Sylt erzielte zum vierten Mal in Folge Ergebnisse in allen Disziplinen (Wave, Freestyle & Foil), da der Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2019 eine Vielzahl von Bedingungen hervorbrachte - von Wind in Sturmstärke, peitschendem Regen und relativ milden Temperaturen über bitterkalten Sonnenschein und ablandigen Winden bis hin zu einem kompletten Test für die Elite der Windsurfingwelt. Sylt lieferte an insgesamt 8 von 10 Tagen, die die Besucher, die zu Tausenden ankamen, durchweg  unterhielten. Wave Women’s Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) claimed her first victory on the 2019 PWA Wave World Tour as the Aruban successfully defended her event title from 2018 - which is the first time she has won back-to-back events on the Wave World Tour. With how results went elsewhere that victory also sees Offringa move into lead on the Wave World Tour for the first time in her career and she now holds a 650 point advantage over Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) and a 2,045 point advantage over reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) heading into the final event of the year in Maui at the end of the month. In the double elimination, conditions were extremely tricky with bolt onshore winds, a strong current and Sylt’s infamous shorebreak making even getting off the beach an art form, while equipment choice was key for battling the elements. Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) was one of the women to deal best with the tough conditions and that saw the 21-year-old complete an unlikely double over Iballa Moreno before going on to also negotiate her way past Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) and Justyna Sniady to claim her first podium on the world tour - 2nd - which sees her ranked 4th in the overalls.  Having never finished on the podium before 2019 - Sniady - has now secured 3 consecutive podiums after finishing 3rd here, which sees her ranked second in the overall rankings, whilst guaranteeing her a place on the overall podium. Iballa Moreno remains third in the overall rankings after a shock 5th place in Sylt, but fate remains in the 10-time world champions own hands with a victory at the Aloha Classic guaranteeing retention of her world title. Men’s There seems to be something about Sylt that brings the best out of - Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) - after the Frenchman defended his event title - just like Offringa. TT made the tough conditions look comparatively easy and claimed a famous victory after winning both the Single Elimination and the Double Elimination on the same day. After winning the event Traversa then had to be flown by helicopter to hospital after suffering excruciating pain from a kidney stone - everyone from the PWA would like to wish Thomas well and hope he is 100% fit in time for Maui - where he will go into the event with faint title hopes. TT is currently ranked 6th after the opening 3 events.  After storming back through the double with a series of eye-catching displays it looked as though Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) may go all the way and win his first event on the world tour since his world title winning year in 2013. However, he fell just one place short after winning six consecutive heats with Traversa coming out on top. The Brazilian will head to Maui with a great chance of earning a second world title with second place in Sylt seeing him climb into third place in the overall rankings. And given his Ho’okipa expertise, he may well head into the final event of the year as the narrow favorite. Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) completed the podium in Sylt, which is enough to see the 4-time world champion take the world tour lead for the first time this season. Köster is now the only sailor in the fleet with a 100% podium record, but will need to produce his best performance yet at an Aloha Classic to claim a 5th world title. Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) sailed as brilliantly and consistently as ever and only Marcilio Browne’s fantastic come back denied Fernandez his second podium of the season. 4th place in Sylt keeps Fernandez firmly in the title race heading into Maui with the Spaniard ranking 3rd after the opening 3 events.  Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) and Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX) have both lost ground in the title race, but are certainly no means out of the equation. The Venezuelan/Brazilian and Australian came into Sylt ranked No.1 and No.2 in the world but have clipped to 5th and 4th respectively after finishing 9th and 7th here. However, things remain tight at the top just 2,439 points separating the top 5 sailors, while Traversa is then only a further 1,117 points off the lead, so there is all still to play for at the prestigious Aloha Classic. Elsewhere, Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) continues to enjoy his best season to date on the world tour. The 25-year-old qualified for the semifinals of a Single Elimination for the first time in Sylt before eventually finishing 5th, which sees him ranked 7th in the overall rankings ahead of Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) and Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), who moves into the overall top 10 for the first time this season after his best result of 2019 - 6th. Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) earned his second top 10 finish of the season after fighting back from the first round of the double elimination, while German veteran - Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Duotone) - also managed the same feat to share 9th place with Campello and Mussolini. Freestyle Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) had to do things the hard way after both he and fellow world title hopeful - Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) - were eliminated in the second round of the single elimination. However, the Belgian regained his composure in the double and completed a famous come back to claim his first world title to cap a fantastic year for the 24-year-old, who earlier this year was also crowned the European Freestyle Champion. Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) bounced back from a disappointing 9th place in Fuerteventura to win the 2019 Mercedes Benz Windsurf World Cup undefeated as he rediscovered his competition form. Vrieswijk won two out of the three Freestyle events and missed out on a maiden world title by just 50 points. The 23-year-old finishes as the vice-world champion for the third time in the last four seasons. Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS) completes the overall podium after securing his second top 3 finish of the year in Sylt - after winning in Fuerteventura. An injury free Van Broeckhoven looked back to his best this year and deservedly claims a place in the overall top 3 for the first time since 2014. Things weren’t quite meant to be for Youp Schmit this time around with the Bonairean finishing 13th in Sylt, but he deserves great credit for even making it on to the water in Germany having only undergone knee surgery roughly just over a month ago. The 24-year-old still ends the year with his best overall result to date of the world tour - 4th - and everyone from the PWA wishes Youp all the best with the rest of his recovery and hope to see him back fit and strong in 2020. Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) was unlucky not to go deeper in the opening couple of events of 2019, but the 2018 vice-world champion has looked extremely dangerous throughout and in the final event of the season the Frenchman gained the result he deserved - finishing 3rd in the single and 4th in the double, which sees him ranked 5th overall for the season! Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) was the sailor to knock Bosson out of the event top 3 as the Venezuelan produced a superb come back to earn just his first podium of the year, which is almost unheard of for the 9-time world champion. Gollito sailed with his inimitable style throughout and eventually finishes the season in 6th place.   The overall top 10 is completed by Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) and Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360). Men’s Foil The battle to become the 2019 Men’s Foil PWA World Champion was incredibly tight coming into Sylt with just 300 points separating the top 9 sailors. In the end, Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils) produced an inspired performance, which saw the Frenchman finish outside the top 4 just once in the 10 eliminations completed to deservedly earn his first world title. Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) pushed Goyard N. all the way as he won his first elimination of the week in Elimination 10, but unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough with Cousin finishing just 0.7 of a point behind Goyard. That left the two sailors tied on 29,700 points at the end of the season, but Cousin misses out on countback. Being crowned the vice-world champion is still the Frenchman’s best result and the foiling future looks bright for him. Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) completes the overall podium after finishing 4th in Germany, after Luuc Vanopzeeland (JP / NeilPryde) won the battle for the final place on the event podium - which is the Dutchman’s best result to date on the world tour. Thomas Goyard’s (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) event and world title dreams slipped through his fingers on the final day as a costly wipeout on the final reach saw him drop from 4th to 29th in Elimination 9, which ultimately brought his hopes to an end. The 27-year-old has been truly dominant in the upwind/downwind racing, but eventually finished 4th overall with the Foil Slalom discipline letting him down.  Completing the overall top 10 are Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil) - 5th - Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) -6th - Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde) - 7th - Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) - 8th - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne / Starboard Foil) - 9th - and Mateus Isaac (JP / NeilPryde). Where’s Next on the PWA World Tour? In just a few weeks' time, the Men’s and Women’s Wave world titles will be decided at Maui’s Iconic Ho’okipa Beach Park with the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Aloha Classic taking place between 27th October until 9th November. To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Women's Wave
 
