Sylt worldcup 2019

Aloha classic and 1st world Title win!
December 23, 2019
Slalom in Hvide Sande
January 3, 2020
Aloha classic and 1st world Title win!
December 23, 2019
Slalom in Hvide Sande
January 3, 2020

2019 Sylt world cup is over and out and I’m taking home gold!
Sylt has been delivering for 4 consecutive years now.
It was a pleasure sailing this week in the German shore break.

After some slalom in Denmark, I drove up North and sailed Hanstholm for two days to get a taste of the North Sea madness before heading down to Sylt. Let me tell you, that day I sailed my 3,3 and was reminded to keep respecting nature.. I got put in my place and could not really challenge those conditions.
In the Canaries, sailing a 3,3 feels normal.
But on the North sea it feels way more raw and intimidating. I got washed a couple of times, and with 5m rollers on the outside I decided to stay closer to shore. It was quite exhilarating though!

With 10 days to go I actually drove back up to Norway with Odale and did some outdoorsy stuff the Norwegians like to do, and honestly it was a very welcome break. As I tend to go in a mini dip after competing haha. Denmark took it out of me I guess. After Norway I drove back down to sylt while visiting Aarhus along the way. Is cross fit an addiction when you have only one day in a town and you add a cross fit workout to your itinerary? What an EPIC box!

Arrived in sylt I felt recharged and ready for battle. We actually got quite awesome conditions again this year. But because of the squalls coming through it was quite unpredictable. I kept on switching between 4,5 and 4,7 while staying on my 86L all day. One minute you’re way overpowered and the next thing you know the wind dies completely. All of that in a 14 minute heat.
The single elimination was a blast with side shore wind and about 1,5m waves.In the Canaries I felt like I missed it a bit so after finishing 3rd In Gran Canaria and Tenerife I was quite fired up to step up my game. So I was quite happy with my sailing in the single elimination and then to win the final against Justyna it was the cherry on top that day. Biggest thank you to Eva & balz for caddying for me and being my personal sunshine’s during the rain!

It hasn’t happened often in Sylt, but we also managed to sail a double elimination.
The conditions were quite nuts all day with the massive shore break pretty much being the biggest challenge. Guess who stormed through that double?
Maaike the fantastic! She came from 4th place all the way up to the final to challenge me. And let me tell you she’s a dark horse, landing a backloop when you don’t expect it. We were both giggling before the heat that we were basically two freestylers in a wave final hahaha. By then the conditions were really onshore and it was hard to ride the wave, I just did what I saw Marcilio doing.

I won’t say it was my best performance, but it was enough to win that final!
Congrats Maaike for your first podium finish and Justyna for her third straight podium finish!!
Other than that the men’s freestyle title was so tight and nerve wracking for everybody, but yentel Caers came on top and what a way to do it. Massive congrats for getting that first title.
It was a pleasure to have Steffi the guru back on the water. We missed you in the Canaries, and your happiness from being on the water is contagious!

So that was cool to win Sylt, and then it sank in that I was leading the wave world tour. I’ve lead the freestyle and slalom rankings before, but leading the Wave ranking feels totally different and unreal. I am so thrilled. No matter what happens in Maui, being where I am right now feels like a big achievement for me!
Quick pit stop back home in Aruba before I’m off to the final event of the year in Maui!