Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt
Sylt is renowned for it’s wonderfully diverse range of conditions and the 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt certainly didn’t disappoint in that regard with anything from light wind, marginal racing, to epic Freestyle conditions and some of the gnarliest waves seen on the World Tour for a long time to conclude the event. Over the last ten days, results were gained in every category with Johan Søe successfully defending his event title in the Men’s Foil Slalom, while 15-year-old Sol Degrieck (Severne Windsurfing) claimed his first World Cup win, Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) earned a third Freestyle world title, Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) won in Sylt for the second time in three years and Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC) made it back-to-back wins - both in Sylt and on the World Tour.
Women’s
Wave
Sol Degrieck (Severne Windsurfing) produced another breakout performance in Sylt as the thriving young Belgian continues to go from strength-to-strength. Degrieck was almost eliminated from the semifinals, but delivered a buzzer beater to make the top four final and she made no mistake in the final to earn her first win on the World Tour as just 15-years-old. Victory in Sylt means Degrieck is now part of a three way world title race between herself, Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who will still lead heading into the decider in Maui next week, and Alexia Kiefer Quintana (Duotone Windsurfing). Both Offringa and Kiefer Quintana suffered shock semifinal exits to leave the title race wide open.
Lina Erpenstein (Severne Windsurfing) also continues to make solid progress on her comeback form a Lisfranc injury suffered earlier this year. The home favourite secured her first podium in just her second event back since injury and will surely be a major threat again on the World Tour next season when she is back to full fitness and confidence.
Meanwhile, Justyna Sniady (Flikka / North Sails) edged out current World No.1 - Sarah-Quita Offringa - in the semifinals and the Pole was then able to earn her first podium since 2022 with a combination of dynamic wave riding and backloops inflicting the damage.
Pauline Katz (Severne Windsurfing) stood out again, but this time for her jumping with the Swiss earning the highest jump score of the contest for a perfectly executed backloop to take home fourth place from Sylt.
Men’s
Wave
Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC) arrived early in Sylt to make sure he was prepared for whatever conditions were thrown at him and that meticulous preparation paid dividends with Paré successfully defending his event title to claim back-to-back event victories on the World Tour for the second time in his career. Paré’s latest victory means he’ll lead the world title race heading into the Aloha Classic as he goes in search of a maiden world title. The 27-year-old earned the highest wave score of the event - 9.5 points - for an insane frontside air wave 360.
Philip Köster (Severne Windsurfing) couldn’t quite claim his third Sylt event title even after edging the jumping battle in the final, but second place in Sylt sees Köster claim a valuable 8,500 points, which will keep him in contention for a sixth world title.
The other world title contender, Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC), had to settle for joint fifth in Sylt, but will still have a solid chance of winning fourth consecutive world title with just how good he is at Ho’okipa. The Aloha Classic promises to be a showdown for the ages.
Miguel Chapuis (Flikka / North Sails) will remember this year’s event for the rest of his life as the Spaniard not only qualified for his first final on the World Tour, but then went even better by securing his first podium too. Chapuis is becoming a real threat and the 24-year-old will be one to watch extremely closely next season.
Victor Fernandez (Duotone Windsurfing) again shone when the conditions became extremely tricky, which led to the Spaniard becoming the first man to book his place in the final after landing an almost perfect double forward. Fernandez couldn’t quite repeat that in the final, but he leaves Sylt with another solid fourth place.
Dieter van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing) shares equal fifth with Browne as the revelled in Sylt after also finishing in equal fifth in the Freestyle as he once again showed just how talented of a sailor he is. Van der Eyken produced one of the moments of the event when pulling off a super critical frontside wave 360 under a heavy pitching lip.
The top ten is completed by; Moritz Mauch (Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC) and Alessio Stillrich (Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails), who share seventh place, while Morgan Noireaux (JP / NeilPryde / Black Project Fins), Julian Salmonn (Naish / Naish Sails), Marino Gil (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) and Germany’s Anton Richter (JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins), who earns his first top ten - all shared ninth.
Foil Slalom
Having claimed a comprehensive victory here last year, Johan Søe (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils), delivered another racing masterclass as the 22-year-old won four out the seven eliminations completed, while he finished outside the top two just once in that time. Last year seven races were also completed, but this year he betters his score again - finishing on a total of 4.7 points compared to 6.1 in 2024. Søe will next look to defend his event title in Japan in November and given this latest performance, he’s a hard man to bet against.
Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne Sails) was Søe’s closest rival and after earning three bullets in four races (Eliminations 2-5) the Italian was right on Søe’s tail, but an eighth place in the next all but ended his hopes of winning the event. Iachino and Søe have now shared the victories in the 10 eliminations completed so far this winter, so it’ll be interesting to see if anyone can bring their dominance to and end in Japan. Second place in Sylt represents a great result for Iachino with his main world title rival - Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / NeilPryde) - finishing fourth here - meaning Iachino will enter Japan with a 300 point cushion as he aims for this third world title.
Meanwhile, Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) sailed extremely consistently the whole event, and besides Iachino and Søe, is the only sailor to boast a 100% qualifying record for the Winners’ Finals, which deservedly earns him his first Foil Slalom podium since 2023, while he’s now firmly in the mix to compete for a place on the overall podium in Japan in just over a months time.
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / Point-7 / Z Foils) and William Huppert (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) claim fifth and sixth place, respectively. Both men sailed very consistently with neither of them finishing worse than 10th in any of the seven eliminations.
After two quarterfinal exits in the opening two races, John Soukos (WeOne / Challenger Sails) made a phenomenal comeback. The young Greek qualified for his first Winners’ Final in Elimination 3 and after that it was like a light build went off in his head as he also qualified for the top eight in the next three eliminations before finishing 10th in the last to earn his first top ten result on the World Tour - 7th.
The top ten is completed by last year’s vice-world champion - Daniele Benedetti (Duotone Windsurfing) - who showed glimpses of the form with a third and a fourth place in Eliminations 4 and 6 to finish 8th - followed by Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) - 9th - and Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails), who also earns his first top ten result.
Freestyle
Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) didn’t show any signs of nerves in his quest for a third Freestyle world title as the Belgian produced a confident display to book his place in the Winners’ Final against Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins). With Caers’ main world title rival, Jacopo Testa (WeOne / GUNSAILS), and it looking extremely unlikely, although not impossible, that a Double Elimination would be completed, that meant that Caers could enjoy the final with the pressure largely off. Caers pushed Neubauer all the way in the Winners’ Final, but couldn’t quite prevent the 21-year-old on this occasion, but that doesn’t really matter and ultimately Caers walks away from 2025 as the Men’s Freestyle PWA world champion for the third time in his career - equalling Ricardo Campello’s haul.
Defending his world title was always going to be a distant possibility for Neubauer after finishing fifth in Fuerte, but the Greek finished the season on a real high. On his way to his second victory in three years in Sylt, Neubauer set the highest heat total ever - 48.2 points against an unfortunate Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde). Neubauer became the first sailor on the World Tour to land a triple culo in competition, while his overall sailing was breathtaking as he broke the 40 point barrier in all four heats he sailed and will be a major threat again in 2026. Victory in Sylt means Neubauer finishes the season as the vice-world champion.
Steven Van Broeckhoven (WeOne / GUNSAILS) navigated his way into the semifinals, but just lost out to the eventual world champion, Caers, in the semis, before Testa claimed a late comeback to deny him in the battle for third and fourth. Van Broeckhoven finishes fourth overall for 2025 as he continues to show no signs of slowing down.
Elsewhere, Takuma Sugi (Tabou / GA Sails / Black Project Fins) walks away from Sylt with his best result thus far on the Freestyle World Tour - joint 5th - after producing some of his highest level Freestyle thus far. The talented Japanese sailor shares fifth with Dieter van der Eyken, who was also in inspired form, Balz Müller and Youp Schmit (Flikka).
That concludes another epic year in Sylt as this unique island continues to savour up all kind of conditions to provide an all-round test. We hope you enjoyed the action as much as we did. From the 8th October the latest Youth event starts in Turkey with the Alaçati Windfest, which runs until 12th October. Meanwhile, the Men’s and Women’s Wave world titles will be decided at the Aloha Classic between 13th-24th October in what is an incredibly busy competition month. Congratulations once again to the all the winners and see you next time.
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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 Wave
1st Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails / MFC)
2nd Philip Köster (GER | Severne Windsurfing)
3rd Miguel Chapuis (ESP | Flikka / North Sails)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Duotone Windsurfing)
5th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing / MFC)
7th Moritz Mauch (GC | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
7th Alessio Stillrich (ESP | Bruch Boards / Bruch Sails)
9th Morgan Noireaux (HI | JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Julian Salmonn (GER | Naish / Naish Sails0
9th Anton Richter (GER | JP / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Marino Gil (ESP | JP / NeilPryde / MFC)
Result 2025 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle
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)