1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)
 
Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Wave  1st Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Adam Lewis (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
7th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN | Brunotti Boards)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Klaas Voget (GER | Fanatic / Duotone) Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Freestyle 1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne)
2nd Gollito Estredo (VEN | Fanatic / Duotone) 
3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS / Shamal)
4th Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
6th Yentel Caers (BEL | I-99 / Point-7)
7th Antoine Albert (NC | Goya Windsurfing)
7th Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Balz Müller (SUI | MB-Boards / Severne)
9th Jacopo Testa (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
9th Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails) Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men's Freestyle 1st Yentel Caers (BEL | I-99 / Point-7)
2nd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne)
3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS / Shamal)
4th Youp Schmit (NB | I-99 / Avanti)
5th Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
6th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Giovanni Passani (ITA | Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil 1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
2nd Alexandre Cousin (FRA | Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Luuc Vanopzeeland (NED | JP / NeilPryde)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Thomas Goyard (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) 
6th Sebastian Kördel (GER | Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
7th Julien Bontemps (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Sebastian Kornum (DEN | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / LOFEFOIL)
10th William Huppert (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / LOFEFOIL) Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men's Foil 1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
2nd Alexandre Cousin (FRA | Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
4th Thomas Goyard (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) 
5th Sebastian Kördel (GER | Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
6th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL)
7th Julien Bontemps (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Sebastian Kornum (DEN | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne / Starboard Foil)
10th Mateus Isaac (BRA | JP / NeilPryde)

Nach einem schwierigen Start in den Tag kam der Wind am sechsten Tag des Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt schließlich gut, so dass die Herren Freestyle Double Elimination bei klirrender Kälte und Kabbelwelle durchgeführt werden konnte, während auch der PWA Freestyle World Titel der Herren 2019 entschieden wurde. Freestyle At the beginning of the day - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) - led the race to become the 2019 PWA Freestyle World Champion after winning the Single Elimination on Tuesday. However, with fate out of his own hands the Bonairean would face a tense wait to see whether either - Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) or Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) - could mount a comeback through the Double Elimination into at least 6th place - at which point either Schmit or Caers would be world champion. Both men safely made it through their second round heats, but Schmit - who only had knee surgery a month ago - fell in the third round to Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) to leave just three men standing in the race of the 2019 Freestyle World title - Caers, Vrieswijk and Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS / Shamal Sunglasses). Caers could’ve been forgiven for showing some sign of nerves as he bid to win his first world title, but he showed absolutely no signs that he may falter. The Belgian confidently overcame - Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails / AL360) - next before winning a tight heat against - Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde) - to leave him just one heat win away from becoming the world champion. The all important heat - Heat 30b - would be against Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) - after the New Caledonian defeated Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360). Heat 30b proved to be another tight heat and for a little while Albert was leading as the lead swung back and forth, however, a late well executed pasko allowed Caers to replace a forward loop on port tack to claim the all important victory and complete a superb come back through the double elimination to claim his first PWA Freestyle World Championship. Amado Vrieswijk did everything in his power to win his first world title, but this time around it wasn’t meant to be with Caers denying him. The Bonairean defeated - Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) - in the double elimination to win the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt, but despite winning two out of the three events this season he misses out by just 50 points - with the disappointing 9th place in Fuerteventura costing him dearly, so the wait for a maiden world title goes on for the 23-year-old. Vrieswijk eventually finishes the season as the vice-world champion. 9-time world champion - Gollito Estredo - produced a superb come back in the double elimination to earn his first podium of the season after winning 6 heats on the bounce against; Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails), Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), newly crowned Freestyle world champion - Yentel Caers - Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) and finally Steven van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS). Steven van Broeckhoven slipped one place to third for the event, but the Belgian completes the overall podium, which is the first time the 2011 world champion has finished in the overall top 3 since 2014. Elsewhere, Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), will remember this day for a long time to come after the 15-year-old recorded his first heat wins on the world tour after claiming the scalp of 2013 world champion Kiri Thode (Severne / Severne Sails) in Heat 18b, before also beating Riccardo Marca (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins). Thursday looks like a lay day judging by the forecast, which currently predicts virtually no wind before turning to an easterly air flow for the Friday and into the weekend. With the Wave and Freestyle contests already completed, the focus is now solely on the Foil and they will meet again at 10am (GMT+2) tomorrow morning for their skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 11am onwards - conditions depending.  To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Women's Wave 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (NED | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 
3rd Justyna Sniady (POL | Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (GER | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Iballa Moreno (ESP | Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Wave  1st Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Adam Lewis (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
7th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN | Brunotti Boards)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Klaas Voget (GER | Fanatic / Duotone) Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Freestyle 1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne)
2nd Gollito Estredo (VEN | Fanatic / Duotone) 
3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS / Shamal)
4th Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
6th Yentel Caers (BEL | I-99 / Point-7)
7th Antoine Albert (NC | Goya Windsurfing)
7th Francesco Cappuzzo (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Balz Müller (SUI | MB-Boards / Severne)
9th Jacopo Testa (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
9th Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails) Overall Ranking 2019 PWA World Tour - Men's Freestyle 1st Yentel Caers (BEL | I-99 / Point-7)
2nd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne)
3rd Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS / Shamal)
4th Youp Schmit (NB | I-99 / Avanti)
5th Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
6th Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo (VEN | Fanatic / Duotone)
7th Antony Ruenes (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
8th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Giovanni Passani (ITA | Tabou / GA Sails / AL360)

Nach dem gestrigen wahnsinnigen Wettkampftag erwies sich der fünfte Tag des Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2019 als das Gegenteil von dem, was mit nur leichtem Wind durchweg der Fall war, so dass kein Wettkampf möglich war. Für kurze Zeit waren einige der Foil-Flotte auf dem Wasser, aber es sah nie wirklich so aus, als würde etwas passieren, und kurz nach 17 Uhr wurden die Teilnehmer für diesen Tag entlassen. Mit einer vernünftig aussehenden Prognose für Mittwoch mit 21-27 Knoten nordwestlich wird der Fokus für morgen darauf liegen, die Freestyle Double Elimination der Herren abzuschließen und damit die Freestyle Weltmeisterschaft 2019 zu entscheiden. Nach gestern führt Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) das Rennen an, aber das Schicksal ist ihm selbst überlassen, denn wenn sich entweder Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) oder Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) auf Platz 6 zurückkämpfen, wird einer von ihnen Weltmeister.

