Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt
It’s that time of year again when a collection of the world’s best windsurfers are preparing to descend upon Westerland Sylt for Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt, which is the 41st edition, and by far the biggest event of the year. This year’s event will be taking place between 26th September until 5th October, although it’s worth noting today is just a Registration Day, while the last official day of competition will be on the 4th October with the official prize giving taking place on Sunday 5th October.
When it comes to delivering the widest range of conditions imaginable, Sylt certainly never disappoints as you never quite know what you are going to get on this unique island. In strong onshore winds, a colossal shore break develops - ready to crush the hopes of any unsuspecting competitors - along with powerful waves of up to three or four meters in size, which can provide amazing, but extremely challenging, wave sailing conditions, whilst also posing a stern test for the slalom and freestyle fleets. On the other hand, Sylt can also produce great racing and freestyle conditions, when offshore winds grace the island with their presence, although it can then be bitterly cold. One thing is for sure, to win here you need to be the complete all-rounder, who is willing to have their mettle tested to breaking point.
Women’s
Wave
Having won last time out in Tenerife, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) leads the Wave world rankings and will know that another victory here would guarantee her a fifth consecutive wave world title. Offringa has a superb record in Sylt - winning four out of the last five editions - and with the added incentive of knowing that she could wrap up a 28th world title with an event to spare, Offringa could prove incredibly difficult to stop.
However, having led the World Tour up until Tenerife, Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing), who is still in contention for a maiden world title, isn’t simply going to let Offringa have things all her own way and you can expect to see the young Spaniard throw everything she has at the Aruban. Aside from Offringa, Lina Erpenstein (Severne Windsurfing) is the only other woman in the fleet to have won an event on the World Tour, so if Kiefer Quintana is to force the world title race into a decider in Maui, then the 20-year-old may need to move into uncharted territory by converting her podium finishes into a first victory.
Erpenstein should be fitter than she was in Tenerife as she continues her comeback from a Lisfranc injury, and if she’s anywhere near her best, then last year’s vice-world champion will be a serious threat again.
Sol Degrieck (Severne Windsurfing) currently completes the overall top three as she continues to go from strength-to-strength and you can expect to see another strong showing from the young Belgian, while there’s not much separating Maria Morales (Goya Windsurfing) and Justyna Sniady (Flikka / North Sails) in fourth and fifth respectively and both women will be keen to try and close to gap to Degrieck as they look for force their way into the podium conversation. Meanwhile, Pauline Katz (Severne Windsurfing) could be a threat too if she can deliver some of the wave riding she displayed in Tenerife.
Elsewhere, local girl, Maria Behrens (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) will be hoping she can replicate the form she showed here in 2023, which saw her earn a podium finish, while 15-year-old Bobbi-Lynn De Jong (Starboard / NeilPryde) will make her debut on the Wave World Tour, fresh from winning the recent Cold Hawaii Youth Wave & Slalom World Cup in Denmark last week.
Men’s
Freestyle
Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) enters Sylt with the world title race lead having won the opening event of the season in Fuerteventura with a commanding performance. Leading the rankings coming into Sylt is something the two-time world champion is accustomed to as he also led the tour coming here in 2019 and 2023, and on both occasions the Belgian maestro managed to convert those opportunities into world titles, so Caers will be hoping he can make history repeat itself. The 30-year-old also has the added motivation that if he can secure another world title here, then he’ll move equal on three Freestyle world titles with windsurfing legend Ricardo Campello.
Caers’ closest rival is Jacopo Testa (WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360) with the Italian fighting back into second place in Fuerteventura in July, which is his best result to date there. The stylish Italian finished as the vice-world champion in 2022 and will be hoping to go one place better this time around as he goes in search of securing a maiden world title.
Just behind the top two is Steven Van Broeckhoven (WeOne / GUNSAILS), who could still add a second world title to his name 14 years after claiming his first world crown in 2011. The Belgian looked to be sailing as well as ever in Fuerte and will be able to draw upon his years of experience as he fights for another world title.
With their being only two events this season, you’d probably expect that eventual world champion will come from one of the top three. However, Sylt has all the credentials to throw in some shock results, so you can’t rule out reigning world champion - Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins). The Greek had to settle for fifth in Fuerte after being eliminated early in the single elimination and will need results elsewhere to go in his favour if he is to have any chance. The same can be said of 19-year-old Takumi Moriya (Severne Windsurfing), who enters the final event of the year in fourth place having earned his best result to date in Fuerte - 4th.
While unlikely to be directly involved in the world title race itself, several other top names may still play crucial roles in deciding the eventual champion depending on the seeding, so keep an eye out for former world champions - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing) and Adrien Bosson (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) - as well as the likes of; Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Youp Schmit (Flikka), Bodhi Kempen (Severne Windsurfing) and Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins).
Foil Slalom
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils) will be hoping he can pick up where he left off in Guadeloupe, which saw the Italian win all three races completed, so he deservedly leads the Foil Slalom world rankings with two events to go. Iachino has a solid track record here, last recording a victory here in 2018, while he has finished second on three occasions since 2019. A similar level of performance here again would put him firmly in contention for the world title decider heading into Japan in November.
