Highlights: Day 3 at the World Cup Sylt - Lots of winners, lots of shorebreak

The riders had to get up early on the third day of the Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt. The race started at 7.00 am with the first light of day. With around 30 knots of wind from the south-west, it was the freestylers' turn first and a complete single elimination could be ridden. The conditions were typically challenging on Sylt: chaotic waves, lots of current and wind holes close to the beach.

The best shorebreak pictures from Monday:

Freestyle

The two German starters Niclas and Lucas Nebelung were unseeded and had to compete in the first round. While Niclas kept the upper hand in a tight heat against waverider Antoine Martin and progressed, his brother Lucas lost to Thomas Traversa, who is also at home in waveriding. As entry fees only have to be paid once per event and the riders are on site anyway, they also register for the freestyle competition on Sylt from time to time.

Alongside Lucas Nebelung, Taty Frans was also ruled out after injuring his foil yesterday and needing stitches in hospital. This meant that Frans was unable to perform to the best of his ability and lost to Rasmus Oegelund from Denmark.

Niclas Nebelung then faced Adrien Bosson, the eventual winner, in round two. Bosson had already shown how strong he is at the moment with the highest score of the day. Nebelung held out for a long time and stayed close on the Frenchman's heels with a double burner and shaka. In the end, however, Bosson progressed to the next round and the Nebelungs will have to hope for double elimination.

The 2021 world champion, Amado Vrieswijk, had previously reported that he was focussing on racing and only rarely competing in freestyle. The man from Bonaire was still able to defeat Traversa, but then it was over against Jacopo Testa. The latter had already caused a furore in the last EFPT events and also showed on Sylt that he is now one of the world's best. Third place after the single elimination, ahead of 2019 winner Yentel Caers, speaks for itself. Adrien Bosson and Steven van Broeckhoven finally faced each other in the final, with Bosson winning by a clear margin. This gives the Frenchman the best chance of winning the world title!

Standings after the single elimination

1. Adrien Bosson
2. Steven van Broeckhoven
3. Jacopo Testa
4th Yentel Caers
9th Niclas Nebelung
17th Lucas Nebelung

Waveriding ladies

The waves got better and better in the late morning, but the shorebreak also got nastier and nastier. Maria Morales, who wanted to get on the water in the first heat of the women's waveriding, felt this directly. Despite a broken mast, she won against Maria Behrens. Caro Weber also had to go ashore again straight after the first heat, losing to World Championship bronze medallist Justyna Sniady.

The focus was naturally on Lina Erpenstein, who has a chance of winning the world title. She won against Line Bang Wittrup from Denmark and then also defeated Marine Hunter. In the semi-final, she then faced her biggest rival at the World Championships, Sarah-Quita Offringa, of all people, who went on to beat Justyna Sniady in the final. The Polish player had beaten Steffi Wahl in the semi-final and could make the World Championship race much more exciting with a win. Unsurprisingly, however, Offringa did not allow herself to be rattled and confidently took victory in the single elimination. Lina Erpenstein finished in third place after beating her friend Steffi Wahl in the small final.

Standings after the single elimination

1. Sarah-Quita Offringa
2nd Justyna Sniady
3. Lina Erpenstein
4th Steffi Wahl
9th Maria Behrens
9th Caroline Weber

Click through the highlights of the day:

Waveriding men

In the breaks between the women's final heats, the men also started the single elimination. As the water rose, the current and shore break became increasingly challenging and cost the riders a lot of energy, time and even the mast for some.

Julian Salmonn, Florian Jung, Laurin Schmuth and Henri Kolberg had to retire after the first round, losing their heats to riders such as Victor Fernandez, Marc Paré and Antoine Martin, some of whom were seeded much higher. Leon Jamaer sent Baptiste Cloarec and Robby Swift back to the beach until he lost out to Philip Köster. Klaas Voget also made it through to the next round: shortly before the End of career the veteran won against newcomer Liam Dunkerbeck, but was then eliminated by Antoine Martin. Like his Fanatic/Duotone colleague Victor Fernandez, he also had to deal with the shorebreak and was then allowed to change his destroyed rig. Will Duotone have a few more masts sent to the island to be on the safe side?

World Championship top favourite Marcilio Browne relatively easily eliminated Tim van Dam Sanchidrian, competing for Spain, and Takuma Sugi from Japan before meeting Ricardo Campello in the quarter-finals. A heat with great significance: with a win, Browne would have finished at least fourth and would have enough points in his pocket to win the final. to be unassailably ahead . Accordingly, the Brazilian went full throttle right from the start and scored more than 30 points with radical wave rides and safe jumps - the highest score of the day! However, he could have taken it easier, as Ricardo Campello didn't really get into the heat and was never a threat.

On the beach, Brawzinho was overwhelmed and celebrated the second world title of his career. "I have no words. I've worked my whole life to become world champion. And now it's come true!" said the visibly moved Brazilian.

Marc Paré in a final for the first time

Brawzinho also gave his all in the following semi-final, showing no sign of losing concentration. With solid double loops and waverides, he was ahead for a long time against Marc Paré, who many see as the world champion of the future. The Spaniard then managed an outstanding wave ride at the very end of the heat, which put him narrowly in the lead. This put him in a PWA final for the first time in his career! The other semi-final was - once again - a duel between Philip Köster and Victor Fernandez. Köster made it to the final with the better jumps, while the wave scores were almost identical.

In the final, Köster and Paré were almost neck and neck for a long time. With a very good table top forward, the Spaniard had more points for the jump classification, but Köster then chose an almost perfect wave towards the end of the heat, which he was able to finish off with a massive aerial. This meant victory in the single elimination at the Sylt World Cup. But Marc Paré should also be satisfied, as he secured third place in the World Cup ranking with his provisional second place!

"It was really fun, I think that was the best day I've ever had on Sylt!" Köster reported enthusiastically later. "You can tell that Marc has trained very hard and I'm very happy that I was still able to beat him!" Köster also paid tribute to the new world champion: "Marcilio is a well-deserved world champion. He rode superbly all season!"

Shortly before nightfall, the first round of the double elimination was driven. Unfortunately, none of the German riders have been able to catch up so far. Henri Kolberg, Laurin Schmuth, Florian Jung and Julian Salmonn lost their heats, which meant the end of the event for them.

Standings after the single elimination

1. Philip Köster
2. Marc Paré
3. Marcilio Browne
4. Victor Fernandez
5th Ricardo Campello
5th Thomas Traversa
5th Antoine Martin
5th Leon Jamaer
9th Klaas Voget
17th Florian Jung
17th Laurin Schmuth
17th Julian Salmonn
17th Henri Kolberg

And there is a livestream of the World Cup after all

There was great disappointment yesterday when many fans were a little surprised to realise that the PWA was unable to offer a live stream. Too little budget, too uninteresting for sponsors. All the greater then was the joy that the makers of the Surf magazine Sylt Together with the Strandhotel Wyn, we put together an improvised broadcast! In the course of the morning, the PWA also integrated the stream on its own website, and Nico Prien was added as commentator for the final heats. What an effort!

The World Cup Sylt continues tomorrow

After a stormy Monday, Tuesday should be a little calmer. In the morning, the forecast 13 to 15 knots could be enough for further slalom eliminations, and the wind should then continue to decrease towards the evening. Another massive storm front is forecast for the weekend!