Der 4. Tag des Mercedes-Benz Windsurf-Weltcups 2019 brachte einen phänomenalen Actiontag mit großen Umbrüchen und einigen massiven Siegen mit gravierenden Auswirkungen auf die Titelrennen sowohl in der Herren- und Damen-Wellenfleet als auch in bei den Freestylern. All dies geschah während 11 Stunden intensiven Wettkampfes, da Sylt weiterhin eine Vielzahl von Bedingungen bietet, um die besten Surfer der Welt wirklich zu testen. Am Nachmittag war der Wind auflandig und mit der zunehmenden Wellengröße war schon das Aussteigen eine Art Kunstform. Wave Women’s Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) successfully defended her single elimination crown this evening to be crowned the champion of Sylt for the second consecutive year. The Aruban came into Sylt ranked third in the overall rankings, but with Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360) finishing 3rd and Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins finishing 5th that means that Offringa now leads the PWA Wave World Tour for the first time in her career heading into the final event of the season in Maui - where she is also the defending champion. Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) started the day in 4th place, but finishes the event with her first wave podium after sneaking her way past - Iballa Moreno, Justyna Sniady & finally Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails)  - to claim second place, which keeps the 21-year-old in 4th place in the overall rankings. Justyna Sniady falls one place from the single to third, while also slipping to second in the world rankings, but as a whole, the event should go down as another huge success for the Pole, who secures her third straight podium. Sniady required stitches in her foot after her last heat of the day and everyone from the PWA wishes her well with her recovery. Sometimes it just not your day and that was the case for reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno - who has to settle for 5th place here. Iballa will now head to Maui knowing that with a discard to come victory in Maui would still guarantee her the wave world title, so there is all still to play for! Men’s Like Offringa, Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) also successfully defended his event title after producing a superb performance to firstly defeat Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in the Single Elimination Final, before bringing Marcilio Browne’s (Goya Windsurfing) charge back through the double to an end. Traversa made the extremely difficult conditions look comparatively easy and deservedly claims his first victory of the season, which sees him climb to 6th in the overall rankings. Browne was on somewhat of a rampage in the double elimination and the Brazilian deservedly fought his way back from joint 5th in the single to finish second here after winning 6 heats on the bounce. Browne first defeated Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) before going on to also dispatch of Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails), Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX), Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde), Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) and Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) with a combination of excellent double forwards - despite the tricky conditions - and fluid wave riding bringing him plenty of success. Browne’s come back is made all the more impressive due to reports saying that he has also been battling a fever over the last few days. Second place here means that Browne rises to third in the overall rankings and he will head into Maui with every chance of earning a second wave world title. Philip Köster now leads the world tour for the first time this season after completing the podium here with another solid performance. Unfortunately against Browne, Köster looked underpowered and got caught on the inside in the latter part of the heat to rule out any chance of defending his second place from the single. Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) climbs two places in the overall rankings to second after a 4th place finish in the double elimination and he too will go to Maui with every chance of adding to his three wave world titles. Fellow world title hopefuls - Ricardo Campello and Jaeger Stone - have lost valuable ground in the title race after 9th and 7th place finishes today. However, they are certainly not out of the equation heading into Maui, while Traversa now also has an outside shot at the title after his victory earlier today. Antoine Martin’s (JP / NeilPryde) fine season continues with the 25-year-old earning his best result in a double elimination on the world tour - 5th - which equals his result from Tenerife, where only a single could be completed. That result sees Martin ranked 6th with an event to go. Elsewhere, Adam Lewis records his best result of the year - 6th - while Marc Paré shares joint 7th with Stone, while Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), Campello, Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) and Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Duotone) complete the top ten here. Both Denel and Voget both fought back from the first round of the double elimination. Freestyle Sylt has produced hardcore freestyle conditions for the last few years, and today was no different with strong winds, waves, chop and a lot of current making competing extremely difficult for the world’s best freestylers. However, while conditions may have been tricky to compete in, it also produced the most spectacular Freestyle of the year with huge moves being thrown down by the elite of the freestyle world. By the end of Day 4, the Freestyle world title race has been turned on its head with both Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti) and Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7) being eliminated from the single elimination in the second round (joint 9th). Meanwhile, their two rivals - Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) and Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS) - both negotiated their way into the winners’ final and whoever won that final would take the world title race lead. In the end, Vrieswijk claimed a dominant victory in the final to take the world tour lead, but both he and Van Broeckhoven will now face a nail biting wait to see how Schmit and Caers perform in the double as their world title fate remains out of their control.  If either Schmit or Caers is able to climb back into the top 6 then Vrieswijk/Van Broeckhoven are powerless to prevent them from winning a maiden world title. However, in order for Schmit/Caers to recover into at least 6th place they will have to win 4 consecutive heats, which is no mean feet.  Elsewhere, Adrien Bosson (Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins) was at his explosive best today and he currently completes the podium after beating Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails), who had earlier defeated Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone), in the losers’ final.  van der Eyken also deserves great credit for his sportsmanship today as he continually caddied for several sailors to help them combat the extreme and tiring conditions, and really epitomised that sporting mantra. Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne Sails) and Gollito currently share 5th place. With lighter winds expected for Tuesday the Freestyle sailors have been given a later skippers’ meeting of 12pm (GMT+2) with a first possible start at 12:30pm. However, with the waves expected to drop quite rapidly overnight, there is plenty of potential to complete the first Foil eliminations of the event. Particularly in the afternoon with 10-13 knot north to northwesterly winds expected. The Foil fleet will meet at 10am with the action commencing from 11am onwards.
To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA World Cup - Women's Wave 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) 
3rd Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
4th Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Wave  1st Thomas Traversa (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails)
2nd Marcilio Browne (BRA | Goya Windsurfing)
3rd Philip Köster (GER | Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Victor Fernandez (ESP | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Antoine Martin (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Adam Lewis (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX)
7th Jaeger Stone (AUS | Starboard / Severne / SWOX)
7th Marc Paré (ESP | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
9th Alex Mussolini (ESP | RRD / RRD Sails)
9th Ricardo Campello (BRA/VEN | Brunotti Boards)
9th Jules Denel (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Klaas Voget (GER | Fanatic / Duotone) Result Single Elimination 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men's Freestyle 1st Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne)
2nd Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | Starboard / GUNSAILS)
3rd Adrien Bosson (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Maui Ultra Fins)
4th Dieter van der Eyken (BEL | Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
5th Balz Müller (SUI | MB-Boards / Severne)
5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | RRD / RRD Sails / AL360)
5th Gollito Estredo (VEN | Fanatic / Duotone)

Philip Köster hat beim vorletzten Stopp der PWA World Tour einen weiteren Schritt in Richtung fünften WM-Titel gemacht. Der viermalige Windsurf-Weltmeister belegte am Montag beim Windsurf World Cup Sylt Platz drei und übernahm die Führung in der Waveriding-Weltrangliste. Damit hat sich der 25-Jährige eine gute Ausgangsposition geschaffen, um beim Finale auf Hawaii vom 27. Oktober - 09. November zum fünften Mal Champion im Wellenreiten zu werden.  „Es waren die erwartet harten Bedingungen, mit auflandigem Wind und chaotischen Wellen. Leider ließ bei meinem Halbfinal-Lauf der Wind auch noch nach, dazu kam die starke Strömung. Deshalb konnte ich meine Moves und Sprünge nicht wie gewohnt ausführen. Der dritte Platz auf Sylt hat aber gereicht, um als Weltranglistenerster zum Finale nach Hawaii zu fahren. Damit habe ich meine Chancen auf WM-Titel fünf gewahrt und das ist das Wichtigste“, so der neue Weltranglistenführende Philip Köster.

