VICTORY
After a 4 month break for the Severne Freestyle team competition was back on for the EFPT from September 8-12 in the blue waters of Rhodos, Greece.
With 15.000 euro prize money up grabs and a packed entry list consisting of all of the big names in Freestyle on it, the competition level was going to be at an all time high. Combine that with an amazing forecast at hand the competition was clearly going to deliver five days of full power freestyle action. This event included womens, men, and youth categories.
Photos by EFPT/Protography
Title contenders
In the men’s division, Amado Vrieswijk was the favorite going into the event after winning the opening even in Austria earlier in the year, while on the women’s side Maaike Huvermann returned to the competition scene for the first time since the start of the pandemic to go for her 3rd consecutive European Freestyle Title.
In the youth category, the top favorite was Greek hot shot Lennart Neubauer who has already proven his level with a 6th place finish at the EFPT in Austria, as well as, two consecutive tow-in wins on the EFPT so far this season.
DAY 2 – Single eliminations
On the second day of competition, the winds kicked in early around 12:00 for an action packed day and the completion of the single elimination in all divisions.
Youth
In the youth division, Lennart Nuebauer showed early dominance with top end moves in the semi final while Bodhi Kempen from the Netherlands also showed that he has made big steps in the offseason to take advantage of the lighter winds and set himself up for an all Severne final to battle for first place in after taking down Tigo Kort in the semi finals.
In the end, it was Lennart who took the win with Bodhi having to settle for second after a good final from both sailors.
Women
In the women’s division, Maaike Huvermann was truly in a league of her own as she stormed her way to victory in the single elimination with power moves on both tacks executed in pure style.
In the place for 3rd place, Sterre Meijer on her Psycho 72 showed her skills despite the choppy conditions to claim the victory over Hanna Poschinger in the runners up final.
Men
With winds building throughout the afternoon the men got send out to sail as many heats as possible to try and finish the single elimination on day 2 running all the way till dark with a true sunset final at the end.
Lennart Neubauer was the first rider to create a big upset by kicking out 9x world champion Gollito Estredo before pushing Amado Vrieswijk to the maximum in the quarter finals to eventually settle for fifth place in the single elimination.
Dieter Van der Eyken enjoyed a great day of his own returning to competition with full motivation after his knee injury during the EFPT in Austria. Feeling right at home in the side onshore conditions with some little waves, Dieter put together a solid heat against Yentel Caers in the quarter finals to eventually take the win over the reigning world champion thanks to a perfectly executed one footed backloop in the dying minutes of the heat pushing himself into the top 4.
Amado Vrieswijk came in as favorite and dominated as a favorite putting in high score after high score throughout the single elimination to take a clear win with the highest scoring heat of the event so far in the final with 42.03 points and to take the lead in both the title race and event in Greece.
DAY 3 – Double elimination
Youth
In the youth division, national Severne rider Primus Sorling entering the scene from Sweden for the first time put on a great performance to fight his way back up to sixth place in the double elimination.
Furthermore, Lennart Neubauer successfully defended his first place position while Bodhi just missed out on another final by less than a point to drop from second to third place.
Women
Also in the stronger, more choppy conditions Maaike Huvermann could show her dominance again. She moved closer to, and claimed, yet another victory with moves like kono, “culo”, as well as, big shakas. This put her in a league of her own.
Men
In the men’s division, we saw outstanding performances by the German Severne team riders Felix Volkhart and Julian Weimar, as well as, Brouwersdam local Bohdi Kempen who all managed to fight back into the top 16.
Julian Weimar managed to win a close heat against Severne riders Tony Motus from Estonia in the second round to place himself into the top 16 once again while Felix Volkhart caused one of the biggest upsets of the second round by taking down Taty Frans with excellent heats scores before being stopped by Gollito Estredo in the third round of the double elimination.
DAY 4 – FINALS DAY
With a longer wait for the wind than on day three, the decision was made to run only one more elimination for the woman and put the focus on the men to finish the double elimination.
Men
In the men’s division, we saw an on form Lennart Neubauer fighting back to equal his best result to date finishing 6th on the double elimination. In the process, he took down names like Sam Esteve and Antoine Albert.
Dieter Van der Eyken dropped down to fifth place despite sailing two excellent heats (including the best Pasko of the event) against Yentel Caers. Dieter got to sail against Yentel twice after the scoring system malfunctioned and the points were too close to call.
In the end, it was Amado Vrieswijk who could put an end to Yentel Caers’s comeback by registering yet another 40+ points heat, many of which he scored in the opening few minutes of the final. And thus Amado held on to his dominance from the single elimination to take the event victory and solidify his title lead in the European championships tour.
Woman
In the women’s division, Maaike confirmed once more her brilliant performance in the second single eliminations to be the undisputed winner of the event on the woman’s side.
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