Favorite Steve Allen is leading after four Races –

20,000 spectators experienced a great windsurfing day at the Windsurfing Euro-Cup
in Westerland on the German island Sylt. Under bright sunshine the wind picked
up all over the day from 2 Bft in the beginning to 5 Bft in the afternoon. Race
director Walter Mielke used the perfect conditions to run four races in the
discipline racing. The course area was situated directly at the beach which
enabled the spectators to follow the competitions easily from the beach and
the promenade.

During the first race the wind was still very light which requested a lot of
tactical skill from the competitors. The Italian Champion Andrea Cucchi (ITA-1,
Starboard, Neil Pryde) was able to take the biggest advantage out of the challenging
conditions and won the opening race of the EC Westerland/Sylt. On the second
place followed the light wind expert Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3, Starboard,
Neil Pryde) from Argentina in front of the Euro-Cup Champion 2002 Steve Allen
(AUS-0, Fanatic, Neil Pryde) from Australia.

The wind was more stable in the second race. This seemed to be an advantage
for the current leader in the Euro-Cup ranking Steve Allen: The Australian was
able to win in front of his strongest opponent in the Euro-Cup series Michal
Polanowski (POL-16, Starboard, Neil Pryde). The Canadian Sam Ireland (KC-1,
Starboard, Neil Pryde) returned to Europe in brilliant form with a third place.
The Euro-Cup Westerland/Sylt ist the first european event for the windsurfing
star from abroad in this year.

The conditions got better and the Argentinian Gonzalo Costa Hoevel was able
to win the third race. On his heals he had the 21-year-old youngster Devon Boulon
(ISV-1, F2, Windwing) from the Virgin Islands. On the third position followed
Aleks Grynis (POL-86, Starboard, Neil Pryde) from Poland.

The fourth race was the last race of the day. Steve Allen was able to score
his second bullet in front of Gonzalo Costa Hoevel. Danish Dynamite Brian Roegild
(DEN-173, Starboard, Gaastra) managed to get third.

After the first day and four races with one discard Steve Allen has established
the base to repeat his triumph from the last year when he was able to win the
Sylt event. With two victories, one third and one eigth place he has a total
of 5 points. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel was also able to score a victory and has a
total of 5 points but Steve Allen is able to slip ahead by the tie break rules.
The Italian Champion Andrea Cucchi is on the third place with 11 points in front
of the Canadian Sam Ireland (14 points) and Jesper Vesterström from Denmark
(16 points).

The German competitors surprised the spectators with good positions in the
strong international fleet. The German record champion Bernd Flessner (GER-16,
F2, Neil Pryde) from Norderney is the best German with 34 Punkten on position
13. Helge Wilkens (GER-63, Lorch, Gun Sails) from Hannover is on his heals with
36 Punkten. The third German is the DWC-Racing-Champion of 2002 Andi Laufer
(GER-93, Lorch, Gun Sails) from Konstanz mit 60 Punkten auf Platz 20.

For the coming days the forecasts are predicting stronger winds. Therefore
the chances are excellent to run also the other disciplines Slalom and Wave-Freestyle.
The first start is scheduled for 10:00. The Windsurfing Euro-Cup Westerland
Sylt continous until Sunday, July 6th. Until then the spectators will be able
to see brilliant windsurfing action at the Brandenburger Strand.

Besides the Windsurfing a great program is presented on the promenade and the
beach in Westerland. Many different Action modules like the incredible Surf-Simulator
can be enjoyed and at the weekend the best Beach Volleyball players from Norther
Germany will match each other at the “Beachvolleybal Nord Cup”.

For the Partymaniacs there are two obligatory appointments this weekend: On
Friday and Saturday night the official event parties will take place in the
Partyhangar74 at the airport of Westerland.

You can find more information, results, pictures etc. and follow the competitions
online on the official Website of the Windsurfing Euro-Cup www.euro-cup.org
and on the FW Class Website www.formulawindsurfing.org .