German Wave Tour: Nick Spangenberg on the new season and the cooperation with IWT
Tobias Frauen
· 05.03.2024
Hi Nick, the next season is coming up. What's your plan? What are your plans for this year?
My plan is actually that this year will hopefully be just as good as last year. I want to travel as much as possible again and gain a lot of experience. I've just been to Japan, and Peru is relatively firmly on my calendar for the summer. Maui would of course also be a dream, if that works out. South Africa is also on the agenda for winter. Otherwise, I'm actually relatively spontaneous, like last year. I wasn't even sure that I was going to Maui two weeks beforehand.
That means you only plan specifically from event to event, right?
Exactly, I always see how it fits. I'm still studying at the same time, you can't forget that either. That's why Japan was a good fit, as I was finished with my exams and then had a semester break again. I just try to be on the water as much as possible.
You have your equipment sponsors GunSails and JP, and now you've also joined HiFly. What's the deal there, what are you doing?
Many people probably still know HiFly, which has now become a fashion brand. The deal so far is that we produce a lot of photos together and I get a bit of financial support for my travels. It's a really cool group and I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops over the next few years.
A few years ago, you had a relatively large number of small sponsors because you approached them very actively, as you said at the time. What's it like on the front line? Do you still have regional partners?
The advantage for me is that windsurfing is not so well known in Kassel and sounds very exotic to many companies. That's why I have a lot of sponsors in the Kassel region who support me really well. I'm also very grateful for that, it's going really well at the moment. I was recently at the handball Bundesliga team M.T. Melsungen in the hall and gave interviews for the sponsors. Networks like this are extremely important, especially for young windsurfers, so that you have the opportunity to pursue your goals.
Regional networks are extremely important, especially for young windsurfers."
Does that mean you offer them media presence via your sailing stickers or mentions?
Exactly, definitely that too. Of course, I'm always available for interviews or other projects and have been working on a few concepts on how to best market windsurfing. My goal is also to make windsurfing a bit bigger again and I don't think it's a bad thing to do it in places where windsurfing has never really been that well known. We have good spots here to learn and I'm excited to see what develops over the next few years.
So you're the pioneer at your home spot, Lake Singlis, trying to make windsurfing big?
I'm now getting good at motivating a few people from university to windsurf. That always makes me very happy, so I'm always grateful when I take someone with me after university, we go to the lake and I teach them a bit of windsurfing and just have fun.
Is there an infrastructure, a surf school or centre or something?
We have a surf school there with lots of members who can borrow equipment there. It's actually really well organised there.
How the idea for the German Wave Tour came about
You launched the German Wave Tour last year together with Lars Bubelach and Sebastian Bale. How did the idea come about? How quickly did you launch the first contest?
The idea came into our heads in the summer of 2022 in Gran Canaria. We were sitting together after a session and thought that we should organise a competition in Germany. There's the Sylt World Cup, there are the Multivan Windsurf Cups, but never a proper wave competition. I then asked Valentin Böckler (Founder of the German Freestyle Battles, editor's note.) and asked what he thought of the idea. The principle is similar to the German Freestyle Battles in that the riders judge themselves and the spots are decided during a standby phase depending on the conditions. Valentin was immediately pretty convinced by the whole idea.
At the end of 2022, we got everything ready, ordered the beach flags, set up a WhatsApp group and so on. The first event in Kellenhusen was a very good easterly wind day with really solid conditions and fantastic weather, and we had over 50 participants. Everything went quite well, but we also realised where there was still a bit of catching up to do. But on the whole, we got a very positive response, unfortunately there were no more suitable conditions in the autumn. Now we will continue in the new season. We are also trying to be active on social media and had a virtual competition on Instagram in the winter, which was really well received by many followers. You could be the judge yourself and decide which of two riders would progress.
Your start came a bit out of the blue, but it gave the impression of being very professional and well-organised.
Yes, I think this out-of-nowhere concept actually sums it up quite well. The first event was a relatively spontaneous thing, we sat down together for a few hours and finalised everything. Everyone has their own tasks, I do a lot of press work and also try to find a few sponsors, because of course we also have a lot of costs when we're all travelling there. The beach flags also have to be paid for. We just try to make sure that we leave there with a plus-minus zero and that everyone has a lot of fun.
You teamed up with the Racers of the Sea in Kellenhusen. Is this a permanent concept or would you like to do this separately in the future?
It was actually a bit of a coincidence. We had seen the forecasts, realised that Kellenhusen would work well and then the Racer of the Sea was there. We then spoke to Leon Delle and Oliver-Tom Schliemann, who were also immediately enthusiastic about the event and we were also able to use their infrastructure. For the next season, it looks like we'll be doing it on our own. If there's a spontaneous spot and a date where we can do something together with them, that would of course also be cool. Maybe we can motivate one or two racers to go to the wave.
