Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2025: Lennart Neubauer wins single elimination - Caers on course for the World Cup

After days of waiting for the right conditions, the freestyle discipline got underway on the eighth day of the Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2025. In strong south-easterly winds and challenging conditions, the single elimination was held, which brought with it two historic firsts: Lennart Neubauer dominated the action and performed a triple culo, a move that had never before been shown in a World Cup heat. At the same time, a technical innovation revolutionised the judging: for the first time, the heats were judged entirely via drone footage. These were also transmitted in real time to a large LED screen on the Westerland promenade, where a large number of spectators followed the action. Particularly in the late afternoon, good waves kept coming through the choppy contest area as the tide ebbed, which made for a spectacular mix of technical power freestyle and fat jumps such as pushloops and even double loops.

Up-close action despite unfavourable wind direction

The conditions on 3 October 2025 presented the organisers with special challenges. Due to the cross-offshore south-easterly wind, the heats had to be ridden far out as the shore area was unusable for freestyling due to the wind cover. High-resolution aerial images were projected in real time onto a large LED screen on the promenade so that spectators could experience the spectacular action up close despite the unfavourable conditions. The judges also used the drone images for their assessments - a pioneering innovation that gave the audience and judges new perspectives while ensuring that the competition could be held under difficult conditions.

Neubauer's triumphal march

In sporting terms, Lennart Neubauer dominated the action on the water. The young Greek already caused a stir in the second round when he presented a triple culo - a move that had never been shown in a World Cup heat before. Neubauer's performance was rewarded with an incredible 48.2 points - the highest heat score of the entire day. This historic moment impressively emphasised the continuous development of freestyle windsurfing and set new standards for future competitions. Neubauer was buoyed by this success and continued his triumphant march through the field of competitors, demonstrating his dominance in every subsequent heat. With technically demanding combinations and perfect execution, he beat Dieter van der Eyken, Jacopo Testa and, in the final, a very strong surfing Yentel Caers, who (if the single elimination on Sylt remains) is on a direct world champion course thanks to his victory on Fuerteventura.

Surprises and strong performances

In addition to Neubauer's brilliant performance, the day offered other surprising moments. Particularly noteworthy was the performance of Thomas Traversa, actually known as Waverider, who eliminated the experienced freestyler Manolis Chrysopoulos in the first round. Swiss crowd favourite Balz Müller also put in a strong performance and fought his way through to the third round, where he finally lost out to Italian Jacopo Testa. Dieter van der Eyken was solid as always and won against his protégé, the up-and-coming Japanese Takumi Moriya, who almost made the podium in Fuerte in the summer. From a German perspective, the day was less pleasing: Niclas Nebelung got off to a strong start against Frenchman Nico, but was narrowly beaten in round two by Steven van Broeckhoven, who later finished fourth.

Perfect backdrop for a public holiday

The Day of German Unity provided the perfect backdrop for this memorable competition day. After days of waiting, the freestyle fans were rewarded with plenty of action. As always, the presenters charmingly guided the audience through the programme and provided the best entertainment for the numerous spectators on the Westerland promenade. The combination of spectacular freestyle action, drone technology and the unique atmosphere made the eighth day of the Windsurf World Cup Sylt a real highlight of the event, which set new standards in terms of both sport and technology.

Wave warm-up

If the wind forecast for tomorrow lives up to its promise, we'll see a lot of rain but also some great wave action. Some waver took advantage of the moderate surf in the shore area today for a little warm-up. That whetted our appetite for more! We are excited!