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2003: Thank goodness!
Björn Dunkerbeck versus Josh Angulo – that was the heat everyone was watching in 2003. In the semi-finals of the double-elimination tournament, the Terminator and the former bad boy went head to head; Angulo won, thereby securing his first World Championship title: “I thank God, my wife and Björn!” When it came to racing back then, Formula was all the rage – sails measuring double-digit square metres and massive, wide boards. But the North Sea takes no such notice: “At a solid force 6, you can barely see the pros in their footstraps even when sailing on a half-wind.” Bernd Flessner, who competes in both disciplines, eventually had enough of the ordeal “and threw his kit at the feet of one of the organisers: ‘Why don’t you have a go with that?’ The bloke just said: ‘Am I mad?’” Dunki isn’t about to put himself through that anyway, and teases Flessner and Andy Laufer: “You lot are surfing Formula, I’m having kids – that’s more productive.” At the time, his second child is on the way: Liam Dunkerbeck.
2004: Many winners
Fancy that – was the Sylt World Cup ever a one-design event? Back in 2004, the racing sails looked almost identical: square metres of transparent monofilm and hardly any colour. It was difficult to make out the individual riders during the 14 course races on the North Sea, as there was only wave riding on a single day. In borderline conditions, only two laps could be completed, resulting in a total of 17 winners. In the women’s event, the only excitement was in the party tent; the Morenos and co. didn’t even get out onto the water. The race committee was banking on another day of waves, which, however, never materialised. In the racing, Antoine Albeau ultimately came out on top, followed by Ross Williams. Due to the dying wind, the golf course became a secondary attraction: amateur golfers Flessner and Laufer took to the green with Dunkerbeck.
2005: Slalom is back!
Action in the shorebreak rather than races way out at sea: everyone was delighted that, after the Formula years, slalom racing had returned to Sylt. And how! Twelve elimination rounds through the chaos of the North Sea, finishes right in front of the beach, starts with half the field and thrills at every gybe. Even though the equipment registration caused some confusion at first, everyone was thrilled: “It’s pure adrenaline – you’re racing at 60 or 65 at about 60 or 65 in a pack of nearly 20 riders towards the first mark; it’s a massive blast!” enthused Bernd Flessner. Dunki was back enjoying the racing too and secured an unchallenged victory. When it came to wave riding, however, the verdict on Sylt was “We didn’t make the most of it!” Quite a bit of time was wasted waiting for better waves, meaning that in the end it wasn’t enough to reach the quarter-finals. The new world champions, Kauli Seadi and Daida Moreno, had to share the top spots with seven others each. And whilst Andy Laufer was accompanied round the clock by an RTL team (“I play the chaotic one and Steffi Wahl the highly organised one”), Boujmaa Gulloul and Chris Pressler were making their debut on Sylt.
2006: The show must go on – we’ll go surfing when there’s wind
The 2006 World Cup was an event of superlatives – but only on land. With a pit lane for the professionals, the famous parties and plenty of celebrities, the set-up in the autumn following the “summer fairy tale” was impressive. According to the local press, the local table-dance bar is even said to have hired twelve new dancers especially for the World Cup. They may well have got more exercise than the riders, because apart from a few Slalom 42 races, not much else happened. A fun race, a freestyle super session won by Ricardo Campello on slalom equipment – that was it. It wasn’t until the Monday after the event that a proper storm front swept through; many wave riders stayed an extra day just for that. Even special guest Robby Naish took to the water – though outside the competition.
2007: Election campaign
Windsurfing is a “fascinating sport that uniquely combines skill, elegance and the mastery of the forces of nature” – said, back in 2007, none other than the then Chancellor Angela Merkel, who sent a message of greeting to Sylt. Had she come to the island in person, she would have been able to cheer on the best result by a German woman in many years. “It’s a dream to put in the performance of a lifetime in front of this fantastic crowd,” said Steffi Wahl, commenting on her third place at the 2007 Sylt World Cup. With light winds but “solid breaks”, it was the wave rides that counted; Steffi finished third behind Daida Moreno and, surprisingly, left her sister Iballa trailing behind her. An overwhelmed Nayra Alonso took the top spot. The men only got out on the water for a few preliminary heats; wave action was only to be seen on the big screen, where Levi Siver and Jane Pacebianco presented ‘The Windsurfing Movie’ at the cinema. The slalom couldn’t get underway until the very end either; Antoine Albeau showed why he had already secured the world title before the event even began and won in commanding fashion. It was a completely different story in freestyle: there, five riders still had a chance of winning the world title; it was only towards the end of the double elimination that one favourite after another was knocked out. With his victory over Kiri Thode, 18-year-old Marcilio Browne claimed his first world title, whilst last year’s world champion, Gollito Estredo, won the event.
