1993: Sylt short-time workers
The year after the move to List due to the easterly wind, the wind is blowing offshore again at the 1993 World Cup. Most people park up on the shore, and on the course one kilometre off the coast the wind is blowing at force seven or more and is bitterly cold. Robby Seeger is sailing with a cap and has to pay a penalty: "The buoy was so stupid and I had to tack. I complained to the regatta organisers. And because it was so cold, the middle finger on my right fist was sticking up!"
Meanwhile, Bernd Flessner is nominated for the Fairness Award, lending Robby Naish his equipment after breaking his mast. Robby therefore has to race around the course on an unloved no nose plane and surprisingly comes second. "The thing was so nervous and danced like crazy," he reported afterwards, shaking his head. Of course, Björn Dunkerbeck wins at the front, while on land over 100,000 spectators enjoy the mega set-up.
1994: Robby two chases Robby one
Sensation in wave riding: Robby Seeger, the best German in the Losers Round, works his way through to the grand final and meets someone else called Robby. What sounds like a cheesy script is the result of a lot of talent and training, as Seeger jumps the popular one-handed manoeuvres or combinations with table tops in rows. Fortunately, the double elimination mode was used for the first time, so that the Preetzer worked his way through Matt Pritchard, Josh Angulo, Nik Baker and Björn Dunkerbeck to the final. There he once again showed off his spectacular moves, while Robby I had to admit meekly that he had no one-handed jumps on the scoresheet.
But "after all, it's called wave riding and not wave jumping": because wave riding counts for more, Naish comes out on top in the end and prevents a real happy ending to the Sylt fairytale. Natalie Siebel wins the women's event and remains on course for the title, while Jutta Müller and Robert Teriitehau win the slalom. Meanwhile, things are rumbling behind the scenes: PBA President Christian Herles wants to merge slalom and course racing into "racing" and lower the wind limit.
1995: 10 Beaufort
In the middle of the World Cup week, a storm hits Sylt with wind forces of ten and more. The surf reaches the seawall, Friedrichstrasse is impassable and 50,000 worth of equipment is destroyed. Because the storm comes suddenly, the organisers have their hands full trying to guide the spectators away from the beach ("Please leave the beach. We can no longer guarantee their safety.") and to bring the ladies who were still on the water for course races safely back to land.
The day after the storm, the waveriding final will take place. While many German starters are eliminated early, Niash and Dunkerbeck are once again in the final. Because the waves are pure chaos, four jumps and only one ride count. "It was clear beforehand that I was going to win," comments Dunki casually. Naish, on the other hand, is only motivated to a limited extent, the World Championship title had already been decided beforehand and the jump-heavy PBA calendar was not to Robby's liking. There are "just" 21 women entered in the women's wave riding, and only 19 in the slalom - something that would cause cries of joy today was cause for serious concern about the value of the results in 1995. On land, meanwhile, the World Cup is more colourful than ever: artist Jim Avignon has decorated boards, flags and other elements - the 150,000 spectators are delighted!
1996: Cool Running
"Animal welfare would have intervened if dogs were bathing, and the sea rescue service would have intervened if hobby surfers had been involved" - a storm brings a wave day with lots of blood and drama at the 1996 Word Cup. Dunkerbeck suffers a laceration in the first heat, but still marches up to fourth place. In the small final, with the wind getting weaker and weaker, he had to line up behind Bernd Flessner, who was virtually on his own. Jason Polakow, who had previously knocked out Robby Naish, ended up on top. In racing, however, Dunkerbeck is almost unbeatable, he can skip the last race because the world title is already secure.
In 1996 there is a lot of partying in the legendary Hangar 401, Anders Bringdal has one of the first sails with a whip top, and the course race boards become shorter and wider. surf produces a daily World Cup newspaper and AOL invites you to surf the Internet on 18 PC terminals.
1997: Showdown
Nine wind forces and mast-high waves make for spectacular wave riding in 1997. "The most brutal I've ever surfed," moans Josh Stone. Last year's winner Polakow rides 3.3, he is in the race for the world title with Stone, Dunkerbeck and Naish. Robby has Formula 1 driver David Coulthard as a guest on Sylt, who is visibly impressed: "I saw real men today. We're just little boys compared to them." The top 4 in the rankings are also the top 4 on Sylt, with Polakov narrowly beating Josh Stone in the final.
The racing is rather unexciting: Dunkerbeck wins at will and secures his tenth overall title. Andrea Hoeppner also dominates the women's racing and wins the home World Cup. Curious fact: despite good conditions, the PWA rules stipulate that no more racing is allowed on the final day. Too much wind for the course race (more than 20 knots not permitted according to the rules), but because there had already been three races, it was not allowed to switch to slalom.
