The opening day of the 2023 PWA/IWT Cold Hawaii Youth Windsurf World Cup saw an early registration take place before the decision was made to move the contest to the Fish Factory - where the next generation were greeted by the wild and raw North Sea with gusts of up to 50 knots creating massive waves on the outside, and a solid the reform on the inside. 

With almost storm chase conditions, the Youth’s were left running for their smallest equipment, which for most was a 3.0m paired with whatever their smallest board was. 

The standouts of the first round were definitely Marlon Maethner (Duotone / Duotone Sails) and Samuele Ferrero, both of whom seemed comfortable in the wild conditions and they deservedly advanced into the top four. 

Reigning Youth World Champion - Liam Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) - came out on top of a close heat against local boy - Tobias Bjørnaa (Duotone / Duotone) - to advance into the final where he would face Maethner. Ultimately, Dunkerbeck proved too strong as the 19-year-old produced a polished display to claim victory in the single elimination winners’ final, which sees him lead the event after the opening day. Meanwhile, Maethner claimed second place after a solid day of sailing, while Bjørnaa was able to secure the final place on the podium in the single elimination ahead of Ferraro. 

Due to the wild conditions on the opening day the U17, U15 and U13s did not feature, so we will have to wait and see what Day 2 holds as the forecast, although slightly less than today, is still predicting extremely windy conditions with gusts in excess of 40 knots still on the forecast. With more wind and waves on the, the second day of the 2023 PWA/IWT Cold Hawaii Youth Windsurf World Cup promises to be on you don’t want to miss, so make sure you tune into the PWA live stream. Skippers’ meeting will be held at 9:30am (GMT+2).

All photos by: Brian Engblad

Current Ranking U20 Boy’s PWA/IWT Cold Hawaii Youth World Cup 2023

1st Liam Dunkerbeck (ESP | Starboard / Severne Sails / Black Project Fins) 2nd Marlon Maethner (GER | Duotone / Duotone Sails) 3rd Tobias Bjørnaa (DEN | Duotone / Duotone Sails) 4th Samuele Ferraro (ITA)