2026 Citroen Worldcup PWA Grandslam Sylt, Sept 25 - Okt 04

All eyes turn to Saturday with all fleets on standby after a beautiful sunny lay day

Day 7 of the Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt proved to be a lay day as expected by the forecast. However, all eyes now turn to Saturday - the last official competition day of the 2026 edition - as there's some potential in the forecast

Foil Slalom

The Wolf or the Reigning World Champion?

Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails) currently sits in pole position on 7.1 points as the German bids to win his first World Tour event, however, things couldn’t be any tighter at the top with reigning world champion Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde) just 0.3 of a point behind him, so Wolf will face a nervous overnight wait to see if more racing is on the cards in the morning.

If there is more racing, it’s going to be a shootout between Wolf and Iachino to see who is crowned the champion of Sylt for 2026, with whoever performs better on the day likely to come out on top given just how close they are. While Wolf is searching for his first event win, Iachino is looking for an opportunity to deny the home favourite, while attempting to secure his second victory here, and first since 2016, which would put him in a commanding position heading into the world title decider heading into Japan at the end of October. Particularly with his nemesis, Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / North Sails), currently outside of the podium positions and Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils) looking solid in third.

Will Fabian Wolf claim his first win?

Wave

Realistically the forecast is marginal at best for the Wave fleets, but Saturday represents the last opportunity to gain a result, and it’s certainly not out of the question with 12-17 knot south-southwest winds and waves up to a metre currently forecast meaning there is potential for some float and ride.

Lina Erpenstein currently leads the Women's Wave World Tour

Freestyle

In the Men’s Freestyle, Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails) has one hand firmly on the world title and can only be denied by Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde), who would need to win six heats to be able to face Neubauer again. From there the Belgian would then need to beat Neubauer twice to setup a potential sail off to decide the 2026 Men’s Freestyle PWA World Champion. Based on the forecast is that scenario probable? No? Impossible? Also, no, as with windsurfing you just never know.

Lennart Neubauer on the verge of a second world crown

With conditions hanging in the balance between disciplines, an initial announcement will be made at 7:30am tomorrow morning to decide whether the day kicks off with either Wave or Freestyle action. If things are looking promising the Wave/Freestyle fleet will have their skippers’ meeting at 8am with a first possible start at 8:30am. Meanwhile the racers will have their skippers’ meeting at 10am with racing commencing from 11am onwards if conditions allow.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Sylt — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom

*After 7 Eliminations (2 Discards)

1st Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)

2nd Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde / Z Foils)

3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils)

4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)

5th Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)

6th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails / AEON Foil System)

7th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils)

8th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)

9th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)

10th Noah Vinther (DEN | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)

Current Ranking Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle

1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

3rd Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)

4th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)

5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)

5th Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)

5th Takuma Sugi (JPN)

Lennart Neubauer crowned Freestyle World Champion for second time, while Matteo Iachino pips Fabian Wolf to event victory in Foil Slalom

A dramatic finale to the last day of competition

The early morning skippers’ meeting on the last official competition day of the 2026 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt didn’t pay off on this occasion with the Wave and Freestyle fleets being greeted by relatively light winds and flat water. After waiting for a few hours the decision was made to switch to Foil Slalom and one further elimination was completed before the wind became too light to complete any more racing.

Foil Slalom

Just 0.3 of a point separated Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System) and Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde) at the start of the day, so the winner was always likely to be decided by whoever blinked first.

Matteo Iachino (left) with Fabian Wolf (right)

Sadly for Wolf, who was looking to earn his first win on the World Tour, he was involved in a racing incident with Nico Prien (JP / NeilPryde) at the first buoy of the second semifinal in Elimination 8. That resulted in both sailors in the drink, and ultimately, Wolf failing to qualify for the Winners’ Final for the first time this week, at such a crucial time, which handed Iachino the advantage.

The reigning world champion made no mistake as he successfully booked his place in the top eight before going on to secure a solid third place, which was enough to send him back into the lead by 1.7 points. The intention was to try and run one more elimination, but unfortunately with the current changing direction, the wind was no longer enough to compete, which meant Iachino was crowned champion in Sylt for the second time, while putting himself in a commanding position heading into Japan at the end of the month.

The importance of the win for Matteo Iachino: “It’s good to have an edge on them now, especially because being second here, even if you do another second in Japan, which is an amazing result, a guy that finished third here and then wins in Japan would move into the lead. So, it was really important for me, especially mentally, to get an edge here and to get the victory.”

For Wolf, second still represents his best result on the World Tour to date, but the manner in which the last day unfolded may make it feel a bit bitter sweet currently. The German has looked deadly in the lighter winds and went on to win the B-Final, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion.

Fabian Wolf after narrowly missing out on the event win: “I mean that's just racing. Sometimes, it's not your mistake. I mean, I'm sad because I knew I was fighting for the win of the event until the last race, and losing like this, it's like a bittersweet feeling. But at least I proved it that I can win. I think I've got to go to Japan now then.”

Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils) completes the podium, while Pierre Mortefon (FMX Racing / North Sails) just misses out in fourth even after holding off Vrieswijk to win Elimination 8 after a great battle between the two sailors, which saw them almost touch at the third buoy.

Amado Vrieswijk and Pierre Mortefon went head to head in Elimination 8

Elsewhere, John Soukos (FMX Racing / Challenger Sails) gains one position from the overnight rankings to finish fifth overall, just ahead of Bruno Martini (WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils) who finishes sixth, which is a great result considering the Italian had two quarterfinal exits on the opening day. However he recovered brilliantly after that - only finishing outside the top ten once in the next six eliminations.

