schauinslandreisen Windsurf World Cup Sylt
Racing got underway on day two of 2023 schauinslandreisen Windsurf World Cup Sylt and the current unpredictable nature of Slalom continued with three separate winners from the three races completed today. After back-to-back events in the Canaries, today represented the polar opposite with winds of 5-18 knots and treacherous waters providing a very different test from Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, but the racing proved just as exciting with a combination of close quarters racing and some massive crashes to keep the crowds thoroughly entertained.
Men’s
Slalom
Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7) heads up the event rankings at the close of the opening day of racing after producing an extremely solid and consistent set of results. The young Dane qualified for all three winners’ finals where he was able to record a 3rd, 4th and a 5th, which sees him hold a two point advantage at the top of the rankings over Mateus Isaac (Severne / Severne Sails), who enjoyed a brilliant return to the World Tour.
The Brazilian has been focusing on his Olympic campaign for the majority of the year, but slotted seamlessly back into the slalom scene. The 29-year-old missed out on the opening winners’ final, but still finished in 10th place, before going from strength-to-strength by securing back-to-back second places to cap an excellent return, and more importantly a solid start to the event.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) made a flying start to the event as the Italian finished second in the opener, before going one better in the next after doing brilliantly to hold off Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils), who eventually crashed, when under severe pressure. Iachino looked in fine form - consistently pinging the start and looking fast in a straight line - so it was a real surprise to see him fall at the first mark in the third semifinal when leading, whilst the same fate struck when in pole position of the b-final. It later turns out that Iachino had broken the front wing of his foil, so he didn’t have any stability when gybing. The 33-year-old, whose birthday it was yesterday, will be frustrated with the equipment failure / breakage, but at least has the opportunity to discard the 12th place from Elimination 3 after the completion of the next race, and he should take great confidence from today after looking so competitive and on it.
Besides Søe, Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) was the only other sailor to qualify for all three winners’ finals. The current World Tour leader finished eighth in the opening two races after a dropped gybe and a premature start, but everything clicked into place in the last race of the day as the Pole signed out in style by securing his first bullet of the event, which is good enough to see Rutkowski climb into 4th having been ranked eighth after Elimination 2, and is just 4.7 points off of the top.
People were wondering if Nicolas Goyard would struggle in Sylt’s lighter airs having registered smaller equipment for Fuerteventura and that was certainly evident in the first race where the wind was typically 5-10 knots. Goyard still looked absolutely rapid in a straight line, but struggled to remain on the foil through the lulls - particularly when exiting the gybes - which resulted in the Frenchman going from first to dropping out of the qualifying positions after the third gybe of the opening semifinal. Fortunately for Goyard, the wind picked up in the next two races, but he was unable to land a telling blow. In Elimination 2, Goyard tried to dive down the inside of Iachino at the third buoy only to stall on a piece of chop and go over the handlebars, whilst in the third elimination he lost control when trying to negotiate an evil piece of swell / chop when leading again. So, it was a day of close calls for Goyard, but there is still plenty of time for him to mount a come back. Goyard finishes the opening day ranked 5th.
Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) is currently ranked sixth after a solid performance, which saw the Italian improve in each race - 11th, 7th and a 4th in the last race of the day.
Michele Becker (Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils) made a dream start to the event as the German earned his maiden bullet on the World Tour - much to his own delight and to the home crowd as well as they celebrated his victory. However, the wheels then fell off slightly as the 25-year-old missed out on a place in the winners’ final in the next two eliminations.
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) started Elimination 3 ranked in second place, but he then suffered a quarterfinal exit to fall 6 places. Like Iachino, Vrieswijk will have the opportunity to discard that 22.5 point result after the completion of the next race.
The top 10 is currently completed by Pierre Mortefon (Duotone / Duotone Sails / Phantom Foils) - 9th. The Frenchman came into Sylt ranked in second place, but only managed to qualify for one out of three winners’ finals and Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who mounted a strong recovery after been taken down in the quarterfinals of the opener, by then finishing 4th and 5th respectively.
The forecast for Sunday looks windier than today with the current forecast predicting winds in the region of 17-24 knots from the south-southwest during the afternoon. In light of the stronger forecast the priority is likely to be given to the Freestyle fleet, but if the wind doesn’t arrive then the racers will probably be in action again. The Freestyle and Slalom fleets will meet again at 10am (GMT+2) tomorrow morning with the action commencing from 10:30am for the Freestyle and 11:30am onwards for the Slalom. Meanwhile, the Wave fleet will have a meeting at 11am.
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Current Ranking 2023 schauinslandreisen Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Slalom
1st Johan Søe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7)
2nd Mateus Isaac (BRA | Severne / Severne Sails)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
5th Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
6th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Michele Becker (GER | Patrik / Patrik Sails / Patrik Foils)
8th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
9th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Duotone / Duotone Sails / Phantom Foils)
10th Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)