2008: Jubi Cup
At last, some spectacular wave riding off Sylt again – and what a spectacle it was! With winds of 40 to 45 knots and huge white-water rollers, the showdown took place on the second weekend. Klaas Voget rode his way to a sensational third place – had he not lost valuable time in the semi-final following a broken mast and had he executed his final move a few seconds earlier, he might even have made it to the final. In the evening, the first night session took place on the raging North Sea, illuminated only by the headlights of the sponsors’ cars. Whilst Klaas was happy in the end, André Paskowski was a little disappointed with his fifth place in the freestyle. In the slalom, however, the German riders were nowhere near the front; Björn Dunkerbeck dominated the event and marked his comeback. To mark the 25th anniversary, Robby Naish was of course also a guest on Sylt, and he brought along a very young up-and-coming rider: Kai Lenny.
2009: SeeBühne (or: The Hero of Westerland)
Anyone who follows the World Cups off Sylt with any regularity will find that, with a muttered “Oh yes, 2009...” images will flash before their eyes – images that are almost iconic: Klaas Voget running along the beach to the cheers of the spectators, climbing onto the podium… “What the spectators were treated to on that Saturday afternoon was absolutely straight out of a film script and deserved to be made into a film!” Klaas surfed nine heats, emerging victorious eight times. It was only in the final of the double elimination that he lost to Alex Mussolini, but by then he had long since become the hero of the thousands of spectators who didn’t want to miss a single second in the howling storm. By finishing second, he achieved Germany’s best-ever result in wave surfing to date. However, large sections of the tent city and the paddock on the beach had already been dismantled by this second World Cup weekend, for fear of a storm surge. Incidentally, Antoine Albeau, who had already been confirmed as slalom world champion, finished fourth in the wave riding with plenty of style and power. Philip Köster, on the other hand, who had previously won his first World Cup in Pozo, chose the wrong equipment and was knocked out in the first round.
2010: Dunki is back
After nearly two years of fantastic conditions, the event flags on Brandenburger Strand in 2010 fluttered only in an easterly wind. A freestyle single elimination in borderline conditions far out at sea and, apart from that, just slalom – that was all that was possible. But much to the delight of the Sylt crowd, Björn Dunkerbeck was back in his old ‘Terminator’ mode. Although the World Championship title was already secured by Antoine Albeau, Dunki was determined to win on Sylt. In the end, only a snapped trapeze line disrupted his winning streak. The top German was Gunnar Asmussen, who set his sights high for the years to come. The highlight was the freestylers being towed by a jet ski during the night session – one of the first tow-in events!
2011: Cup of Good Hope
In 2011, tow-in freestyle was virtually the only way to put on a show for the spectators on the beach. The summer heat and lack of wind prevented any official scoring. Even an attempt at a light-wind slalom failed. So there was all the more time to focus on the absolute superstar: Philip Köster arrived on Sylt as the newly crowned world champion following his victory in Klitmøller and sparked a massive frenzy: endless media engagements, celebrations with partners and sponsors, press conferences, TV appearances and, of course, autograph hunters of all ages. Interest on Sylt has rarely been this high; organiser Matthias Neumann spoke of 230,000 spectators, even without any wind. The fact that Björn Dunkerbeck clinched his long-awaited slalom title almost became a side issue.
2012: Full house
The Köster hype was everywhere again in 2012, and once more Philip returned to Sylt with the title under his belt. And this time, the conditions were on his side too: a week of action, culminating in the double-elimination final just before the prize-giving ceremony – it doesn’t get much better than that! And just like in a script, Köster won the Sylt World Cup for the first time and stood on the podium still dripping wet in his wetsuit. A night session was also back on the programme, with Ricardo Campello putting on the best show. Whilst Gollito Estredo secured his fifth world title in the North Sea freestyle, the slalom riders were somewhat overshadowed by the other disciplines. Dunki was aiming to become world champion once again, but was dogged by bad luck: first, his caddy Chris Pressler handed a victory to his rival Albeau, then the mast snapped with a deafening bang.
You can browse through all the Sylt stories from 2003 to 2012 in the gallery above!
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Tobias Frauen
Editor