Fresh from securing a fourth world title in Tenerife, Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / NeilPryde), who was Iachino’s closest challenger in Guadeloupe, will now set his attention fully on pursuing a fifth world crown by defending his current world title. After a turbulent summer, Mortefon is now settled with support from FMX Racing and NeilPryde and will no doubt be battling for the very top positions on the leaderboard again.
The most notable return to the fleet is Johan Søe (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) with the Dane getting ready to defend his event title here after concentrating on iQFOil earlier in the year. Søe made his first appearance of the season last year at the same stage and dismantled the field with his performance then - winning three out of the seven eliminations completed, while he never finished outside the top three - and he could prove exceptionally difficult to stop again if he’s in a similar vein of form.
Alexandre Cousin (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) comes into Sylt ranked third overall after a great start to the season in Guadeloupe and the Frenchman will look to keep that momentum going as we head into the business end of the season.
Meanwhile, Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing), will come into Sylt full of confidence having earned his first overall podium in Slalom X in August and fourth place in Guadeloupe represented the flying Dutchman’s best result to date on the foil, so he’ll be looking to continue his upward trajectory.
Having won this event in both 2022 and 2023, Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Foils), should feature heavily again. The Bonairean finished second in Tenerife to earn a podium in his third different discipline and will be eager to record a top result here to keep his name in the world title race conversation heading into the decider in Japan.
Elsewhere, former 2022 world champion Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) will be keen to try and convert winning positions into event victories. The Pole spearheaded the fleet in both Fuerteventura and Tenerife, but couldn’t hold onto those leads. Rutkowski also came agonisingly close to winning the event here in 2022 - only to be cruelly denied by Vrieswijk in the final race - so would love to rewrite the script on that.
Other names to look out for include; last year’s vice-world champion - Daniele Benedetti (Duotone Windsurfing) - who will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing result in Guadeloupe, Bruno Martini (I-99 / S2Maui), who completed the podium here last year, the French contingent of Alexis Mathis (Tabou / GA Sails), William Huppert ((PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils), Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) and Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails). Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sam Stroosma (Tabou / GA Sails), will be looking to build on recording his first top ten result in Guadeloupe - where he also qualified for his first Winners’ Final, while fellow teammate, Scotty Stallman (Tabou / GA Sails), will also be hoping to be in the mix.
Wave
After the first three 5-star Wave events, Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC) and reigning world champion, Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC), share an identical set of results and are currently tied on 25,385 points with two events to go, so Sylt could prove pivotal in this year’s title race. However, the two title contenders have barely put a foot wrong so far this season, and given that both men qualified for the final here last year - with Parė ultimately claiming the victory - you’d expect them both to be challenging for top honours again, which could potentially setup a grand stand finale at the Aloha Classic. Parė comes into Sylt fresh off the back of victory in Tenerife and arrived early here to make sure he is fully prepared for whatever Sylt throws at him as he looks to defend his event title, while keeping his quest for a maiden world title firmly alive. For Browne, the Brazilian will want to earn at least a podium finish having just missed out in fourth in Tenerife, while also looking to win in Sylt for the first time.
Philip Köster (Severne Windsurfing) is the next closest challenger in third with the German currently 3015 points off the top two. Köster will likely be the home crowds biggest hope of seeing a German victory on home waters. The 31-year-old has recorded two victories here in the past - most recently in 2022 and will know, depending how other results go, that a victory here would be paramount for keeping his aspirations of a sixth world title alive for this season.
Then there’s another couple of thousand points gap to Victor Fernandez (Duotone Windsurfing) and Marino Gil (JP / NeilPryde) in fourth and fifth, who are realistically the only other sailors still in contention for the world title. Fernandez has an excellent track record here and is equally adept on either tack, so is well armed for whatever Sylt throws at him, while Gil will be looking to at least match his current best result here, which was an equal fifth last year.
Elsewhere look out for the likes of former event champion - Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who returns for his first appearance since Chile earlier in the season, Antoine Martin (Quatro / Goya Windsurfing / MFC), currently ranked sixth overall, Liam Dunkerbeck (Duotone Windsurfing), Julian Salmonn (Naish / Naish Sails), Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde), Alessio Stillrich (Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails), Jules Denel (Tabou / GA Sails) and Moritz Mauch (Simmer / Simmer Sails).
Waterspeed Challenge is Back
Also, after the success in Tenerife the PWA are delighted to announce that our partnership with Waterspeed will continue in Sylt and hopefully beyond as we look to build a long term fruitful relationship. If you'd like to pit your wits against the best sailors in the world then you can - simply by downloading the Waterspeed app, which you can find out more about @ https://waterspeedapp.com/
Looking Ahead
The forecast model keeps changing almost every update at the moment, but the good news is that the first day of competition (Saturday) looks as though there will be at least enough wind for Foil Slalom or even possibly enough for Freestyle.
You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Sylt — including live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
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