Check out the highlights from 2018… results in all disciplines!
Sylt provided a bit of everything over the last 10 days from 5-9 knot foiling to storm chaseque wave sailing conditions, which was the perfect platform to guarantee a thrilling finale to the 2018 PWA World Tour, but some of the twists and turns that followed couldn’t have been scripted…
Wave
Women’s
Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) ends her best year on the PWA Wave World Tour – 2018 vice-world champion – on a high after winning her first wave event since 2016. This year’s contest saw a range of starboard and port tack conditions, but with the finals being completed in port tack this also marks the Aruban’s first success on port, which will only enhance her world title credentials going forwards. Offringa ends the season with a superb record of 3 second places and a victory.
With Daida Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) unfortunately forced into a late withdrawal from the final contest of the year, due to injury, that meant that coming into Sylt the Women’s world title was already decided with her sister – Iballa Moreno (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) – successfully defending her world crown for the 5th consecutive year, which is Iballa’s 10th overall and 28th for the legendary Moreno twins. Meanwhile, Daida completes the overall podium.
Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) walks away from her home event by recording her first podium since Gran Canaria in 2017. The German was only stopped by an on fire Sarah-Quita Offringa in the semifinals, but was able to defeat her good friend, and fellow German, Steffi Wahl (Sailloft Hamburg) in the battle for 3rd and 4th. Erpenstein finishes 2018 ranked 4th in the overalls, while Wahl records her best finish at an event since completing the podium in Tenerife in 2016.
Meanwhile, after missing the first event of the season in Morocco due to visa complications – Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) – completes her comeback to rise to 5th in the overall rankings after outperforming Arrianne Aukes (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) here.
Men’s
Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses) ends 2018 with his 3rd wave world title, but the road to his second world title in 3 years was anything but straightforward with the Spaniard having to endure an emotional roller coaster as the race for the world title took several dramatic twists and turns.
Firstly, Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) eliminated Fernandez in the quarterfinals of the Single Elimination, and with Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) and Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) both facing shock first round exits at the hands of Qualifiers – Julien Quentel (Patrik / Avanti) and Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) – that opened the door for fellow world title hopeful – Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards / Point-7). And the 33-year-old took full advantage as he went on to win the Single Elimination and thus assume the No.1 spot in the overalls.
Fernandez then almost staged just the comeback he needed by winning 5 heats in a row, but Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) would prove to be the Spaniard’s downfall again – leaving Fernandez in 3rd place and just one place short of the top 2 which would’ve guaranteed him the world title. Fortunately, for Fernandez, Traversa then defeated Campello twice to derail the 33-year-olds title challenge while guaranteeing Fernandez his 3rd world title,
Traversa climbs into the overall top 10 – 8th – for the first time this season with a timely victory helping to somewhat save his season as in the Canaries he recorded two 17th places. However, over the last 10 days he returned to something close to his best form and ends the season with a flourish.
Campello will no doubt be disappointed not to have captured his first wave world title, but the 33-year-old should be able to reflect on this season in a very positive manner after still finishing as the vice-world champion, which is his best overall result since 2011 – when he also finished 2nd overall.
Meanwhile, 3-time world champion – Philip Köster – completes the overall podium followed by Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses), Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing), Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), Traversa, Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX), while Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / Flight Sails / AL360) completes the top 10 as Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) just misses out.
Elsewhere, Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), made quite a name for himself as the giant killer of the event as the Frenchman claimed the scalp of Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) twice and 3-time world champion – Philip Koster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in Heat 30b to eliminate Koster from this year’s title race, while Ruenes walks away from Sylt with an excellent 6th place.
Freestyle
Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) completed a stunning comeback in the Double Elimination to be crowned Freestyle World Champion for the 9th time, while denying teammate Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone) a first world title. As the 29-year-old so often does, he produced his highest scoring heat of the Double Elimination in the Super Final – when it mattered most – posting a score of 130 points to only enhance his reputation as not only the Freestyle King, but also as one of the best competitors on the tour. Gollito seems to thrive under pressure where others may falter.
Bosson should be delighted with his performances this season and deservedly ends the year as the vice-world champion, which is the first time he has broken into the illustrious overall top 3 – bettering his efforts from 2016 & ’17 – when finishing 7th and 6th overall. The Frenchman produced a dynamic and explosive performance to win the Single Elimination in impressive fashion, and his ability to land the biggest air moves on both tacks now makes him one of the most dangerous sailors on the tour.
Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) was forced to fight his way back through the Double Elimination after Bosson dispatched of the Bonairean in clinical fashion in the quarterfinals of the Single, and that’s exactly what 22-year managed to do as won 5 heats on the spin to fight back into 3rd place for the event and overall rankings.