The top ten is completed by Benoit Merceur (Starboard / Severne Sails) - 7th - Maciek Rutkowski (JP / NeilPryde) - 8th - William Huppert (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System) - 9th - and Jordy Vonk (Duotone Windsurfing) in tenth.

Freestyle

After an early call the wind remained too light for the Freestyle and it was officially called off shortly after 12pm, which then saw Lennart Neubuaer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins) crowned Freestyle World Champion for the second time in his career. Neubauer finishes the season unbeaten as he continues to raise the bar. Lennart Neubauer after officially becoming the 2026 Freestyle PWA World Champion: “To achieve this in front of such an incredible German crowd makes it so special. Sylt has, by far, the biggest crowd of any event on tour. Windsurfing isn’t the biggest sport in the world anymore, so having this passionate community standing on the beach—even when we’re a kilometre out, watching through binoculars and with kids running up asking for signatures—means everything to us. I just appreciate that love and support so much."

Meanwhile, Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing) finishes 2026 as the vice-world champion, which is the Swiss-man’s best result so far on the World Tour.

Three-time world champion, Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) completes the podium for 2026 ahead of Takumi Moriya (Severne Windsurfing), who closes the season with his maiden podium on the World Tour, while Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing) completes the overall top five after qualifying for his first final since 2015 - eventually finishing second.

The overall top three in Freestyle - Yentel Caers (left),, Lennart Neubauer (centre), Balz Müller (right)

We’ll take a look at the full results in the Event Summary next week. Tomorrow will see the official prize giving ceremony held at 12:30pm (GMT+2), which will be available to watch via the live stream.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Sylt — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde)

2nd Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)

3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils)

4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)

5th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)

6th Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)

7th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails)

8th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)

9th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)

10th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle

1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

3rd Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)

4th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)

5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)

5th Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)

5th Takuma Sugi (JPN)

Overall Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Men’s Freestyle

1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

3rd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)

4th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)

5th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

6th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)

7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)

8th Takuma Sugi (JPN)

9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

10th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)

10th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)

Winners crowned in front of a packed crowd in glorious sunshine to conclude 2026 edition

The final day of the 2026 Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt saw the winners officially crowned in front of a packed out crowd to conclude another great edition in beautiful sunshine. Results were gained in the Men’s Foil Slalom and Freestyle, but unfortunately the waves were a little shy this year…

Matteo Iachino (Starboard / NeilPryde) was crowned the Foil Slalom champion for the fourth time - adding to previous victories here in 2015, 2016 and 2018. The Italian pipped Fabian Wolf (Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System) to a maiden event victory with Wolf finishing second, while Amado Vrieswijk (Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils) completes the podium in third.

Men's Foil Slalom event podium - Fabian Wolf, Matteo Iachino and Amado Vrieswijk (left to right)

With the Freestyle World Tour concluding here in Sylt that meant there were two presentations, firstly to crown the event champions - Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins), who wins in Sylt for the third time, Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing), who records his best result since 2015 in second and his mentee, Takumi Moriya (Severne Windsurfing), who claims his first podium on the World Tour.

Champagne moment for the Freestyle event champion - Dieter Van der Eyken, Lennart Neubauer and Takumi Moriya (left to right)

Then it was time for Neubauer’s moment as he was officially crowned the 2026 Freestyle PWA World Champion, much to the delight of the German crowd, while Balz Müller (Severne Windsurfing) becomes the vice-world champion for the first time in his career and three-time world champion - Yentel Caers (JP / NeilPryde) - completes the overall podium.

Men's Freestyle Overall Top Three for 2026 - Balz Müller, Lennart Neubauer & Yentel Caers (left to right)

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to the organisers and volunteers for their efforts over the last 10 days. We’ll be back early next week with the full summary. For now enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you next time.

You can stay up to date with all the latest developments from Sylt — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply by clicking HERE and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Foil Slalom

1st Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / NeilPryde)

2nd Fabian Wolf (GER | Starboard / Severne Sails / AEON Foil System)

3rd Amado Vrieswijk (NB | Future Fly / North Sails / Z Foils)

4th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | FMX Racing / North Sails)

5th John Soukos (GRE | FMX Racing / Challenger Sails)

6th Bruno Martini (ITA | WeOne / S2Maui / Z Foils)

7th Benoit Merceur (FRA | Starboard / Severne Sails / Z Foils)

8th Maciek Rutkowski (POL | JP / NeilPryde)

9th William Huppert (FRA | PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / AEON Foil System)

10th Jordy Vonk (NED | Duotone Windsurfing)

Result Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt - Men’s Freestyle

1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

3rd Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)

4th Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)

5th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)

5th Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)

5th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)

5th Takuma Sugi (JPN)

Overall Ranking 2026 PWA World Tour - Men’s Freestyle

1st Lennart Neubauer (GRE | Starboard / Severne Sails / Maui Ultra Fins)

2nd Balz Müller (SUI | Severne Windsurfing)

3rd Yentel Caers (BEL | JP / NeilPryde)

4th Takumi Moriya (JPN | Severne Windsurfing)

5th Dieter Van der Eyken (BEL | Severne Windsurfing)

6th Jacopo Testa (ITA | WeOne / GUNSAILS / AL360)

7th Steven Van Broeckhoven (BEL | WeOne / GUNSAILS)

8th Takuma Sugi (JPN)

9th Sam Esteve (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)

10th Nicolas Akgazciyan (FRA | Goya Windsurfing)

10th George Grisley (UK | Duotone Windsurfing)