Day 7: Iballa Moreno Crowned Champion of the First Ever PWA World Cup in Morocco After Windless Final Day.
Words by PWA, Chris Yates.
The women’s wave fleet met at 09:30am (GMT+1) on the final morning of the 2018 Morocco PWA World Cup for the skippers’ meeting, but with mast high waves and almost zero wind the women were promptly released for the event with the swell expected to increase throughout the day – with only light onshore winds to accompany it.
With the contest officially called off – Iballa Moreno’s (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) long wait finally came to an end, having won the single elimination on Wednesday, as she was crowned the champion of Morocco.
Victory here represents the perfect start to the 9-time world champions title defence and you can see Iballa in action again in July during the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival, which takes place 15th-21st July.
Once the result was official we caught up with Iballa for a quick word:
Congratulations Iballa, how are are you feeling after winning the first ever PWA event in Morocco and also the first ever only women’s wave event?
“I’m super happy and proud to be here because we had all the attention on the girls, which I think is really important for the sport. This is an amazing place, I think we were a little bit unlucky this week with the wind, but we still managed to gain a good result. I think the level overall was good – especially in the final. It would’ve have been nice to have a little bit more wind, but I think all the girls showed a good level and it was really fun to be out there.”
What will you be up to between now and the Gran Canaria Wind & Waves Festival?
“We’ve been working really hard this year for the event as this is going to be the 30th anniversary of the competition – and our [Iballa & Daida’s] 7th year of organising the event, so we are going to do something special and I think that will also be really good for the girls… we’ll give some more news next week probably. So we’ll be focusing on that, but before then I’ll be travelling to Indonesia next week for SUP training and also have a bit of a holiday. After that I’ll be back to focusing 100% on the event In Gran Canaria – both training and organising.”
Thanks, Iballa and congratulations again.
With no competition possible on the last day of the event that means that the rankings from the single elimination remain unchanged.
Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) equals her best start to a wave season – 2nd – having also finished second in Pozo, Gran Canaria in 2016 and the Aruban will look to build upon a great start to the season as she looks to break into the overall top 2 for the first time come the end of the season.
Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was in contention throughout the final but has to settle for 3rd place in Morocco, but she’ll be even more dangerous when the tour returns to the Canary Islands – firstly in her home spot of Pozo and then El Medano, Tenerife.
Result 2018 Morocco PWA World Cup – Women’s Wave
1st Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Marine Hunter (KA Sail)
5th Maria Andres (Fanatic / NorthSails)
