Finals day at the Peru World Cup showcased the longest ridable wave of the Unified World Wave Tour. The 4 Star event hosted many of the world’s greatest wave riders with classic surf style riding over these perfect 6-8 foot face peeling waves. A dream wave, on the dream tour, delivered dream victories for Guadeloupe’s Camille Juban and Spain’s Maria Andrés.
Maria Andres (Spain) handled the smooth surf style conditions with ease, picking great sets, and connecting multiple turns and floaters to get some of the longest and most memorable rides of the final. Andrés found three key waves and the best two secured a near excellent total heat score of 15.20 to take a confident win. After a 3rd place finish in 2022 and a victory in 2019 here in Pacasmayo, this was a sweet and hard fought victory for the Spaniard. The win pushes Andrés into 5th in the World Rankings and within striking distance of the overall World Title podium. The world titles will be decided at the Grand Final Aloha Classic in Hawaii at the end of October.
“I keep coming back here because of what I experience every time I ride a good wave here. I just don’t get that feeling anywhere else. Plus I really like the atmosphere at the competition, we all get to hang out a lot together, so it feels more like a family atmosphere,” said Andrés.
The number one Women’s seed coming into the Peru World Cup, France’s Sarah Hauser, read her finals waves superbly and showcased trademark tight turns right in the pocket. Hauser didn’t connect quite as many critical turns as Andrés and that was the difference between the two on the day. Towards the end of heat, Hauser managed to find a long peeling beauty that she rode well into ‘middles’ (over 500M long ride) for a 7.27 and cemented her second place. The second place here in Peru holds Hauser in 4th place overall and still in close contact with the top riders and definitely in contention for the overall World Title race.
Australia’s Jane Seman had a rough start to the heat but regained some of her lost ground when she managed to pick up a wide set wave and connect multiple snaps in the pocket and two lip line hits to get herself back into contention with a 6.93. As good sets rolled in towards the end of heat, Seman was a little too inside and had to settle for a medium size wave, where she squeezed in multiple turns to secure third place. Seman now sits in 9th overall in the World Title Race.
Another Australian, Fifteen year-old Sarah Kenyon had ridden well all competition to make her way into the Women’s final. Kenyon was outgunned by the big names from the top ten in the world but she leaves the competition with her head held high and demonstrating exceptionally promise for the future. Kenyon is part of a new wave of young Australian riders who are starting to stake their claim to be amongst the best in the world. She won the Pro Junior and Junior finals at Peru against a mixed fleet of boys and girls.
The inspired youngster said: “To make it into the women’s final was a dream. I was very excited to meet heaps of new friends and compete against women like Sarah Hauser, – people that I aspire to be like in my windsurfing. I love how long the wave is, it just goes forever, and there’s no sharp reef to worry about.”
The Men’s final was extremely close with all riders reaching double figure scores. Guadeloupe’s Antoine Martin started strongly with an epic 9.10 ride that nailed a high risk ‘taka’ 360 maneuver early on, followed by aerials, floaters and power snaps tight in the pocket. Lightweight Camille Juban, also from Guadeloupe, answered back with an 8.4 that included an insanely high and tweaked aerial, a one handed top turn and impressively fast and full vertical snaps in the pocket all of which impressed the judges despite the wave being a little smaller than Martin’s best scoring ride. Martin then found another wave that offered multiple aerials and a final taka. He sacrificed hundreds of meters to rider the extra length and secure the taka and that 6.5 score. That decision to ride the wave for over 500m hunting the final move cost him critical minutes getting back out to the point for another good set wave. Those lost minutes may have cost him victory on the day. Towards the end of the heat, Juban further built his score with a super long peeler that he milked with stylish aerials and snaps to score a 7.23 and give him the win by just 0.03 points. With these results, Martin moves up into 10th overall in the World Rankings, while Juban rises to 7th and is now in striking distance of the overall World Title podium. This was Juban’s ninth consecutive finals appearance.
“I have my back up against the wall. If I don’t make the finals, then it’s hard for me to keep up. And that motivates me. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but somehow, with experience on the contest day, I can control it. I really enjoy Pacasmayo because the wave is not heavy and it feels like a vacation, which gives you less pressure and creates more camaraderie. It’s a smooth, easy, long ride, it’s really pleasant,” said Juban.
Italy’s number one rider, Federico Morisio, competed with trademark consistency he’s shown here in Peru over many years, for 3rd place on the coveted podium. His inspiring repertoire included aerials, aggressive snaps and floaters, which he linked beautifully on several long waves. Morisio scored over 7 for his two best waves and finished with a strong heat total of 14.63. Morisio moves up to 19th overall in the World Rankings.
The number one Men’s seed coming into the Peru World Cup was 3 time Aloha Classic Champion, Hawaiian based and French born Morgan Noireaux who ended his finals run in 4th. Despite the end result, Noireaux impressed with the second highest single wave score of the final at 8.63. He rode a long and racy set wave that allowed him to deliver multiple fast paced aerials, floaters, a tweaked air and a taka. Sadly for him the conditions didn’t make it easy for him to find the back-up he needed and he finished the event in fourth place. Noireaux was ranked number 1 in the world after the Chile World Cup but has now slipped to 4th. His World Title race is still very much alive with less than 1,000 points separating him from current 3rd overall Brazil’s Marcillio Brown, 2nd overall Spain’s Victor Fernandez. Current rankings leader Spain’s Marino Gil Gherardi is a little further ahead of this tight pack but still vulnerable with two major 5 star event stops to go.
Next up, competitors will take a break from competition before heading to the German World Cup next month, and then the Aloha Classic Grand Final in Hawaii in October.
