There's no way around him at the moment: Michele Becker was unbeatable on the first day of the IFCA Slalom European Championship on Borkum. The sailor from Kiel won all three eliminations, which were sailed on the foil in light winds. Becker is therefore well on his way to winning the third event of the German Windsurf Cup this year after Ahlbeck and Sylt.
In addition to the national riders, internationally renowned names such as Scotty Stallman from Great Britain, Taty Frans from Bonaire, Ingmar Daldorf from the Netherlands, Ennio dal Pont from Italy and Pierre Macquert from France will also be competing on Borkum to become European champion. Justine Lemeteyer, currently leading the PWA rankings and winner of the World Cup on Lake Garda, is one of the few women taking part.
In the first round, in which 1000 euros are distributed among the top 3 as the "Grand Prize of LVM Versicherung" regardless of all other results, Becker won ahead of Fabian Wolf and Jonne Heimann. Ka-Ching earned 500 euros, while Wolf and Heimann received 300 and 200 euros respectively. At the end of the event, the 10,000 euros in prize money for the entire event will be distributed.
Next round, Nico Prien was now also at the front and took second place ahead of dal Pont, Wolf and Stallman. The third race was particularly close: Prien and Becker were only a few metres apart in the final, and once again the leader prevailed. Behind them were Wolf and dal Pont, with Macquert making it into the top 5 for the first time.
The forecast promises a few more races over the next few days, possibly also in the separate Finn classification. The IFCA Slalom European Championship continues until Sunday!