Sylt zeigt sich auch in der ersten Hälfte des Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2019 von verschiedenen Seiten - mit dem dritten Tag, an dem vor allem ein Tag mit Float- und Ride bedingungen stattfand, was zu einem großen Umbruch führte, der das Titelrennen umd den Wavetitel eröffnen könnte. Nach den ersten 5 Läufen setzte der vorhergesagte Starkregen ein, der mit dem Wind für Chaos sorgte und dazu führte, dass keine weiteren Läufe mehr durchgeführt wurden. Wave Men’s The main news of the day is that current world tour leader - Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards) - is out of the single elimination in joint 9th place after suffering defeat to Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) in Heat 12b. The 34-year-old wasn’t particularly happy with the conditions and struggled to find the wave scores he required, but Martin looked extremely impressive - picking off plenty of waves and showing excellent timing to perform critical turns and aerials to deservedly advance as he continues to enjoy his best year on tour. The 25-year-old came into Sylt ranked joint 7th and is already guaranteed his third top 10 result in a row. Martin will now face Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) in Heat 14b after the Brit dispatched of Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) with an excellent display. Lewis showed plenty of aggression and took a lot of risk to throw powerful turns and aerials. With Lewis guaranteed at least 5th place in the single elimination the 31-year-old is already guaranteed his best result of the season no matter what happens. With Campello out of the single elimination that potentially opens up the title race for Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX), Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) and Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), who now all stand to gain valuable ground, but Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) also fell today against Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails), who remains in the race to defend his event title from last year and looks to be in dangerous form.  Victor Fernandez, who is 4th in the current world rankings, has already secured his place in the top 4 of the single elimination after negotiating his way past two potentially very tricky heats against Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS) and Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails). The reigning world champion showed off plenty of well-timed full rail turns to progress and he will now face Traversa in the semifinals. With Stone pitted against Köster in the quarterfinals, one of the world title hopefuls is guaranteed to be eliminated in joint 5th in the single elimination and Heat 14a could yet prove to be a pivotal point in this seasons title race. Stone eliminated Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / Duotone) earlier today, while Köster defeated Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails). A couple of attempts were made to run Heat 14, but on both occasions the conditions were deemed unsuitable and it was therefore cancelled. There is still a long way to go in this wave contest with the double elimination to come, but Campello is now under severe pressure to mount a come back or his title challenge for 2019 would take a major dent with no discards this year. The wave fleet will meet at 7:30am (GMT+2) for the skippers’ meeting on Monday morning with 29-34 west-north-west winds predicted and expected to stay for the duration of the day, so Monday should see a full day of action. The Freestyle fleet will meet at 10am with a first possible start at 10:30am.  The Foil fleet have a skippers’ meeting at 12pm, but realistically the chances of them competing tomorrow is extremely slim.
To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Der Eröffnungstag des Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA World Cup 2019 erwies sich als ein Tag, den man mit starken, über Kopf hohen Wellen und Windgeschwindigkeiten zwischen 15-35 Knoten nicht vergessen wird, ein echter Sylt Klassiker. Die Freestyle- und Wave-Fleets kamen heute bei diesem Event zum ersten Mal aufs Wasser. Wave Women’s At the end of the first day of competition in Sylt - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) - has hauled herself back into title race contention after claiming a convincing victory in the single elimination ahead of current world tour leader - Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360).  The Aruban was at her brilliant best today and she dominated proceedings - setting 3 out of the 4 highest wave scores - including a superb 9 point wave - as well as also recording 4 out of the top 5 highest jump scores. Offringa won the event here last year and clearly demonstrated why with her performance today. If things were to remain as they are at the moment then Offringa would close to within just 200 points of Sniady heading into Maui - where she is also the defending event champion. Sniady will be happy to have secured her place in a third final of the season - having previously never made a final - but was then out of sync with the conditions in the final as some times happens. However, Sniady is already guaranteed her third consecutive podium as she continues to enjoy her best season on the world tour. At this stage, Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails) completes the podium after defeating Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) in the battle for third and fourth. The German showed excellent wave selection and execution to prevail as the 22-year-old aims to secure back-to-back podiums in Sylt. On her way to earning her best result in a wave single elimination - Maaike Huvermann - caused without doubt the biggest upset of the day by taking down reigning world champion - Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) - in Heat 5b before earning 4th place. You certainly wouldn’t rule Iballa out from storming back through the double still, but things have just become a whole lot harder for the 10-time world champion. Iballa currently shares 5th place with Marine Hunter (KA Sail), Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins) and Steffi Wahl (Sailloft Hamburg). Men’s The opening round of the men’s single elimination was also completed with Sylt producing hollow, punchy waves for the world’s best men to take advantage of - although there were some broken masts along the way. Alex Mussolini (RRD / RRD Sails), who we mentioned in the preview, has a great Sylt record in recent years - kicked off his campaign this year by posting the highest heat score of the day - 22.85 points - as he defeated Miguel Chapuis (JP / NeilPryde). The Spaniard landed a big one-foot backloop, while pinging several trademark frontside 360s to eventually earn the highest single wave score also - 8.95 points. Mussolini will now face - Marc Paré (Simmer / Simmer Sails) - after the young Spaniard produced an excellent display against - Jules Denel (JP / NeilPryde) to advance. All of the title contenders - Ricardo Campello (Brunotti Boards), Jaeger Stone (Starboard / Severne / SWOX), Philip Köster (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins), Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone) and Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing) are all safely into the round of 16, but Stone was the pick of the top seeds in the opening round. The Australian landed a massive goiter - the only one of the day - to earn 8 points, while also stomping a perfect double forward and tweaking a frontside air. Stone posted the second highest scoring heat of the day - 21.57 points - and early indications show he could be a major threat for the event title, having secured his first victory on the world tour last month in Tenerife.  However, Arthur Arutkin (Fanatic / Duotone), who was Stone’s opponent, will feel slightly aggrieved as he posted the 6th highest heat of the day, and still found himself on the losing side of the heat. The young Frenchman would have advanced through the majority of the other first round heats, but just got unlucky with his draw! Elsewhere, Julian Salmonn (Bruch Boards / GUNSAILS) completed the double over his boss - Dany Bruch (Bruch Boards / GA Sails / AL360) after also prevailing against Bruch in Tenerife. Thomas Traversa (Tabou / GA Sails) took down Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails), who came through the trials. Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone) survived against last year’s giant killer - Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) - while Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / Duotone) progressed against Graham Ezzy (Tabou / Ezzy Sails). Dieter van der Eyken (Severne / Severne Sails) enjoyed a successful day - posting the third highest Freestyle heat of the day - before eliminating Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / SWOX) in Heat 6a. Adam Lewis (Fanatic / Duotone / SWOX) negotiated his way past a potentially very tricky draw against Omar Sanchez (Star-Fish / KA Sail), 16-year-old Marino Gil (Goya Windsurfing) claimed a big scalp by defeating Leon Jamaer (JP / NeilPryde), while Antoine Martin (JP / NeilPryde) progressed from a tight heat against Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Duotone). Elsewhere, Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing), deserves a mention for his performance in the Qualification Round. The New Caledonian showed a fearless approach against Sylt’s heavy, thick waves and landed sick aerials and critical turns to deservedly earn his place in the main draw, before being eliminated by reigning world champion - Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / Duotone). Men’s Freestyle At the beginning of the day, the contortionists of the windsurfing world took centre stage in typically difficult Sylt freestyle conditions, but as the first round progressed, so did the conditions and the scores. The two main title contenders, Youp Schmit (I-99 / Avanti), Yentel Caers (I-99 / Point-7), survived the first round unscathed. Schmit faced easily the hardest first round test of any of the title contenders, but successfully negotiated his way past former world champion - Kiri Thode (Severne / Severne Sails) - despite only undergoing knee surgery several weeks ago. Caers also produced a proficient display to advance and will now face Balz Müller (MB-Boards / Severne), whilst Schmit will face another former Freestyle world champion in the shape of Dieter van der Eyken. Antony Ruenes (Tabou / GA Sails) kept his slim world title hopes alive by defeating Aron Etmon (Starboard / Severne) and will now face Jacopo Testa (RRD / RRD Sails) in Heat 9a. Meanwhile, fellow world title hopeful Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) will take on Riccardo Marca (Fanatic / Duotone) after the Italian defeated Davy Scheffers (Tabou / GA Sails). The Dutchman performed 3 port tack moves outside the area, which ultimately cost him a place in the next round. Steven Van Broeckhoven (Starboard / GUNSAILS) also safely advances into the round of 32. Heat 8a between - Nicolas Akgazciyan (JP / NeilPryde) and Antoine Albert (Goya Windsurfing) - produced the highest scoring, and tightest, heat of the day with just 0.3 of a point separating them by the end of the heat. Albert posted the highest score of the day - 122.5 points - but Akgazciyan was incredibly unlucky as he posted the second highest scoring heat of the first round - 122.3 points - but was still eliminated. Next up for Albert, is Gollito Estredo (Fanatic / Duotone), who received a bye through the first round.  