Report: Matt Pearce / Photos: Ydwer van der Heide
As yesterday (Tuesday) was a lay day in the end with inadequate conditions for competition, the women’s remaining heats were postponed.
Today looks like there could be good enough conditions to reach a fitting final, however the crew have now switched contest venue to a spot called ‘Secrets’ in the north to maximise the conditions.
Check out the GKA’s social media channels later in the day for a wrap-up as, having gone mobile, the network updates will be less frequent than you may have been used to earlier in the week during the day.
Here’s where the standout women’s performances in rounds one and two shone through on Sunday and Monday.
Defending GKA Women’s champion Moona Whyte, from Hawaii, has been riding on her front hand here in Cape Verde and kicked off her season on day one with arguably the most complete performance of the division so far, winning her round one heat against South African rider Lyde Heckroodt to progress straight through to round three. The current world number two, Ninja Maria Bichler from Mauritius, isn’t at this event but third place holder Jalou Langeree is and she had a similarly strong start. Although she’s spent the last few months training on her front hand in Cape Town and has made the switch to backside at this event, she still had a strong start against local rider Didi Lopes and went straight through to round three as well.
Special mention also goes to Portuguese rider Ines Correia who now lives here on the island and she used her in-depth knowledge of the wave at Ponta Preta to devastating effect against experienced competitor, Marie Gautron, and Charlotte Carpentier to progress from round one to the final rounds of the competition.
Here’s some more video media to whet your appetite for the women’s action to come!
