Bonaire is known as a freestyle paradise and nursery for some of the best freestylers in the world - so it's only natural that the Freestyle Pro Tour (FPT) should also make a stop on the Caribbean island. 24 riders were at the start in Sorobon Bay to crown the "King & Queen of the Caribbean", including top international stars such as Yentel Caers, Lennart Neubauer and Steven van Broekhoven or Sarah-Quita Offringa and Oda Johanne Brødholt. Locals Taty Frans and Youp Schmit were of course also present at their home spot.
As a "Proving Ground" event, the focus was also on giving young talents a chance to show off their skills and take a share of the 2500 euros in prize money. The scoring format was deliberately kept simple: The best move on both sides counted for 50%, with the other 50% going to the overall impression. This allowed all riders to show off their favourite tricks without having to strategically plan their heat in terms of complexity. Also exciting: men and women competed together - for the first time since the start of her career, 20-time world champion Sarah-Quita Offringa was able to compete with the men.
Neubauer and van Broeckhoven in a generational duel
At the beginning, most of the riders took to the water with a 4.8 or 5.2. The first highlight and a meeting of the generations was Lennart Neubauer's heat against Steven van Broeckhoven. After his injury break, Lennart showed that he still has his eye on the World Championship title. With double culos, flaka into ponch, airfunnel burner and other moves, he gave van Broeckhoven no chance.
Bonaire local Youp Schmit was also in top form. The 2019 World Championship bronze medallist beat Tigo Kort and his neighbour Taty Frans. Neubauer and Schmit then met Bodhi Kempen from Brouwersdam and Nigel Hart in the semi-finals, who both lost out. The weakening evening wind in Sorobon Bay caused the final to be cancelled and restarted the next morning. Lennart started strongly with a Culo 360 and a Flaka into Ponch - actually the strongest tricks of his opponent Youp Schmit. "I thought, that's my move! That spurred me on and flipped a switch!" Schmit countered with a real firework display and eventually took the win, much to the delight of his supporters on the beach.
For the start of the double elimination, we first had to wait for a little better wind. In the afternoon, the action continued with some exciting matches: While Oda Johanne was eliminated by Poland's Robert Sosnowski, Sarah-Quita Offringa progressed against his compatriot Pawel Palichleb. The next day, she then faced Yentel Caers - a 20-time world champion against the former world and European champion! In the end, it was a tight affair for the Belgian to progress, Caers had to go full throttle to beat Offringa.
Neubauer: "The best heat of my career"
Yentel Caers then started a race to catch up and won his heats against Steven van Broeckhoven and Brouwersdam local Tim Gerdes. Nigel Hart, who had beaten Caers in the single, also lost out in the second round, as did Bodhi Kempen, who slipped off the podium after all. His next opponent was Lennart Neubauer, who also proved his outstanding form in the double elimination. In the seven minutes of the heat, Neubauer performed spock culos on both sides, various flaka/shaka/ponch variations, double power moves such as air funnel burners and double culos and a kabikuchi to top it all off. Caers was also strong, but obviously lacked power. Neubauer later reported that he had ridden a 5.6, which gave him the necessary drive in the now light winds. Neubauer later spoke of the best heat of his career to date.
During the final against Youp Schmit, Neubauer then switched to 5.2, but his luck ran out. As a result, Schmit maintained his position after another exciting heat and can now call himself "King of the Caribbean". But Neubauer was anything but disappointed: "I've achieved my most important goal, namely to show that I'm back!" he wrote on Instagram. The young German newcomer Leander Halm came in 13th place.
Heavy crash at the Willy Skipper
After the official results were finalised, there were some super sessions to watch. The best frontloop (winner: Taty Frans), the longest bodydrag (winner: Yentel Caers) and the longest slide on the Willy Skipper (winner: Steven van Broeckhoven) were crowned. Tuim Gerdes involuntarily jumped into the limelight: although he had never attempted a Willy Skipper before, the Dutchman took part - and produced a crash that has been circulating on Instagram and co. ever since:
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Results FPT Bonaire "King & Queen of the Caribbean"
- 1. youp Schmit
- 2nd Lennart Neubauer
- 3. yentel Caers
- 4th Bodhi Kempen
- 5 Nigel Hart
- 6 Tim Gerdes
- 7 Steven Van Broeckhoven
- 7 Adam Sims
- 9th Bimbi Clappers
- 9th Pawel Kazmierczak
- 9th Tigo Kort
- 9th Sarah-Quita Offringa
- 13 Faan Coenen
- 13 Maarten Molenaar
- 13 Taty Frans
- 13th Leander Halm
- 17th Storm Nicolai
- 17 Robert Sosnowski
- 17th Pawel Palichleb
- 17th Ryan Richie
- 21 Oda Johanne Brødholt
- 21 Reyshandrick Frans
- 21 Mario Baoekstegers
- 21st Sjoerdde Koning
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Tobias Frauen
Editor