Freestyle comeback
Imagine the excitement of competing once again after a year out of service. The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on windsurfing competitions across the world. But the EFPT is bringing back freestyle windsurfing with a revamped organisation and confirmed events on the calendar.
26 riders are pre-registered to battle for the € 10.000,- prize money up for grabs in the freestyle discipline plus an additional € 5.000,- for tow-in.
Severne international team riders Amado Vrieswijk, Dieter Van der Eyken and Lennart Neubauer have all traveled to Austria to take part of this anticipated event. Here is a quick status check with each of them.
Photos by; Walther Siksma, Benji Zoltan
Amado Vrieswijk
“It feels very good to be able to compete again! From 1-10 it’s definitely a 10 although it’s going to be completely different with no crowds, freezing cold temperatures, and nothing happening on the side of the event. Great to see everybody again and feel the competition adrenaline. It’s been a while.
I have not really planned any heat. Let’s see how the conditions will be and from there on I will come up with some moves. I especially will try to enjoy it and not stress about it.”
Lennart Neubauer
After a full winter in Greece, Lennart seems to have been improving himself on a daily basis and will without a doubt be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Dieter Van der Eyken
“On a scale from 1-10, I’m on an 11 if that is possible. It feels good to be back on the road again and get everything ready for a competition. Most of all it will be great to see a big part of the riders again which I haven’t seen for more than a year and a half, and take a look at where everyone’s level is at! Now we just have to hope the wind kicks in!
What I’ll do in my first heat really depends on the wind. It’s looking fairly light for the moment so I believe it will be a combination of high scoring classic sliding moves and power moves but since I never sailed the spot it’s a bit hard to know what to expect. The other possibility is that I do have a game plan but don’t want to show my cards before the game has started 😉“
Also taking part from the Severne national teams are Julian Weimar, Felix Volkhardt, Constantin Geiss, and freestyle legend from Bonaire Kiri Thode.
You can stay up to date with the latest action from the EFPT by visiting their website https://efpt.net/
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