Round 1 in 40 knot winds with heat 13 in which Peter VOLWATER (H-24, F2) set the standard for the day with a perfect double forward, advancing to the second round. Also progressing were Yann SORLUT (F-60), John SKYE (K-57, F2) with a clean double forward of his own, Andy WOLFF (G-9, Tabou/Gaastra), Josh ANGULO (US-11), Xavier HUART (F-33, Mistral/North), Scott McKERCHER (KA-181, Starboard/Severne) and Matt PEARCH (K-16, F2).

The second round started off with fireworks between Kauli SEADI (BRA-253, Quatro/Naish) and Levi SIVER (USA-0, Starboard) and Victor FERNANDEZ (E-42, Fanatic) against Regis BOURON (F-300). It was a close call, but SEADI nailed it at the expense of SIVER with a massive backloop and a slick taka. FERNANDEZ's smooth and radical style helped him into the next round, in spite of BOURON's strong performance.

In another star filled heat, Robby SWIFT (K-89, JP/Neil Pryde) opened up with a flawless double forward, taking out Julien TABOULET (F-100, JP/Neil Pryde) who went big with double attempts and a tabletop forward, but couldn’t beat the Englishman. Local legend Bjorn DUNKERBECK (E-11, North) played a home match here in Pozo and knocked out Guincho winner Matt PRITCHARD (US-10, Tabou/Gaastra).

Dario OJEDA (E-211, Quatro/Gaastra) then proceeded to take out Jonas CEBALLOS (E-40, Fanatic) with an impressive air taka, Antoine ALBEAU (F-192, Neil Pryde) beat Alex MUSSOLINI (E-30, JP/Neil Pryde), Greg ALLAWAY (KA-38, Mistral/North) won from Ben PROFFITT (K-800, Fanatic) and Vidar JENSEN (N-44, North) was flying high over Pozo bringing defeat from above to Kristoffer LIVING (S-80).

Diony GUADAGNINO (V-69, Neil Pryde) stuck a double forward in his heat against Klaas VOGET (G-4, Fanatic) and advanced, as did Nik BAKER (K-66, Mistral/North). Pozo local Orjan JENSEN (E-19, North) had to give way to Ricardo CAMPELLO (V-111, JP/Neil Pryde) in a sizzling heat, but as JENSEN just missed out on his double forward landing and CAMPELLO made his double without breaking a sweat, CAMPELLO went through. Kevin PRITCHARD (US-3, Starboard/MauiSails) pulled off his trademark one footed backloop to beat Colin SIFFERLEN (NC-4, Starboard) and Peter VOLWATER kept on rolling, knocking out Yann SORLUT (F-60) with big backloops and a near double forward. John SKYE (K-57, F2) went down in a close heat against Andy WOLFF (G-9, Tabou/Gaastra) and Josh ANGULO (US-11) defeated Xavier HUART (F-33, Mistral/North) with his one-handed backloops and tabletop forwards. In the final heat of round 2, Scott McKERCHER(KA-181, Starboard/Severne) secured his spot among the last sixteen by beating Matt PEARCH (K-16, F2).

Forecasts indicate exciting conditions for the weekend with even stronger winds than we have seen so far and bigger waves.