Meanwhile, Yentel Caers (JP / Point-7) finishes the season ranked 4th after a 7th place finish, while fellow Belgian – Steven Van Broeckhoven (JP / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) returns to the overall top 5 for the first time since 2014. SVB finally enjoyed an injury free competition year and was able to show the kind of form associated with the 2011 world champion.
The top 10 is completed by Italy’s Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360) – 6th – Belgium’s Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) – 7th – France’s Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) – 8th – Italy’s Mattia Fabrizi (Patrik / Challenger Sails – 9th – who produced an amazing comeback from the first round of the Double Elimination to finish joint 7th in Sylt, and last but not least Switzerland’s Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne Sails), who wowed the crowds with not only his regular freestyle, but also his foil freestyle as he continues to push the boundaries of the sport.
Slalom
Matteo Iachino came into the last event of the year tied on points with Antoine Albeau, but leading on countback, so in Sylt the title race would come down to whoever beat who as long as they finished in the top 8 or better.
In the end the battle went in the favour of Albeau, who recorded two solid 3rd places from the two eliminations to finish 2nd and claim an incredible 25th world title, while also successfully defending his world crown from last year as the 46-year-old continues to show no signs of slowing down.
For Iachino, 2018 will still go down as a successful year. After all the Italian still finishes the year as a vice-world champion, but undoubtedly this will still be a bitter blow to take having led the tour since South Korea in May. Coming into Sylt Iachino had qualified for 16 out of the 17 Winners’ Finals – 94% – this season, but crucially missed out on the opening final here. Iachino then hit back immediately with a bullet, but unfortunately for the Italian no further racing was completed. Expect to see Iachino involved in the title race again next season.
Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) did everything in his power to stop both Albeau or Iachino from winning the 2018 PWA Slalom World Championship by winning the event after a bullet and a 4th place, but it wasn’t enough this time around and the Frenchman finishes 3rd in the overalls. This was also Mortefon’s first victory since Costa Brava in 2016 and as one of the ‘Big Top 3’ he’ll be heavily involved again next season.
Elsewhere, Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) just missed out on the top 10 for the first time this season – 11th – but the flying Dutchman won’t be disappointed as 2018 represents his best year to date on the world tour – 4th – which is Vonk’s first time in the overall top 10. The future looks bright for Vonk!
The top 10 is completed by Julien Quentel – 5th – Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses) – 6th – Pascal Toselli (JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins) – 7th – who may be slightly disappointed with how the season ends having occupied a place in the top 4 for almost the entire season – Cyril Moussilmani (RRD / Severne), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) – 9th – and Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) – 10th – with the latter two breaking into the overall top 10 for the first time in their careers.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Warembourg (JP / NeilPryde), Basile Jacquin (RRD / Point-7) and Andrea Ferin (RRD / Challenger Sails / AL360) all record their first top 10 finishes at events – 8th, 9th & 10th respectively.
Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) may have made a slow start to the season by his recent standards, but improved drastically after Costa Brava as the Frenchman finishes the year with 3 top 10 results. But he saved his best until last to earn his first podium since 2012 to battle back to 13th overall for 2018.
Foil
Coming into Sylt there had been 3 Foil events – Japan, South Korea and Costa Brava – each of which had yielded a different winner in each location – Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde) and Amado Vrieswijk- would Sylt provide another different champion? Yes!
Who? Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses), who coming into Sylt had recorded a 10th and two 14th places. However, Iachino won 4 out of the 5 Foil Eliminations completed here as he destroyed the rest of the fleet and it seems the Italian has made rapid progress since the last event in Costa Brava.
Back to the race for the first official Foil world title and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel just hung on to be crowned world champion. The Argentine discards the result here – 10th – and wins on countback after finishing tied on points with Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails) – 30,300 points – with the German finishing as the vice-world champion.
Antoine Albeau completes the overall podium as he too holds a better discard than fellow countryman – Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins) – with the two sailors tied on 30,100 points after Cousin earned his second podium of the year – 3rd.
The overall top 10 is completed by; Mateus Isaac, Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde), Amado Vrieswijk, Matteo Iachino, Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) – 5th-10th.
That concludes the 2018 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA Super Grand Slam and with it another fantastic year on the PWA World Tour – congratulations again to all of this year’s champions we’ll be back with more world class windsurfing in 2019. Stay tuned!
