The early morning skippers’ meeting on the last official competition day of the 2026 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt didn’t pay off on this occasion with the Wave and Freestyle fleets being greeted by relatively light winds and flat water. After waiting for a few hours the decision was made to switch to Foil Slalom and one further elimination was completed before the wind became too light to complete any more racing.
A dramatic conclusion to the Foil Slalom
Foil Slalom
Just 0.3 of a point separated Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde) at the start of the day, so the winner was always likely to be decided by whoever blinked first.
Sadly for Wolf, who was looking to earn his first win on the World Tour, he was involved in a racing incident with Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) at the first buoy of the second semifinal in Elimination 8. That resulted in both sailors in the drink, and ultimately, Wolf failing to qualify for the Winners’ Final for the first time this week, at such a crucial time, which handed Iachino the advantage.
The reigning world champion made no mistake as he successfully booked his place in the top eight before going on to secure a solid third place, which was enough to send him back into the lead by 1.7 points. The intention was to try and run one more elimination, but unfortunately with the current changing direction, the wind was no longer enough to compete, which meant Iachino was crowned champion in Sylt for the second time, while putting himself in a commanding position heading into Japan at the end of the month.
The importance of the win for Matteo Iachino: “It’s good to have an edge on them now, especially because being second here, even if you do another second in Japan, which is an amazing result, a guy that finished third here and then wins in Japan would move into the lead. So, it was really important for me, especially mentally, to get an edge here and to get the victory.”
For Wolf, second still represents his best result on the World Tour to date, but the manner in which the last day unfolded may make it feel a bit bitter sweet currently. The German has looked deadly in the lighter winds and went on to win the B-Final, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion.
Fabian Wolf after narrowly missing out on the event win: “I mean that's just racing. Sometimes, it's not your mistake. I mean, I'm sad because I knew I was fighting for the win of the event until the last race, and losing like this, it's like a bittersweet feeling. But at least I proved it that I can win. I think I've got to go to Japan now then.”
Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils) completes the podium, while Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / North Sails) just misses out in fourth even after holding off Vrieswijk to win Elimination 8 after a great battle between the two sailors, which saw them almost touch at the third buoy.
Elsewhere, John Soukos (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) gains one position from the overnight rankings to finish fifth overall, just ahead of Bruno Martini (WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils) who finishes sixth, which is a great result considering the Italian had two quarterfinal exits on the opening day. However he recovered brilliantly after that - only finishing outside the top ten once in the next six eliminations.
The top ten is completed by Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils) - 7th - Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) - 8th - William Huppert (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System) - 9th - and Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) in tenth.
Freestyle
After an early call the wind remained too light for the Freestyle and it was officially called off shortly after 12pm, which then saw Lennart Neubuaer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) crowned Freestyle World Champion for the second time in his career. Neubauer finishes the season unbeaten as he continues to raise the bar. Lennart Neubauer after officially becoming the 2026 Freestyle PWA World Champion: “To achieve this in front of such an incredible German crowd makes it so special. Sylt has, by far, the biggest crowd of any event on tour. Windsurfing isn’t the biggest sport in the world anymore, so having this passionate community standing on the beach—even when we’re a kilometre out, watching through binoculars and with kids running up asking for signatures—means everything to us. I just appreciate that love and support so much."
Meanwhile, Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing) finishes 2026 as the vice-world champion, which is the Swiss-man’s best result so far on the World Tour.
Three-time world champion, Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) completes the podium for 2026 ahead of Takumi Moriya (Severne Windsurfing), who closes the season with his maiden podium on the World Tour, while Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing) completes the overall top five after qualifying for his first final since 2015 - eventually finishing second.
We’ll take a look at the full results in the Event Summary next week. Tomorrow will see the official prize giving ceremony held at 12:30pm (GMT+2), which will be available to watch via the live stream.
Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde)
2nd Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)
3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils)
4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)
5th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
6th Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)
7th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils)
8th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)
9th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)
10th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)
Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
3rd Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)
4th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)
5th Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
5th Takuma Sugi (JPN)
Overall Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Men’s Freestyle
1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
3rd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)
5th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)
6th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)
7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)
8th Takuma Sugi (JPN)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)
10th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)