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2013: Southwest 0-7
The 30th World Cup Sylt, which was celebrated with a thick book, among other things, saw a highly exciting world championship race, especially in freestyle. In a moderate easterly wind, Kiri Thode and Gollito Estredo battled for the title far out, with Steven van Broekhoven tipping the scales as a finalist. Judges and photographers had to wait for hours on a motorboat bobbing in the icy wind in the middle of the North Sea. In the end, Kiri triumphed and returned to Bonaire as the new national hero. Germany's national windsurfing hero Bernd Flessner, on the other hand, announced the end of his career on Sylt in 2013, finishing in sixth place at the end, while Björn Dunkerbeck was only able to follow the field for the most part. The wave riders didn't get out on the water at all and spent their time working, playing tabletop football or gaming.
2014: Sylt unofficial
A completely different perspective on the World Cup Sylt: thanks to a wildcard, surf editor Manuel Vogel is allowed to compete in wave riding ("Slalom? You can forget it, I'm not going to make a fool of myself!") and experiences the event "undercover", so to speak. After a cautious warm-up, he immediately wins over the first fan: "You've always skied back and forth so nicely. Surely you're the favourite?" an elderly lady says happily. In the first round, it's straight away against Victor Fernandez, in more than borderline conditions. But Victor just can't win against Manuel! However, Manuel doesn't win either, the heat is cancelled twice. "I'm done, even though I haven't surfed a net hour. Six hours in the wetsuit [...] and above all the excitement are exhausting!" Later in the week, the freestylers and slalom riders take to the water, with Gollito and Arnon Dagan winning. Manuel goes to the cinema for the premiere of "Children of the Wind", to the American, on the SUP and marvels at Dunkerbeck and Naish signing autographs. Dunki announced his retirement before the event and is celebrated loudly on his return to the beach after his last heat: "A little more pathos from the event presenters and the first people on the shore would collapse in tears." Happy end to a week with lots of partying and little surfing: The wave prize money will be split evenly between all starters!
2015: High spirits without low pressure
The organisers and 130 starters were also unlucky with the wind in 2015. Only one slalom elimination could be counted, and even that was very tough after numerous cancellations. Too bad, because SAP and Vodafone had organised a very advanced live stream with tracking and live data. Matteo Iachino won and took the lead in the World Championships, but it would not be enough for the title until a year later. The freestylers took to the water for an evening tow-in session, the sails impressively illuminated with LED strips. "Cabeibusha", the film about Sarah-Quita Offringa, was shown in the cinema, otherwise there was plenty of SUP to pass the time. Naish and Dunki were also there, Björn presented the book about his life "Björn Dunkerbeck - Windsurfer" (available here as an e-book).
2016: Four wins!
It's never happened before: four disciplines - and thanks to top conditions, results everywhere! On Sylt, slalom riders competed on foils for the first time; the event was a test run for the introduction of the discipline. Antoine Albeau won, but still without a title. This was won by Gollito Estredo in freestyle, but only in the super final against Amado Vrieswijk, who had been in the lead until then, in a perfectly dramatic finish. The wave riders were already on the line before the official start, because in the week before the event - which was moved back to increase the chances of wind - a huge storm swept across the North Sea. In flat onshore winds, Alex Mussolini then won and claimed his second Sylt victory after 2009. And in the slalom, Matteo Iachino laid the foundations for his first World Championship title. All of this was also easier than ever for spectators to follow, as the live stream including scoring and positions could be seen on giant screens on Brandenburg beach!
2017: Epic!
Five days of storms turned the 2017 World Cup into a truly epic event! Philip Köster wrote a real sporting fairytale: After a ten-month injury break, he won his fourth World Cup title in his comeback season. His superb wave rides were the main reason for this. The fact that Köster "only" finished third on Sylt behind Victor Fernandez and Marcilio Browne did not dampen the cheers of the spectators. In the women's event, Sarah-Quita Offringa came between the Moreno twins, while Lina Erpenstein took fourth place and established herself at the top. In freestyle, the final was once again Gollito versus Vrieswijk, with the now eight-time world champion once again coming out on top. The slalom also went like a fairytale: Marco Lang won an elimination for the first time in his career - and went one better in the second run. His North colleague Vincent Langer sensationally took second place. Julien Quentel won on the foil, but the discipline would not be given an official PWA ranking until the following year.