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Result 2018 Wave Mercedes-Benz PWA Super Grand Slam – Women’s Wave
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU – Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Iballa Moreno (ESP – Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Lina Erpenstein (GER – Severne / Severne Sails)
4th Steffi Wahl (GER – Sailloft Hamburg)
Overall Rankings 2018 PWA World Tour – Women’s Wave
1st Iballa Moreno (ESP – Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU – Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Daida Moreno (ESP – Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER – Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Justyna Sniady (POL – Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
Result Men’s Wave 2018 Mercedes-Benz PWA Super Grand Slam
1st Thomas Traversa (FRA – Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN – Brunotti Boards / Point-7)
3rd Victor Fernandez (ESP – Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Alex Mussolini (ESP – RRD / RRD Sails)
5th Jaeger Stone (AUS – Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses)
6th Antony Ruenes (FRA – Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Leon Jamaer (GER – JP / NeilPryde)
7th Philip Köster (GER – Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
9th Josep Pons (ESP – Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Adam Lewis (ENG – Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
9th Klaas Voget (GER – Fanatic / Duotone)
9th Marcilio Browne (BRA – Goya Windsurfing)
Overall Rankings 2018 PWA World Tour – Men’s Wave
1st Victor Fernandez (ESP – Fanatic / Duotone / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN – Brunotti Boards / Point-7)
3rd Philip Köster (GER – Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Jaeger Stone (AUS – Starboard / Severne / SWOX / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Marcilio Browne (BRA – Goya Windsurfing)
6th Adam Lewis (ENG – Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
7th Alex Mussolini (ESP – RRD / RRD Sails)
8th Thomas Traversa (FRA – Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Robby Swift (ENG – JP / NeilPryde / SWOX)
10th Dany Bruch (GER – Bruch Boards / Flight Sails / AL360)
Result Men’s Freestyle Mercedes-Benz PWA Super Grand Slam
1st Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN – Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Adrien Bosson (FRA – Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB – JP / Severne)
4th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL – JP / GunSails / Shamal Sunglasses)
5th Sam Esteve (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
6th Jacopo Testa (ITA – RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
7th Mattia Fabrizi (ITA – Patrik / Challenger Sails)
7th Yentel Caers (BEL – JP / Point-7)
9th Balz Müller (SUI – MB-Boards / Severne)
9th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL – Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Loick Spicher (SUI – RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Nic Hibdige (ENG – Tabou / GA Sails)
Overall Rankings 2018 PWA World Tour – Men’s Freestyle
1st Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN – Fanatic / Duotone)
2nd Adrien Bosson (FRA – Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB – JP / Severne)
4th Yentel Cabers (BEL – JP / Point-7)
5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL – JP / Gun Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
6th Jacopo Testa (ITA – RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
7th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL – Severne / Severne Sails)
8th Sam Esteve (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
9th Mattia Fabrizi (ITA – Patrik / Challenger Sails)
10th Balz Müller (SUI – MB-Boards / Severne Sails)
Result 2018 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA Super Grand Slam – Men’s Slalom
1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA – Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
3rd Antoine Questel (FRA – Starboard / S2Maui)
4th Ross Williams (GBR – Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
4th Cyril Moussilmani (FRA – RRD / Severne)
6th Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
7th Julien Quentel (SXM – Patrik / Avanti)
8th Basile Jacquin (FRA – RRD / Point-7)
9th Nicolas Warembourg (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
10th Andrea Ferin (ITA – RRD / Challenger Sails / AL360)
Overall Rankings 2018 PWA World Tour – Men’s Slalom
1st Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
3rd Pierre Mortefon (FRA – Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
4th Jordy Vonk (NED – Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Julien Quentel (SXM – Patrik / Avanti)
6th Ross Williams (ENG – Tabou / GA Sails / Shamal Sunglasses)
7th Pascal Toselli (FRA – JP / Loftsails / Chopper Fins)
8th Cyril Moussilmani (FRA – RRD / Severne)
9th Mateus Isaac (BRA – JP / NeilPryde)
10th Tristan Algret (GPE – Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
Result 2018 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA Super Grand Slam – Men’s Foil
1st Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Nicolas Goyard (FRA – Tabou / GA Sails)
3rd Alexandre Cousin (FRA – Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins)
4th Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails)
5th Mateus Isaac (BRA – JP / NeilPryde)
6th Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
7th Sebastian Kornum (DEN – JP / NeilPryde)
8th Julien Bontemps (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
9th Steve Allen (AUS – Patrik / Severne)
10th Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
Overall Rankings 2018 PWA World Tour – Men’s Foil
1st Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
2nd Sebastian Kördel (GER – Starboard / GA Sails)
3rd Antoine Albeau (FRA – RRD / NeilPryde)
4th Alexandre Cousin (FRA – Patrik / GA Sails / Chopper Fins)
5th Mateus Isaac (BRA – JP / NeilPryde)
6th Julien Bontemps (FRA – JP / NeilPryde)
7th Amado Vrieswijk (NB – JP / Severne)
8th Matteo Iachino (ITA – Starboard / Severne / Shamal Sunglasses)
9th Sebastian Kornum (DEN – JP / NeilPryde)
10th Antoine Questel (FRA – Starboard / S2Maui)
