One Week Until the Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt – Lina Erpenstein and Lennart Neubauer Aim for World Champion Titles

• Five-Time World Champion Philip Köster Also at the Start
• Absolute World Elite in Wave, Freestyle, and Slalom Registered
• World Cup Celebrates 40th Anniversary with Legends of the Sport
• Diverse Program on the Promenade and in the Party Tent
• September 27th – October 6th – Free Admission on All Days

(Sylt) Only one week until the world’s largest windsurfing event. From next Friday, windsurfing and Sylt fans can expect ten days of breathtaking water sports action paired with a unique atmosphere and the famous party events on Brandenburger Beach at the “Super Grand Slam” of the PWA World Tour. From a purely sporting point of view, the absolute world elite in the disciplines of Wave, Freestyle, and Slalom traditionally come to the North Sea island. This year, visitors can once again look forward to the German and international stars of the scene.

Notably, two German sailors currently lead the World Ranking and thus the race for the World Championship in their disciplines. Lennart Neubauer from Bremen, Sylt winner from 2023, can be crowned Freestyle World Champion for the first time at this year’s Citroën Windsurf World Cup Sylt. After the 20-year-old shooting star sensationally became vice world champion on the North Sea island last year, he is now going into the race as the top favorite for the title. However, the competition could not be stronger. The entire top 10 of the current world ranking has registered for the Sylt World Cup, including the current world champion from Belgium, Yentel Caers (#3 in the world) and the former world champion from 2022, Adrien Bosson from France (#2 in the world). “It’s my third time in Sylt and I’m really looking forward to competing again. Last year we had really good conditions and a great competition, I hope this year will be the same,” said Lennart Neubauer.

In the Wave discipline, a well-known German face leads the current World Ranking. 27-year-old Lina Erpenstein is just ahead of the Spaniards Maria Morales Navarro and Alexia Kiefer Quintana in first place in the race for the title in the king discipline of windsurfing. The Aschaffenburg native, who has already triumphed at the World Cups in Chile and Tenerife this year, is undoubtedly having the season of her life. “I’m really looking forward to the World Cup in Sylt. I love the North Sea and its rough windsurfing conditions and of course I hope to be able to use my home advantage,” said Erpenstein. Whether the windsurfer, who lives in Kiel, will secure her first world title will be decided at the end of October in Hawaii. At the penultimate tour stop in Sylt, however, she can definitely lay the foundation. From a German perspective, the 21-year-old Maria Behrens from Lübeck (currently in 11th place), who made a splash last year with a sensational second place in Sylt, is also exciting. Windsurf legend Sarah-Quita Offringa, 23-time world champion, is also in this year’s Sylt world-class field.

Fans and visitors can also look forward to the creme de la creme of the sport in the Wave discipline for men. The first eight from the top ten of the Wave ranking will start here, including the current top three in the world: Marino Gil Gherardi, Victor Fernandez (both Spain) and Marcilio Browne (Brazil). In fourth place and also still in the race for the World Championship is the name of five-time world champion Philip Köster. The 30-year-old, who had to take a break last year due to injury, was last at the very top of the podium in 2019. At that time with the crowning finale on Brandenburger Beach.

The entire top ten of the world rankings will also be on the water off Westerland in the men’s slalom. Michele Becker from Kiel comes to Sylt as the current seventh and, like Nico Prien (#11), will do everything to challenge the current top seeds. The ones to beat here are: Daniele Benedetti (#1, ITA), Pierre Mortefon (#2, FRA) and Enrico Marotti (#3, CRO). In the women’s slalom, the German Alisa Engelmann can calculate chances of victory. As the current fourth in the ranking, she is only behind Justine Lemeteyer (#1, FRA), Marion Mortefon (#2, FRA) and Blanca Alabau (#3, SPA).

The two wildcards this year go to the German wave riders and up-and-coming talents Nick Spangenberg (20 years old) and Anton Richter (17).

The Insel Sylt Tourismus-Service (ISTS) has been organizing the World Cup since 1983, and this year will be the 40th edition. Four decades on the North Sea island, which has seen great names come and go, in unforgettable competitions and countless special moments. From the dominance and the eternal duel between the legends of the sport Robby Naish and Bjørn Dunkerbeck in the 80s and 90s to the Spanish “Moreno Twins” in the 2000s to the victories of five-time world champion Philip Köster and many others from all over the world. “Sylt and the Windsurf World Cup have been together for four decades. We are very pleased to be able to welcome the world elite of this action-packed water sport back to the largest windsurfing event in the world,” says Peter Douven, Managing Director of Insel Sylt Tourismus-Service GmbH.

Visitors can look forward to a diverse program on and off the water as part of the anniversary from September 27th – October 6th. This also includes some legends of the sport, who will come to the North Sea island on the first weekend (September 28th & 29th) for the 40th anniversary celebration and will be available for interviews. While the sport kicks off with three spectacular disciplines – Wave, Freestyle and Slalom – the World Cup Village on the over 500-meter-long promenade attracts beach shopping, pop-up stores, adventure gastronomy and parties with free admission. Various activations are also planned by the event partners, such as daily yoga sessions by Yogi Tea, daily Ehrmann Challenges or the Beach Clean Ups with HanseMerkur and Milram. The new title partner Citroën is starting its long-term commitment to the World Cup with Signature Hours and test drives.

Roman Franke, Head of Marketing Citroën Deutschland: “It is a great honor for us that Citroën can accompany the Windsurf World Cup in its anniversary edition, and we look forward to working together in the coming years. The competition has been a part of Sylt for 40 years and offers an exciting sporting event for young and old every year. We are all the more pleased that we, as a brand that stands for courage, passion and a thirst for adventure like windsurfing, will be represented and can support both the transport on site and the supporting program.”

The opening ceremony will take place as usual on the first Friday in the music pavilion (September 27th, 4:00 p.m.), and the grand award ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 6th at 3:30 p.m. on the event stage. Every day starts at 10:00 a.m., and the famous World Cup parties take place every evening from 6:00 p.m. in the event tent on the promenade.