Will you stick to your minimal setup with a few flags on the beach? Or where do you want to go?
At the moment, we have a few tables and chairs where we can sit the drivers down so that they can judge each other. And then, of course, we also have a few things printed out, such as the rules and so on. But on the whole, we want to keep it on a low budget, larger events are always associated with high costs. We just want to have fun and ideally be together on the beach after the small competition and maybe have a cold drink or two. That's actually the most important thing for us, that we bring the windsurfing scene back together a bit and also have wave competitions in Germany.
GWT and the cooperation with IWT
You are also part of the IWT (International Windsurfing Tour), where you are part of the "European Tour" as a two-star event.
Exactly, we have two stand-by phases for this year. One will be in spring and the other in autumn. The spring period will run from 1 April to 30 June, while the autumn period will run from 1 September to 30 November. We have shortlisted various spots on the Baltic and North Sea. Of course, you can't become world champion at a two-star event, but our hope is that people will find it exciting to take part in a mini World Cup event. Of course, that shouldn't put anyone off. For us, if you can forward loop, that's good and if you can't, then maybe you have so much adrenaline during the competition that you just give it a go. That's how it was for me and my first forward anyway. For us, it's not about extreme performance. Of course you want to show your best performance at the end, but it's not important whether you can do something spectacular or not.
If you can do a forward loop, that's good, and if you can't, then maybe you have so much adrenaline during the competition that you just give it a go."
What criteria do you use to select the spots and say it could be something on the weekends? So do you have a list of criteria?
We always make sure that there are car parks nearby. It's super difficult when people come with their campers and then take up the whole car park. Of course, we first check the wind forecast. On the Baltic Sea, it's actually good from a constant 25 knots, so that a pleasant wave forms. It's similar on the North Sea, where we only really have St Peter-Ording as an option. Sylt is too complicated logistically, it doesn't make sense, and the conditions there are also heavy metal. The temperatures are also important, if you have four degrees in April and then sit on the water or on the beach for five hours judging, it doesn't make sense either. If everything is right, there is a yellow flag a week in advance. And if we actually go through with the contest, the green flag will come and then there will be more detailed information on how everything will work.
Is there then one event per phase, or can there be a green light on several weekends if the forecast remains favourable?
If we ever have a phase where the conditions are really good, we'll definitely try to organise more than two events. But for now, it would be great if we could organise two events, because we're obviously also doing a lot of travelling ourselves. So two events would be great, and if the conditions are good for a second event in a certain period, we'd be open to doing it again.
And how does the collaboration with IWT work, how did the contact come about?
I know Simeon Glasson quite well, the director of IWT. He heard that we organised an event last year and thought it was super cool because he saw the vibes and the atmosphere among us. He thought it was cool and asked us if we could imagine attending the IWT. We thought it could be good for both sides. Registration will then take place via our website, where we will activate a registration form when the event starts.
Which competition format do you ride then? IWT often has a dingle elimination. Do you do this depending on the conditions, or are you free to choose?
Especially when there are a lot of participants, you have to make sure that you can finish within a weekend. That's why we only did a single elimination in Kellenhusen. But for the time being, we have planned to run a single elimination with the option of the second round. Simply because I think it's easier for us as judges. And in terms of the time frame, it's not that much different. First of all, we're happy if we can pull off a single. And then we'll see how far we get in the doubles.
And you decide the judging criteria and heat duration together?
Exactly, we have roughly adopted the criteria from the PWA in terms of points scoring. Of course, we also have a lot of experienced people who ride with us. Henri Kolberg, for example, knows a lot about judging and has given us tips. We have calculated how long we can do the heats so that it remains fair and we finish in daylight at the end. We always decide spontaneously on the spot.
The main thing is to have fun and simply experience the atmosphere at a competition."
If someone would like to join you, what requirements should they bring with them?
Last year in Kellenhusen we had participants ranging from young people aged 13 and over to older people over 60. The mix was of course great. In terms of the criteria, it's an advantage if you've been on a wave before and know how to ride a wave. But you don't need to put yourself under pressure and think you have to be able to do the forward loop with confidence. That's not so important for us. The main thing is to have fun and simply experience the atmosphere at a competition. It's also a cool feeling and gives you a good adrenaline rush.
Do you have any restrictions? Are people too good or too professional? Could Philip Köster, if he happens to be in the area, join you?
He could also ride with us, of course. That's also our longer-term goal, to have a few stars from the scene on board to put on a good show. It's probably also cool for participants to race against Philipp Köster. It's probably a childhood dream for many of them. Everyone from the top level up is welcome.
All the latest information on the German Wave Tour and registration can be found at germanwavetour.com
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Tobias Frauen
Editor
