IFCA Foiling European Championships St. Peter-Ording 2026 - Update 4

Amado Vrieswijk and Lina Erzen won the IFCA Foiling European Championship

Following additional races in foiling (windsurf foiling), the California Windsurf Cup came to a close this afternoon in St. Peter-Ording, where the IFCA Foiling European Championship was also held.

The main focus of the event was the IFCA Foiling European Championship. Forty-five men and nine women competed in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively. Under largely perfect conditions, seven complete elimination rounds were held for the men and 17 races for the women.

Amado Vrieswijk (NB-20) got off to a slow start in the European Championship with a seventh-place finish following a crash and a disqualification, but he eventually found his footing. After finishing second in race number three, he went on to win all subsequent races.

Starting with the seventh race, competitors are allowed to discard their three worst results. Amado Vrieswijk was thus able to count four first-place finishes toward his final score. This makes the exceptional athlete from the Caribbean island of Bonaire the new 2026 IFCA Foiling European Champion.

With 6.7 points, Fabi Wolf (GER-404) finished as runner-up at the European Championships on home turf in St. Peter-Ording, while Greece’s John Soukos (GRE-198) took third place. In the tiebreaker between France’s Alexis Mathis (FRA-997) and Bob van de Burgt (NED-757) from the Netherlands, Mathis prevailed to claim fourth place. Van de Burgt rounded out the top 5 ahead of Denmark’s Noah Vinther (DEN-7777).

In the women’s competition, the European Championship was a show of dominance by Slovenian Lina Erzen. She won 14 of the 17 races. The runner-up was Norwegian Tuva Oppedal (NOR-29), ahead of her sister Helle (NOR-39). Christina Larsen of Denmark (DEN-57) and Kate Tonge of the United States (USA-290) round out the top five in the women’s division at the Foiling European Championship.

In addition to the foil races, the fin slalom discipline was also held as part of the California Windsurf Cup in St. Peter-Ording. Here, too, the third and final round took place on Sunday. In the field of 36 men, Amado Vrieswijk secured the victory here as well.

In the final race, Vincent Langer (GER-1) moved up to second place, while Tycho Smits (NB-1111) from Bonaire finished third. Dutchman Thijs Hanemaaijr (NED-107) and Frenchman Alexis Mathis rounded out the top five in the fin slalom discipline.

Slalom race off the coast of St. Peter-Ording

The 2026 California Windsurf Cup in St. Peter-Ording was a success; races were held on four of the five competition days. On the last three days, the event was plagued by bad weather; at one point, there was even a threat that the beach would have to be closed due to the risk of flooding. Fortunately, however, this was averted.