Words by Peri Roberts
There’s a moment in every season where everything funnels into one point – the travel, the tuning, the hours in the gym, the risks, the close calls, the self-doubt. In Yokosuka, that moment landed squarely on Matteo Iachino, and when the final horn sounded, he was exactly where he’d been pushing to be all year: World Champion. Again.
The 2025 PWA Foil Slalom crown became a full-circle moment for someone who’s been in the fight long enough to know how quickly titles slip away, and how rare it is when everything finally aligns. “It feels amazing to be crowned 2025 world champion,” he told me. “It’s again a dream come true… the PWA is the most prestigious title in the windsurfing world. You have to be at the top of your game, and to win it the third time is incredible. Having four world titles now feels from another world.”
Japan delivered the kind of conditions that test every athlete’s nerve. Clean ocean, autumn wind, and a mix of light, gusty, and full-power days that keep the leaderboard wide open. “We started with really technical conditions… super gusty, really light,” Matteo said. “I was setting my biggest foil and sail to be able to fight.”
He hit the ground running, making finals from the start, knowing that consistency – not chaos – would win him this title. “I knew I had to be there, that was the key thing.” When the wind turned on for the final day, he stayed right where he needed to be, balancing pressure with control, aggression with calculation. The entire season hung on his ability to make good decisions in the moments that mattered.
He arrived in Yokosuka with a rare advantage: three points over Pierre Mortefon, the one rider who could take the title from him. “That meant if Pierre was winning the event, I had to be fourth or better to beat him,” he explained. “I’ve been six times vice world champion, so I know a lot about being second and losing the title in the last event.” But something had shifted earlier that year in Sylt. “I beat him in the final… and I saw that his behavior in racing changed. From that moment on I felt it was my year again.” He knew nothing was certain until the last reach of the last elimination, but that spark of belief mattered.
A title like this comes from hundreds of small choices stacking up over time. For Matteo, a big part of that was finally having equipment he trusted from day one. “The whole setup I had was better than last year… the board was easier, faster. The sails were lighter and faster. The whole combination made me feel more comfortable and confident.” Confidence is everything in foil slalom, where you’re racing inches off competitors at over 35 knots. And unlike past seasons, he didn’t need to reinvent anything mid-year. “The work I did last winter was the game changer. I just fine-tuned event by event.”
Stress is its own part of racing, and Matteo is honest about it.
“My main problem is managing the stress on the beach,” he said. “But when I enter the water I’m lucky because I have fun. I love windsurfing. As soon as I get wet, the stress goes away.” That love – the childlike part of him that still lights up stepping into the water, might just be the ingredient that separates him from the rest.
The gear he wears on his body plays a huge role in that confidence. “You need to be warm, and you need something soft because you have to move, pump, be agile,” he explained. “The Mercury wetsuits help me a lot… I can be in a wetsuit the whole day and still be warm.” And when crashes happen (and they always do) protection matters even more. “Having a good impact vest you rely on is really important… we go really fast.”
His trust in Prolimit is personal, long-term and tested. “The Type T harness is incredible, the best on the market. And all the Mercury line… that’s my favorite. Something comfortable, something you rely on. That’s the best support you can have.”
This title holds weight for him. “Every time, I work a lot for every title I got, but for this one maybe I worked even more,” he said. “All the hours testing, training, traveling… they all came down to the last event. When you win, you give a lot of value to all you’ve done.” He’s grown as a rider, but the core of him hasn’t changed. He still loves it… all of it. “Windsurfing to me is the best sport in the world… being able to do it every day as my job is still a dream come true.”
And if you think a fourth world title means he’ll ease off, think again. “Winning is addictive and I want more,” Matteo told me. His 2026 goals are clear: both titles – fin and foil – and the overall. He’s aiming at history because he can, and because the fire is still there.
Before we wrap, he leaves a message for the kids chasing their first result:
“Have fun and be passionate… then you have one more gear than the other guys. If you love what you do, you’re never working. And if it doesn’t bring you to the front, you still have a lot of fun. It’s a win-win.”
Champions grow from joy, stubbornness, relentless work, and a refusal to settle. Matteo Iachino didn’t just claim a world title in Japan, but he proved he knows exactly how to rise when it matters. And from the way he talks about next season, he’s nowhere near finished.
Congratulations, Matteo – a well-earned world title, and one the whole Prolimit family is proud to celebrate with you.
