Der amtierende Weltmeister Marc Paré gewinnt das jüngste Kapitel eines außergewöhnlichen Titelkampfs mit dem fünffachen Weltmeister Philip Köster, während die Belgierin Sol Degrieck ihren zweiten Weltcup-Sieg einfährt und sich als Anführerin einer neuen Generation präsentiert
Der 4-Sterne-Wissant Wave Classic bot heute an der Côte d’Opale einen spektakulären Finaltag, an dem der Spanier Marc Paré Rico und die Belgierin Sol Degrieck vor einem riesigen französischen Publikum zu den Champions 2026 in den Kategorien Pro Men und Pro Women gekrönt wurden.
Both victories carry significance far beyond Wissant.
For Paré, victory over five time World Champion Philip Köster breaks the tie at the top of the 2026 World Wave Rankings and gives the reigning World Champion a narrow lead as one of the most compelling men’s title battles in recent years continues to unfold.
For Degrieck, the message was very different, but every bit as powerful.
At just 16 years old, the Belgian produced a stunning display of power sailing, including a 19.50 point semifinal - the highest score of Women's Finals Day - to win the Women’s World Cup and underline that the next generation of women’s wave sailing has already arrived.
PARÉ vs KÖSTER - THE WORLD TITLE BATTLE INTENSIFIES
Marc Paré and Philip Köster arrived in Wissant in an extraordinary position: tied for the World Tour lead on exactly 22,400 points. There was nothing separating them. And their 2026 season had already developed into a remarkable head to head contest. At Gran Canaria, Köster took the victory with Paré second, the pair separated by just 0.61 points in the final. At Tenerife, the order reversed. Paré produced a huge performance to win his third consecutive Tenerife title, with Köster again right alongside him in second.
Then came Wissant. Paré first. Köster second. Again.
The result moves Paré into outright first in the 2026 World Wave Rankings on 24,500 points, with Köster now second on 23,300. Just 1,200 points separate them.
This is becoming a fascinating collision between two exceptional careers.
Köster is one of the defining wave sailors of his generation - a five time World Champion who became the youngest men’s Wave World Champion in history when he won his first crown at just 17. His first World Cup victory came even earlier, at Pozo in 2009 when he was only 15.
Paré is the man currently carrying the World Champion’s title.
After years of pushing at the front of the tour - including fighting his way back from a serious Lisfranc injury - the Spaniard finally claimed his first World Championship in 2025. He followed that by winning Tenerife for the third consecutive year in 2026 and now adds Wissant as the defence of his world crown gathers momentum.
The pattern of this season tells the story:
GRAN CANARIA
1 Philip Köster
2 Marc Paré
TENERIFE
1 Marc Paré
2 Philip Köster
WISSANT
Three major confrontations. The same two men occupying the top two positions each time. And now just 1,200 World Ranking points between them as the Tour moves toward its decisive final events.
SOL DEGRIECK - 16 YEARS OLD AND ALREADY WINNING WORLD CUPS
If the men’s story in Wissant was about an established heavyweight title fight, the women’s story was about the arrival of something new. Sol Degrieck is 16 years old. And today she won the Pro Women’s Wissant Wave Classic. Not simply by surviving against an experienced international field, but by attacking the conditions with the powerful, progressive sailing that has rapidly become her trademark. Degrieck made her intentions clear in the Semifinals, exploding to a 19.50 heat total - the highest women's heat score recorded on Finals Day - before carrying that momentum through to the title.
It is already her second victory on the professional World Cup circuit.
Her first came on the intimidating North Sea stage of Sylt in 2025, where, at just 15, she defeated Lina Erpenstein to become a World Cup winner for the first time. She finished that season ranked third in the world. And 2026 has shown that result was no one off. Before Wissant, Degrieck had already finished seventh at the Maui Pro, fourth in Gran Canaria and fifth in Tenerife in the Pro Women’s division. She also dominated the U21 competition in Gran Canaria this summer, adding another major junior title to an already remarkable record. Now comes another Pro World Cup victory. At sixteen.
Against the senior pro field.
Degrieck has been winning in junior competition for years, but performances like today make something increasingly clear: she is no longer simply a junior star preparing for the future. She is already one of the women shaping the future of professional wave windsurfing.
TWO GENERATIONS. TWO BIG STATEMENTS.
Wissant therefore leaves the World Tour with two equally compelling stories.
In the Men’s division, Marc Paré and Philip Köster are locked into an extraordinary fight for the 2026 World Championship, with the reigning champion now holding the narrowest of advantages over one of the most successful wave sailors in history.
In the Women’s division, Sol Degrieck has taken another enormous step, converting teenage promise into senior World Cup victories and bringing another level of power and confidence to the leading edge of women’s wave sailing.
The event itself also marked a major step forward for France.
After running as a 3-STAR event in 2024 and 2025, Wissant stepped up to 4-STAR World Cup status for 2026, bringing a deep international field to the Côte d’Opale and giving the large French crowd a Finals Day featuring world champions, home favourites and some of the sport’s brightest emerging talent.
Defending French champions Arthur and Alice Arutkin entered the event carrying the home hopes after their extraordinary brother and sister double here in 2025, but today the Wissant crowns changed hands. They went to a reigning World Champion fighting to defend his place at the top of the sport. And to a 16 year old whose career is only beginning.
THE WORLD TITLE RACE MOVES ON
There is little time to absorb what happened in Wissant.
The World Tour now heads directly toward Sylt, Germany, from September 25 to October 4.
And there could hardly be a better setup.
Marc Paré - 24,500.
Philip Köster - 23,300.
The reigning World Champion against the five-time World Champion.
1,200 points between them and now Philip moves to Sylt with the German crowd fully behind him and where he has dominated so many times with huge crowds cheering him on.
And in the Women’s fleet, a 16 year old World Cup winner arrives in Sylt at the venue where she won her first professional World Cup only one year ago.
Wissant has moved the season forward.
The title race is on. And the next generation has arrived.