The second day of the Master of the Ocean 2021 started with tropical sunshine once more and a cool breeze for the athletes and spectators at the competition site. Nature brought slightly larger conditions than the day before but the waves remained moderately small for the first Team SUP heat of the day at 8.30 am. There was an excited crowd as Guillaume Authier (Canada) regained form in this heat and rode many glassy waves to the end finishing in 1st place for Team Happy Dolphins. In 2nd place we had Daniel Villasmil (Venezuela) for Team Caribe Connection and in 3rd place we had Tracey Shay (United States), a local kiter showing her great skills on SUP, for Team Cocotazo. At 9 am Round 2 Heat 1 of Team Surf got underway in glassy 3 -foot swell with larger sets. Our German female surfing champion who is part of the German National Team, Valeska Schneider, showed her true abilities with some great cutbacks and solid surfing style finishing 1st for Team International. Gianmarco Oliva (Italy) came in a very close 2nd with solid maneuvers for Team 4 Fish. 3rd place was secured by Marta Barrios (Spain), a great female local surfer of many years, for Team Dominican Republic. The morning had an air of excitement to it and this could be felt during Round 2 Heat 2 of Team SUP when surfer Papito Santana (Dominican Republic) scored wave after wave with his masterful style. This permitted him to finish 1st for Team Carambola followed by Diego Anta (4thOverall in the 2020 Edition of the Master of the Ocean) for Team International. He was closely followed by Guillaume Authier (Canada) in 3rd place for Team Happy Dolphins who put in a solid performance for the 2nd time this morning. Daniel Villasmil (Venezuela) came in 4th place for Team Caribe Connection. Both Papito Santana (Dominican Republic) and Diego Anta (Spain) advanced to the finals for Team SUP for their respective teams!
Luciano Gonzalez searching for a wave.
The morning was filled with non-stop action and afterwards there was a break of 2 hours between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm because the wind conditions were too mediocre and not good enough for any kite or wing foil heats. At around 1 pm, the wind picked up to a solid 15 knots and allowed for an exciting all-women final and one-time Kite Expression Session with Samuela Mule (Italy), Peri Roberts (Australia), Marta Barrios (Spain) and Imma Nin Franch (Spain). Peri Roberts is currently the number one woman on the GKA world tour for kite surfing and it showed with her astounding display of talent. Peri and Imma came very close with some amazing tricks and wave riding. The final results of this heat will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on Saturday the 18th. Heat 2 of the Kite Expression Session was equally exciting with freestylers, wave riders and all-rounders coming together to wow the crowd. Joselito del Rosario and Francis Gonzales from the Dominican Republic took 1st and 2nd places respectively scoring excellent waves. Francis Gonzalez caused an upset in this heat by taking out Jose Luis Ciriaco from the Dominican Republic (last year´s expression session winner). Competitor Robby James (UK-Thailand) came last in this heat because he was unfortunately not able to start on time.
Adeuri Corniel lands his kite after an insane expression session.
As the tropical afternoon advanced with tropical beats, local kite champion Adeuri Corniel (youth Olympic freestyle champion) stole the show of Heat 3 of the Kite Expression Session by putting on an impressive and exciting array of freestyle maneuvers and finishing in 1st place. The wind increased slightly to 17 knots and locals Alex Soto, Ernesto Iser and Nisael Gomez went head to head in this incredible heat that had the crowd on their toes placing 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Increasingly windy conditions and clouds cover allowed for exciting wind sport action! Round 4 of the Kite Expression Session was very international and saw Manuel Selman (Chile), a Tokyo 2020 Olympic surfer, taking the lead and scoring first place while showing much prowess with his kitesurfing skills. Veteran Luciano Gonzalez (4-time Overall Master of the Ocean champion) took a close 2nd place, followed by Marcel Glaser (Austria) in 3rd place, Diego Anta (Spain) in 4th place and Marius Herrmann, a champion windsurfer from Sylt, Germany, in 5th place.
Peace out from Peri Roberts.
The later afternoon weather started changing with some impending storm clouds as the wind picked up even more to a gusty 20 knots. At 3.00 pm Marius Herrmann (Germany) put on a real show with several front loops in the 1st Windsurfing Expression Heat. Marius placed first followed by Tony Garcia (Dominican Republic), 2001 winner of the Aloha Classic in Hawaii, who pulled off some great wave riding and freestyle moves. Locals Franklin Soto and Francis Gonzalez came 3rd and 4th in this heat. Franklin and Marius are the only two athletes in the whole event that are competing in all four expression sessions in all four disciplines! Round 2 Heat 5 started shortly after at 3.20 pm with a Team Kite Heat with Peri Roberts (Australia) getting into her groove on the waves and again showing why she is 1st in the world in the women’s kiteboarding scene by placing 1st for Team International. Alex Soto (Dominican Republic) placed 2nd for Team 4 Fish with some wonderful wave riding. 3rd place was taken by graceful local, Samuela Mule (Italy) for the Happy Dolphins Team.
Manuel Selman with a smooth backside hack.
The first heat of Team Windsurfing started at 3.40 pm with a real acrobatic show. Tony Garcia (Dominican Republic) was able to snag 1st place for Team Cocotazo landing several front loops and riding solid waves as the wind picked up. Nature also put on a show as darker storm clouds with lightning. started to gather. The afternoon was packed with windsurfing action as Marius Herrmann (Germany) landed 2nd place for Team International while trying to land a front loop off the back of a wave which caused a stir amongst the spectators. Miguel Garcia (Dominican Republic) placed 3rd for Team Caribe Connection and Maarja Kivistik (Estonia) placed 4th in this heat for Team 4 Fish. She was the Women’s Master of the Ocean in 2020 and came out in true form. The last heat of the day was another Team Windsurfing one and showcased the talents of Francis Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) in 1st place for Team Dominican Republic followed by 2nd place for Franklin Mieses (Dominican Republic) for Team Happy Dolphins and 3rd place for Audrey Meyer (France) for Team Carambola who was also a Master of the Ocean winner in previous editions.
Jose Luis Ciriaco his the lip with power and grace.
The rain started to close in on the Master of the Ocean 2021 after an intense day of action and after it started raining the day ended just before 5 pm. Despite the changing conditions, the 2nd day was an all-round success. Tomorrow is community day of the Master of the Ocean 2021 with a myriad of community activities in conjunction with the Happy Dolphins organization including ocean conservation talks for children, lifesaving demonstrations, wing foiling lessons on the beach, yoga and an Afro Hairstyle Competition among other activities. Stay tuned for a day of fun and community spirit!