Blast From The Past

Lennart Neubauer (Starboard / Severne / Maui Ultra Fins) is one of the top young prospects on both the Freestyle and Wave Youth World Tours - having being crowned the Youth Freestyle World Champion and the U17 Wave Vice-World Champion. The 16-year-old is next up in our ‘Blast From The Past’ series…

Hey Lennart, can you take us back to the memory of your very first windsurf experience… Where were you? 

I was at my home spot in Naxos, Greece at Flisvos Sportclub.

When was it? 

That was 2014 when I was 10 years old.

Who were you with?

I was with my first windsurfing teacher, a Greek guy called Kostas Pichinas @kostrelos
 
Who was your local hero? And why? 

My local here was Stamatis Proponas, he was an ex PWA and EFPT Freestyler, here from Naxos. I admired him because of his experience, the cool tricks he could do and especially his positive vibes impressed me a lot.

What gear were you using?

I used more or less from the very beginning the Starboard, it was called “Flare” that time and had 81L. The sails I used from the station Flisvos, it was Neilpryde “Wizzard” and “The Fly” from 3.8-4.5.

Describe your feeling when you were planing for the first time…

When I was planing the first time I felt something I never felt before, a feeling of speed and freedom combined, still feeling the same when I learn something new.

How did you realise you were becoming a professional windsurfer? 

I realised that I wanted to become a professional windsurfer one year later, in 2015, when I took part for the first time in an international competition, it was the EFPT Youth in Croatia. All the Pro’s were there, all these cool tricks they could do, the atmosphere, the fun and the good vibes, was exactly what I liked. I was impressed how competitive the professional windsurfers were during the competition on the water and straight after the heat, they were chilling together at the beach. There was Steven [Van Broeckhoven], Amado [Vrieswijk], Ricardo Marca, Adrien Bosson...I thought this must be a dream. When Tom Hartmann asked me if I would like to take part also in the main fleet I thought that’s it! That was a big motivation for me. So after that competition, where I took first place in the U13s, I travelled home and from that day on, my dream was to compete with the big guys and be one of them.

Give a tip for the next generation…

A tip for the next generation is, the earlier you start the better it is, because windsurfing is a sport where experience counts a lot.

Thanks, Lennart!