The penultimate day of the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt produced another full day of racing with the light offshore winds (5-13 knots) continuing, which allowed a further four eliminations – 2 Foil Slalom & 2 upwind/downwind – to be completed, which has seen the title race lead change hands heading into the final day of the event. 

Foil

Thomas Goyard (FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils) started the day as the event leader, but at the end of Saturday it is his brother – Nicolas Goyard (Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils) – who now leads, not only the event, but also the race to become the 2019 Men’s Foil PWA World Champion. Goyard N. built upon yesterday’s solid set of results by recording one bullet and three 3rd places today as the 23-year-old continues to race with unbelievable consistency – his worse result from the 8 eliminations completed thus far is a 4th place. 

After another fine day, Goyard N. will head into the final day with a 3.6 point advantage over Alexandre Cousin (Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Boards), who has climbed one place from the overnight rankings into second after two second places in the upwind/downwind racing. 


If Goyard N. can defend his lead then he will be guaranteed the title no matter what, but with Cousin also firmly in the hunt for the world title, tomorrow is set to see a thrilling finale to the racing. 


Thomas Goyard is now 6.4 points off the lead with his results in the Foil Slalom costing him valuable ground in the title race. The 27-year-old was totally dominant again in the upwind/downwind racing – claiming clear cut victories in both of the eliminations completed, but the world title may not well be out of his reach now.


As things stand, Thomas Goyard would complete the event and overall podium, but he will still have to fend off competition from Matteo Iachino (Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil) on the final day with the Italian just 6.6 points behind. After winning the first Foil Slalom race of the day it looked as though Iachino was well poised to attack the top, but a poor start in Elimination 6 cost him a place in the winners’ final and two further 9th places in the upwind/downwind racing has also left him off the title race pace.


Luuc Vanopzeeland (JP / NeilPryde) bounced back from a first round exit in Elimination 5 with a 3rd, 4th and a 6th, which sees the Dutchman climb one place to 5th at the expense of Julien Bontemps (JP / NeilPryde), who slips to 6th. 


Elsewhere, Sebastian Kornum (JP / NeilPryde) and Sebastian Kördel (Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foils) remain in 7th and 8th place, while Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / Duotone / LOKEFOIL) gains one place from the overnight rankings – 9th. The top 10 at this stage is completed by Amado Vrieswijk (JP / Severne / Starboard Foil), who recovered well today after a slightly disappointing showing yesterday. The Bonairean recorded a second place in the opening race of the day, while also recording two other top 10 finishes to fight back.

With another promising forecast for the final day of the event – 16-21 knot east-south-east winds – tomorrow should provide an exciting finale to the event with the Men’s Foil World title on the line. The Foil fleet will meet at 9:30am (GMT+2) with the racing commencing from 10:30am onwards. Make sure you stay tuned to www.pwaworldtour.com to see who comes out on top in the title race battle!

To stay up to date with all the latest developments from Germany — including the live stream, elimination ladders, entry list, images and live ticker simply click HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Current Ranking 2019 Result 2019 Mercedes-Benz Windsurf World Cup Sylt -Men’s Foil
*After 8 Eliminations

1st Nicolas Goyard (FRA | Tabou / GA Sails / Phantom Foils)
2nd Alexandre Cousin (FRA | Patrik / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
3rd Thomas Goyard (FRA | FMX Racing / Phantom Sails / Phantom Foils)
4th Matteo Iachino (ITA | Starboard / Severne / Starboard Foil)
5th Luuc Vanopzeeland (NED | JP / NeilPryde)
6th Julien Bontemps (FRA | JP / NeilPryde)
7th Sebastian Kornum (DEN | JP / NeilPryde)
8th Sebastian Kördel (GER | Starboard / GA Sails / Starboard Foil)
9th Pierre Mortefon (FRA | Fanatic / Duotone / LOFEFOIL)
10th Amado Vrieswijk (NB | JP / Severne / Starboard Foil)