The windsurfing elite meets at the Gran Canaria beach of Pozo Izquierdo

The windsurfing elite will meet, from July 9 to 17, at Pozo Izquierdo Beach, in Gran Canaria, in the third round of the 2022 Windsurfing World Cup circuit, the second in the wave category, in in which more than 100 competitors will participate. Present at the presentation ceremony were the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales; the councilors of Sports and Tourism of the insular corporation, Francisco Castellano and Carlos Álamo, respectively; the mayor of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, Francisco García; the councilors of Tourism and Sports, Ana Mayor and Pedro Sánchez; and the organizer of the event, Björn Dunkerbeck.

The president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales, thanked the departments of Tourism and Sports of the island corporation, the City Council of Santa Lucía de Tirajana and Björn Dunkerbeck “for all their efforts to make this event once again part of the sports calendar of the island”. Morales also highlighted that “There is no geographical space with as many world titles in a sport as Gran Canaria has with windsurfing. Practitioners of this modality know what a privilege it is to be able to enjoy the conditions that our island has almost all year round and, in particular, Pozo Izquierdo” .

The Minister of Sports, Francisco Castellano, reaffirmed the commitment of his Ministry with this World Championship and valued the sacrifice of the previous organization in charge of the Ruano sisters. “I thank Björn Dunkerbeck for his commitment to relaunch the organization of this event after a two-year hiatus”, pointed out Castellano, who also stressed that “There will be more than 100 competitors through the different categories and 15 countries involved in the competition, among which France, Germany, the United States and Japan stand out.”

For his part, Carlos Álamo considered the return of this event as “This is especially positive and valuable news for the island, as it is one of the best-known, longest-running and most representative sporting events” . Also, he stressed that “It should be remembered that Gran Canaria is a paradise for practicing sports, especially as it is becoming known as the ‘home of windsurfing’”. From the tourism point of view, the councilor highlighted that “the sector recovers one of its main claims, since this competition sells our destination internationally with the invincible formula of sun, beach and sport”.

Francisco García, mayor of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, thanked the Cabildo de Gran Canaria and the Dunkerbeck family for bringing this event back to Pozo Izquierdo after some very difficult years. Likewise, he emphasized that “Santa Lucía de Tirajana has been an international benchmark for more than 30 years thanks to windsurfing and this is not only due to public aid, but also to private windsurfing training and dissemination companies that have set up on the beach. of Left Well” .

Finally, Björn Dunkerbeck commented that “The most complicated thing is going to be getting the public hooked again after two years of absence, but the conditions of Gran Canaria, a paradise for practicing water sports, mean that the island continues to be a benchmark for all lovers of windsurfing ”.

The Gran Canaria Windsurf World Cup in Pozo Izquierdo will have the participation of Daida and Iballa Ruano, who have won 28 world titles between them. In this edition, her main rival will be the Aruban Sarah-Quita Offringa, current champion of the wave modality in 2019 and who stood on the podium in the last two editions in Pozo Izquierdo.

While this year’s men’s event will have as main protagonists Bernd Roediger, Marcilio Brawzinho and Camille Juban, who made up the podium in the first event of this year held in Cape Verde. The ‘home of windsurfing’ will also have the presence of the 2019 champion, the Brazilian Ricardo Campello, as well as local riders such as Liam Dunkerbeck, Marinito Gil, Michael Friedl or Phillip Köster.