The Chile World Cup kicked off with some dominating performances from upcoming juniors in chest high swell at Matanzas, Chile.
Sol Degrieck (Belgium) set a new bar for Junior Girls, revelling in the uncrowded conditions. She showcased powerful bottom turns, critical lip hits and an aerial, proving she’s not only a top junior contender, but also a growing threat in the Pro Women. She was a standout of the entire day’s competition and was rewarded with the highest heat total of the day (12.90) and the top individual wave score (7.07).
Degrieck said,
“It was good to sail without a lot of people. I got one really nice wave and I was happy to pull off an aerial and quite a lot of turns on it. I loved sailing with the other young girls. I was having fun on the water and that’s the most important thing.”
Noni Stuven, a young Chilean girl who is new to wavesailing, handled the conditions well to make her way into second place in the Junior Girls.
Ryu Noguchi (Japan) won the first round of Junior Boys with some rapid flow and aggressive turns. Noguchi had a solid start, scoring his best wave in the first few minutes. He smacked lips, rode with rapid speed and connected multiple sections with an attacking style.
Noguchi said,
“It’s difficult for me, because where I am from is starboard tack. But my first wave was good, I got a set and had good flow on it.”
Noguchi is still on a high after recently making the semi-finals at the Japan World Cup in his home town of Omaezaki.
“I was so excited after Japan. I still don’t believe the place I got. But I’m aiming to be the world champion in the Under 18s and I want to be in top 16 Pro Men.”
Second and third place was an everchanging battle between the two local Chilean grommets. Loïc Antoine Harfagar showed good wave selection and a surf style of sailing and looked like he was going to take out second place. But closer to the end of the heat, Francisco Markiewicz pulled off a critical move in the lip and took out second place.
The juniors will have another two leaderboard rounds to reach their final result.
Leaderboard 1 Results Junior Girls
- Sol Degrieck
- Noni Stuven
Leaderboard 1 Results Junior Boys
- Ryu Noguchi
- Francisco Markiewicz
- Loïc Antoine Harfager Vita
- Joaquin Prat
- Ismael Labbé
