The St. Peter-Ording Windsurfing Cup, at the same time, the IFCA European Championships in foiling, came to an end after five days of competition. 65 athletes from 16 different nations battled it out on the North Sea for the European titles, 40,000 euros in prize money and even points towards the PWA world rankings. Amado Vrieswijk dominated both the foil races and the fin slaloms, thereby crowning himself the undisputed champion of St Peter-Ording. In the women’s competition, Lina Erzen triumphed just as convincingly. The largely perfect conditions allowed for seven complete eliminations in the men’s event and 17 races in the women’s event.
Vrieswijk clinches the European Championship title with a perfect score
Amado Vrieswijk got off to a slow start in the event, finishing seventh following a fall and a disqualification. However, after coming second in race number three, he found his stride and went on to win all subsequent races. From the seventh race onwards, competitors are allowed to discard their three worst results. Vrieswijk recorded four first-place finishes, giving him a perfect score of 2.80. This makes the PWA professional the new IFCA Foiling European Champion for 2026. Fabi Wolf was on course for the title at the European Championships for much of the competition. He scored points with one race win and three second places. Wolf performed so consistently well that he was able to discard a third and a fourth place. With 6.70 points, he finished as European runner-up at the home European Championships in St Peter-Ording.
John Soukos won the opening race, but then had a few slip-ups and temporarily dropped back to fifth place in the standings. It was only with a third-place finish in the final race that he turned the tide once more and secured third place on the European Championship podium. The battle for the remaining top-five places proved extremely close. In the end, three athletes were separated by just one point. In the tie-breaker between France’s Alexis Mathis and Bob van de Burgt from the Netherlands, Mathis came out on top and secured fourth place. Van de Burgt rounded off the top five ahead of Denmark’s Noah Vinther.
Erzen demonstrates her dominance in the women’s competition
In the women’s event, the European Championships were a demonstration of dominance by the Slovenian Lina Erzen. She won 14 of the 17 races in total, securing victory with a perfect score of 9.80. Although every race featured thrilling two- or three-way battles with Tuva and Helle Oppedal, the Slovenian ultimately prevailed almost every time. The gap between her and her rivals was clear in the final standings. Tuva Oppedal from Norway won one race and also scored points with 13 second-place finishes. This took her total to 26.70 points, securing her the title of European runner-up. In third place was her sister Helle Oppedal, who even managed to win two races. With the exception of two second-place finishes, however, she almost exclusively finished third. This brought her total to 35.40 points. Denmark’s Christina Larsen and the American Kate Tonge rounded off the top five in the women’s competition.
Vrieswijk also dominates the Fin Slalom
Alongside the foiling races for the IFCA European Championship, the fin slalom discipline was also held as part of the California Windsurf Cup in St. Peter-Ording. This took place on Saturday, when conditions – with wind speeds of up to force seven and wave heights of more than two metres – became too extreme for the foiling discipline. Furthermore, a third race was held on Sunday to round off the event. Thirty-six men competed in the Fin Slalom, completing two full slalom heats. Amado Vrieswijk was also extremely strong in this discipline. He won both heats on Saturday, thereby securing victory in the Fin Slalom discipline ahead of schedule, following his triumph in the Foiling event. This allowed him to take it a little easier in the final race, though he still put in a very strong performance to finish third.
Vincent Langer, a multiple German, European and world champion, seized his opportunity. He had travelled to the California Windsurf Cup in St Peter-Ording specifically to compete in the fin slalom discipline. After a poor start, finishing seventh, the Kiel-based windsurfer went from strength to strength and secured a place on the podium with a second-place finish. With a victory in the final race, he ultimately even managed to climb to second place. Tycho Smits, a youngster from the Caribbean island of Bonaire, secured consistent top-five finishes with fifth, third and second places. This ultimately secured him third place on the podium. Thijs Hanemaaijr from the Netherlands and Alexis Mathis from France rounded off the top five in the Fin Slalom discipline.
All the information, live scores and results can be found at online-scoring.com