Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt
The forecast, for what was originally set to be the last official day of competition at the 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt, always looked tricky on paper. However, it turned out to be far trickier than anyone could’ve anticipated with constant bands of rain totally scuppering the wind. That meant that during the opening nine hours, just nine painstakingly slow heats were completed, in what turned out to be a true battle against the elements. In the end though, the conditions came good with the wind eventually stabilising around 17:00, while Sylt’s notorious dredging shorebreak showed it’s face to allow the world’s best wave sailors to produce several moments of magic…
Wave
Women’s
Heading into the last minute of the second semifinal it looked as though Sol Degrieck (Severne Windsurfing) was going to miss out on a place in the final. However, a sick late hit in the dying seconds of Heat 14 saw her advance into the top four alongside Pauline Katz (Severne Windsurfing), whilst denying Maria Behrens (Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins) a place in the final.
It’s funny in sport how those fine margins can have huge impacts and having been on the cusp of being eliminated, Degrieck managed to take full advantage of her late escape from the semis to claim her first victory on the World Tour at just 15-years-old. The young Belgian has consistently been threatening to produce a huge result and that’s exactly what she managed to do in the final as she showed no fear by producing a brave late hit on a chunky section, which was the standout moment of the final, to deservedly win the 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt.
Sailing in just her second event since suffering a Lisfranc injury in Chile earlier this year, Lina Erpenstein (Severne Windsurfing) would probably have bitten your hand off if you told her she would podium at her home event, and that’s exactly what the German managed to do as she secured second place to earn her first podium since 2024 as she continues her comeback. Erpenstein earned 4.57 for a pushloop, but couldn’t quite find the wave scores she needed to claim the top spot on the podium on this occasion.
Meanwhile, Justyna Sniady (Flikka / North Sails) completes the podium to record her best result since Sylt in 2022. The Pole narrowly edged out current World Tour leader, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), for second place in the semifinals with a well-executed backloop proving to be the difference, while in the final she earned the highest wave score, aside from Degrieck’s efforts, for a couple of rasping frontside snaps, which will see her rise to fourth in the overall world rankings.
Pauline Katz (Severne Windsurfing) showed she was a major threat in Tenerife and the Swiss deservedly booked her place in her first final since the Aloha Classic last year. In Tenerife, it was Katz’s wave riding that really stood out, but today it was her jumping, as a couple of textbook backloops earned her the top two jump scores of the event to earn fourth place here.
Missed Opportunity
With Offringa suffering a shock semifinal exit, that potentially opened the door for Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing) to reduce the deficit to the Aruban in the world title race heading into Maui. However, on this occasion, the Spaniard was unable to capitalise on the opportunity before her as she too suffered a semifinal exit to let Offringa totally off the hook.
With both Offringa and Kiefer Quintana being eliminated in the semifinals here, that means they will simply discard their results from Sylt. However, Degrieck’s victory means she will climb to 24,535 points heading into Maui, so it will now be a three way battle for the world title. Offringa will remain on 26,150 points and Kiefer Quintana 24,650 points, respectively.
Men’s
Only Top Eight Remain
Heat of Doom
Moritz Mauch (Simmer / Simmer Sails) was making his first appearance in Sylt since 2019 and the Gran Canarian became the first sailor to book his place in the semifinals, which will now be held on Sunday. Mauch is renowned for his wave riding ability and that was once again showcased as he nailed two frontside 360s on different waves in the opening quarterfinal to win the heat ahead of Alessio Stillrich (Bruch Boards / Bruch Boards), who also makes the top eight after landing a decent double forward. Mauch’s second frontside 360 was performed on a chunky section, which earned him the second highest wave score of the day - 8.50 points. You have to feel a little bit sorry for Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), who was in the top two on several occasions before the heat was cancelled and ultimately the Hawaiian missed out once the heat was eventually verified.
In the second quarterfinal - Heat 10 - Philip Köster (Severne Windsurfing) came out on top with the five-world champion stomping a brilliant double forward out the back, while he too stuck a full carving frontside 360. Köster is joined by teammate - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne Sails) - who is enjoying a great Sylt. The Belgian was on fire in the Freestyle yesterday and continued the rich vein of form to book his place in the semifinals after producing one of the moments of the day for a full risk, under the lip frontside 360.
Victor Fernandez (Duotone Windsurfing) is the master of making extremely tricky conditions look easy and the Spaniard revelled in the third quarterfinal as he posted the highest scoring heat of the day - 23.17 points - consisting of an excellent double forward, one wave in the excellent range - 8.21 points - and one that just missed out - 7.50 points - with a variety of frontside snaps and frontside 360s. Meanwhile, reigning world champion - Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) - secured the second qualifying position with an 8-point double forward proving to be the difference against - Anton Richter (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) and Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins).
There were fireworks in the fourth and final, all Spanish quarterfinal, with all four sailors - Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC), Marino Gil (JP / NeilPryde), Liam Dunkerbeck (Duotone Windsurfing) and Miguel Chapuis (Flikka / North Sails) - all landing excellent double forwards ranging between 7.53-8.23 points, so this battle was won on wave performance. In that regard, Paré dominated as he rotated through a huge frontside air 360 to earn the highest wave score of the day - 9.50 points (earning a one perfect 10, a 9.50 and a 9.0) - whilst also setting the second highest total of the day 22.62 points to book his spot in the semifinals. Unfortunately, for Gil and Dunkerbeck, they both suffered snapped masts, which cost them valuable wave riding time, and Chapuis managed to capitalise on that opportunity as he produced a buzzer beater to secure the last place in the top eight.
Shootout Sunday
With only three heats left to gain a full result in the Men’s Wave Single Elimination, Sunday will now see a skippers’ meeting held at 09:00 (GMT+2) and a first possible start at 09:30am to hopefully gain the full result. The forecast is for almost bolt onshore 26-37 knots winds with 4 metre waves, so it’s going to be a gnarly showdown. Unfortunately, as Sunday is a roll over day, there won't be livestream, but there will be full highlights available later in the day.
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Result 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Women’s Wave
1st Sol Degrieck (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
2nd Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Flikka / North Sails)
4th Pauline Katz (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Maria Behrens (GER | Duotone Windsurfing / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
Result 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle Single Elimination
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
3rd Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
4th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
5th Takuma Sugi (JPN | Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins)
5th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Youp Schmit (NB | Flikka)
Result 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom
1st Johan Søe (DEN | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne Sails)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / NeilPryde)
5th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Foils)
6th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils)
7th John Soukos (GRE | WeOne / Challenger Sails)
8th Daniele Benedetti (ITA | Duotone Windsurfing)
9th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
10th Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails)