KOESTERED
Contests normally have a natural momentum, like a band warming up to the crescendo of the final crowd jumping kerrang, the first rounds are normally just to sort the wheat from the chafe. Not at Pozo on the 12 July, 2015. Right from the first heat horn; sailors, staff and press scrambled to process the pace of what was happening before their eyes with the level so insanely high. First round knockouts left the beach dazed at having not only been knocked out by their opponent but battered by the relentless winds – ‘’The sailors were challenged more by the conditions than beating the other guy’’ – Duncan Coombs.
The margins of difference in heats were some of the slightest I have ever seen, which only made the judge’s pen seem even crueller to the loser. There were two notable exceptions, Philip Koester and Ricardo Campello. From the get go, these two were keen to send a message as to who was going to rule the air. The decision would come sooner than expected with the pair meeting early on in round 3 of the single elimination. The much anticipated match up turned out to be a rather one sided affair, as one seasoned observer put it. ‘Ricardo was Koestered’. You had to feel for Ricardo, prior to the heat and the event, he looked a strong contender. Social media was awash with videos of him sailing like a man possessed and in the crazy style that has made him such a crowd favourite. Koester had other ideas though. Campello has been one of the few sailors to challenge Koester in his prime but on home soil Philip was keen to set the record straight with a devastating display of jumping and riding excellence to take the win from an unlucky and visibly shaken Campello who had suffered a nasty crash warming up for the heat. Being ‘Koestered’ did not look a pleasant experience.
