Hi Robert, how are you? Where am I catching you? I hear wind noise in the microphone and see green olive trees swaying in the background. That looks more Mediterranean than brown coal to me ...
... (laughs) Yes, I've been on holiday in Sardinia since yesterday. We're here with friends from the Coallakers crew in our buses and have just had breakfast. We're about to start the session. We're already really fired up, even though we've had a lot of wind at home so far this year. We were even out on the water the day before yesterday, the day we left.
That sounds good. Which lake were you out on?
At Lake Zwenkau. This is one of our favourite spots.
That's one of the larger lakes in the region, isn't it? How can you imagine the conditions there, is there a small wave for jumping?
Yes, the lake is huge and runs together like a funnel at the eastern end.
Ah, and down there you can probably jump backloops in a decent westerly wind.
That's right! People train hard on the backloop on storm days.
How many lakes are there in the region? And do you always go to the same spot? Or do you always pick the best spot for the day depending on the wind strength and direction?
There are roughly seven lakes and a correspondingly large number of spots. So you have a lot of choice in the region. We are always flexible and on the lookout for the best conditions. We don't want to limit ourselves to one spot. But we do have our two or three main spots - on two different lakes, where we feel very comfortable with the main wind directions from south-west to west. These are our home and favourite spots.
Is the crew simply a group of friends who get together to surf? Or is there more to it than that? Are you an official club?
No, we are not an official association. We once planned to found one to better represent access to the lakes. Our favourite spot is located in a still active open-cast mining area and is actually still officially closed. It's a bit of a grey area: windsurfers are tolerated, but we sometimes have to park about a kilometre away and then walk down to the water with our equipment.
When will the lakes be officially released by the open-cast mining company?
When the final water level is reached. Because before that, landslides could theoretically still occur. At Lake Zwenkau, work is still underway on a lock to Lake Cospuden. However, there is a problem with the completion of the lock, which is why they are not yet releasing the lake.
Okay, so what happened with the founding of the association?
The wind was taken out of our sails relatively quickly because there was already a local association: the Leipzig Surf & Kite Association. It is already active in the field of legalisation (laughs). We therefore saw no point in founding a second association and are now working together with the Leipzig Surf & Kite Association to ensure that water sports are generally permitted at more spots and that access to the lakes is granted early on.
So you can't imagine the region with all the lakes around Leipzig as one big water sports paradise with official car parks, access points etc.?
Well, there are a few of them. But the parking fees are high and the spots are overcrowded. What's more, we don't even think these spots are the best in the area. We've distanced ourselves a little from them with the crew and are looking for our own spots where we can be more among ourselves - so that we can simply have fun together on the water in the best possible conditions.
How did you decide to give yourselves a name and create a social media account anyway?
Out of a beer mood (laughs). We were sitting in a small pub in Leipzig and talked about the Boddenstylers again. We always thought they were cool. That same evening we decided to give ourselves a name. We liked Coallakers straight away, as the name is a reference to our lake district. The first sketches for a logo were quickly scribbled on a napkin with a biro borrowed from the waitress, but unfortunately not yet realised. Still to come. We also liked the idea of sharing our inland surfing sessions and the associated stoke with people on social media. Simply showing the world that you can have fun on the water anywhere made us want to publicise our lifestyle.
How big is the Coallakers crew?
Well, let me put it this way: our Whatsapp group has over 30 participants. But the hard core, which is always at the start and also makes the trips to the Baltic Sea and so on, is just under half that number.
So you also form carpools to the sea?
Yes, exactly. When the forecast is good, we regularly go to the Baltic Sea together or check out the spots in Holland or Denmark. We also all quite like surfing in the waves - and you have to get in the car for a bit longer than just 15 minutes to Lake Zwenkau.
What is the average age of the crew? Do you also have some really old hands who used to ride home-made boards in the GDR?
No, not necessarily. Our oldest members are in their early 50s, and admittedly: We're currently a bit happier about young newcomers than about the old stories from the GDR era (laughs). Our youngest girl is only 16, the youngest boy has just turned 18. Both will be competing at the Island Games Rügen. We are a relatively young team. I only moved to Leipzig about six years ago and then somehow slipped into it. But the whole thing with the Coallakers has only been really intense for a good two to three years anyway. Actually only since the long evening in the pub with the naming and the creation of our social media account, where the photos of our sessions are now regularly uploaded.
are now regularly uploaded.
What do you do for a living? Do you come from the windsurfing industry?
In part, yes. But overall we are a very colourful team. We have teachers, musicians, craftsmen, students and I myself am a vehicle engineer. Ricardo works at Surfshop24 in Leipzig and will most likely take it over at some point. The shop supports us all as much as possible with surfing equipment. That's a super cool thing for the crew, of course. And one of our best freestylers in the crew is Florian Kellner, who has also competed in the German Freestyle Battles and now offers pretty professional board repairs on the side. It's called Fleacraft. I can only recommend it, he does a great job. This means that the Coallakers are also well looked after.
Are you also planning to start official events with the crew? Or will you keep to yourselves - and just fire up the barbecue privately after the session?
Well, we're already making plans. We would like to invite the German Freestyle Battles and organise test days with Surfshop24 at our spots. Unfortunately, we don't have the manpower at the moment. I'm just starting to support the surf shop with photos and social media work alongside my main job. Planning and organising such events would be right up my street. I hope that something will come up in the future. At some point, joining the shop completely and turning my hobby into a career would also be a big item on my to-do list.
to-do list.
Cool, we'd be delighted if you could invite the GFBs on a windy weekend. Speaking of wind: have you actually been foiling? There's usually not quite as much and strong wind inland as on the coast, is there?
Many of us have tried it before, but nobody has really got the hang of it yet. We're really more classic: on the fin, with freestyle or wave stuff.
Okay, interesting. In many other inland areas, people are basically only foiling due to a lack of wind. How many days a year do you have enough wind in the region for the Finn and small sails? You just mentioned the main wind directions SW and W. Do you also get an easterly wind with a thermal boost in fair weather?
Yes, that's right, we get that too. But less often than the lows with SW-W. Just a fortnight ago we had such an easterly wind day, it was awesome! 16 knots in the forecast, but then overpowered at midday with a 4.0 sail and bright sunshine. All in all, it's been a pretty good start to the year so far. I'm even keeping score this year. We're now on surf day 20 and it's only the middle of April. I hope it continues like this.
I hope so too. Thanks for the interview and have fun in Sardinia. I hope that I can come to Leipzig for a session one day.
