After four days the Formula Windsurfing European Championship at the Multivan Windsurf Cup Heiligenhafen came to an end on Sunday. The return of a tour stop of the highest German regatta series in windsurfing to the Baltic Sea resort was a great success. Official races could be held on three out of four competition days. In the end, there were no less than ten races for the European Championship. The title duel was exciting to the max: Again and again the lead changed between the two dominating riders Vincent Langer (GER-1, Fanatic, Duotone) and Fabi Wolf (GER-404, FMX Racing, Gun Sails). In the end, the decision was made in the last race and was so close that the European Championship title was only awarded in the last tiebreak stage: Vincent Langer is the new Formula Windsurfing European Champion 2023.
The title duel already began on the opening Thursday. Langer was able to win the two races of the day, but Wolf was close behind him in both races. With two second places he kept himself in the title race for the European Championship. After a day of rest due to the lack of wind, Saturday turned out to be the “Big Saturday” for the European Championship. With six races, the maximum possible number of races could be held on this day. Fabi Wolf took the opportunity and pushed himself to the top of the European Championship ranking with several race wins.
However, since both riders were tied at the top before the final day, the decision had to be made on the final Sunday. Here, too, the title duel remained exciting right to the end. Each of the two was able to record a race win. At the end of the European Championship, Langer and Wolf were tied at the top with 11.0 points. So the decision for the Formula Windsurfing European Championship title had to be made in the tiebreak. Here, the discard results of the riders are compared first. Both riders discarded exactly the same scores here. Then the single results are compared. Again, the two opponents remained equal. So in the end the last tiebreak stage, the better performance in the last race decided the European Champion title: since Langer was able to secure the victory in the final race, he becomes the new Formula Windsurfing European Champion 2023.
“I am delighted with all my heart about my seventh European title. It has never been as exciting as this time. It makes me proud that I could once again put Olympic surfer Fabi Wolf in his place in the tough fight,” Vincent Langer said happily after his European Championship victory.
Fabi Wolf was an equal opponent over four days and would probably have deserved the European Championship title just as much. His Vice European Championship title might go down in the history of the International Formula Windsurfing Class as the closest and most fiercely contested of all time.
“It was a tough fight with Vincent and the other Formula racers. After all, I have been focusing mainly on the Olympic iQFOiL class in addition to the Multivan Windsurf Cup. I don’t remember ever having to fight and pump like that. In the end I am happy about the perfect competition training besides the Vice European Championship title”, says Fabi Wolf on the final day of the European Championship.
The Pole Tomasz Romanowski (POL-163, Starboard Severne) presented himself as the strongest chaser of the German leading duo. In no race he finished worse than fourth. In the end, with this constantly strong performance, he comes in with 24.0 points. He thus secured third place on the podium. Fourth place goes to Pawel Dittrich (GER-381, Starboard, Severne, 30.0 points), another Pole. Spain’s Fernando Martinez del Cerro (ESP-71, Starboard, Severne) completes the Top-5 with 35.0 points.
Meno Büchler (GER-91, Starboard, Severne) from Schönberg is the new Formula Windsurfing Youth U-20 European Champion. With 49,0 points he secured sixth place in the overall field. Formula Windsurfing Youth U-20 Vice European Champion is Leo Richter (GER-9, JP, Neil Pryde) from Kiel. Felix Wehkamp (GER-247, Fanatic, Duotone), also from Kiel, follows in third place.
The battle for the title also raged on in the Junior U-17 field. After a disastrous start with two early starts, Erik Wehkamp (GER-240, Fanatic, Duotone) not only managed to get back into the European Championship race on Saturday with strong performances, but even took the lead. He did not give it up until the end. So he can be happy about the Formula Windsurfing Junior U-17 European Championship title. The only fifteen year old Paul Regber (GER-17, Tahe, Techno Windfoil) and Pello Bo Behrendt (GER-769, Starboard, Sailloft) from Berlin delivered an exciting fight for second place. In the end Regber, who comes from near Kiel, could prevail at his regatta premiere and crown his debut with the Formula Windsurfing Junior U-17 Vice European Champion title. Behrendt can be happy about third place.
The performance of Pawel Dittrich from Poland is impressive: After he already became Master World Champion in Argentina in spring, he was able to secure the European Championship title in the Grandmasters with fourth place overall at the Multivan Windsurf Cup Heiligenhafen. Jacek Wróz (POL-361, Starboard, Severne) from Poland and the Briton David Coles (GBR-69, Starboard, Severne) follow in second and third place in this classification.
In the masters over40, Fernando Martinez del Cerro of Spain is in the lead. Wojciech Olejnik (POL-2119, FMX, Loftsails) and Jacek Dubaniewicz (POL-212, Starboard, Loftsails) from Poland follow in second and third place.
Besides the competitions of the surf elite at the European Championship, the Multivan Windsurf Cup offered a colorful program for the visitors at the “Erlebnis-Seebrücke” in Heiligenhafen. In the Eventvillage at the beach one could pass the time at different booths or even go shopping directly. For the kids there was a nice program with the Quattro-Highjump system and the children’s program of the Autostadt. At the Autostadt stand, visitors got a taste of the activities and offers that can be discovered in the Autostadt Wolfsburg. Twice a day, visitors could get active themselves during free yoga sessions with “Black Label Yoga powered by LVM Versicherung“.
Every evening during the Multivan Windsurf Cup the promenade became a party location. At the after race parties, visitors and surfers celebrated together on the promenade until the sun finally sank into the Baltic Sea. Even the rain showers on Thursday and Friday evening did not stop them.
The Multivan Windsurf Cup celebrated a successful return to Heiligenhafen and the Baltic Sea resort presented itself as an excellent host for the windsurfing elite. Therefore, nothing stands in the way of a return next year. During the award ceremony Eike Doyen as tourism manager of Heiligenhafen already announced the date for next year: From August 29th to September 01st, 2024, the Multivan Windsurf Cup will then again be hosted by the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligenhafen.
