The best freestylers: Yentel Caers and Lennart Neubauer - friends on land, rivals on the water
Julian Wiemar
· 28.01.2024
A damp breeze flows through the alleyways of Westerland and channels itself between the dreadful, grey prefabricated buildings to such an extent that it rips the hood off my head. Next to me, Lennart is holding onto his Red Bull cap with both hands in panic. We're on our way to a Greek restaurant in the city centre, where we've arranged to meet Yentel for dinner: "Let's see if they even speak Greek there," the German-Greek freestyle ace next to me says happily. His mum Iris had mentioned this lunchtime that she would never go to a Greek restaurant here, as she has more than enough of them in her adopted home of Naxos. Lennart, on the other hand, is not averse to the idea and seems quite happy with my choice of restaurant.
And there he is, right on time, the newly crowned world champion from Belgium and Lennart's biggest rival. Yentel and Lennart high-five each other like two best friends who haven't seen each other for ages - even though they were surfing against each other for the title here on Sylt the day before yesterday. At the same moment, Yentel's girlfriend Steffi comes round the corner: "Sorry, I had to get a thicker jacket, we're going on afterwards, aren't we?" "Of course!" shoots out Lennart and Yentel at the same time.
A narrow, dark staircase leads down to the entrance of the cellar pub. Out of the grey, whistling alleyways and into the brightly lit undergrounds of Westerland. We step inside, into the warmth. There is just one table left, and we are allowed to take a seat.
Base on Lake Como and Naxos
Steffi tells us that she only flew here yesterday. The deal: if Yentel wins the title, she will spontaneously travel to Sylt.
"To celebrate?" I ask.
"Yes."
Lennart grins.
Steffi has travelled from Italy. She lives there with Yentel, in her home on Lake Como. She works there, Yentel can train well on the lake and is based in the centre of Europe, from where he can easily set off in all directions.
Lennart, who is almost ten years younger, lives on Naxos with his mum. He has German roots on his mother's side, was born in Bremen, but grew up on Naxos and has been sailing with a Greek licence number for a few years now.
When asked about the drink, Lennart and Yentel look at each other questioningly for a long time. According to the motto: I'll only order a beer if you order one, and vice versa.
Lennart is unsure which language he should order in. Greek? German? English? He speaks all three languages fluently. He decides in favour of German and orders four beers.
We clink glasses, bring them to our mouths and - clink clink - Lennart's glass shatters into pieces in his hands, zero point five litres of hops and malt shoot around and spill over the edge of the table into my lap. That was unexpected.
Steffi and Yentel have stayed dry on the opposite side of the table. Yentel bursts out laughing: "What have you done?" He can't catch his breath.
Lennart is always training - whether on the fork or the barbell
Lennart looks around for a moment with a wet, shocked face and then starts to laugh out loud. Okay, now everyone knows we're here. And right at that moment, a German family actually passes by our table. The father recognises Yentel and wants to congratulate him on his title, but the head waiter comes running up from behind frantically with a cloth and broom, stubbornly pushing the father of the family, who is about to ask for an autograph, to one side - he wants to save his precious carpet. Meanwhile, Lennart dries his face with a napkin. Steffi shakes her head: "Mamma mia!"
The 19-year-old already has paws like Dunki or Albeau - no wonder, since he finished school he has also felt like he was hanging from either a fork or a barbell. Such thin glass is comparatively fragile: "I thought it was made of plastic, so I gripped it tighter."
Steffi and Yentel look at each other questioningly, but Lennart is already engrossed in the menu: "Uh, moussaka with ... Ah no, that's the kids' menu." "Yes, you've come to the right place," says Yentel. Lennart smiles and turns the page. Despite their age difference and constant competition, the two are pretty good friends, even if they do tease each other from time to time. In the summer, for example, they shared a flat in Fuerteventura for a few weeks before the World Cup and always trained together.
Yentel Caers is the benchmark in modern freestyle
For Lennart, Yentel has been the benchmark in modern freestyle for a few years now: "When I saw that I had to compete against Yentel in the second round, I just thought that if I won the heat, I'd win the whole contest." Yentel listens attentively. If Lennart didn't crush glasses at the table, you wouldn't even notice the age difference. He is very thoughtful and eloquent for his age - and in three languages.
"Of course I was a bit demoralised after the early defeat against Lennart. I knew straight away that I would have a lot of work ahead of me in the second half of the season to collect enough points to win the world title. I did it the hard way. Successfully," reports Yentel.
I did it the hard way. Successfully" (Yentel Caers)
"But next time, you're welcome to take the safe route via the first round again. I almost had a heart attack several times at home watching the live stream of all the heats," adds Steffi.
Happy ending for Yentel Caers and Lennart Neubauer
And here comes the waitress to take the food order. But at the same moment, the crew around Harry Goeft from JAKLAR enters the shop, who are known to be great lovers and fans of windsurfing. They stop at our table, and once again fans and waiters get in each other's way. The waiter turns round again and indicates that he will try again in five minutes. The boys don't even know who to congratulate first. Because there isn't just one winner tonight. Yentel and Lennart both have a great success to celebrate. They are both happy with the result and absolutely at peace with themselves. A happy ending for both opponents, as it should be. Everyone applauds each other. Lennart has deserved his first event win, while Yentel's triumph on Fuerte and his magnificent comeback to second place here on Sylt means he still deserves to win the world title. And both of them see it that way too.
"So now you two will be fighting for the title at the top for the next few years," summarises Marco from the JAKLAR crew. Lennart and Yentel sit directly opposite each other, look each other in the eye and nod with a grin.
Three freestyle generations on the podium
"But of course we mustn't forget Uncle Steven, who rounds off the event podium," says Yentel, as the waiter approaches our table again with a serious expression.
