|
Sylt is either monster waves & wind or nothing! But this year we had something in between; enough for some freestyle & slalom action but not enough for a full on wave contest. However, the organisers did manage to squeeze in two hours of Ladies wave, and that is where we shall start.
Photo courtesy of PWA/John Carter
Women’s Wave
| Folk used to say when the conditions were marginal, bordering on rubbish, send the women out!! Now we thought we had moved on from those times but that is exactly what was done in Sylt. Results are all important (more so for sponsors than sailors) but we think they were pushing it a bit getting the women to play in the shorebreak with minimal wind. It was cross onshore yet not enough to score jumps – that says it all. But and this is a big but, this decision actually provided the most surprising result of the event. Because when you take out ‘jumping’ the fleet is more of a level playing field because when jumps are counted, no one can beat Daida Moreno. |
|
| |
| To view video: |
 |
or |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Daida and Nayra doing the job of racking up wave points.
So with waves only to count, insiders would put there money on Nayra Alonso because Sylt that morning looked very much like her home break at Vargas in Gran Canaria; cross onshore with small, punchy waves. Nayra excelled in the conditions beating Karin Jaggi in the semis and then Iballa Moreno in the final. It was a well deserved victory and will give her a real confidence boost.
Daida lost to Steffi Wahl. She was not happy. She is a sore loser but that is why she is such a champion. We at Boardseeker are fed up of hearing bad things about Daida. Has everyone forgotten how ‘bad’ Robbie Naish & Bjorn Dunkerbeck were when they lost in their heyday? They hate losing, Daida hates losing and she really shouldn’t have done even against Steffi. This meant she also lost her Wave Title to her sister for the second year running. She is the best female sailor by far, everyone knows that but in this game it only matters what you do in those precious heat minutes. So bad luck Daida but at least the women’s fleet is excited and everyone is talking about it. Now she would be pleased about that.
Women's Wave Results
1. Nayra Alonso
2. Iballa Moreno
3. Steffi Wahl
4. Junko Nagoshi
Joint 5th Daida Moreno, Waka Nishida, Karin Jaggi, Anne-Marie Reichman
|
|
 |
Men’s Freestyle
The best of the best tweaking and sliding.
 Skip to the last day of the event and the wind came back allowing the double elimination to run. Kiri had a chance but only progressed one heat before being beaten by Anthony Reunes. Marcilio waited to see who would try and stop his world title hopes and it was Germany’s Andre Paskowski who had a brilliant last day winning heat after heat but by the time he met Marcilio he was tired and Browne beat him to come up against Ricardo Campello for that all important third place. In the dying light of Sylt main beach, Browne won and with it the World Freestyle Title. It didn’t matter that he was then beaten by Tonky Frans. It didn’t matter that Gollito then won the double and secured the event win, it was all about Marcilio and the immense pressure he has been under to perform for his new sponsors. World Title number one, more to follow – a sure bet.
Freestyle Results
1. Gollito
2. Tonky Frans
3. Marcilio Browne
4. Ricardo Campello
5. Andre Paskowski
6. Anthony Reunes
Joint 7th. Nicolas Akgazciyan + Kiri Thode
Slalom
Now you would think the slalom boys would have a good week needing only a few knots of wind to perform! But Sylt was either quite windy or a millpond. They managed six races the first being a light one hence the results of Arnon Dagan, Steve Allen, Julien Quentel and Ross Williams in the top four. But don’t despair, Antoine ‘I can perform in any wind’ Albeau, came fifth.
Bernd Flessner maxed/ Antoine finding reason to relax
Race 2 saw local hero Bjorn Dunkerbeck (even though he has lived most of his life in Spain and now lives in Switzerland) take the win with Neil Pryde man Pieter Bijl in second and Kevin Pritchard in third. Antoine had a shocking result (!) finishing fourth.
No more messing about, Antoine decided, and went on to win the next four races. Darn he’s good! Race 3 saw a joint finish (very unusual in racing) where Finian Maynard and Jimmy Diaz just couldn’t be separated as they crossed the line. Race 4 had Patrick Diethelm in second and Kevin Pritchard in third. Race 5 and Kevin was now into his groove loving that second spot with Bjorn in third and Patrick in fourth. The last race was held in a strong westerly, onshore breeze so no surprises that Antoine won but big surprise that Arnon Dagan who had suffered a rib injury earlier in the week, came second. Fair play!
How to blend in to the crowd...
So that was it, all wrapped up for the season. Yet again, Antoine Albeau seems unbeatable. Now that will annoy the other big names so expect some fiery comebacks next year!
Slalom Results
1. Antoine Albeau
2. Bjorn Dunkerbeck
3. Kevin Pritchard
4. Ross Williams
5. Micah Buzianis
6. Julien Quentel
7. Patrik Diethelm
8. Cyril Moussilmani
9. Pieter Bijl
10. Finian Maynard
|
|
Kevin/ Antoine and Bjorn Respectively |
Men’s Wave
 Well there is not really a lot to say about the Men’s wave contest. Six heats were run on day one of the event and even though the organisers tried to get them out on the very last day, it just wasn’t happening. No waves, no result, no fun. However, there was the Expression Session that gets pulled out the bag at these occasions and with 5000 euros up for grabs, well worth donning your suit and showing off your thang!
Colin Sifferlen got the most cash for a massive air flaka over a heavy section of shore dump. Alex Mussolini scored second for his radical auto rotators in the pocket and Ricardo Campello third for his perfect switch chacho 540.
Deceivingly peacful at the event site/ Scotty launching off the face.
Tiree is next with everything to be decided. We can’t wait!
|
This was a really tight competition with the world title at stake and four sailors capable of winning it. To begin with the ‘power’ was all with Kiri Thode. If he got a podium finish then the world title was his and Gollito more likely would come second. But if Kiri messed up, Marcilio Browne stood a chance no matter how well Gollito could do. Guess what – Kiri messed up! He got to the last eight in the single elimination losing to his cousin, Tonky Frans who was really loving the cold, grey, onshore conditions! With the wind not looking great for later in the week, the pressure was now on Marcilio who needed to finish third. He finished fourth – not quite good enough. Gollito just won the single – that’s all he could do, but he knew that Browne was on his tail. 
