From a German perspective, the 2023 Slalom World Cup season was probably the best since the glory days of Flessi and Bachschuster. With Michele Becker (25) and Nico Prien (28), two northern Germans catapulted themselves into the top ten of the world rankings. It was Becker's first full World Cup season and Prien's comeback after a stint as a manager. surf author Axel Reese accompanied both of them through the season and interviewed them after the World Cups in Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Sylt and Japan. In doing so, the two allow a deep insight into their inner lives, tactics, equipment and competition.
Gran Canaria
Nine slalom eliminations with up to 35 knots of wind speed! Nico is travelling at top speed and makes it into the A final seven times, setting an exclamation mark with his victory in the last race. Michele is hardly any less fast and finishes in an equally impressive eighth place overall.
Nico, how was the World Cup in Gran Canaria?
Nico:I had already been to the spot a good week beforehand to familiarise myself with the conditions. It was super cool to get to the beach and know that it was windy today. In that respect, it was the complete opposite of the World Cup on Lake Garda. Mentally, it's easier not to be on standby all the time without any action, but to switch into competition mode in the morning.
How were your starts?
Nico:I was pretty consistent, always relatively far upwind, towards the pin end with a maximum of two riders below me. But if there's Enrico Marotti below me, for example, the pin start doesn't help me as much because he's a bit faster than me. With almost everyone else, I ride relatively low down to the pin before the start and send body signals to the others - along the lines of "the pin is mine!"(laughs).
"Pretty consistent" sounds a bit understated to me. I would put most of the starts in the "world class" category.
Nico:I had a lot of zero starts, so out of the 30 heats, I crossed the line at full speed and zero in about 25 of them. Starts are almost 100 per cent mental, and that shows me that I had a good focus at this event.
Starts are almost 100 per cent mental. That shows me that I had a good focus.-Nico Prien
Many windsurfers will be interested to know how you experienced the fight between fin and foil in Gran Canaria? How was the speed in comparison and especially with the riders who changed during the event?
Nico:I quickly realised this because we had a lot of wind before the competition too, including a day with really strong winds. We did a few "runs" with our JP/NeilPryde team mates to see how it worked here on our foils, looked at each other afterwards and simply realised that we would be foiling almost exclusively here. The problem for the Finn riders was that they had to start upwind of the boat to get enough speed downwind, whereas the foilers had a better choice of where to start.
And then came the first neck tonne.
Nico:At least the fast riders with fins arrived at the same time as us. Then it depended on how strong the gust was. With the right amount of pressure, they glided well out of the gybe, but in the wind holes there was no chance for the fins because the foilers have a much higher average speed in the gybe.
And then?
Nico:On the outstroke, it goes against the wave, where the foil has more weaknesses, i.e. control problems, and the fin has its strengths. And on the next stroke, i.e. back in, when crossing the wave, the foil has a slight advantage again.
Then things got really interesting at the second inner buoy.
Nico:Yes, because the wind was often very patchy there and I've already mentioned the challenge of accelerating with a Finn. Somehow the Finn riders had to get round the course.
The World Cup in Fuerteventura started about two and a half weeks after Gran Canaria. Outsiders will no doubt assume that you would be travelling on to Fuerteventura quite quickly.
Nico:No, it wasn't like that, because to bridge the break between these two events, I flew home, where I then focussed on the gym. In Gran Canaria I weighed around 95kg and I'm trying to get down to around 97kg.
Michele, the Cup in Gran Canaria also went brilliantly for you with an eighth place.
Michele:I honestly didn't expect such a good result in Pozo. Many expected that we would mainly see races on the Finn there, but luckily it was less windy than expected. Unfortunately, the last time I rode my little foil kit was in April, so I lacked preparation for this World Cup, I have to say self-critically.
At the starts, Nico was regularly to be found at the pin - in the middle of the action - and you were far more defensive.
Michele:That's right, which had to do with how I estimated my own speed, so I was above the foilers and the Finn riders were even higher up. And yes, I didn't get the starts in Pozo right, I just didn't get a feel for the start line. At Lago I was able to get away in fifth and because of my very good jibes I knew that I would still be in the top four, so that's why the more defensive starts. Of the top ten riders, I certainly had the worst starts on Gran Canaria, but I'm one of the best when it comes to jibes!
Does this result in something like a flow during the days?