But now: three gyros, one saganaki and some bread with tzatziki is the order. Check.
"Uncle Steven," I repeat and have to smile.
"Yes, there are three generations on the podium here. Steven is ten years older than me and I'm almost ten years older than Lennart. Steven used to take me everywhere with him, we used to train together all the time."
"Like we are now?" asks Lennart.
"Exactly!"
"Cool."
"You know what's funny? The first time I went windsurfing with my parents in the summer holidays on Naxos, practically on your doorstep, you weren't even on the board yet."
"I started when I was nine. I remember how you and Steven inspired and encouraged me with your videos, I always looked up to you."
"And now you're knocking us both out of the race ..."
The next destination: the Double-Air-Culo-into-Culo
Lennart looks down with a grin at his bread starter, which has just been brought. And then Yentel suddenly remembers something else: "Oh, do you remember what you said to me the other day?
"What?"
"If I land a double-air-culo-into-culo, you'll stop windsurfing again."
Silence. Lennart takes a deep breath.
"I think the move is absolutely doable. Lennart gave me his hand on it," announces Yentel.
"Bugger, now it's official," sighs Lennart.
He doesn't know what else to say, so I throw something into the room: "What if Lennart lands the trick first?"
"Then he can continue surfing."
We laugh.
"Steffi, do you think Yentel will win more world titles?" I ask.
"Yes, he trains so hard and is so focussed, he gives it his all."
"Yentel is the best freestyler in the world, on any given day," interjects Lennart, "if anyone deserves to win more titles, it's him."
"It's a great feeling to stand next to the right people on the podium!"
There doesn't seem to be anything like envy between the two of them. But they are in too different places in life for that, especially due to their age difference, and are too convinced of what they are doing. They are competitors, friends and training partners who have great respect for each other and only actively compete on the water.
Yentel is happy that new freestyle talent is finally coming through: "There is a big gap between my generation and Lennart's generation. For a while, there were no newcomers. For years, I only ever competed against older riders. Until this one came into play," he reports, pointing at his opponent.
"Were you happy for him when he won the final for the second time?" I ask cautiously.
"I was very happy for him. Just as happy as Steven was for me when I had secured the world title after the semi-final. Almost as if I had won it myself. It's a great feeling to stand on the podium next to the right people."
"The Sylt podium, with Lennart, you and Steven, the three generations, is just perfect for me too," enthuses Steffi. Lennart nods. And Yentel agrees: "It's great for our sport to have a young newcomer like Lennart on the podium, and for him too, of course - the first win is the best."
"And in third place is Uncle Steven, who is almost twenty years older ... What else can you say? I don't see him slowing down either, he's getting better and better," muses Lennart.
"How long will you keep going?" asks Steffi.
"As long as we can," they say again almost simultaneously.
The waiter places the food on the table and grins for the first time.
Well then, bon appétit!
Yentel attracts attention with his World Championship title
We dig in and there is silence for a moment until Yentel is recognised again by passing guests: "Hey, ju lörnt on Rhodos, reit?"
Yentel quickly finishes chewing and looks questioningly at the older gentleman and then at me. I shrug my shoulders.
Lennart smiles and forks up more fries.
"Learned? No ... Ah, you mean trained!" Yentel replies with a friendly grin.
"Yes, yes," says the gentleman happily, looking proudly over at his wife, "ei mätt ju ser."
"Yeah, in Theologos probably. That's cool."
"Kongrätuläischons!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
The man and his wife walk on.
It seems that the world championship title on Sylt is causing more of a stir than the event victory. But is Lennart jealous right now? I don't think so.
Maybe it's just because Lennart is sitting with his back to the aisle.
Lennart Neubauer wants to take off in wave riding
After the plates are empty, we chat a little about winter and future plans.
It sounds as if the two are highly motivated to continue pushing the level in freestyle this winter. A trip to Cape Town is on the cards for both of them. They do not yet know whether they will live and train together there. While Yentel will continue to concentrate exclusively on the freestyle discipline, Lennart will also tackle the wave discipline. He wants to build up his professional career on several tracks in the long term: "Last winter in South Africa, I was almost exclusively in the waves, but because of my injury. My knee didn't really play ball with freestyle yet. That will be different this year, now I'm fit again. It's a good question as to how I'll divide up freestyle and wave in my training."
"Fifty-fifty," Yentel bangs on the table.
"Yeah, about fifty-fifty," confirms Lennart, "and you?"
"I don't know, jumping is fun for me ... Riding is actually fun too, but only when the waves are really good. In small waves, I don't want to frantically try to make something out of marginal conditions with the waveboard, I'd rather go freestyling in the surf - I have more fun there," explains Yentel.
Lennart listens attentively.
The two of them know exactly what they want and do their thing, but are always interested in the other's point of view. There's so much more to talk about, but now we need to get out of this stuffy place. We're warm and Lennart is starting to get jittery: "The bill, please!" he shouts in Greek. Nobody understands him. That's funny. I try it in German. Successfully.
Outside, it is now storming even harder through the grey urban canyons. Steffi pulls her thick hood over her head and Yentel puts her arm over her shoulder, while Lennart holds on to his cap with all his strength again. We set off.
When we arrive at the party tent on the promenade, we see a long queue in front of the entrance and inside it's crazy. Yentel quickly moves past the queue on the left and we follow behind. Once we reach the entrance, he doesn't even have to show a wristband or anything similar. The doorman nods, he walks in, we follow. Oh, being world champion must be nice. And then I wonder when Lennart will lead the way and set the pace - or is he already doing that? While I ponder this for a moment, we get lost in the crowd within the first few metres.
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