After two days of foiling, the competition format switches to the fin slalom discipline on Saturday. Winds of force six to seven are whipping across the North Sea on day four of the California Windsurf Cup in St Peter-Ording. The conditions allow for two full elimination rounds. Amado Vrieswijk came out on top in both races and built up a comfortable lead in the overall standings. Vrieswijk put in a flawless performance on the North Sea. Behind him, a tightly packed field of challengers battled it out for the top places.
Vrieswijk won the first qualifying round in commanding fashion. Alexis Mathis from France finished second. Sem Stroosma from the Netherlands completed the podium. Thijs Hanemaaijer, also from the Netherlands, finished fourth. Youngster Tycho Smits from the island of Bonaire came fifth. The second race went to Vrieswijk once again. Vincent Langer, the reigning German slalom champion, finished second this time. Smits improved significantly and took third place. Keno Recke was the second German rider to finish, coming fourth ahead of Hanemaaijer.
A close race for the chasing positions
After two Fin Slalom heats, Vrieswijk leads the standings with a perfect score of 1.4 points. It’s a close contest behind him. Tycho Smits secures second place with 8.0 points. Just one point behind, a trio of riders are tied on 9.0 points each. Vincent Langer, Alexis Mathis and Thijs Hanemaaijer are level on points. In the tiebreaker, Langer comes out on top ahead of Mathis and Hanemaaijer. The battle for victory in the Fin Slalom discipline therefore remains wide open. Only Vrieswijk has established a comfortable lead. The rest of the rankings could still shift significantly on the final Sunday.
In the women’s event, the title race in the IFCA Foiling European Championship appears to have already been decided. Lina Erzen of Slovenia has dominated the competition with ten wins from eleven races. After discarding her worst results, she leads the standings with a perfect score of 5.6 points. Norway’s Tuva Oppedal, wearing start number GER-29, follows in second place with 16.0 points. Her sister Helle Oppedal, wearing start number GER-39, is in third place with 21.7 points. The gap between Erzen and her closest rivals is significant.
Decision on Sunday
Good wind is forecast once again for the final day. Ideally, races can still be held in both disciplines. The decision on the European Championship title in foiling has been postponed until the final day. The prize-giving ceremony for the IFCA Foiling European Championship is scheduled for Sunday at 5.00 pm. The new European foiling champions will then be crowned on stage.
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