, high double forwards and also rips up the waves, always giving it 100% with the crashes to prove it!

Ricardo Campello

Victor Fernandez was, as we have come to expect, excellent with a powerful, clean style and huge range of jumps and tricks. He sailed without fault and if it were not for the child prodigy of Philip Köster, Victor would have been the event winner. Excellent, in control doubles, tweaked pushies, 360s, taka’s and goiters on the wave, you really can’t fault Victor’s sailing at Pozo and that is what makes Philip’s result so incredible. Philip owned Pozo this year, he comes across as shy and modest and you had to wonder if he could pull off a win and the pressure of a final against the ice-cool Victor. But he did and did so twice. The final of the double was the best of the two as the wind was stronger and Philip just went out there and destroyed the place. It seemed that after half the heat was over he was just sailing around thinking of something to do as he had already done all of his moves – stalled doubles, sic tweak pushies, high backloops, takas, shakas – there really isn’t much he can’t do at Pozo…

Victor Fernandez backside aerial

Philip Köster number 1

It became quite apparent that the line between freestyle on the wave and true wave sailing has become very blurred at Pozo. Taka’s were really popular this year with some sailors doing a hop before rotating and others hitting the lip and then spinning. Personally I think they are all good but obviously a serious taka where you destroy the lip outscores a rotation on the foam ball or a flaka in the flats. The shaka versus backside wave 360 is harder to say – Dario nails a proper backside wave 360 and it’s sic but Philip also pulled some truly sic shakas on the waves that deserved a high score. Judging is not easy!

Philip Köster and Victor Fernandez

For umi it was a good event: ‘our’ riders did really well and we produced a video before the event of Alex and Thomas and now Jamie is editing our look at the top riders from the event itself. I interviewed them all and got some interesting background shots of Pozo – it is actually quite a nice village! The clip should be out in a couple of weeks – I hope you’ll all enjoy it. I’m off the Mexico now to meet up with the latest umi rider; Graham Ezzy and a solid south swell…

Brendan Pyatt

All pics © John Carter/PWA

It’s 16 July and we’re nearing the end of this year’s PWA Pozo competition. A comp where so far the 15-year-old Philip Köster stands on top, having beaten three times Pozo champ Victor Fernandez in the final of the single elimination. Jonas took third place in an all local podium of Philip, Victor, Jonas and Dario Ojeda. Team umi reports from the rocky beach of Pozo Izquierdo.

Jonas tablepushing himself to third in the single

Alex
‘We’re in Pozo for the PWA wave contest that’s on from 10 to 17 July. This year I am staying in the town of Pozo itself together with Thomas and Brendan, its very nice because we are really close from the beach so we can sail as many times as we want. The contest for me has been going great I am really happy with my sailing and the contest. Before the event we made a clip with some nice action so this year Pozo has been very productive for everyone.’

Alex in the single

Thomas
‘I only came to this event in Pozo to rack up some points for the PWA overall wave ranking. I really miss some training in port tack jumping and chop-riding, so I wasn’t really successful until now. In the single elimination I went out against my team mate Ross Williams. I’m just trying to have fun in the water, we’ll see if I can pass some heats in the double elimination. But anyways, Alex and Jonas are already ripping for umi, that’s what matters!’

Brendan
‘The conditions haven’t been as good as the past few years but the sailing has been really hot! Watching Philip Köster pass through his heats and ending up in the final was perfect and seeing Victor battling against the kid was really something. To see such a confident competitor who has won here for the past three years being dominated by a 15 year old was great. It will be interesting to see how things work out during the double elimination as the forecast is quite good. For sure Kauli will be hungry to improve his position as the conditions in the single really did not suit him. I think that if the wind is stronger then Ricardo will be one to look out for. We will also see if Philip has the confidence to sit on the beach, watch all the guys ripping and then do his thing in the final…’

Kauli making the most of the conditions

Unfortunately Alex met his good friend Dany Bruch in the single. Alex went on to the last 8.

Jonas in third

Thanks to John Carter/PWA for the action pics

Check out this latest clip of Alex Mussolini and Thomas Traversa shot right before the 2009 PWA world cup in Pozo. Are these boys ready to rock or what?