Elsewhere, Sam Esteve (JP / NeilPryde), Francesco Cappuzzo (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360), Giovanni Passani (Tabou / GA Sails) are all into the next round. The forecast for Sunday shows plenty of potential for more competition with the wind expected to remain side shore from the left. The only slight question mark remains over the amount of rain expected during the afternoon and early evening - 4.1-6.7mm - but the sailors will meet again tomorrow morning. Skippers Meeting Times For Sunday | (All Times GMT+2) - Foil 8:30am - first possible start 9:30am
- Wave & Freestyle 9am - first possible start 9:30am  To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result Single Elimination 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sylt PWA World Cup - Women's Wave 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Justyna Sniady (Simmer / Simmer Sails / AL360)
3rd Lina Erpenstein (Severne / Severne Sails)
4th Maaike Huvermann (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins)
5th Martine Hunter (KA Sail)
5th Steffi Wahl (Sailloft Hamburg)
5th Iballa Moreno (Severne / Severne Sails)
5th Caterina Stenta (RRD / RRD Sails / AL360 / Maui Ultra Fins)

Am letzten Tag der Hvide Sande PWA-Weltmeisterschaft 2019 wurde bei leichten Winden - 10-20 Knoten - eine Endrunde in der Herren- und Damenflotte absolviert. Der Kampf um die Titel der Herren und Damen erwies sich als leicht enttäuschend, da Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) die Veranstaltung bereits eingefahren hatte, während Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) für das Halbfinale disqualifiziert wurde und Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) trotz allem, was passierte, ziemlich unbeeindruckt blieb, aber es gab ein paar spannende Kämpfe um das Podium! Women’s With Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde /Maui Ultra Fins) already having the event title wrapped up, the main battle in the women’s fleet on the final day was between Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) and Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) for the final place on the podium. Gibson, who was hoping to earn her first podium on the world tour, started the day with a 3.3 point advantage over Mortefon, but soon saw her podium aspirations wilt away as she crashed into the back of Fulya Ünlü at the opening buoy in the winners’ final. Take nothing away from Mortefon though, who produced her best performance of the week In the last race of the event. The 27-year-old led into the first mark and then fended off heavy pressure from Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) to claim her first victory of the week while ensuring she claimed the final place on the podium. With Offringa already having secured the top spot on the podium, it was then a bit of an anticlimax to see the Aruban go over the start line early in the last winners’ final - leading to Offringa being disqualified. However, it was still a dominant victory for the 4-time slalom world champion, who looked as though she’d never been away from the racecourse over the last 6 days. Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) finished Elimination 11 in third place, which sees the reigning world champion maintain her world tour lead heading into the final event of the season. After a disappointing middle of the event - Lena Erdil - will be pleased to have signed off the event with an excellent second place, which sees her finish in a clear 5th place. We’ll take a look at the implications for the overall rankings in the event summary. Men’s  Entering the final day of the 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup, the battle for the event title was down to a two-horse race between fellow world title contenders - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) and Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) - whoever would win out of the two heavyweights would then take the world title lead heading into the final event of the year in New Caledonia. The Italian held a 4 point advantage at the start of proceedings and he would be able to breathe easy before the start of the last winners’ final with Mortefon being disqualified from the opening semifinal along with Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails), Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) and Damien Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails), which effectively handed Iachino the event win and the world tour lead. The final event of the year is now set to provide a thrilling finale with Iachino and Mortefon both on 30,400 points - Iachino only leads on countback having won two events to Mortefon’s one. With Williams eliminated in the semifinals that also made the fight for the final place of the podium a two-man race between Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), who was looking to earn his first podium, and Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS).  In order for Rutkowski to defend his third place from the overnight rankings he would need to finish no worse than 3 places behind Quentel, but in the end the Pole would leave the result in no doubt by leading from start to finish in Elimination 9 to earn his first bullet on the world tour, whilst deservedly claiming his first podium to cap a fantastic week. Quentel ends the week in a solid fourth place, while Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) earns his best result since 2017 - 5th - after finishing fifth in the last race of the week. The top 10 is completed by Ross Williams, Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins), Damien Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails), who earns his first top 10 finish on the world tour and Gunnar Asmussen (Starboard / Severne). We’ll take a look at the full results in the event summary. That concludes what has been a fantastic week of racing in Hvide Sande with the sailors facing the arguably their toughest test of the season with such a diverse range of conditions on offer - from light to flat to nuclear windy and extremely choppy. To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Result 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
7th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
8th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne)
9th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui)
10th Marianne Rautelin (FIN | Patrik / Loftsails) Result 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom 1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne) 
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) 
4th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
5th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
6th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
7th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)
8th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
9th Damien Arnoux (FRA | Simmer / Simmer Sails)
10th Gunnar Asmussen (GER | Starboard / Severne)

Der 5. Tag des Hvide Sande PWA World Cup 2019 bot einige der aufregendsten Rennen der Woche mit Windgeschwindigkeiten von 20-30 Knoten und leicht kabbeligem Wasser, die einen großartigen Rennspielplatz bildeten. Die meisten Frauen griffen nach ihren 6,0-6,4er Segeln und die Männer nach 7,0er und kleinen Boards. Im Laufe des Tages gab es mehrere spannende Comebacks auf der langen Strecke, die am Ende viel Gelegenheit zum Überholen bot. Heute wurden zwei weitere Rennen für die Männer und drei für die Frauen absolviert. Women’s  Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) all but has the event title wrapped up with a day to spare after producing a truly dominant performance today, which saw the Aruban not only complete her second hat-trick of the week, but also go on to claim a four-timer after winning all three eliminations today.  Elimination 9 was perhaps Offringa’s most impressive victory with the 28-year-old pulling off an outstanding comeback after recovering from an early coming together with Cousin Questel as they approached the first buoy. Offringa rounded the second mark in fourth place and then continued to eat up the water in front of her to deny Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) a first bullet of the week.  Having not competed on the racecourse for over a year there may have been a few question marks about how Offringa would cope returning to the competitive scene during the middle of the season, but she has destroyed the field here thus far, winning 70% of the races completed up to now (7 out of 10), which gives Offringa an almost unassailable 9.5 point lead heading into the final day. Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) cemented her second place after a second and two third places, but the reigning world champion and current world tour leader may be slightly disappointed not to have landed a blow against Offringa today having closed to within just 1.3 points at one stage yesterday. In terms of the world title race, Cousin Questel remains firmly in the driving seat with her closest rival Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) currently ranked 4th here. While the event title is seemingly already decided, there is still an intriguing battle between Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) and Mortefon for the final place on the podium. Before the completion of Elimination 10 there was just 0.3 of a point separating the two women, but Gibson ends the day with a 3.3 point cushion after securing a brilliant second place - her best result since Elimination 4 - and that looks to be the battle to watch tomorrow. Elsewhere, Lena Erdil remains in 5th place, but enjoyed a decent day on the water with a second, a 6th and a 4th. In fact, there were no changes to the top 7 positions in the women’s fleet after today’s racing. Men’s  Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) started the penultimate day of racing with a 2.3 point advantage over Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) after winning both races yesterday, but at the close of play today the Frenchman has seen that lead erode and turn into a 4 point deficit after only managing a 10th and a 7th place. With Mortefon missing out on the opening winners’ final, Iachino then rubbed salt into the wound by winning Elimination 7 - the Italian’s third bullet of the week - and the 29-year-old is now in a dominant position heading into the final day, not only in terms of the event title race, but also the world title race too, as whoever wins this event will take the overall lead with an event to go.  After a disappointing day yesterday - Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) - bounced back well today as the Pole qualified for both winners’ finals and with the way the other results unfolded that sees Rutkowski move back into the podium positions - 3rd - having been ranked 6th at the start of the day.  However, Rutkowski’s quest for a maiden podium on the world tour is not done quite yet with Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS) and Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) still firmly in the hunt for third place - both men currently trail Rutkowski by just 3 points, so there is still all to play for heading into the final day. Elsewhere, Gunnar Asmussen (Starboard / Severne) climbs a further 3 places to 6th in the current event rankings after qualifying for both winners’ finals again today. The German has now qualified for the top 8 in each of the last 4 races. Without jumping the gun in Elimination 7 Asmussen could realistically have been in with a shot at the podium, but that now seems out of his reach. Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone) remains 7th after two top 16 finishes, while after a poor day yesterday Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) bounced back with a second and a 6th to rise from 18th to 8th, which could yet prove important in the world title race if it were to come down to discards as his two main rivals - Mortefon and Iachino hold a 12th and 25th as their discards.  The top 10 is currently completed by Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui), who falls 3 places to 9th, and Damien Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails), who continues to go from strength-to-strength this week. The young Frenchman qualified for his first losers’ finals at the start of the week and today he booked his place in his first winners’ final - eventually finishing 5th.  After such a bright start to the week, Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / GUNSAILS) drops outside of the top 10 for the first time - 11th - after a second round and quarterfinal exit today, while Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) and Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) also lose their place in the top 10 - dropping to 12th and 15th respectively.  Up to now, Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) has had a very inconsistent week, but today in Elimination 8 everything clicked into place as the Croat clinched his first bullet on the world tour with a commanding display. That victory sees Marotti climb to 16th in the overall rankings, while in the same elimination Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne) earned his best finish in a slalom elimination - second! The forecast for the final day of the 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup looks lighter than the previous four days with 13-15 knots during the morning, but it is expected to increase during the afternoon which should hopefully allow for at least one more elimination in the men’s and women’s fleets to be completed. The skippers’ meeting has been called for 10am (GMT+2) tomorrow morning with the racing commencing from 11am onwards.  To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 10 Eliminations 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
7th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
8th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne)
9th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui)
10th Marianne Rautelin (FIN | Patrik / Loftsails) Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 8 Eliminations 1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne) 
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) 
4th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
5th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
6th Gunnar Asmussen (GER | Starboard / Severne)
7th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
8th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui) 
10th Damien Arnoux (FRA | Simmer / Simmer Sails)

Bei einem starken Kontrast zu gestern mit leichteren Winden - 10-18 Knoten - und extrem flachem Wasser, was bedeutete, dass die Racer die Starts am 4. Tag des Hvide Sande PWA Worldcups 2019 wirklich forcierten - wobei der Start unter diesen Bedingungen sehr kritisch war. Dies führte zu vielen Disqualifikationen mit einer sehr schmalen Linie zwischen Erfolg und Misserfolg bei der Jagd nach einem perfekt getakteten Start - was dazu führte, dass etwas mehr als ein Viertel des Herrenfeldes durch vorzeitige Starts disqualifiziert wurde - 14/53 - 26,41% - in Elimination 5. Ein weiterer schöner Tag im Slalom in Dänemark schloss den vierten Tag mit zwei weiteren Eliminations sowohl in der Herren- als auch in der Damenfleet ab. Women’s After winning the first race today (Elimination 6) - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - closed to within just 1.3 points of event leader - Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins). However, by the end of the day, it is Offringa who has extended her event lead to 3.6 points after winning her 4th race in 7 eliminations. Cousin Questel did well to fight back into 3rd place after a poor start in Elimination 7, but now has plenty of work to do heading into the final two days of the event.  Realistically speaking it looks as though the event title race is now a straight fight between Offringa and Cousin Questel with the two rivals winning every race, except the first, between them. (4x Offringa, 2x Cousin Questel). Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) is still in the race to earn her first podium on the world tour after another consistent day, which saw the Brit finish 4th and 5th, but she will still have a real battle on her hands with Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) just 0.3 points behind her. A shot at the top two is probably beyond her at this stage as she trails Cousin Questel by 6.3 points. Having endured a couple of tough days on the racecourse - Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) - will be happier with how things went today. The Turk finished second in Elimination 6 before finishing 5th in Elimination 7, which sees Erdil gain 3 places from the overnight rankings - 8th to 5th after discarding an 11th place.  Elsewhere, Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) remains in 6th place, but the Norwegian will be very happy to have signed off the day with her best result in a sole elimination - having finished second behind Offringa in Elimination 7. Men’s Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) enjoyed a perfect day on day four with the Frenchman winning both races completed today to regain the event lead having relinquished it to Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) yesterday. Mortefon was untouchable today and now holds a narrow 2.3 point advantage at the top of the rankings and tomorrow’s opening race - Elimination 7 - could play a significant role in deciding not only the event title, but also the new world tour leader with the second discard at this event to come, while with this being the fourth Slalom event of the year the sailors will be able to drop their worst result thus far. Mortefon will be looking to discard a 16th, while Iachino is looking to discard a 9th place here.  Iachino enjoyed another solid day with a third and a fourth, but will now be looking to land a blow against Mortefon heading into tomorrow as the two heavyweights battle for the event title. With Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) experiencing a rare day to forget, which saw the reigning world champion eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of both races completed today it looks as though whoever wins the event out of Mortefon and Iachino will take the world tour lead. It may seem too early to suggest that the event will come down to a straight fight between just Mortefon and Iachino, but barring a disaster it should be with Iachino 28.6 points of the next closest challenger Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) in third, while between them, Mortefon and Iachino have won 83.33% of the races so far - Mortefon x3 and Iachino x2, while the only other sailor to have won a race is Albeau, who is out of the event title picture. For Albeau, it looks as though Denmark will be his discard with AA plummeting to from 9th to 18th in the current event rankings. The 24-time world champion has now suffered a quarterfinal exit in 4 out of the 6 races completed, which is almost unheard of, but he will remain firmly in the hunt for this year’s world title as he already has a 1st, a second and a fourth from the opening three events, so the aim now for Albeau will be to fight his way back as high as possible, so that he has a strong discard heading Into the final event of the year in New Caledonia.  