Philip Köster battled to another World Cup win having already secured the overall title.

Single Elimination

Winners’ Final
Philip Köster and Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North) resumed their battle for the top two places. The 2010 World Champion opened with a great double forward, but the master of the doubles soon busted out a bolt upright double forward to take the lead. At this point Köster took control of the tie as he landed a radical frontside wave 360 right in the pitching section. Fernandez then hit back with a superb one handed, one footed, backloop, but unfortunately for the Spaniard, Köster, responded with an even better version of the same trick. The wonder kid then settled into his sailing as he threw another frontside wave 360. In the single elimination Köster may not have been at his absolute best for the entirety of the elimination, but he did show once more his incredible competition sailing qualities, whereby he can pull any trick out of his never ending armor to overcome any obstacle (sailor) in his way.

Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) took control of the battle for third place overall, as he defeated Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) in the losers’ final. Campello once again demonstrated why he is considered one of the most radical jumpers in the world. First off he landed an incredible double forward before landing a breathtaking one handed, one footed, forward loop.

The 2009 PWA wave world champion, Josh Angulo, advanced past his first opponent Mikey Clancy (Fanatic / North), but that was as far as he would go in the single elimination as he faced Brazilian, Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde), in the second round.

Double Elimination
After Victor Fernandez suffered an injury to his ankle in the TV14 night session there were question marks about whether the Spaniard would be able to sail or not. In the end he did sail in the double elimination, with the support of a foot brace, but he couldn’t do enough to stop a rampaging Alex Mussolini, who hit back against Ricardo Campello to claim third in the world overall. With the pressure now off him, Mussolini, produced a great display to advance against Fernandez, as Mussolini advanced into the top two of the PWA Sylt World Cup to face Köster in the winners’ final.

Ross Williams (Tabou / Gaastra) was the standout wave sailor of the day as the Brit stormed his way through the double elimination. Williams won five successive heats, before Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) halted his progress as Williams finished in an excellent fifth place. On his way to fifth Williams was able to defeat Phil Horrocks (Tabou / Gaastra) in the battle of the Brits, before also dispatching of Marcilio Browne (Goya Windsurfing / MFC) in heat forty-two as he put together a tremendous wave, which consisted of a couple of super fluid turns before landing an unbelievable frontside wave 360. Williams’ next victim was, Dario Ojeda (Tabou / Gaastra / MFC), followed by Jules Denel (Exocet), after Williams was able to land another amazing frontside wave 360, combined with more super fluid and stylish riding overall. The Brazilian, Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde) stood in Williams’ way for the battle to move into the top five, and the Brit continued to his rich vein of form as he threw another frontside wave 360 for the third heat in a row. This wave proved pivotal as the two sailors both landed equally good backloops, however Williams’ explosive 360 gave him the edge as he moved into fifth place, after winning the heat by 0.8 points and claiming a memorable victory.

Jules Denel also enjoyed a fine day in the double elimination as he sailed his way into equal seventh place. The Frenchman defeated several of the top guys today such as Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins), Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC) and perhaps most impressively Denel managed to defeat the winner of the last wave event in Denmark, Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) on two occasions, after the heat was re-sailed due to a missed jump for Traversa.

Winners’ Final
On the final day of the event, Philip Köster took on Alex Mussolini as he looked to end his world championship winning year with a victory in the final event. This time around Köster managed to do just that, even with the incredibly challenging conditions due to the bolt onshore wind. With the jumping being predominately starboard tack the wonder kid was still able to bust out a double forward on the way in to put himself in command of the heat. Mussolini landed a good backloop and pushloop, but it couldn’t match Köster’s efforts, and in spite of a couple of good waves, with his backside smacks in particular standing out, Mussolini couldn’t find enough in the tank to force a super final.

Photo Credit: John Carter / PWA