An eventful day awaited the windsurfers and wingfoilers in Pelzerhaken on Saturday. For the first time, the two national top series California Windsurf Cup and California Wingfoil Masters were held here in combination. With wind forces of four to six, conditions were ideal for all disciplines. Spectators were able to watch six wingfoil races, four fin slaloms and a foiling elimination from the pier.
In foiling, Keno Recke caused a surprise. He won the only foil race of the day, relegating top favourite Vincent Langer to second place. Lars Poggemann, who normally competes in the PWA World Tour, finished in third place. Meno Büchler and Leo Richter completed the top five. In the junior categories, Paul Regber as best Youth U19 and Gustav Grünbaum as best Junior U17 secured the top positions.
Langer dominates Fin Slalom, Holste wins in Wingfoiling
In the Fin Slalom, Vincent Langer showed why he is a multiple German, European and world champion. With four clear start-to-finish victories in as many races, he achieved a perfect score of 0.0. Leo Richter proved his strength with three second places and a sixth place to be cancelled and took second place overall with 6.0 points. Fin slalom expert Oliver Schott followed in third place with 8.0 points. Mika Henning and Tjorve Studt rounded off the top five. Henning also secured the title of best junior U17, while Paul Regber once again shone as best youth U19.
According to the organisers, the combination of the Wingfoil Masters and the California Windsurf Cup proved to be a complete success. The alternating starts of the wingers and windsurfers made it possible to make optimum use of the competition time and infrastructure. Kim Holste dominated the six wingfoil races with four heat wins. After cancelling his two worst results, he leads the ranking with the ideal score of 0.0. Joost Brendel from Kiel follows in second place with two race wins and 4.0 points. His brother Mattes Brendel secured third place ahead of Dutchman Koen Hessels with consistent top five finishes and 10.0 points. Felix Neuling and Tania Tammling fought an exciting duel for fifth place, with Neuling narrowly coming out on top. Tammling established herself as the best lady in the field.
Outlook for the final day
Good wind conditions with three to four force winds are again forecast for the final Sunday. This promises ideal conditions for the foilers in particular. There may even be enough wind for more fin slalom races.
