Six foil races and two fin races were on the results list at the end, "despite some capricious weather", as the organisers wrote. After its premiere on Lake Garda, the ProAm Windsurf Cup in Surendorf was the first German event in the new series, which is intended to appeal to professionals and regatta beginners alike as a substructure of the California Windsurf Cup. "The mix of beginners and intermediates with top riders through to current or former world champions ensured an exchange of ideas and a unique atmosphere," said the organisers. "Both the participants and the organisers from the Nordwind Wassersport association were delighted and are already looking forward to next year's event."
Perfect scores for Vincent Langer and Fabian Wolf
In Surendorf, there were races on both the foil and the fin. Fabian Wolf was first class in the foil races. The reigning GWA Foil Champion won four of the six races. With two strikes, Fabian Wolf won the foiling discipline with an ideal score of 0.0. Vincent Langer fought a thrilling duel with the winner Wolf. Langer had his nose in front in two races. Langer came second four times. With 4.0 points, he clearly secured second place in foiling. Lars Poggemann secured third place in this discipline. However, with 13.0 points, he is already well ahead of the leading duo. Lithuanian Giedrius Liutkus follows in fourth place with 16.0 points, while Dutchman Koen Hessels and Leo Richter were tied in fifth place, with the tie-breaker in Richter's favour in the end.
Vincent Langer dominated both races in the Fin Slalom and secured overall victory in this discipline with an ideal score of 0.0. Fabian Wolf also put in a strong performance in the Fin with a second and a third place, taking second place. Frenchman Brendan Lorho, who had just won the two Youth World Cups on Aruba and Bonaire, came third. Leo Richter also had to go into a tie-break here to secure fourth place.
Strong juniors on foil and fin
As a junior regatta, the ProAm Cups naturally focus in particular on the junior rankings. In foiling, Leo Richter was the best U21 sailor ahead of Koen Hessels and Branden Lorho. Erik Wehkamp won the Youth U19 category ahead of Pelle Bo Behrend and Thies Johnson. Paul Regber won the Junior U17 category in foiling ahead of Philip Köhlert and Gustav Grünbaum.
The ProAm Windsurf Cup Surendorf had another important facet: no fewer than 13 starters competed in the foiling discipline with Olympic or pre-Olympic iQFOiL, iQFOiL Youth&Junior or Techno Windfoil equipment. This made this year's event the event with the most participants in this field in Germany to date. Tjalve Böttger made it into the top ten in ninth place on iQFoil Senior Equipment. Paul Regber was the best rider with iQFOiL Youth&Junior Equipment in eleventh place overall in the foiling discipline. Philip Köhlert followed in second place ahead of Gustav Grünbaum. Oke Hochschild won the Techno Windfoiler category ahead of Tom Franke and Pauline Bruch
Brendan Lorho won the Youth U21 classification on the Finn ahead of Leo Richter and Koen Hessels. Erik Wehkamp won the Youth U19 classification ahead of Thies Johnson and Matthis Böhme. Following his Junior U17 victory in foiling, Paul Regber also secured victory in the Junior classification in the Fin Slalom. Noah Schmäh follows in second place ahead of Oke Hochschild.
The youngsters in the Techno 293 class also competed in the Fin Slalom. The best rider in the junior class was Gustav Grünbaum in an excellent 10th place. This also makes him the best T293 boy U15. Hannes König won the T293 Open Boy classification, while Lena Schmäh was best T293 U15 Girl.
The next ProAm Windsurf Cup at the Surf Club Kiel in Strande on the Kiel Fjord will continue next weekend on 15/16 June. Registrations are still possible!