IWT / PWA Pacasmayo Wave Classic Peru 2024 - Event

Maria Andres and Camille Juban win the Pacasmayo Classic 2024 in Peru.

The 2024 IWT / PWA Pacasmayo Wave Classic Peru 2024 started on exactly the same dates like the IWT / PWA Tenerife event this year, August 5th. Both events are 4 star events. The riders receive compared to 5 star events (Pozo, Chile, Japan, Sylt or Maui) a reduced amount of points. Some of the big names decided to travel to Peru instead of competing in Tenerife: Maria Andres, Sarah Hauser, Camille Juban, Antoine Martin, Morgan Noireaux, Philip Köster, Federico Morisio.

Pacasmayo is all about riding long running left-handers. The wind is on the light side, from 10 to 20 knots. When proper swell from the southern Pacific areas shows up, the waves can get quite thick and heavy.

In the final heats of pro women and pro men the wind was extremely light and the waves were smaller, but still the finals were held on August 13th. Watch the finals on the livestream below.

The IWT ran competitions in 9 divisions. The biggest group were the Pro men with 34 riders registered. Robby Swift and Marcilio Browne, who were registered for the event didn’t show up.

No huge waves or crazy moves, but you gotta love pure wave riding with 10 knots, clean faces and an epic sunset. I’m really grateful to Pacasmayo and all the community here for welcoming us so well and letting us enjoy this paradise. This year we got small waves and really light winds, but hopefully we get some proper swell in the next weeks. Federico Morisio about the Pacasmayo Classic 2024

In the ladies fleet – just 7 riders registered in that category – Maria Andres, Sarah Hauser, Jane Seman and Sarah Kenyon made it into the final. The Spaniard Andres managed to score two wave rides with about 7 points and won the final with two waves counting (15.20 points). Sarah Hauser, Maui resident, made it in second (12.67 points) and Jane Seman from Australia finished in third (11.83 points).

“I keep coming back here because of what I experience every time I ride a good wave here. I just don’t get that feeling anywhere else. Plus I really like the atmosphere at the competition, we all get to hang out a lot together, so it feels more like a family atmosphere,” said Andrés.

In the men’s category the final was a super close battle between Camille Juban and Antoine Martin. Antoine managed to ride a perfect wave with his first attempt and had the highest single wave score of the heat with 9.10 points. Unfortunately Antoine couldn’t get a second high score. His good friend Camille Juban, who already won the 5 star Chile event earlier this year, scored two high counting wave rides (8.40 and 7.23) and won the final with an overall score of 15.63 points. Antoine Martin had 15.60 points on his score sheet. What a close call in the end!! Italian Federico Morisio reached 14.63 points and made it in third place. Morgan Noireaux made it in 4th with an overall score of 13.20 points. Morgan, who now, had the second highest wave ride with 8.53 points, but missed out to get a second good wave in the all deciding final.

“I have my back up against the wall. If I don’t make the finals, then it’s hard for me to keep up. And that motivates me. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but somehow, with experience on the contest day, I can control it. I really enjoy Pacasmayo because the wave is not heavy and it feels like a vacation, which gives you less pressure and creates more camaraderie. It’s a smooth, easy, long ride, it’s really pleasant,” said Juban.

“Light winds for the final in Peru. I brought my 88L which was the biggest board I had with me in Europe but it was still a bit small. I managed to get two waves but I was really struggling to go upwind and really needed a few more liters to be competitive. I even went out with the 2.2 shorty wetsuit to save some weight but it didn’t make enough of a difference. I always enjoy my time in Peru though and taking advantage of the conditions before heading back to Maui and preparing for Sylt.” Morgan Noireaux

“Back home from Peru 4 star event in which I ended up in 5th place, definitely not how I wanted to finish in this event, but the conditions didn’t allow me to show everything I can do. Hopefully we get to compete the next time with wind. Why Pacasmayo and not Tenerife? I went by forecast and since I’ve never been in Pacasmayo I thought it was a good opportunity to sail a fun long wave. Time for some family time and get ready for the next stop in Sylt!” Philip Köster

Overall Ranking

Morgan Noireaux moved up to 4th place in the overall wave rankings. Marino Gil leads the rankings, ahead of Victor Fernandez and Marcilio Browne.

In the pro women category Lina Erpenstein, the Tenerife event winner, leads the overall rankings. Alexia Kiefer Quintana is in second and Maria Morales Navarro is in third.