California Kitesurf Masters St. Peter-Ording with record number of visitors · After five days, the California Kitesurf Masters in St. Peter-Ording came to a successful end on Sunday. With over 100,000 visitors, the North Sea resort was able to celebrate a new visitor record at the largest kitesurfing event in the world. The 15-year-old exceptional talent Finn Flügel (Airush) from Hof (Bavaria) became the new California Kitesurf Masters Freestyle Champion 2024. The women’s winner was the German record champion Sabrina Lutz from Hamburg, while Marten Koblischke from the island of Borkum won the youth title. In addition to the California Kitesurf Masters Championship, the world’s largest kite expo with testival was once again the big highlight of the event and attracted hundreds of kite surfers to the North Sea beach of St. Peter-Ording. The event village welcomed tens of thousands of visitors every day in perfect weather and offered a varied program. During the nightly parties, the food corner was transformed into a party zone.
15-year-old becomes Kitesurf Masters Champion
The decision at the California Kitesurf Masters Championship was made on Friday. With an outstanding performance in the final, Finn Flügel was able to dominate the title fight. With incredible tricks such as a blind heart attack five, the 15-year-old youngster secured victory in the men’s freestyle final, making him the youngest title holder of all time at the California Kitesurf Masters St. Peter-Ording. Jan Burgdörfer (Eleveight) from Reinbeck near Hamburg came in second. He was able to repeat his runner-up success from the previous year. In the battle for third place, the Dominican Joselito del Rosario (Cabrinha) prevailed. Fourth place went to Ben Hoffmann (Duotone) from Hamburg.
In the women’s final, 13-time German champion Sabrina Lutz (Duotone) from Hamburg won and secured her next title at the California Kitesurf Masters St. Peter-Ording. Anni Nuppenau (Duotone), also from Hamburg, came in second. Merle Mönster (Duotone) from Innsbruck won the battle for third place against Antonia Spittel (Reedin). Lia Geerke (Core) from Kiel completes the top 5 in the women’s category. In the youth category, Marten Koblischke (North Kiteboarding) from Borkum is in the lead. In the youth final, he won against Lasse Geisler (Core). In the battle for third place, Michel Nöppert (Slingshot) won against Lukas Schumacher (Reedin). The California Kitesurf Masters St. Peter Ording had a total prize money of 3,000 euros.
Testival, event village and event parties
The gigantic testival at the California Kitesurf Masters provided an impressive backdrop with hundreds of kites in the sky. The test area stretched over 500 meters along the shoreline. Well over a thousand boards, kites, bars and foils were available for the kiters to test. All relevant brands in the kite and wing foil industry used the California Kitesurf Masters as the largest test event in the world.
The fantastic weather made the Event Village a magnet for visitors. From morning until late at night, the heart of the kitesurfing scene beat here. Countless tourists took the opportunity to immerse themselves in it and also used the countless opportunities created by partners and sponsors to pass the time in the Event Village. From a Bobby Car track for the little ones at the Autostadt stand, to free yoga sessions that everyone could join in, to the vehicle exhibition for the adults at the title sponsor Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, there was something for everyone.
The legendary parties attracted thousands of party-loving visitors and residents of St. Peter-Ording to the Kitesurf Masters Village in the evening. They celebrated and danced with the kiters until late into the night.
Sustainable major event
Despite, or perhaps because of, the record number of visitors, the organizers are pleased with their flawless sustainability record. On Monday, the event area will be returned to nature cleaner than when it was taken over just ten days ago. Despite 100,000 visitors over the five days of the event, the impact on the environment was kept to a minimum. The effort involved was again enormous. To prevent event visitors from entering the sensitive dune areas, over a kilometer of construction fencing was installed. All garbage was collected every day on the event site, the parking lot and in the entire surrounding area. In addition, there were several beach cleanup campaigns in which athletes, event partners and visitors took part. All wastewater from the event was collected and disposed of directly in the sewage treatment plant. So nothing remains of the California Kitesurf Masters other than memories of a fantastic event.
“We are grateful to be able to host our events in this unique natural area. We are aware of the special responsibility and concerns of conservationists and environmental associations. That is why we take their concerns very seriously and, when organizing the California Kitesurf Masters, we ensure that the event is sustainable and responsible so that the unique ecosystem of the Wadden Sea National Park is preserved for future generations,” says Matthias Regber, organizer of the mega event.
After this all-round positive summary, the tourism director of St. Peter-Ording, Katharina Schirmbeck, was pleased to officially announce the date for next year during the award ceremony: From August 20th to 24th, the California Kitesurf Masters will once again be held in St. Peter-Ording. For five days, the North Sea resort will once again become the Eldorado of kitesurfing.
The results can be found on the official website www.kitesurf-masters.de.
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