Since it's inception in 1998, the Surf World Cup has juggled with slalom, super cross and freestyle, but one variable has remained constant over the 13 years of competition history; Lake Neusiedler has always been an anomaly.

2011 was no different, and over the six day competition period we were greeted with everything from blazing sun and dead calm, to sailors hunting for 3.7m sails as frontal storms rolled in from northern Europe.

With conditions playing ball for the last two days of competition, we witnessed both a single and double elimination to crown Steven Van Broeckhoven the definitive 2011 Surf World Cup Champion. This is how it happened:

In the single elimination, Mattia Pedrani (Simmer / Starboard / Dakine / AL360) was the first seeded sailor to fall, departing at the hands of the UK's Max Rowe (Fanatic / North), who was reveling in the challenging conditions.

Continuing through the elimination, round three witnessed both the highest scoring heat of the round, courtesy of Steven Van Broeckhoven (F2 / Gaastra), who set the bar skyward when he dominated his heat against Deivis Parternina Teran (Fanatic / North), and the closest heat of the day, when France's Nicolas Akgazciyan (Starboard / Gun) sneaked past Bjorn Saragoza (Starboard / Hot Sails) with a mere half point advantage on tie-break.

In the quarter finals, Van Broeckhoven continued to assert his dominance when he took down the stella Tonky Frans (Tabou / Gaastra) to seal himself a place in the final four. Joining him were the familiar faces of Jose Estredo (Fanatic / North), who put an end to Dieter Van Der Eyken's (Severne / Starboard) hopes of advancing further, Kiri Thode (Starboard / Gaastra), who defeated Holland's Davy Scheffers (Tabou / Gaastra), and Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic) who left Akgazciyan in his wake.

With the green flag flying high, it immediately became apparent that Van Broeckhoven wasn't going to be happy with a place in the losers' final, and despite going head to head with freestyle's most highly decorated athlete, he dug deep to deliver a truly world class performance, leaving Estredo to question where he'd gone wrong as he failed to take up his usual place in the winners' final. In the second half of the semi final, Kiri Thode appeared to still be riding the high of his recent event victory in Vietnam. His super polished routine had the crowds gasping at the sheer audacity of some of his creations, which rightfully earned him the remaining place in the final.

Roll on the finals, and in the battle for third place, Estredo showed his mettle as he held his head high to defeat Taty Frans in the gusty, onshore conditions. That left the battle royale between Thode and Van Broeckhoven.