While Ross Williams returns to third in the current event rankings, after climbing one place today, there are a whole host of sailors waiting in the wings to take their shot at the podium with just 5.5 points covering 3rd-8th. Of course the second discard tomorrow will make a massive difference to that battle too, but as things stand Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing / GUNSAILS), Julien Quentel (Patrik / GUNSAILS), Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails), Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) and Marco Lang (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) are all currently in with a shout.  However, after experiencing a great day yesterday, Rutkowski will need to bounce back from a disappointing day today with the Pole being eliminated in both quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Lang, enjoyed arguably his best day on the world tour since returning from a mystery virus which affected him so badly last year - eventually forcing him to retire from the season early. The Austrian finished second and 5th today which sees the Austrian rise from 16th to 8th in the current event rankings and he is now firmly on track to record his best result since winning in Sylt 2017 and finishing 4th in New Caledonia in the same year. Besides Mortefon, Gunnar Asmussen (Starboard / Severne) was the other sailor of the day with the German just eclipsing Lang’s performance with a quite brilliant second and third, which sees Asmussen jump into the top 16 - 13th. Elsewhere, Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) continues to recover from a fairly disastrous first day with 25-year-old breaking into the top 10 for the first time this event - 9th - while Birthday Boy Ingmar Daldorf (Tabou / GA Sails) also breaks into the top 10 - 10th - after qualifying for one winners’ final and the losers’ final today.  Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) also enjoyed a fine day with the Aruban qualifying for both winners’ finals as he too continues his comeback. Westera is now ranked 14th after qualifying for the last three winners’ finals in a row - having previously been eliminated in the quarterfinals in each of the opening 3 races.  On day two, Damien Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails) broke into the top 16 in a sole elimination for the first time, but today the 21-year-old far surpassed that as he won both losers’ finals to record his first top 10 results on the world tour. The talented young Frenchman’s fine performance today sees him rise to 12th in the overnight rankings.  The next generation really made their mark against their more experienced peers today and 20-year-old Martin Møller Hovda (Starboard / Severne) was one of the emerging talents to also reach a significant milestone in his short career as the young Norwegian qualified for his first winners’ final in Elimination 5 before claiming 12th in the next race to cap an excellent day. The forecast looks as though the wind will continue with 20-25 knots from the northwest currently being predicted on the latest model run, which should ensure more brilliant racing as Hvide Sande continues to deliver the goods with a real mix of conditions to prove a solid test for the world’s best racers. The sailors will meet once again at 9:30am (GMT+2) for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 10:30am onwards. To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 7 Eliminations 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
6th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
7th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
8th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui) 
9th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne) Sarah Jackson (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Marianne Rautelin (FIN | Patrik / Loftsails) Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 6 Eliminations 1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
4th Ben van der Steen (NED | Goya Windsurfing / GUNSAILS)
5th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / GUNSAILS)
6th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
7th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)
8th Marco Lang (AUT | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
9th Tristan Algret (GPE | Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins)
10th Ingmar Daldorf (NED | Tabou / GA Sails)

Tag 3 der Hvide Sande PWA World Cup 2019 erfüllte mehr als nur die Anforderungen an einen nassen, wilden und windigen Mittwoch, da der Wind mit mehr als 35-40 Knoten Hvide Sande zertrümmerte, während Schlagregen die Sicht manchmal sehr einschränkte, um den Mut der Racer auf eine harte Probe zu stellen. Am Ende des Nachmittags waren sogar die meisten der größten Jungs auf der Suche nach ihrem kleinsten Equipment, aber leider forderte die Heftigkeit der Bedingungen nicht weniger als 5 Opfer - Cedric Bordes (Tabou / GA Sails) - vermutete Rippenbrüche - Tuesday-Lou Judd (I-99 / Phantom Sails) - vermuteter Fußbruch - Nimet Tulumen (Tabou / GA Sails) - verletzter Fuß - Fulya Ünlü (Starboard / Severne) - gebrochene Nase - und Luis Boronat (Loftsails) landeten alle nach einem intensiven Renntag auf der Opferliste. Women’s Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) continues to set the pace in Denmark with the Aruban holding a 3.6 point advantage at the top of the event rankings over Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) to end day 3. After the completion of Elimination 4 Offringa held a perfect record - 0.7, 0.7, 0.7 - after completing a brilliant hat-trick and then discarded her 6th place from the opening race with a 3rd in the last. As already mentioned Delphine Cousin Questel is now Offringa’s closest rival with the reigning world champion climbing one place to second after claiming her first bullet of the week in the last race of the day. That victory brings Cousin Questel to within 3.6 points of Offringa with 3 more days to go, so the current world tour leader is well placed to attack the top as she looks to maintain her winning run.  Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) climbs one place from the overnight rankings into third, at the expense of Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) who drops to fourth, after enjoying an excellent day with a 2nd and a 4th. Elsewhere, Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails), Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne) and Océane Lescadieu (S2Maui) remain 5th-7th, while Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) climbs one place to 8th despite a below-par day, by her standards, after only recording a 6th and an 11th in the extreme conditions.  Men’s  Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) started the day first and second in the event rankings, but both men would miss out on the winners’ final of Elimination 3. However, with the way the other results went, and with Iachino securing the win in the losers’ final - 9th overall - that was still enough to send the Italian to the top of the event rankings, albeit with not much breathing room, with Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) just 0.3 of a point behind at that stage. However, after earning his first bullet of the week in Elimination 3 it looked as though - Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - was primed to take control of the event having finished second in the first elimination and the discard to come - particularly with the extreme conditions that he excels in on offer. But that’s not how things played out as the reigning world champion suffered a heavy catapult during quarterfinals of the 4th elimination, which leaves him in 9th place at the halfway stage. In the end, it is Iachino who ends the day as the clear event leader after the 29-year-old secured his second bullet in four races to sign off the day in style, whilst more importantly opening up a 3.3 point advantage at the top of the rankings. Mortefon, meanwhile, falls one place to second after a 16th and a 5th but is still well within striking distance heading into the second half of the event. Maciek Rutkowski (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) enjoyed arguably his best day to date on the world tour with the Pole finishing 3rd and second in the two races completed today. Rutkowski showed this kind of form in Fuerteventura and has picked up exactly where he left off and he deservedly climbs 6 places from 9th to 3rd in the overnight ranking, which keeps him firmly in the hunt for a maiden Slalom podium. Behind him, Ross Williams remains in 4th place after a 4th in elimination 3, while the Brit discards a 16th from race 4 after just being edged out in the semifinals for a place in the top 8. Williams was the last sailor standing with a perfect record of winners' final appearances this week, which perhaps highlights just how difficult and challenging conditions have been. Like Rutkowski, Julien Quentel (Patrik / Gun Sails) and Antoine Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) were the two other standout sailors of the day in the hardcore conditions. Quentel recorded a second and a third, and Questel a 4th and a 5th, which sees both of them gain plenty of ground. Questel rises 5 places from 10th to 5th, while Quentel comes from outside the top 10 into 6th after recovering brilliantly from a disappointing day yesterday.  Elsewhere, Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing) still hasn’t finished outside the top 16, but couldn’t quite replicate his two top 7 finishes from day two, so the flying Dutchman loses a few places, falling from 3rd to 7th, while Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7) and Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7) both drop out of the current top 10 - 12th and 13th respectively.  As this stage, Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) and Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde) complete the top 10, while Tristan Algret (Starboard / Severne / Chopper Fins) is another sailor to have recovered well from a disappointing day of racing yesterday with the 25-year-old qualifying for both winners’ finals today. Unfortunately for Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone), his woes continue with the Flying Dutchman, who came into the event ranked second in the world, failing to get past the quarterfinal stage in any of the opening 4 eliminations. That leaves Vonk in a lowly 28th - almost guaranteeing that this event will be his discard barring a miraculous recovery. It seems that Vonk’s illness from before Fuerteventura is still taking its toll as before this event the 26-year-old had not outside the top 11 in the last 9 events, so something certainly seems amiss.  The forecast for Thursday still looks solid with 18-20 knots of wind from the west-south-west currently being predicted, while the weather is also expected to improve, which should hopefully provide another full day of racing. We’ll be back from 9:30am (GMT+2) for the skippers’ meeting with the racing commencing from 10:30am onwards. To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page. Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 5 Eliminations 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