2018: Drama, baby!
The forecast once again gave the waveriders an early start before the actual event, Ricardo Campello won the single elimination and already had one hand on the World Cup trophy. Victor Fernandez then caught up in the double and celebrated his third World Championship title after beating Thomas Traversa in the semi-final - but it was too early to rejoice, as the official result was only announced minutes later and Traversa progressed by a wafer-thin margin. He then faced Campello, who could have secured the title - if he had kept his nerve. Traversa won and Fernandez was crowned world champion after all - there has rarely been so much drama! In freestyle, Adrien Bosson won the single elimination, but then had to admit defeat in the double - I wonder who? - to whom? Exactly, Gollito Estredo, who confidently won his ninth title. Antoine Albeau has 25 of them in his pocket after the Sylt event, while Gonzalo Costa Hoevel becomes the first official world champion in foil. Runner-up behind him was Sebastian Kördel, who found his new metier after a disappointing slalom season. Away from the official competitions, Balz Müller causes amazement - he flies almost non-stop through the surf with his foil and shows what is possible with the new discipline!
2019: Sylt Flight Days
The drama unfolded a year later before the Sylt World Cup: Youp Schmit sensationally led the freestyle world championships and was dreaming of the title, but then seriously injured his knee. He competed with a splint, but Yentel Caers became world champion. Sarah-Quita Offringa also achieved a premiere, taking her first victory on Sylt. The women had to contend with the hardcore shorebreak, sometimes spending most of their heats in the Sylt washing machine. Offringa, but also finalist Maaike Huvermann, showed plenty of overview and skill, almost always managing to get out unscathed. This was also the secret of Brawzinho's success, who pulled off a brilliant comeback in the men's double - his caddy, who dragged his equipment back upwind and supplied him with bananas, was none other than his boss and wave legend Francisco Goya. In foiling, instead of fin slalom, Sebastian Kördel was able to record a victory and a second place, with Nicolas Goyard winning in the end and crowning himself the new Foil World Champion!
In 2020 and 2021, the World Cup Sylt had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
2022: Sylt - once with everything, please!
Sylt 2022 made up for what could not take place in the previous two years. Ten days full of action, storms and excitement. Amado Vrieswijk was delighted with his first victory on Sylt - not in freestyle, however, but in slalom. The man from Bonaire had temporarily changed tack and also used his bear strength on the racing equipment. The foils dominated, and the first voices were raised in favour of strengthening the races on the fin again. Only in the last race was Vrieswijk able to prevail against Maciek Rutkowski, who would later become world champion in Japan. There was also an emotional victory in wave riding, with Philip Köster taking his second Sylt win after 2012 and Sarah-Quita Offringa repeating her success from the previous year. The freestyle world champion was Adrien Bosson - with just 0.1 points ahead of Jacopo Testa in the final.
2023: Sylt premiere party
Where the Naishs, Dunkerbecks, Albeaus and Gollitos used to be subscribed to the victories, the fields in all disciplines are much more mixed. There were more emotional moments in 2023 than there had been for a long time: Michele Becker won his first elimination in the World Cup and shed a little tear, Maria Behrens sensationally surfed into the women's wave final in unusual sideshore conditions. And in freestyle, mega-talent Lennart Neubauer took his first World Cup victory. The fact that he secured it against his mate Yentel Caers, who was able to catch up after an early exit in the single (against Lennart!) and whose second place was enough to win the World Cup, would probably have been dismissed by any dramatist as unrealistic and too cheesy.
2024: Typical Sylt!
For its 40th anniversary, Sylt was exactly as we know and love it. A sideshore dream on the opening day - but on which no official heats were started. One day later, the wind was blowing flat onshore and many a title dream was shattered in the shorebreak and windward-leeward jam, but Marc Paré and Sarah-Quita Offringa deservedly won the single elimination. The wind continued to shift to the unloved easterly wind direction - fantastic late summer weather for the spectators, offshore foiling for the pros. A viscous mass of seaweed also made life and foiling difficult for them ("like sailing through pudding"). The eventual world champion Justine Lemeteyer and Johan "The Beast" Søe did it best. Despite several attempts, the freestylers didn't even get a score in the box and Lennart Neubauer won his first World Championship title largely without a fight. However, he demonstrated that he deserved it in a tow-in session!
Click through all Sylt stories from 2013 to 2024 in the gallery above!
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