updated 20.09.2021

The provisional 2021 EFPT tour calendar

The provisional EFPT tour calendar in 2021 (release day 07.02.2021, last update 20.09.2021)

  • Austria, Lake Neusiedl, 22. – 25.04.2021  10.000 € + 5000 € tow-in – completed
  • Italy, Vieste, Spiaggia Lunga, 15. – 19.06.2021 (TBC) 15.000 € 
  • Spain, Catalonia, Costa Brava, Sant Pere Pescador, Camping Las Dunas, 15. – 20.06.2021, Pro & Juniors (TBC) 15.000 € cancelled & moved to 2022
  • Spain, Fuerteventura, Matas Blancas, 24. -27.06.2021 (TBC) 10000 €cancelled & moved to 2022
  • Spain, Lanzarote, Costa Teguise, 30.06. – 03.07.2021, Pro & Juniors (TBC) 10.000 €cancelled & moved to 2022
  • Switzerland, Lake Silvaplana, Engadinwind, 19. – 22.08.2021, Tow-In 5.000 € – completed
  • Egypt, El Gouna, 25. – 29.08.2021 (TBC) 10.000 €cancelled
  • Greece, Rhodos, Theologos, 8.-12.09.2021, Pro Women, Pro Men & Junior (TBC) – 15.000€ – completed
  • GVA wind festival Geneva, Switzerland 23rd – 26th of September 2021, Pro Men & Women, confirmed – foil style, tow-in show, foil-X try-out – 10.000€
  • Holland, Brouwersdam, DAM-X, 07.-10.10.2021, Pro & Juniors 10.000 € – cancelled & moved to 2022
  • England, Weymouth, OTC WPNSA, King of the wind, 14.-17.10.2021 (TBC) 5.000 € – cancelled

 

EFPT pro men overall ranking 2021 (Source: efpt.net)

EFPT pro men overall tour ranking 2021 (Source: efpt.net)

Tow-in ranking 2021 (Source: efpt.net)

Tow-in tour ranking 2021 after two events (Source: efpt.net)

EFPT confirms Rhodos, Theologos 

We are excited to officially confirm the EFPT Theologos event on the Island of Rhodes, Greece. This major stop on the Mens Championship Tour will happen between the 8th and 12th of September. Apart from the men, the event will feature the crowning of the 2021 Junior Freestyle champions and the 2021 Womens Freestyle champions. Moreover, it will count towards the All Disciplines Freestyle championship, which combines Freestyle, Foilstyle and Tow-in to make overall champions. This means riders from all around Europe will compete at this fantastic spot in front of the Surf & Kite Theologos Center. In essence, this will be one of the most complete EFPT events ever, where every heat will count! EFPT

The EFPT goes FOILSTYLE in Switzerland

The Geneva Wind Festival (GVA) steps up to host first ever official EFPT foilstyle event in September 2021. This event will stage the first ever official EFPT foil freestyle competition in history with € 10.000,- up for grabs. The event will be open for men and women. It will take place from the 23rd – 26th of September at the Tropical Corner, originally a windsurfing school that has been founded 35 years ago and that has developed into a watersports center at Lac Leman in Geneva, which is known to be a multicultural and lively city. With this center being located in the heart of it, the public can stay very close to the action.

GVA wind festival Geneva

EFPT GVA wind festival Geneva, 23rd – 26th of September 2021

Fabien Cachin, general manager of the “Tropical Corner center” in Geneva,Switzerland is organizing the event together with Quentin Mayerat, founder of the Swiss Boards mag. Both are truly dedicated to windsurfing and watersports in general and want to raise their event to the next level by welcoming some of the best freestylers in the world and by hosting the new EFPT discipline. EFPT

The EFPT will award the first ever EFPT foilstyle champion in Switzerland in September 2021. Furthermore this event will count into the new ranking, that will finally crown the best rider overall the EFPT disciplines (freestyle, tow-in and foilstyle), as the EFPT overall champion of 2021.

TOW-IN show

Apart from the official foilstyle competition, there will be a daily sundowner tow-in show. Additional to the winch, which is commonly used at the EFPT events, there will be a big powerboat-created wake for the riders to launch their moves off. This system has been already tested at the first ever GVA Wind Festival last year. Let the pictures speak for themselves:

FOIL-X show 

The first ever foil-x contest (try-out) will be introduced as yet another show-discipline. The format will include two men heats on a downwind course, where certain foilstyle moves will have to be executed by the riders.

 

FURTHER TOUR CALENDAR UPDATES 2021: Cancellation DAM-X

Ongoing restrictions for traveling and daily life in general due to the COVID pandemic has led the organizers of the famous DAM-X to the decision of cancelling the event for a second year in a row. The DAM-X is one of the most popular events on the EFPT calendar, staged at the freestyle paradise Brouwersdam and marked the yearly EFPT finale from 2016 to 2019. For now we can only keep our fingers crossed for another great final showdown in the Netherlands in 2022.

 

EFPT Engadinwind 2021 is confirmed

The Engadinwind at lake Silvaplana in Switzerland is officially going into the next round in 2021! The organisation team around Christian Müller left no stone unturned in order to make sure that this classic event can take place, despite challenging conditions.