Michele:On the first day I didn't have that much confidence, and there was the odd bad jibe, but it wasn't until the second day that I found my "groove" and on the third day I had full confidence, or in other words, the self-confidence that I could qualify for the final against any rider.
What conclusions did you take away from the World Cup in Gran Canaria?
Michele:I definitely know that no matter how the race goes and where I am, I can overtake and beat anyone. Yes, I don't have to hide from anyone, for example I overtook Maciek Rutkowski at the buoy and Matteo Iachino on the straight. I feel so connected and secure with my Patrik equipment, which simply gives me enormous freedom and self-confidence.
You just said that you don't need to change anything or much in terms of equipment. Is it possible for you to perform optimally on both boards, i.e. foil and fin, during an event?
Michele:Basically, there's no denying that my level on the fin is slightly lower than on the foil. I also really need a bit of time to familiarise myself again on the fin when I make a spontaneous change. That takes 10 to 20 minutes, which isn't always the case in competition.
You also flew back home from Gran Canaria. How are you making the most of the time until your flight to Fuerte?
Michele:Phew, Pozo was so exhausting that I needed a break. I just can't windsurf, windsurf, windsurf every day... I'm empty then too. It's indescribable how much energy goes into performing at this level. In addition to the races, you also prepare food in the evening, want the equipment to be perfect again and have to stretch or something similar, which is exhausting. Between the two World Cups, I mainly wanted to regenerate and get physically fit again, so it's okay if I only go on the water twice a week.
Oh, one more question about the equipment. The JP/Pryde equipment was quite an announcement in the Pozo conditions, wasn't it? The JP/Pryde team riders were really fast on the straights and ultimately finished in the top ten three times. First and foremost Enrico Marotti, who won Pozo, Nico finished fifth!
Michele:Yes, Nico was fast, but they weren't unbeatably fast. They started from the pin and had top starts as a result. NeilPryde has one of the fastest foils, but it also offers less control. Bruno Martini had more and more crashes over the course of the event, whereas it was the other way round for me.
Fuerteventura
Michele, you finished eleventh overall after eleven races. Lots of light and lots of shade! In addition to eliminations in which you didn't make it to the A or B finals, you also came second twice.
Michele:Yes, some of the results don't look so good, but some look very good. Nico and I are only half a point apart in the final result, but Nico drove very consistently, but I sometimes delivered really well or was already out in the preliminary round! I started with 22.5 points and finished second in the next race, but then I realised that anything is possible when things are going well! Then a 26th place, directly followed by a second place again. I wasn't far ahead in the rankings at that point. When the next stringer came on the third day of the competition, I was surprisingly in fourth place for a while. Unfortunately, I had a crash with a Finn rider straight afterwards, which really pissed me off and ruined a good event result due to too few strings.
To what extent are the jibes of fin and foil riders "compatible" with each other?
Michele:In principle, not at all. Finn riders use the opportunity to ride a much tighter radius, partly because they have to in order to have a better starting position after the jibe. The differences in speed when braking and accelerating are simply extremely difficult to estimate.
How did the World Cup on Fuerte go for you, Nico?
Nico:Fuerte just makes you want to race! I was there a week beforehand, practised and set up my equipment, because Sotavento is a completely different spot to Pozo. It has a steep, short chop and very gusty wind, but less swell. As a result, the potential top speed is higher than in Pozo. In addition, everyone goes into the jibe at the same time and it doesn't split up at the jibe buoys like in Pozo. As a result, there were more contacts at the gybes and it became very tight.
The gusty wind required a lot of control, the wind differences are relatively large and the gusts come from above, in front or behind. So on the one hand you have to stabilise to avoid crashing, but at the same time you also want to accelerate.
How were your starts?
Nico:Much worse, I hadn't really found my way out and had less confidence in my speed. If you have good speed, then you can always start at the favoured pin end, i.e. downwind. But if you don't have confidence, then you don't do pin starts, so I started to choose strange starting positions.
There were also less perfect gybes to be seen from you, you often rode "on the last groove" and sometimes crashed on the straights. Was that the result of the gusty wind?
Nico:I actually had good control in the races, but if we JP/Pryde team riders were all two or three places worse compared to the Pozo results, it's because our front wing selection wasn't the best fit for this event. Our small front wing is bigger than that of riders from other brands. We have control problems there, which has affected us Pryde
team riders. It is of course more difficult to keep a larger wing at the same top speed as others with a smaller one. And as a result, we also had more catapult impacts(laughs).
