On the final day of the 2022 EFPT Vieste the Double Elimination came to its culmination. Italian Jacopo Testa fended off Steven van Broeckhoven and went on to win the Double Elimination against Yentel Caers. An action-packed Super Final ensued to determine the event win. Testa came out victorious thanks to a plethora of high scoring moves on both sides.
The battle for the podium places
The battle for place 3: Steven van Broeckhoven was already waiting for Adrien Bosson and the two started what was a painstakingly long process to determine the advancing athlete. Due to deteriorating conditions their heat was cancelled twice. For the third attempt, race director Danny Kater increased the heat duration to 12 minutes, giving the riders enough time to catch the gusts necessary to perform their moves. Fatigue was showing though for current Vice-World Champion Bosson, as he was crashing a lot. He managed to collect himself towards the end, but van Broeckhoven had already sealed the deal with a massive Shifty.
In the battle for 2nd van Broeckhoven suffered the same fate as Bosson in the heat before. Jacopo Testa was ruthless in his execution of moves and defended his position quite comfortably. A Triple Spock, a Pasko, a T-bone, a Bongka and a clean Double Culo were all in his repertoire. The current tour leader had a point to prove after underperforming in the Single Elimination final, and managed to take the win to get a chance at revenge.
The Double Elimination final ensued. Yentel Caers opened really strong on starboard tack, determined to cut Testa’s campaign short early as he took the lead during the opening of the heat. Testa found his rhythm again though, and put together a monster score, with a 7 point move average for his final score. With a Spock Kabikuchi in light winds that left the judges gasping, he secured the Double Elimination win meaning that it was now one a piece – Caers won the Single and Testa the Double.
To determine the event winner a 15 minute Super Final was now a reality. With Italian crowds lining the beach to cheer on their windsurfing hero, the green flag went up and the judges focused their binoculars. The action was very far out, with both riders pushing past the edges of the competition area to utilise every inch of wind available to them. Caers had assistance from fellow Belgian Steven van Broeckhoven who went out on another set of smaller gear in case conditions changed. Jacopo did not seem bothered and opened with a massive Bongka, while Yentel took a bit more time to get fired up but landed a Pasko and Double Culo soon after. Getting the right moves on port tack was the challenge for both riders, with Testa crashing three times on various moves. The standings were very close and it was only towards the very end that the current tour leader improved his starboard score enough to gain a 1 point lead. As Caers charged at a wave for what was presumably going to be another Shifty attempt, which we have seen him score over 8 points before, he catapulted spectacularly. The Italian crowds released a mix of cheers and relieved sighs as their iconic sailor was now clear of danger.
Jacopo Testa took the Super Final win and thus extended his European Championship title race lead.
EFPT Vieste 2022 – Final Result
1 | Jacopo | Testa |
2 | Yentel | Caers |
3 | Steven | Van Broeckhoven |
4 | Adrien | Bosson |
5 | Dieter | Van der Eyken |
6 | Antoine | Albert |
7 | Sam | Esteve |
Youp | Schmit | |
9 | Matteo | Testa |
Michi | Czech | |
Bodhi | Kempen | |
Ilay | Bamnolker | |
13 | Felix | Volkhardt |
Eugenio | Marconi | |
Tigo | Kort | |
Adam | Sims | |
17 | Tim | Gerdes |
George | Grisley | |
Mathias | Vingaard | |
Piero | Rautnik | |
Alexandr | Sorokin | |
Raphael | Bauer | |
Primus | Sörling | |
Cesare | Latino | |
25 | Nascimo | Fournier |
Aaron | Smith |