From August 19th to 22nd the Foil Style World Championships and a Windsurf Freestyle Tow-in Contest will take place. The reigning freestyle world champion Yentel Caers from Belgium and the Swiss foil pioneer Balz Müller from Biel, who won the foil style world championship in Silvaplana last year, will also be there. Also at the start is the German Lennart Neubauer, who is only 17 years old and is considered one of the greatest young talents in windsurfing. Other names that you should look out for are the vice world champion Amado Vrieswijk from Bonaire and last year’s winner from New Caledonia Antoine Albert. Sarah-Quita Offringa from Aruba the 17-time world champion and all-rounder in windsurfing will be there. She is World Champion in the wave, freestyle and slalom disciplines. Christian Müller, Engadinwind organizer 2021

The EFPT tow-in will be staged from the 19th – 22nd of August and will be open to any EFPT rider who wants to participate. Just as in the previous years however, eight riders will be invited to compete. Lennart Neubauer, Yentel Caers, Amado Vrieswijk, winner of the tow-in 2020 Antoine Albert, Sarah Quita Offringa and wave superstar Thomas Traversa will be joined by national riders Balz Müller and Michi Naef.

With € 5.000,- up for grabs at the tow-in competition we can expect a tight battle. It’s especially going to be interesting to see the improvement of Lennart Neubauer, who stepped up his game year by year and who used the time off events to train tow-in at his home spot. Also EFPT champion Yentel Caers is still one of the riders to beat. Caers had been going for the double Air Culo in the previous years, but could never quite get the landing. Will 2021 see the perfect double Air Culo, by either Caers or Amado Vrieswijk, who had been aiming to land this move for a while himself?

Furthermore we’ll see the New Caledonian rider Antoine Albert on the water, who is never one to underestimate and always shows great consistency in this discipline. Also local rider Balz Müller will aim for the crown and even windsurf multi talented Thomas Traversa will be a tough opponent. A big shoutout needs to go out to the only lady in the fleet, Sarah Quita Offringa, who certainly made the guys sweat a bit last season after securing a place in the final.

The tow-in competition will count for the the overall EFPT tow-in title in 2021, as well as for the EFPT overall winner. This will be the competitor with the best performance overall through all the disciplines in 2021. This title will be awarded alongside the EFPT freestyle champion title of 2021.

SarahQuita Offringa at the Engadinwind 2020

Sarah-Quita Offringa lands a tow-in event at the Engadinwind 2020 (Photo by Sailing Energy/Engadinwind 2020)

 

EFPT Lanzarote cancelled for 2021

The EFPT event in Lanzarote, despite the efforts on both sides, will have to be cancelled this year.

As you may all be aware by now the news from the Canary Islands is not good regarding events. Sadly we are also unable to bring any better news and the short story is that our final hopes to make the event happen in Lanzarote have faded and we cannot realise this one for this year.

We are as equally gutted as Antxon Oteagui, the event organiser, who worked extremely hard over the years to make this event happen, and you can be sure it was a passion project, always providing the best possible for the competitors and the EFPT. There is no shortage of effort in 2021 as well, and it was looking very promising, unfortunately the tidal wave of Covid will leave ripples of impact for a long time to come and simply as always, the habitants and local people must come first. Their health and safety is a priority, a priority which we all respect.Adam Sims, CEO of the EFPT

The EFPT now will look to 2022 for this missed events of the past 18 months, the early season confidence of this year will combine with a growing thirst for a comeback of epic proportions at many of seasoned favorites next year. In the meantime, all eyes turn to the later season events: Engadinwind for the tow-in, Egypt, Greece, Holland, UK & one other likely new addition to the tour.

Adrien Bosson at Las Cucharas, Lanzarote in 2019 (Photo: EFPT/Bellande)

Adrien Bosson at Las Cucharas, Lanzarote in 2019 (Photo: EFPT/Bellande)

EFPT confirmed the event in Theologos, Rhodos, Greece

The EFPT confirmed the event in Theologos, Rhodos, Greece. The first EFPT event in Theologos will happen from the 8th till the 12th of September. We will see freestyle competitions in the pro women, pro men & junior division.

I’m really excited the EFPT will be present in Greece this year, more so at the new destination for us in Theologos. With such top names having been there for training, it’s already proving itself as quite the location for high level freestyle. Combining the pro men with the pro women and the juniors (separate fleets of course), will make it one of our biggest events of the season. The title race will be in full swing by then, let the story unfold. See you on the water. Adam Sims, EFPT CEO

A view on the event location in Theologos on the island of Rhodos

A view on the event location in Theologos on the island of Rhodos

The EFPT management just announced changes in their 2021 calendar. Despite the great success of the kick-off event at Lake Neusiedl, Austria a few events are off the calendar. The events in Costa Brava and Fuerteventura are cancelled. The Dates for Vieste, Italy are set for the 15th – 19th of June 2021, but the event isn’t confirmed. We will know on May 15th. That’s due to the 30 days pre-event confirmation. Fuerteventura had to be cancelled due to the lack of funding provided by the island for sport events. The situation in Spain is very fragile and that’s the reason, too why Costa Brava will not happen this year. All remaining 7 events need to be confirmed yet. Let’s see if any other events will be added to the 2021 calendar

