“Sylt is always something special,” say many pros about the World Cup off Westerland. And it’s not just the experiences on land; the conditions on the water are also unrivalled. How else can you explain that even seasoned pros, who normally ride waves as high as the mast or shine in 50-knot winds at Pozo, get caught up in Sylt’s ‘washing machine’?
Strong winds drive large volumes of water towards the island, with Westerland situated right in the middle and at a slight bend in the coastline. Added to this are the tides, which together create a river-like current near the shore. The remains of the groynes, which were intended to halt sand loss, only make matters worse and pose an additional hazard.
On Sylt, the shorebreak is particularly treacherous
Just off the coast, the seabed rises relatively steeply, meaning that the waves that have built up across the North Sea build up and break relatively quickly. Depending on the tide, this sometimes happens further out and sometimes closer to the beach. With every storm, the profile of the sandbanks changes, meaning that the shorebreak is often difficult to predict.
Added to this are the tricky wind conditions off Westerland. The more onshore the wind, the more it is ‘slowed down’ and swirled by the promenade and the buildings (wind shear). What then feels like a fair bit of wind provides hardly any pressure on the sail out on the water. So the riders have to navigate the white water without any real forward momentum, not only having to somehow overcome the breaking waves but also master the current. In the process, almost everyone has the misfortune of ending up in the ‘Sylt washing machine’ at some point...
Click through the most spectacular crash photos of recent years above!
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Tobias Frauen
Editor
