AMADO VRIESWIJK IS THE NEW IFCA SLALOM FOIL WORLD CHAMPION

Amado Vrieswijk is the new IFCA Slalom Foil World Champion

The IFCA Slalom Foil World Championship 2024 took place in St. Peter Ording from July 11th to 14th. Almost 40 athletes from seven nations competed for the official World Championship title at the International Funboard Class Association’s most important slalom foil event. Six complete slalom eliminations were held over three days of competition in various conditions. With a superior performance, Amado Vrieswijk (NED-2020, Future Fly, Severne) from Bonaire secured the title ahead of the Frenchman Alexis Mathis (FRA-997, Tabou, GA Sails) and the German Michele Becker (GER-277, Patrik Windsurfing). As part of the California Windsurf Cup, the event not only offered top-class sport on the water, but also an event village with a varied supporting program, especially for families. The IFCA Slalom Foil World Championship offered a total prize money of 20.000 Euro.

“What a mega world championship! Six races within three days. Spectacular action and enthusiastic spectators. All in the unique setting of the Wadden Sea National Park. Congratulations to Amado Vrieswijk. With his outstanding performance at this World Championship, he has proven himself to be a worthy world champion. A big thank you also goes to the participants from all over the world and the St. Peter-Ording Tourist Board, without whom it would not have been possible to bring such an international championship to St. Peter-Ording,” says Matthias Regber.

The battle for second place was close. After the first day, Fabian Wolf (GER-404, Starboard, Severne) was in a promising position. From the second day of the competition, however, the pursuers came closer and closer and eventually passed him. In the end, the battle for the vice world title centered on the duel between Frenchman Alexis Mathis and Michele Becker. After a slightly weaker start to the regatta, the Frenchman continued to improve over the course of the competition days. On the last day, he finished second in all races right behind the world champion Amado Vrieswijk. Becker was consistently strong with the exception of a slip in race 2, which he was able to cancel. In the end, Becker and Mathis were head to head with 7.0 points. It was only in the tiebreak that Mathis from France was able to prevail and become IFCA Foil Slalom Vice World Champion 2024. Michele Becker secured third place on the podium on equal points.

Fabian Wolf surfed a strong World Championship. Even though he was eliminated from the immediate title fight and narrowly missed out on the podium in the end, he put in a consistently strong performance with 12.0 points. Wolf, who normally surfs in the Olympic iQFOiL class, finished the World Championship as the second-best German in fourth place overall. Danish youngster Noah Vinther (DEN-7777, Patrik Windsurfing) completed the top five with 18.0 points.

The IFCA Slalom Foil World Championship 2024 in St. Peter Ording was a great success. For the first time, an international windsurfing competition was held on the North Sea beach in Ording as part of the California Windsurf Cup. The strong international field of participants and the spectacular races on the North Sea showed that the St. Peter-Ording Tourist Board made the right decision. Unfortunately, the wind also brought a lot of rain with it. This affected the event village and the supporting programme. One of the famous event parties even fell victim to the continuous rain. But as soon as the skies cleared again, St. Peter-Ording worked its magic. Thousands of visitors flocked to the North Sea beach and enjoyed the unique ambience of a high-calibre sporting event in the middle of the Wadden Sea National Park.

The date for the California Windsurf Cup 2025 has already been set: next year, the windsurfers will return to St. Peter-Ording from 17 to 20 July 2024.