iQFOiL U23: Lots of wind at the World Championships in Portimão, Sophia Meyer climbs further up the rankings

After a good start, the wind picked up again at the U23 iQFOiL World Championship, with winds of over 20 knots and gusts of up to 25 knots. The competition zone in front of the Santa Catarina Fortress presented a particular challenge for the participants. The prevailing north-westerly wind blows directly towards the beach and creates a tactically demanding playing field. The riders have to constantly weigh up their options: Either stay close to shore to take advantage of flatter water while battling difficult wind conditions, or head further out to sea where they can find more stable pressure and stronger winds. Local knowledge and the ability to read the wind patterns quickly become crucial factors for success. On top of this, the Algarve sun and heat add to the stress, forcing athletes to pay careful attention to hydration, nutrition and energy management.

Morris dominates in difficult conditions

The second day of competition brought even more challenging conditions, but Grae Morris from Australia was unimpressed. The Olympic silver medallist extended his lead at the top and commented on his performance with characteristic composure: "I come from a windy place, I was born with the wind, I have fun where others struggle to keep control."

Behind Morris, Italy's Federico Pilloni continues to show great consistency under pressure. The biggest leap of the day was made by Spaniard Nacho Baltasar Summers, who represented his country at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Thanks to his consistency in the stronger winds, he climbed from fifth to third place overall. Israeli Gur Lavi Prag was less consistent on the second day and slipped to seventh place, but remains firmly in the top ten. Britain's Duncan Monaghan has also impressed with his consistent series so far and is in fifth place.

Duncan Monaghan reported afterwards: "It was pretty good conditions out there! I had some good results today, getting two third and two fourth places, which is nice, so I can cancel out the worse results from yesterday. I'm happy with the great conditions and to be surfing with a group of really cool guys." Max Körner remains the best German in 27th place, scraping into the top ten in his group. Jakob Ditzen is in 45th place, Lenny Friemel follows a little behind in 50th place, Max Winkler is currently in 76th place and Bastian Weber in 93rd.

Change of power among women

In the women's race, the balance of power shifted on the second day. Emma Viktoria Millend from Estonia made a strong comeback after a cautious start to today's races and finished the day with two consecutive race wins, catapulting her to the top of the overall standings.

Mina Mobekk from Norway, the leader on the first day, lost valuable points, especially in the third race. Nevertheless, she holds on to second place and remains a strong contender for the title. Her compatriot Maya Gysler, runner-up in the U23 2024 World Championships, remains in third place on the podium, underlining the strength of the Norwegian team. Aimee Bright from New Zealand, who has travelled all the way from the other side of the world, is in fourth place at the end of the second day.

Aimee Bright was delighted: "We had another really good wind day today, it was scary at times but it was really cool. I managed to get some really good racing in today, I'm stoked. I managed to get my first win at the event in the last race, so I'm super stoked. It started off pretty tricky but it's so cool to learn here and yeah, I love it and I'm ready for tomorrow."

Sophia Meyer also coped wonderfully with the conditions in Portimao, and the Berlin rider moved up to sixth place in the overall standings with extremely consistent results (7, 5, 7, 5). Emma Schleicher was able to take her two worst runs as strings and is in 34th place.

Today, the men will be divided into gold and silver fleets, while the women will continue on the water as a full fleet!