Do you still have potential for improvement at Pryde in terms of foils?
Nico:Yes, but not because the foil is not fast, but because the PWA decided at short notice to only authorise two front wings for the entire season. However, we had finalised the development for three approved front wings.
Do you always have spare material with you?
Nico:We are allowed to register three boards. I have the two most important boards - that means the two smaller ones on Fuerte - twice. I also have two of the most important sail sizes in my bag. I have two or three of each mast length and two spare forks. My team-mate Enrico Marotti broke three booms and I helped him out. We agree in advance as a team who will take which spare material.
Sylt
After the Sylt World Cup, we meet up at the Hotel Wyn at the transition to the Brandenburg beach. Michele and Nico have achieved sixth and 14th place overall in the slalom and now the tension of the last few days has been released, the mood is relaxed and the two give us deep insights into the course of the season so far.
Where do we start?
Michele:The starts are the most important!
That was the only possible answer. So, how did the launches go for you?
Michele: I remembered my races on Lake Garda and had a lot of confidence in my speed and my big equipment. That allowed me to start at the bottom of the start line at the pin if I wanted to. Despite some bad starts on Sylt, I was regularly well ahead at the neck buoy.
Nico: I hit the starts quite well, many from the pin, but also left room for others. Whenever I didn't quite hit it, I went really low on the first beat to get free wind and then slightly upwind again towards the neck buoy. That worked well because I'm travelling well on all courses.
How were the jibes at the buoys on Sylt?
Nico: On Sylt, you have to hit the waves well, no matter how much pressure you have in the sail. You can't "push" against the waves when jibing because they simply have more power than the wind on Sylt. This also means that you sometimes have to take five per cent of speed out before the jibes in order to hit the wave properly.
Michele: The time windows were minimised by the swell waves.
Nico: Yes, those were slots, which meant that no more than three or four people could gybe on the front slope of a wave. As always, you were tight around the buoys. I always notice that you carry a lot of speed upwind after the shift and then go down to accelerate. That's probably why you have such great acceleration.
Michele: That makes it easier for me to get into the loops.
Nico: Yes, to get into the loops faster, find the right position straight away and then drop off.
Michele: I find wide jibing more unstable and scary, especially on Sylt with the long waves.
Nico: You then have no constant pressure point in the foil, no constant turning, which makes it more difficult in the waves of Sylt. But in the waves, everything is difficult here.
Which set-up has worked best for you so far this season and have you felt most comfortable with it?
Nico: For me it's the 5.1 slalom sail, the small board - JP Hydrofoil Slalom 81 - and the small foil, the NP SLR 2 with a 72 centimetre wide front wing. I felt the most "stable" on it, like a single unit. The material did exactly what I wanted and as a result I'm very fast.
When it comes to regatta success, outsiders think that it primarily depends on speed. But that's only one part of success, how do you see it?
Michele: I'm still struggling with myself about how important speed is, because if you're not fast, then the starts and gybes don't matter. Without a basic speed, it feels stupid to race.
Nico: Yes, of course, because then you no longer have the opportunity to start tactically clever, but have to be further up on the start line. We currently have a similar speed in the top segment, so you can take advantage of the gybes. Next year, perhaps more riders will jibe better.
Michele: Yes, that's how I see it too. It's precisely because we almost all train in Tenerife in winter that riding styles and trends are set there. In Tenerife, we started riding the Liberty harness, which is now becoming more and more popular with many other riders in the World Cup, even though these riders are not sponsored by this brand.
Nico: This is exactly the kind of thing that crystallises during training on Tenerife. A short time later, many drivers have this on their minds. Hey, this is a good strategy session!
Where will your own journey take you? What successes will you be able to celebrate in the future?
Nico: Almost nothing beats experience. The base gets bigger with every regatta day in this field of World Cup professionals, every day there are situational decisions during the races, the "mental game", the material tuning!
And also to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the other top drivers?
Nico: It's going to be tight in the top five, and you have to know how they do their gybes, how they start.
Michele: It's also important to get to know the tour and the individual spots better. I was at Lake Garda, Pozo and Fuerte for the first time. I have to completely reorganise myself after this season, a season that went much better than expected. I was often good in winter training, but I wasn't on a par with Maciek Rutkowski and Matteo Iachino, who I trained with. My level is much higher now.
Your level is undoubtedly already much higher. And, as I've just asked, where can your journey in the World Cup still take you? What else can come?