3rd Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
4th Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
6th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
7th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui)
8th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
9th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne) Sarah Jackson (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
10th Sarah Jackson (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails) Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 4 Eliminations 1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
2nd Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
3rd Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
4th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)
6th Julien Quentel (SXM | Patrik / Gun Sails)
7th Ben van der Steen (NED | Goya Windsurfing)
8th Sebastian Kornum (DEN | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Antoine Albeau (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
10th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)

Nach einem ruhigen Eröffnungstag des Hvide Sande PWA World Cup 2019 wurde für den zweiten Tag ein ganzer Renntag geboten, bei dem bei 10 bis 20 Knoten Wind zwei Herren- und drei Damen-Eliminations durchgeführt wurden. Es gab viel Spannung, da mehrere der Spitzenkandidaten weniger als ideale Starts hatten, während einige Racer wieder auftauchten, um das Event aufregend ausgeglichen in den dritten Tag zu starten, der verspricht ein echter Kracher zu werden. Women’s Sarah-Quita Offringa (Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins) may be competing in her first Slalom event since Portugal last year, but that hasn’t stopped the Aruban from hitting the water running. A catapult on the opening reach in the first winners’ final effectively cost Offringa a chance of winning Elimination 1 - eventually having to settle for 6th - but the 28-year-old was then untouchable as she claimed back-to-back bullets to lead the event rankings at the end of the first day. Marion Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone) is currently Offringa’s closest challenger in second place after enjoying a very consistent day. The current world No.2 started the day with two fourth places before signing off with a second after managing to avoid the carnage at the first mark.  Reigning world champion and current world tour leader - Delphine Cousin Questel (Starboard / S2Maui) - hasn’t had things all her own way on the first day of racing and finds ranked 3rd at the close of play. The 28-year-old started solidly with a 3rd and then a second, but then got caught up in the melee at the first mark in Elimination 3 and with the wind on the light side of the spectrum had to settle for 6th. Cousin Questel can, of course, look to discard that result in the next race, but will be wary of the fact that she’ll need to register a bullet sooner rather than later as to not allow Offringa to steal too much of a march on her.  The day started brilliantly for Jenna Gibson (Fanatic / Duotone) with the Brit claiming her second bullet on the world tour after showing tremendous pace to leave her rivals in her wake. However, the wheels then slightly fell off with an 8th and a 5th, but the 22-year-old remains very much in the hunt for the podium! Meanwhile, Maëlle Guilbaud (Patrik / Loftsails) bounced back brilliantly from a disappointing 10th place in the opener by steadying the ship with an excellent 3rd and 4th, which sees the current world No.3 recover into 5th place ahead of Oda Brødholt (Starboard / Severne), Océane Lescadieu (S2Maui) and Fulya Ünlü. Lena Erdil (Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins) currently finds herself in 9th place after seeing a bright start - second in the opening race - derailed by a 9th and a 12th after being caught up at the first mark in both Elimination 3 and 4. The Turk was prominently placed on both occasions and was less than happy, but will now have to regroup and try to fight her way back up the rankings. Men’s 
 
Much has been made of the importance of this event in terms of the title race with the discard coming into play and you could see just how much claiming the opening bullet meant to Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins) as he began the event in perfect fashion with an impressive victory, before finishing 4th in the second elimination. The Frenchman heads up the event rankings at the end of the first day of racing, but only has a slender one point advantage over fellow world title hopeful - Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne) - who secured a crucial bullet in the second race to keep himself firmly in contention heading into day three having finished 5th in the opener. While two out of the big 3 are tussling it out at the top of the rankings the remaining member - world tour leader Antoine Albeau (JP / NeilPryde) - finds himself sat just outside the overall top 10 at the close of play after a rare quarterfinal exit in Elimination 2. AA found himself squeezed out on the approach into the first mark and then got covered on the exit, which left him with too much of a deficit to recover from. AA had started the day with a solid second place, but will now need to not put a foot wrong over the next couple of races in order to be able to discard that 22.5. Ben van der Steen (Goya Windsurfing) rekindled his racing flame today as the Flying Dutchman enjoyed his best day in quite some time on the world tour. Van der Steen won every qualifying heat he sailed today to deservedly book his place in both winners’ finals and is currently ranked third after a 4th and 7th place.  The current top 4, which is completed by Ross Williams (Tabou / GA Sails) are the only sailors to have a 100% winners’ final record remaining after the first two races. The Brit did well to pip teammate - Ethan Westera (Tabou / GA Sails) - to the final place into the semifinals of Elimination 2 before going on to finish 5th - one place better than his result in the first.  Two-time youth world champion - Basile Jacquin (I-99 / Point-7) - has made a bright start to proceedings and the 21-year-old currently finds himself in 5th place after qualifying for one losers’ final and a winners’ final. Jacquin is currently level on 18 points with Taty Frans (Future Fly / Point-7), who also qualified for one losers’ final and a winners’ final.  Local boy Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) continues to break the stereotypical slalom model by holding his own with the world’s best on home waters. The Dane is currently ranked 7th after a 7th and 12th.  Meanwhile, the top 10 is currently completed by Enrico Marotti (JP / NeilPryde), who bounced back brilliantly from a quarterfinal exit by recording a superb 3rd place in Elimination 2, which sees the Croat rise to 8th. Then we have Maciek Rutkowski (FMX / Challenger Sails) - 9th - and Antoine Questel (I-99 / S2Maui) - 10th.  It’s also back to the drawing board for current world No.2 - Jordy Vonk (Fanatic / Duotone) - who suffered a disastrous start to the event. Things went from bad to worse for Vonk, who after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of Elimination 1 was then eliminated in round 2 of the next. Whether Vonk is still recovering from the illness that affected him prior to Fuerteventura, only he will know, but he will still want to try to bounce back strongly over the coming days - starting from tomorrow. 21-year-old Damien Arnoux (Simmer / Simmer Sails) also deserves a mention after the young Frenchman booked his place in the top 16 of an elimination not just once, but twice,  for the first time. He is currently ranked 15th. Arnoux had looked extremely quick in Fuerte, but was found wanting in the gybes, but here with the flatter water, he looks much more adept. Elsewhere, Arnon Dagan (Future Fly / NeilPryde) and Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails) mixed the good with the bad with each sailor suffering a disappointing quarterfinal exit, but also recording an excellent second (Dagan) and third (Cousin) respectively.  The forecast looks like we are in store for a wet, wild, and most importantly windy Wednesday with WindGuru currently predicting winds in excess of 30 knots. The sailors will meet again at 9:30am (GMT+2) for the skippers’ meeting with the action commencing from 10:30am onwards.  To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Denmark — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Women’s Slalom
*After 3 Eliminations 1st Sarah-Quita Offringa (ARU | Starboard / NeilPryde / Maui Ultra Fins)
2nd Marion Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone)
3rd Delphine Cousin Questel (FRA | Starboard / S2Maui)
4th Jenna Gibson (GBR | Fanatic / Duotone)
5th Maëlle Guilbaud (FRA | Patrik / Loftsails)
6th Oda Brødholt (NOR | Starboard / Severne)
7th Océane Lescadieu (NC | S2Maui)
8th Fulya Ünlü (TUR | Starboard / Severne) Sarah Jackson (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
9th Lena Erdil (TUR | Starboard / Point-7 / AL360 / Chopper Fins)
10th Marianne Rautelin (FIN | Patrik / Loftsails) Current Ranking 2019 Hvide Sande PWA World Cup - Men’s Slalom
*After 2 Eliminations 1st Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / Chopper Fins)
2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne)
3rd Ben van der Steen (NED | Goya Windsurfing)
4th Ross Williams (GBR | Tabou / GA Sails)
5th Basile Jacquin (FRA | I-99 / Point-7)
6th Taty Frans (NB | Future Fly / Point-7)
7th Sebastian Kornum (DEN | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Enrico Marotti (CRO | JP / NeilPryde)
9th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)
10th Antoine Questel (FRA | I-99 / S2Maui)