Throwing it down in Tenerife

The second wave event of the year here in Tenerife is a fact!
This has been one of the best event experiences I’ve had on tour.
The motivation and support between the girls was through the roof.
It was good because we had sailable conditions everyday and didn’t waste time waiting around. The contest was on every single day.
For this event 2 waves counted and only one jump, whereas in pozo it was 2 waves and 2 jumps. This made for some exciting heats between the girls.

Having been in Fuerteventura for freestyle I didn’t have much time to get dialed into the conditions, but the day of the contest I got out on the water to “test” my gear and came out 1,5-2 hours later with a huge smile on my face.
I knew we were about to start to compete, but everything clicked in that session. I was able to do anything I wanted with my gear. I just couldn’t get myself off the water. All of a sudden I realized the green flag was up for the trials, so then I was forced to come back in.

This session stayed with me all week.
All I wanted was to get on the water, compete and hit the sweet spot on every wave I could get. Maybe even push my jumping limits even further.
During the contest I sailed my 5,0 down to my 3,7. And used my 86L ultrakode for the lighter winds and the 76L for the stronger winds.

In the single elimination I had some really good heats, but in the semifinals this time it wasn’t enough to beat Iballa, she knows exactly which waves to catch and score the most points. I might have also gotten too excited in that heat as I launched myself into an overrotated pushloop. I wanted to win pretty bad, but maybe I was trying too hard. That crash knocked some sense into me haha.
Anyway, I ended up in the loser’s final. On the other side of the pool it was Steffi who made it to the winner’s final so I was up against Daida. I love a challenge and was up for it. In the end I lost by 0,2 points but sailed a heat I was happy with. Some times you learn more from your losses.
So a 4th place finish in the single elimination.

I never lost hope, because my goal was to be on the podium.
In the double I was even more poised to get there.
The wind was up the last few days and the judging criteria became 2 jumps and 2 waves. In this elimination I had better wave selection and after some advice, I started positioning myself so I could get longer waves and more turns in. What a difference in points! I never scored this high in my life.
I fought off Amanda Beenen to keep my 4th place and then was up against Daida again for 3rd. Bring it on!! I didn’t know I lived for challenges like that!
I had a decent pushloop and a big stalled forward for my standards, but Daida busted out a much bigger one and scored perfect 10’s for that.
Secretely I wanted to do a clean canarian sweep and finish on the podium at every event here (Those thropies are pieces of art!), but I had to settle for 4th place. Unlike last year I was more satisfied to be there though. There was a different atmosphere on the beach this year. Even though we were all competing against each other all the girls were very supportive of each other.
Congrats to the twins for 1st and 2nd and Steffi Wahl for 3rd.
I’m sitting in 3rd overall right now. The rest of the year will be decided in France, Sylt and Maui.

It’s been two months since I’ve arrived in the Canaries. I’ve eaten a life time supply of papas arrugadas con mojo. I’m not so sure about my Spanish, but my sailing has definitely improved. My hair has been toasted yellow from the amount of sun I’ve had. All in all I’ve gained some invaluable experiences and After 3 contests in a row I’m looking forward to a little break back in Holland.
See you in Europe. I wonder what slalom in Denmark has in store for us.