Concerning other events, all continue to look good to go ahead. It’s still uncertain times concerning the pandemic and local and regional regulations surrounding this, Austria was a great example for what we can manage but many areas are still only just on the beginning of recovering, or only just merging into that phase now, that’s really the main reasons behind it. Nothing too new to be honest and we can only try to manage what is reasonable vs what is achievable. Adam Sims, EFPT CEO

Adam Sims announced changes in the 2021 EFPT tour calendar (Photo: Alex Lang/EFPT)

Adam Sims announces changes in the 2021 EFPT tour calendar (Photo: Alex Lang/EFPT)

The EFPT announced an ew event addition to their 2021 event calendar. A pro event for women and men will take place in Theologos, Rhodos, Greece. The  EFPT as well announced on March 18th, that the Austria event is confirmed.

The European Freestyle Pro Tour announced their provisional 2021 Tour Calendar. See below the planned tour stops. Additionally they released news about their new logo, the rookies & groms program, camps, the pandemic & the female freestylers within the EFPT.

EFPT: A bit later than usual we can finally present to you the preliminary tour calendar for 2021. There is no denying that the past year was and even the upcoming season remains quite a challenge for our team, the event organizers and the riders. However, all that can be done at this point is putting all the best energy and motivation into the 2021 competition season, as if it was any other successful year of the EFPT.

The tour’s new CEO Adam Sims has picked up the tasks in the great manner that Tom Hartmann handed them over and is in constant contact with the event organizers to ensure a full and safe tour for 2021.

Adam Sims about 2021: It’s been a lot of work the last weeks behind the scenes, our full team really going for it, obviously there is no denying these are interesting times for any sporting tour, but we continue to believe in professional sport and in particular professional windsurfing. I’m personally very excited to bring the calendar we are now presenting, together with the launch of our all new logo. It’s a packed out calendar with some exciting new additions and returns. Of course we are really looking forward to return to our seasoned favorites, top windsurfing destinations all over Europe that have consistently provided both conditions and a wealth of local talent across all sectors of the EFPT. In addition we have Egypt on the cards, an upgrade for the tow-in at the Engadinwind and the King of the Wind is back in the UK.

The new EFPT Logo 2021

The new EFPT Logo 2021

The new EFPT logo 2021

After rebranding the EFPT last in 2014 it was about time to create a new logo. EFPT: “There was no better time to develop a new design than with the changed ownership of the tour in 2021. After the EFPT team and the graphic designer Lukas Reinelt had been juggling with ideas for weeks, a vote has been made for a more modern, timeless and generic logo.The idea is to push for different disciplines within the EFPT, so whilst the main focus remains on freestyle, the possibility to also run European wave events should not be ruled out in the future. Therefor the colors remained, the waves in front of the sail resemble water, the lines behind the sail resemble wind, the circle around combines all the elements and all the potential disciplines and also stands for our amazing‚ windsurfing planet that we travel, led by wind and water.

 

Rookies & Groms program 2021

There’s even more, whilst the juniors have several tour stops (Costa Brava, Lanzarote & Brouwersdam), they will also have the chance, along with any other rookie, grom, newcomer to join a band of fellow freestylers, with our own EFPT Grom and Rookie Camps. These will take place for the 2-3 days preceding each event on the calendar.

 

Camps for all levels

Camps will be run by German pro freestyler Julian Wiemar, PLUS a guest pro-coach (this could be anyone; from Yarden Meir to the reigning EFPT champion Yentel Caers, the EFPT will announce before each event). The camps are for anyone who has just learnt their first moves right up to someone who is flying through double Culos, it’s for the grom and the rookie alike. A place where you can socialize with other fresh faces to the tour and get all the tips you need to learn moves, to compete for your first time, to meet the seasoned pros as they prepare for the competition ahead and to have a go at some practice competition heats yourself.

 

Changing tides in the pandemic

EFPT: “Naturally this is a year where we look to transition back to a professional tour after one seasons break. There is no escaping the pandemic and with it we will take absolutely every precaution and more to ensure the safety of all our crew and competitors. Whilst many social activities at coming events are cancelled, the sport side will go on, we are fortunate to have such passionate event organizers working with us. With this in mind we have taken the decisions to narrow our confirmation of events to 30 days prior to the start date of that given event. This will allow both the events and the competitors the flexibility to adapt to the every changing circumstances. It gives us the best reasonable chance to allow an event to happen whilst keeping things realistic for rider and crew logistics.”

 

Female freestylers on the EFPT in 2021

The last season has been a tough one for the tour, however, the ladies have not been forgotten and the EFPT is pushing intently to not only keep the title going this year but to actually increase the ladies side of the tour. EFPT: “As important is our commitment to match the equal amount of time, passion, energy, dedication and so much more to the sport that the women in our sport bring, so with that we make the promise that the ladies will be receiving equal prize-money to the men. It’s a small token of what is owed, we understand, but it is a strong step into a bright, just and fair future. Our aim – ladies only events, watch this space…”

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