NATURE DELIVERS MAGNIFICENTLY FOR MASTER OF THE OCEAN 2023 LAST DAY!
CABARETE, Dominican Republic- 27th of February, 2023
The fifth day of the Master of the Ocean 2023 started with magnificent waves and radiant sunshine. The first heat of the day was at 9:20 am with a series of Overall SUP finals and the waves were cleaner and a lot larger than the day before at about 4 to 5 feet. There was some impressive powerful surfing put on by Action Man Brian Talma (Barbados), who came in first in his SUP heat. Precise cut backs were cheered on by the crowd. Daniel Weiss (Germany) placed 2nd. The Team SUP heats also displayed some good performances with Team Edelweiss (Switzerland) coming in first and Team Cocotazo second in this category. For the late morning heat of SUP Expression Session Daury Reynoso (Dominican Republic) executed solid maneuvers to take 1st place in head high surf to the delight of the crowds on Dominican Independence Day.
The day advanced under blue skies and clean large surf with large crowds arriving at the start of the Overall SURF heats. Francis Gonzalez Martinez (Dominican Republic) surfed powerfully, grabbing the 1st place. He was followed by Antonio Lusson (Cuba) in 2nd place, Bobo Gallagher (Hawaii) in 3rd place and Balz Mueller (Switzerland) in 4th place with solid surf techniques and style. The Team SURF series followed with equally exciting and imposing surfing from Team Cocotazo (Dominican Republic) coming in 1st place and Team Edelweiss (Switzerland) in 2nd.
The Expression Session Surf Final took place in glassy conditions with an impressive display of style by Tim Elter (Germany) from Team Condor; he placed 1st with an outstanding series of 360 maneuvers. The crowds really felt the adrenaline for this heat and there was much excitement. The wind remained light into the rest of the afternoon making it impossible to run additional windsurf or kite heats and the competition ended on a high note with tropical beats by local DJs in a heavenly setting.
Winners were announced at 3.45 pm and were presented on stage in the competition area on the beach. They were congratulated by the crowd, contest organizers and by Katrin Werdermann, deputy head of the German Embassy in Santo Domingo, on stage. First, the Future Masters of the Ocean were congratulated; they performed extraordinarily at the event despite their young age: Victoria Bramtot, 11 years old and youngest competitor (France/Dominican Republic), Bobo Gallagher, 15 years old, (Hawaii) and Killian Rosskopf, 13 years old (Switzerland). They are definitely the future of watersports!
Afterwards, the winners for each category were called to the stage:
EXPRESSION SESSIONS
SURF
Tim Elter (Germany)
SUP
Daury Reynoso (Dominican Republic)
BEST DR RIDER
Francis Gonzales Martinez (Dominican Republic)
BEST WOMAN OVERALL
Imma Nin Franch (Spain)
TEAMS OVERALL
Edelweiss (Switzerland)
We Love Kiteboarding (Dominican Republic)
Cocotazo (Dominican Republic)
INDIVIDUAL OVERALL
Brian Talma (Barbados)- Master of the Ocean 2023
Antonio Lusson (Cuba)
Francis Gonzalez Martinez (Dominican Republic)
The atmosphere at Ojo Lax had a feel of Dominican Independence Day. The handing out of the trophies was ecstatic and there were many emotional speeches given by the winners and organizers. In a spirit of brotherhood on this historic day for the Dominican Republic, it was great to see that the individual winners of the overall category are all from neighboring islands in the Caribbean. It was wonderful to see that this event brought such a degree of international and regional watersports camaraderie, symbolized by the charismatic personality and smile of a true island man and winner of this year's Master of the Ocean, Brian Talma a.k.a Action Man from Barbados.
The evening of the 27th of February concluded with a buffet dinner with preceding folkloric carnival dance at Ojo´s charming upstairs area on Cabarete beach with over $12,000 US in prizes handed out to the winners mentioned above. The progressive beats by DJ Lina Erpenstein continued into the night with the Hertzflimmern Party put on by the Goethe Institut Mexico with the support of the German Embassy of Santo Domingo.
Congratulations to legendary Brian Talma from Barbados for his well-deserved title of Master of the Ocean 2023 and to Team Edelweiss for winning 1st place in the Overall Team category! The 2023 edition of Master of the Ocean was a complete success with five full action-packed days and nature delivered once again! The best waves are yet to come and we will see you for the 19th edition of the Master of the Ocean in 2024!
We wish to thank our sponsors: Condor, Edelweiss, Copa Airlines, Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic, Banco de Reservas, Corona, Millennium Resort and Spa, Viva Wyndham Tangerine, Natura Cabana, Evergo and the among others, for helping in the success of the Master of the Ocean 2023.
For more information, please visit masteroftheocean.org and its social networks on Instagram and Facebook or please contact:
Patricia Hiraldo
Coordinator, Master of the Ocean
Patricia.hiraldo@gmail.com
Cel. 1.809.856.4798