There were many new faces in the slalom and freestyle disciplines, some of whom had even travelled from Bavaria to the beautiful Eckernförde Bay. The event began on Saturday with registration and the skippers' meeting in glorious sunshine and finally comfortable temperatures. Only the wind was a long time coming.
To bridge the slack phase, the organisers, with coach Yannick Mittas, offered an introduction to pump foiling, during which many of the participants left their wings out while foiling for the first time and tried their hand at pump foiling.
On the evening of the first day of the event, the long-awaited wind finally arrived and allowed at least some of the participants to fly over the water. Although the wind was not strong enough for an official classification, the participants still gave their all in three "fun races" and fought for first place with full commitment.
The second day began with sunshine and calm. As the wind forecast did not look very promising, the pump foil training from the lecture was continued and a small contest was organised. Other pump-oil experts spontaneously signed up and the 20 or so participants took to the starting line one after the other in a timed race. The start was from the new pumptable, from where a short course around two buoys had to be completed. As the wind had not allowed any further competitions, the raffle continued with all participants receiving a prize - Sabfoil, XCEL, Vayu and Salty Elements donated some prizes.
The Winger of the Sea III ended with a grand prize-giving ceremony in the "Fun Races" Overall, Ladies and U19 divisions as well as in the pump-oil division. After the winners' photos and the group photo, the participants headed home with little wind but plenty of sunshine, good humour and at least one prize.
You can find all information about other events HERE .
The placings at the Winger of the Sea III:
Fun-Race overall:
- Yannik Holste
- Lukas Thelen
- Leon Maethner
Fun-Race U19:
- Leon Maethner
- Leo Frost
- Franz Rappolder
Fun Race Ladies:
- Maria Behrens
- Tania Tammling, Bettina Betram, Jelena Duwe, Annet Harbacek
Pump oil contest:
- Jan Malte Claus
- Bijan Nickel
- Lukas Thelen
Manuel Vogel
Editor surf
Manuel Vogel, born in 1981, lives in Kiel and learned to windsurf at the age of six at his father's surf school. In 1997, he completed his training as a windsurfing instructor and worked for over 15 years as a windsurfing instructor in various centers, at Kiel University sports and in the coaching team of the “Young Guns” freestyle camps. He has been part of the surf test team since 2003. After completing his teaching degree in 2013, he followed his heart and started as editor of surf magazine for the test and riding technique sections. Since 2021, he has also been active in wingfoiling - mainly at his home spots on the Baltic Sea or in the waves of Denmark.