Michele: My goals? A world championship title? I haven't considered it yet, let alone said it, because it was utopian. But now that I've won an elimination and generally had a good season, I'll certainly have to think about it. Basically, though, I've already fulfilled a childhood dream with this victory and even if my career were over now, I'd still be satisfied.
Nico: It's the balance between being grateful and staying hungry, but at the same time always wanting more.
Japan
Michele and Nico travelled on to Japan at the end of the season. The pair's run of success continued there too. Michele secured an outstanding fifth place in the overall standings with sixth place in Japan. Nico was also able to move up to eighth place in the annual rankings. After the trip, both told us about their experiences at the World Cup in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.
Nico: The World Cup in Japan was quite a wild end to the season. Michele and I travelled to the land of the rising sun together to help each other logistically and get all the equipment to the beach at Miura Kaigan.
We deliberately arrived two days before the start of the competition because I remembered from previous years that the catering did not tend to meet our European standards. As a vegetarian, this makes it twice as difficult. I'm not a fan of most Asian dishes anyway, but I didn't expect to be hanging over the toilet bowl for hours on the first night. In the hospital next to our accommodation, I was given an infusion by the Japanese doctors, but I lost a lot of weight and strength over the next few days.
Surprisingly, we did a lot of racing on small equipment. It was very gusty, the waves were short and choppy and the wind from the north was pretty cold, but it was still fun to race around the buoys one last time. I wasn't entirely satisfied with some of the results. Especially in the A and B finals, I rarely got it together. In the end, however, I made it to all six semi-finals again and am pleased with my consistency. I started the year with the aim of finishing the season in the top ten. I finished Japan in eighth place, just like the season.
It is important to me to have realistic goals, because if I hit them almost exactly, it shows me that I can assess myself very well. That helps for the next steps.
My two team-mates Enrico Marotti and Bruno Martini are seventh and sixth in the rankings. So it's very close in a direct comparison and I'm also confident that we can push others out of the top places in the coming years with good work on the material.
Michele: When I booked the flights for the event in Japan in the summer, I was still very excited and a bit scared of the journey and the stay. So it was really nice for me to be travelling with Nico, who already had a lot more travel experience. From the moment we arrived, everything was perfectly organised and we really didn't have to worry about anything. We were welcomed directly by a guide and were able to hand over our equipment. We were then taken by charter bus to the hotel where all the riders were accommodated.
Thanks to the pleasant journey and the similar vegetation and climate conditions, I surprisingly felt very much at home and was highly motivated to complete this unforgettable journey with a correspondingly good result. I knew that I could move up or down one or two places in the annual rankings. But to be honest, I have to say that I was already more than satisfied with the season anyway, so that didn't put me under much pressure.
To be honest, I was mainly looking forward to light winds, but things turned out differently. On the second day, we went straight into the first four eliminations and things got really busy. The conditions definitely gave me flashbacks of Fuerte: Wind from the left, up to 30 knots, short waves from the front and gusty. After a solid start to the event (9th/4th/12th), I crashed at the last gybe buoy in the last heat of the day. Bruno Martini started in my heat by mistake, so Matteo Iachino and I unnecessarily fought for the supposed last qualifying spot, even though we would have both made it easily due to Martini's subsequent disqualification. At the end of the day, I was in twelfth place, which I would have lost in the annual rankings anyway. I therefore spent the next few days with an unsatisfied feeling and hoped that we would sail at least one more day according to the wind forecast.
Two days later, we were finally able to get the other two results. I realised that today was the time to deliver one last time this season and make a statement again! The conditions were a bit easier than before, so we were able to sail 6s to 7s. I managed to qualify for both finals of the day and finished sixth and fourth. Overall, this put me in an excellent seventh place in the event ranking. Following the disqualification of Johan Søe, this even improved to a sixth place in the event and a fifth place in the annual ranking.
I'm more than happy with this year's season for two reasons: firstly, the performance and the results were simply amazing and secondly, it feels like I've skipped a whole year. As well as I've ridden this year, that would probably have been my goal for next year, so it really feels like two successful seasons in one for me. It should be clear that I will carry on in the same way and continue to ride in the World Cup next year. I'm particularly pleased that the whole Patrik team is still by my side. This is not meant to be a classic "sponsor talk", but believe me, without the material and support from Patrik, my performance on the race course would not have been at the same level this year!
