Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt
After an early start to day six of the Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt, only the first three Freestyle heats could be completed in marginal winds before it became too light and patchy close to the shore to continue. After being kept on hold for a while, the freestylers were then released and the decision was made to switch to Foil Slalom during the afternoon. Racing took place in the lightest winds of the week, but it was two familiar names who continued to dominate proceedings - Justine Lemeteyer (FMX Racing / S2Maui) and Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils), after they claimed today’s bullets to edge a step closer to the coveted event titles.
Foil Slalom
Women’s
After securing back-to-back bullets during this afternoon, Justine Lemeteyer now firmly has one hand on the event title. The reigning vice-world champion has been in a league of her own so far with ten bullets from the eleven eliminations completed and is almost home and dry. In Elimination 11 Lemeteyer produced a superb first gybe to move from third to first and didn’t look back from there. After eleven eliminations Lemeteyer boasts a perfect score of 6.3 points and now holds a comfortable 11.4 point advantage at the top of the event rankings, which is made all the more secure given that a third discard comes into play after the completion of the next race.
Behind her the top the top five is unchanged with Marion Mortefon (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) in a clear second place after securing a couple of second places today, followed by Blanca Alabau (Starboard / Severne Sails), Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) and Femke van der Veen (Starboard / Severne Sails). However, just one point now separates De Jong and van der Veen after the Dutch girl managed to secure her best result of the event thus far in Elimination 11 - with an excellent third place.
Men’s
Johan Søe (FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils) is yet to finish outside the top three in the opening six eliminations, while he has only finished outside the top two once, such has been his level of consistency. In today’s sole race, Søe powered to a comprehensive victory as he led from start to finish to claim his third bullet of the event to take a huge step towards the event title. The young Dane holds a commanding 13.9 point advantage the top for the event rankings and will potentially be able to discard a second place depending what his result is in Elimination 7, so he really has a stranglehold over the event.
With Søe competing at the Olympics earlier this summer, that means he won’t be in world title contention this year, so things behind him are really hotting up - especially after the completion of the last elimination. Daniele Benedetti (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who came into Sylt as the world title leader, started the day in fourth place, while his closest rival in the battle for the world title race was Pierre Mortefon (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils), who started the day in fifth. However, after the completion of Elimination 6, Mortefon jumps from fifth into second place, so if things were to finish as they were, Mortefon would head into the title decider in Japan with a 100 point lead over Benedetti.
However, just 0.7 of a point separates Mortefon, Benedetti and Nicolas Goyard (Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) from second to fourth place, so the next races should be fascinating. Mortefon has an extremely consistent set of results having not finished outside the top five once, while Benedetti and Goyard have less room for error after finishing eighth and ninth respectively in Elimination 6. Goyard produced a great gybe at the last buoy during the opening semifinal to move into the top four, but eventually lost out to Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) down the final straight.
Bruno Martini (JP / NeilPryde) started the day in second place, but slips to a painful fifth after crashing when leading the b-final, which would’ve seen him finish with nine points for the round. Instead the Italian slipped to the back of the pack and has to pick up 16 points, which means he is now eight points outside of the podium positions.
Elsewhere, Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Severne Sails) remains in sixth place after finishing fourth in today’s only race, while Maciek Rutkowski (NeilPryde) continues to climb the rankings - 9th to 7th - Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) slips one place to eighth after eventually finishing seventh in Elimination 6. The Croatian was in contention for the bullet, but fell while pursuing Søe on the second reach. Meanwhile, the top ten is completed by Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails). Thomas Goyard (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) rises to eleventh after his best result of the event so far - second.
Freestyle
Earlier in the day the Freestyle single elimination began in marginal conditions, but unfortunately only three heats could be completed before the wind became too light to continue. Thus far, the top seeds in the opening round have all progressed; Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins), Balz Müller (Severne / Severne Sails), who competed using a foil, Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde), Youp Schmit (Tabou / GA Sails), Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing), and Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails).
The latest forecast model unfortunately looks as though it has been downgraded slightly for Thursday with the latest update now suggesting winds of just 11-18 knots throughout the day, but with the wind being a touch more northerly it should funnel through more cleanly than today. The Freestyle fleet will have their skippers’ meeting at 8am (GMT+2) with the action commencing from 8:30am onwards, while the Foil Slalom fleets will meet again at 10am with a first possible start at 11am.
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Current Ranking 2024 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Women’s Foil Slalom
*After 11 Eliminations (2 Discards)
1st Justine Lemeteyer (FRA | FMX Racing / S2Maui)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
3rd Blanca Alabau (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails)
4th Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (NB | Starboard / NeilPryde)
5th Femke van der Veen (NED | Starboard / Severne Sails)
Current Ranking 2024 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom
*After 6 Eliminations (1 Discard)
1st Johan Søe (DEN | FMX Racing / Point-7 / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Phantom / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Daniele Benedetti (ITA | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
5th Bruno Martini (ITA | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Severne Sails)
7th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Nico Prien (GER | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
Current Ranking 2024 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Women’s Wave
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Alexia Kiefer Quintana (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)
3rd Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Maria Behrens (GER | Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Justyna Sniady (POL | North Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Maria Morales (ESP | Goya Windsurfing)
5th Coraline Foveau (FRA | Flikka / GUNSAILS)
Current Ranking 2024 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Wave
1st Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Victor Fernandez (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)
4th Antoine Martin (FRA | Starboard / North Windsurfing)
5th Robby Swift (UK | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Philip Köster (GER | Severne / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
5th Marino Gil {ESP (JP / NeilPryde)
5th Miguel Chapuis (ESP | Flikka / North Windsurfing)
9th Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing / Black Project Fins)
9th Henri Kolberg (GER | Naish / Naish Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins)
9th Titouan Flechet (FRA | Tabou / Hot Sails Maui)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)
9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins)