While the spectators at the Citroen Windsurf World Cup Sylt were able to relax in the late summer sunshine, the foil riders had to work really hard. The offshore easterly wind was barely noticeable on the beach and on the promenade, while out on the water there were gusts of up to 30 knots. In addition to the icy cold wind, there was plenty of seaweed and a groundswell that hit the windchop and made the races extremely challenging.
"It's really just about not making any mistakes," said the Swede Hugo Sjöberg, describing the challenge. The sail - most of the men started with around six square metres - was sometimes too small and sometimes too big in the gusty wind. The course was almost two kilometres out, so the distance to the starting line was correspondingly long. While it was blowing strong and gusty outside, there was hardly any wind under land - on the way back, most of them had to work their way back the last 200 metres towards the beach.
Justine Lemeteyer hard to beat
Justine Lemeteyer did best, winning four of the five women's heats. As there were only eight starters, each run meant the final. Only in the fourth run did Lemeteyer have to let Marion Mortefon pass her after a crash. "That was a tough day, but I'm very happy," she reported. "The equipment never really fitted, it was difficult to stay on the board at all." Lemeteyer leads by a large margin, with the only German competitor Alisa Engelmann in seventh place. "I crashed in almost every run, so I'm a bit frustrated."
Michele Becker, who got off to a solid start with a win in the small final and ninth place, but didn't make it past the first round in the two subsequent eliminations, was probably not really satisfied either. Nico Prien, on the other hand, was a permanent guest in the grand final and, with sixth place, is currently very close to his goal of finishing in the top 5 here on Sylt. "Three good results, that gives you a bit of security," said Nico afterwards. "If something goes wrong now, you can take that as a string."
Johan Søe in the lead with great consistency
Johan "The Beast" Søe and Bruno Martini dominated the action at the front. Søe was not fazed by the difficult conditions or the seaweed: "It's the same for everyone, the main thing is to keep a cool head." The Dane won elimination one and three ahead of Bruno Martini, and came third in the second heat. That means a wafer-thin lead for the time being.
The day was particularly disappointing for Matteo Iachino and Maciek Rutkowski, who both only made it to the A final once. However, Amado Vrieswijk, who had excellent speed but was slowed down by equipment problems, was the unluckiest of the bunch. "The foil box was broken at the start, then I led the final in the second run, but the foil felt spongy. Then it cracked and the front wing broke."
After three eliminations in the men's and five runs in the women's event, it was over quite early, but almost everyone was grateful for an early finish after the tough day.
Tobias Frauen
Editor
