Starboard on top in Japan | 6x World Champion Matteo Iachino and Vice

Crash. Catapult. Comeback. Matteo Iachino has done it again.

Japan, Tsukuihama Beach. Three days of waiting for wind. Then one final day with everything on the line.

Matteo Iachino and Amado Vrieswijk were locked in a title fight that came down to the last race. Then the drama hit. In the semi-final, Matteo crashed hard, finished tenth, and the title looked to be slipping away. Amado was in front and had one hand on the trophy. But this is a sport where nothing is over until the finish line.

Amado Vrieswijk and Pierre Mortefon collided on the way to the final race, and the door swung open. Matteo walked through it, won the last elimination, and clinched the world title in the third tie-break.

World Champion. Again.

That makes six world titles in his career and a double world title in 2026, after winning Slalom X in Fuerteventura earlier this summer.

Matteo’s own take on the moment:

“I had this big crash… a strong gust hit me, the front wing went out and I crashed, broke the boom in 10 pieces… And then I knew I had to win the last elimination. I was focused and kind of relaxed, so I went for it and I managed to win it. And everything came together and I managed to win another title. So it’s something really unbelievable.”

Through the chaos, the Starboard X-15 85 stayed rock solid. Matteo raced the whole event on a single board, in 7 to 25 knots with 5.5, 6.5 and 8.0 sails, and it “was working amazing in all conditions.”

Lina Eržen: Vice World Champion!

Starboard had a second reason to celebrate in Japan. Lina Eržen is the 2026 PWA Foil Slalom Vice World Champion. The Slovenian star took the lead in the overall standings on the final day with a dominant win in the second elimination. She kept the pressure on until the very end of a thrilling women’s title fight, and only a last-leg charge from the defending champion kept her from the top step. Lina has been chasing a first world title since coming within a final race of one in 2025, and this result shows she is right at the top of the fleet.