Sergio Machado overcame his rivals and won the Open.

The winner of the 2023 edition was Brazilian Sergio Machado, who beat (by a small difference 12.67 pts vs 11.84 pts) Portuguese Rodrigo Lopes in the final heat.  For the second year in a row, the Caribbean Sea had large and powerful waves, ideal for an excellent show.

2x World Champion Pierre-Louis Costes (France) and 3x World Champion Jeff Hubbard (Hawaii) attended the event at Bluff Beach in great style but surprisingly neither of them won the Men's Open category.

In the Dropknee division, 4x Dk world champion Sammy Morretino (Hawaii) achieved victory with his usual incredible performances. The great Hawaiian athlete beat Michel Copetta (Chile), who took a close second place. Panamanians Edwin Nuñez and Jayro Georget closed the final series in Bocas del Toro, Panama.

The Portuguese crew was very excited when Joel Rodrigues beat his opponents in the Junior category with 16.00 points out of a possible 20, winning the International Festival for the second time and leaving Jerry Pastrana of Costa Rica in second place, Rodrigo Daboub of El Salvador in third place and Pepe Centeno also of Costa Rica, in fourth place on the podium.

The Costa Rican who advanced furthest in the Open category was Jorge López, who fell to Colombian Álvaro Yépez in the quarterfinals. Yazdanny Castro and “Macho” Campos, prominent national players, were also present at the event, but they didn't have the luck they hoped for and were eliminated early.

Photos: Bocasislove