1998: Caught out cold - the frustration that came from the East
Windsurfing equipment on the edge of modern times: in 1998, the question was "short, wide course racers" or "long, stretched raceboards"? The short stubs would hardly be noticed today, but back then riders and fans had to get used to the unusual look, often even with a flapper on the tail - a small rubber lip to prevent the fin, which was positioned far back, from sucking in air. Dunkerbeck nostalgically opted for the new shape, which won five out of seven races.
However, these course races turned into a fight for survival: an easterly wind made a course far out necessary, but there the mild breeze turned out to be a proper storm. 8.3s or 7.8s, which most of the riders had rigged, were clearly too big, and the race organisers had to collect several disabled riders in the boat. The switch to the figure-eight slalom made racing safer, but the riders had to bob out on small strong-wind boards in the wind cover and then cross back to the shore.
The unemployed waveriders immersed themselves in Sylt's nightlife, prompting Ralf Bachschuster to ask them to go racing to prevent boredom. Meanwhile, winner Dunkerbeck trudged around the beach in a bright yellow wetsuit, the main sponsor having provided him with a customised suit instead of lycra. In it, he drove his caddies, who had to set up 20 sails and screw 56 foot straps onto 16 boards.
1999: Ern(e)st case
A storm called "Ernest" (hence the headline pun) brought a lot of wind to Sylt, which continued to pick up over the course of the week. It started with course racing, a clear win for Dunkerbeck. The Terminator then lost out to his Gran Canaria mate Vidar Jensen in the wave riding. However, Dunki worked his way back to the front in the double elimination and won the Super Final against Jensen.
At the end of the event, there was another highlight: a slalom in the surf zone with a Le Mans start! Plenty of action for the spectators, but many riders were hesitant and took the race as a stringer. In the women's race, the Moreno sisters shook Karin Jaggi's throne, but were not yet able to beat the Swiss. Two German legends, Jutta Müller and Andrea Hoeppner, made their World Cup comeback to fill out the thin field of women.
2000: Little moss, little going on
No racing at the World Cup in 2000! Too little prize money because the Olympic Games had attracted the most attention that summer. So only wave riding on Brandenburg beach - which was unfortunately in the firm grip of a stable easterly wind. Only one afternoon did the wind have a little mercy, and a fun session was quickly set up with three to four wind forces and a wave of around two metres, which Josh Angulo won. The prize money was then distributed among all the starters due to the lack of official scoring, so that everyone went home with 700 dollars.
Nobody wants to know how much of it ended up in the hangar, the American or anywhere else. In the absence of anything to do on the water, most of the riders let their hair down in Sylt's nightlife. Meanwhile, there was a wave simulator, beach football, a large NeilPryde stand and all kinds of other activities for the spectators.
2001: Poli stays on the ball
Also in 2001 only wave riding, also this year only easterly wind - and accordingly a lot of supporting programme and partying instead of windsurfing. However, the weather forecasts indicate that a storm is on the way, but it is not due to arrive until the event is actually over. The riders are in favour of a spontaneous extension in order to still get a rating. So the wave riding will take place on Monday after the final event, while the tents are already being dismantled on the promenade.
But the conditions are more than borderline, with a flat onshore wind shovelling monstrous shorebreak onto the beach. Some of the ladies don't get out at all, otherwise tactics are called for: secure a jump outside, then ride the supposedly best wave to the beach - there's a big risk that you won't get out again afterwards and will get a good wash. In the end, Jason Polakow wins ahead of Scott McKercher and Kevin Pritchard, while Karin Jaggi continues to hold the upper hand against Iballa Moreno in the women's competition.
2002: Final spurt
A reverse picture in 2002: the Sylt World Cup was also the Formula Windsurfing World Championships, with eleven races in the bag at the end of the week. As a reminder: Formula were the mega-wide boards with sword-like fins and sails of up to 12.5 square metres. Not exactly the ideal equipment for the Sylt shore break, but despite six to seven wind forces, there weren't enough waves for wave riding. In accordance with the rules, the racers had registered three sails, which were often simply too big for the wind - only a fraction made it to the finish line. There was also a lot of debris in the shore break, which destroyed the "small" rigs - around ten square metres - in rows. Up to 25,000 euros worth of damage, the surf estimated at the time.
Helpers often had to carry the bulky equipment over the shore break, including the youngest participant Oliver-Tom Schliemann, who was eleven years old at the time - and is now one of the organisers of the Racer of the Sea after an active racing career. In the end, the winner and Formula World Champion was Kevin Pritchard, who had actually only come to Sylt to secure his Wave title. He and Antoine Albeau are the stars of the 2002 World Cup, as Dunkerbeck, Naish, Stone, Polakow and co. did not come to the island.
You can click through all the Sylt stories from 1993 to 2002 in the gallery above!
