The second day at the Brouwersdam Surf Centre On Friday, conditions were extreme for the 3.6 or 4.0 sails. Rain lashed down across the water, whilst the wind steadily picked up. The men’s single elimination produced a major upset as early as the second round: Youp Schmit knocked out favourite Lennart Neubauer. Schmit found the right moves and the necessary consistency, whilst Neubauer failed to get into his usual rhythm. The man from Bonaire continued his run and defeated Davy Scheffers in the semi-final, who had previously beaten Tim Gerdes with a last-second Puneta Burner. Yentel Caers reached the final with a victory over Jacopo Testa. In the single-elimination final, Schmit faced Caers. The Belgian dominated with a double-move performance, capped off by a Shifty, and scored over 39 points. Schmit managed 31 points and had to admit defeat.
Neubauer’s journey through the double-elimination tournament
The double-elimination stage began immediately after the single-elimination stage. Following his defeat to Caers, Luka Stomp put in some strong performances and fought his way through three heats, scoring 30 points in each. Takumi Moriya put in an impressive run following his defeat to Scheffers. He defeated Bodhi Kempen and Tim Gerdes, scoring over 35 points on both occasions, and landed a host of moves in both directions, including Kabikuchis and Spock Culos. But Lennart Neubauer launched his comeback with full force. Following his early exit against Schmit, he opened the double elimination with a 40-point performance against Primus Sorling. The clash against Moriya turned out to be the closest heat of the day. Takumi led for almost six minutes before Neubauer won by less than a point in the final seconds with an Air Funnel Burner upgrade.
Following his next victory over Luka Stomp, Neubauer took his game to a whole new level. From that point on, the Greek rider filled his scorecards almost exclusively with double power moves, scoring over 40 points in every heat. Stomp, Scheffers and Testa all fell victim to him in quick succession, each soundly beaten. The rematch against Youp Schmit produced top-class freestyle. Both riders showed off their best moves, but Schmit was unable to match Neubauer’s power. The Greek rider broke the 44-point barrier with massive double power moves and a shifty. Only Yentel Caers now stood between Neubauer and victory. After seven heats in the double elimination, Neubauer was in absolutely top form. Against Caers, too, he displayed the massive air moves and double power moves that had carried him through the previous heats.
The perfect Double Air Culo
The key moment of the event came when Neubauer performed a move that he himself openly described as “not his best”: the Double Air Culo. He landed it absolutely perfectly and received the only 10.00 score of the entire event. Caers took longer to find his rhythm. Unusually for the Belgian, he crashed repeatedly on port tack and managed only a Kono and a Shaka on that side. Against a rider of Neubauer’s calibre, there was no room for error. Neubauer completed his march through the double elimination and forced a Super Final. He had nine consecutive heats behind him, with one final showdown still to come. The Super Final surpassed even the performances both riders had previously delivered. Both landed double air culos, whilst Caers pulled off a shifty shaka. Neubauer responded with a highly-rated air bob culo and an air flaka ponch.
The final scores were: Lennart Neubauer 46.67 points, Yentel Caers 45.67 points. With a lead of just 1.10 points, Neubauer had done it. With the highest heat score of the event, he crowned his comeback in his first full double elimination. He turned an early exit into one of the most spectacular comebacks in recent tour history. A feat normally associated with Caers, the master of double-elimination comebacks. But this time, it was Neubauer who wrote the script. From an early defeat to victory in the Super Final. From the underdog to the champion who defeated his greatest rival.
Women in extreme conditions
Towards the end of the day, the wind reached its absolute peak. With 3.6 and 4.0 sails running at full power, the women’s double elimination provided another highlight in extreme conditions. Bijou Shahmirian was in her element in this setup. Drawing on her wealth of experience from Karpathos, she coped superbly with the combination of extreme wind and choppy water. She pulled off high forward loops in her heats and initially defeated Melina Schutt, who had put together a strong run herself, before edging past Živa Batis in a close duel. Lisa Kloster halted Shahmirian’s run with a very solid heat in the extreme conditions. Kloster capped off her performance with a buzzer-beater skopu and scored 18.6 points to reach the final. Waiting for her there was Maaike Huvermann.
Huvermann and Kloster are familiar rivals at the top of the women’s field. This time, Huvermann got off to a flying start. She put in a strong heat, landing a Skopu, Shakas on both sides, a Spock Kono and a Burner for an impressive 26.8 points. Kloster also put in a solid performance, but Huvermann came out on top and won the women’s double elimination.
Impression Session and Foilstyle Show to round off the event
After two days of fierce winds and impressive scores, the final two days of the FPT Brouwersdam were considerably calmer. The programme featured an Overall Impression Session, a festival atmosphere and the crowning of the 2026 FPT European Champions. A late skippers’ meeting on the third day was followed by an Overall Impression Session featuring two qualifying fleets and a 30-minute ‘sundowner’ final in the evening.
In the first qualifying fleet, Bodhi Kempen impressed the judges with a massive Air Spock right in front of the crowd. Takumi Moriya secured second place with a stylish no-handed Flaka and a range of other moves. In the second fleet, Jacopo Testa progressed with his signature Spock combos, alongside Cosmo Pezetti, who displayed powerful moves and radiated energy as he interacted with the crowd. Conditions became unpredictable during the Sundowner Final. A storm swept across the spot during the 30-minute heat, changing the conditions from good wind for a 4.8 to near-calm. For a moment, it looked as though simply landing a single move would be enough to secure victory. Then, with about ten minutes remaining, the storm hit and the wind suddenly returned. The riders switched from Grubbies and Lollipops to Shifty Shakas and Double Air Culos within a matter of minutes. Davy Scheffers coped best with the changing conditions. He pulled off a stylish Switch Chachoo and a Lazy Susan in the lighter wind before landing a massive Air Skopu as the storm set in.
The final day of the FPT at DAM-X was a relaxed affair, featuring autograph sessions, riders at the event site and a short, non-competitive 30-minute foilstyle show. In the afternoon, a large crowd gathered at the podium to celebrate the winners of the FPT Brouwersdam, the Tow-In World Series and the 2026 FPT European Championship. At the event itself, Huvermann won ahead of Kloster and Shahmirian in the women’s category. Neubauer rounded off his comeback with victory in the men’s event ahead of Caers and Schmit. As no tow-in competition took place at Brouwersdam, the overall standings for the 2026 FPT Tow-In World Series were taken from the results of Boot Düsseldorf. Caers claimed the men’s title ahead of Neubauer and Steven van Broeckhoven. Huvermann secured the women’s crown ahead of Kloster and Elena Dominick. In the Youth & Juniors Boys category, Pier Bongianni won ahead of Leander Halm and Cosmo Pezetti. Bongianni thus successfully defended his title from the previous year, winning back-to-back titles in the category. Holly Halm was crowned FPT Youth & Juniors Girls Champion.
Neubauer and Kloster are the 2026 FPT European Champions
The 2026 FPT European Champions were crowned this afternoon. Lisa Kloster won the women’s title ahead of Živa Batis and Bijou Shahmirian. Lennart Neubauer secured the men’s title ahead of Yentel Caers and Youp Schmit. For Neubauer, the title marked his third consecutive FPT Championship since the FPT Naxos 2024. The highlight of the ceremony, however, was Lisa Kloster, who won her first European Championship following her victory in Podersdorf and second place at Brouwersdam. The 2026 season drew to a close with the presentation of the final trophies.
All heats and results can be found at fpt.heatscoringpro.com