This year's edition of the Master of the Ocean did not take place directly in Cabarete, but in the neighbouring surf spot Encuentro - a place that lives up to its name: "Encounter". For 20 years now, this event has been bringing together water sports enthusiasts from all over the world to compete in several disciplines. The competition took place over five days, from Wednesday 17 September to Sunday 21 September, and traditionally ended with the grand award ceremony under palm trees.
Modern pentathlon
The special thing about the format: in the Overall Division, the athletes have to compete in all five sports - surfing, stand up paddle (SUP), windsurfing, kitesurfing and wingfoiling - all in the waves. Whoever wins here can rightly call themselves Master of the Ocean call it. In the Team Division, on the other hand, teams of five compete and must include at least one woman. Each team member takes on one discipline so that strengths and weaknesses are optimally distributed. This makes for exciting and often surprising heats that are never predictable.
The surfing disciplines were organised at the wave Destroyer which is characterised by a second peak called the Left connects. Windsurfing, kitesurfing and wingfoiling took place on the wave the Right instead. The reef there is littered with sea urchins, and pretty much every member of the German team has had close encounters with them - especially kiter Nils Niebaum. He had so many spines in his feet that you could almost joke: The bay is now free of sea urchins because they all landed on him.
The water was as warm as a bathtub, wetsuits were superfluous. From the sea you could see almond trees, palm trees with fresh coconuts and colourful birds in the sky. Turtles, vultures and mango trees rounded off the tropical ambience. Although it was the tourist low season, the wind and waves offered perfect conditions - not least thanks to the hurricanes over the Atlantic that brought groundswell.
Windy start
The first two days of the competition were windy, which promised perfect conditions for the wind sports in particular. Nevertheless, not all wind sports finals could be held as the wind died down in the following days. There was all the more excitement in the wave disciplines, which shone with consistent sets.
Athletes from Peru, Brazil, Hawaii, Germany, France, Mexico, Argentina and the Dominican Republic were at the start. Mexico's Maxime Lhuillier, defending champion from 2024, proved once again that he is the real deal. Master of the Ocean and once again secured victory in the Overall Division.
Team leader Yannik Mittas
From a German perspective, Yannick Mittas caused quite a stir. He qualified for the finals in both wingfoil and surfing - a strong signal of his versatility. Unfortunately, the wingfoil final was cancelled. In the surf final, he came up against the strongest riders in the field and put in a powerful performance, but had to settle for 4th place in the end. In the overall standings, this was "only" good enough for 5th place - nevertheless an impressive result in such a high-class field. Jan Malte Claus took 7th place and impressively demonstrated that he is one of the top international wingfoil racers.
The performance of Brazilian SUP world champion Aline Adisaka was particularly spectacular. She scored a perfect 10 in the SUP team final and showed how to completely control a wave from start to finish. The team competition was won by the Dream Team, a collective full of locals who were hard to beat in their home wave. There was also a kids' division, in which the under-18s only competed in surfing. Their level was impressive - many of them could soon cause an international furore.
Lots of support for the MOTO project
Organiser Marcus, supported by Patricia, once again put an incredible amount of heart and soul into the event. In addition to the contest, they also run the project Happy Dolphinswhich teaches children from the region to swim and trains them as lifeguards - valuable work that creates prospects and introduces the next generation to water sports.
The German embassy and the airline Edelweiss generously supported the German team. Flights, accommodation, daily lunch, massage, physiotherapy and even ice cream were part of the riders' overall package - we felt like real professional athletes.
The atmosphere in the line-up was also something special. In Encuentro, "localism" doesn't mean being isolated, but being helpful. The locals show you where to sit in order to paddle the wave in the best possible way. It was a new experience for us Europeans - compared to Portugal or Spain, where the line-up is often more reserved, the atmosphere here is loud, spirited but extremely warm.
The Master of the Ocean 2025 was a celebration of water sports. Exciting heats, top international athletes, fantastic conditions and a community that lives the spirit of the ocean. For us as a German team, it was an unforgettable experience - both in sporting and human terms.
The top 8
1st place: Maxime Lhuillier (Mexico)
2nd placeJuan Silvestre Lena (Argentina)
3rd placeSamuel Pérez (Dominican Republic)
4th placeFrancis Gonzales (Dominican Republic)
5th place: Yannick Mittas (Germany)
6th place: Brian Talma (Barbados)
7th place: Jan Malte Claus (Germany)
8th place: Makani Andrews (USA)
