Boot Düsseldorf – Day 1 Recap
Sun 20th Jan, 2019 @ 1:00 pm
The world’s largest boat show turns 50 and day one has been a complete success. The visitors have enjoyed the attractions and product variety at the stands of surf shops and manufacturers in the Beach to the fullest.
The enthusiastic spectators experienced captivating action of the top athletes at the shallow water basin and along with THE WAVE. The surf shops were highly frequented in a happy atmosphere. On day 1, many visitors from neighbouring countries found their way to the trend sports hall.
Tow-In Windsurfing: thrilling action at the shallow water basin
The shallow water basin changed into an arena for board acrobats. The freestyle windsurfers were brought to speed on the wakeboard cable car and showed fascinating rotations of all kinds. Niclas Nebelung, number one ranked protagonist of the German Freestyle League, performed strong manoeuvres during the show on Saturday. But also other participants like Jannes Thomsen and Foivos Tsoupras convinced with clean jumps. The windsurfing pros Julien Mas and former World Champion Steven van Broeckhoven did not miss the chance to show their exceptional skills on the 65-meter long pool. The jumps of the pros did impress the audience. “I see tow-in windsurfing for the first time. It is impressive how speed is being built up at this short distance, and the drivers still manage to show their manoeuvre.” In the competition among friends, Germany’s best tow- in windsurfer will be crowned at the first weekend. The show-driving on Saturday is followed by the Grand Finale on January 20th.
Rookie of the Year
The Rookie of the Year Award was presented for the eighth time in a slightly different format this year. Alexia Kiefer-Quintana (14) and Lennart Neubauer (14) convinced the jury with their performance. Lennart is U15 World Champion in freestyle and waveriding. Alexia was able to secure the world title in her age group in the discipline Wave in the 2018 season.
Andreas Erbe, editor-in-chief of Europe’s largest windsurfing magazine SURF, together with Michael, division manager of the Messe Düsseldorf, presented the prize endowed with 2000 Euro. Finally, the young winners received the award from the hands of windsurfing legend Robby Naish. Lennart said that he is overjoyed and directly wants to invest the money on a trip. Alexa is also planning a trip to Marocco to improve her surf skills further.
Talk on stage
Sarah Quita Offringa
The 15-time windsurfing World Champion Sarah-Quita Offringa gave insights into her life as a watersport professional during a talk on stage at the shallow water basin. Lots of travel, loads of luggage but always in a good mood. The power woman from Aruba is an athlete with brains, she studied innovation management in the Netherlands and parallelly participated in the complete Freestyle World Tour.
Gunnar Asmussen
Gunnar Asmussen is Germany’s fastest windsurfer. Just recently he was able to crack the German speed record for windsurfing, which had been unbroken for three years, and thus brought the speed record to his hometown Flensburg. At almost 96 km/h (60 mph), he shot through an extra dredged channel in southern Namibia.
Philip Köster
The achievements of the four-time Wave World Champion Philip Köster remain unequalled. During his interview at the wave, he raved about his favourite spots and explained why the 2018 season did not exactly go his way. However, Philip does feel comfortable in his hunter role and plans all ready for the upcoming energetic season.
The Wave Masters
Janina Zeitler Dominates The First Women’s Round
The competition of the Wave Masters at the boot Düsseldorf started on Saturday morning on THE WAVE by Citywave. The ladies showed a decent performance from the start. And there was one clear favourite. Janina Zeitler from Munich has already won the fight on the standing wave for the past two years. This year, again, she did not fail to impress with incredibly precise, powerful turns and rotations on the shaft. The 18-year-old dominated the driver field, was able to prevail in her run against the opponents. Also, Noemi Kriz stood out with style on the wave and was able to prevail in a close duel against Switzerland’s Annik Bollag. The 2017 Sylt Opening winner Valeska Schneider also showed clean wave rides and 360ies in the second heat of the day. In her round she prevailed against the Viennese Johanna Lackner, Rahel Brunner and the only twelve-year-old Celine Dornick. Celine even showed a 720 in her runs.
Simon Bitterlich proves his strength during the opening runs of the WAVE MASTERS
The men also enjoyed their runs on the first day of the WAVE MASTERS competition and demonstrated their art of taming waves in great style. Above all, Lenny Weinhold showed how to irresistibly in his run against Joshy Holy, Lukas Wanningen und Alon Evron. He carried out his 360-degree jumps skillfully and linked one turn smoothly with the next one. Lenny Weinhold qualified for the next round on Saturday. Simon Bitterlich was runner-up at last year’s WAVE MASTERS and started into the competition with the favourite’s role. His run was a demonstration of how to drive a perfect and commanding round. Bitterlich left his competitors no chance. Second place was claimed by Frederick Pietzecker.
The Boot In Numbers:
Around 2000 exhibitors are expected, 60 % of them from abroad from a total of 73 countries. The boot covers 220,000 square meters over 16 exhibition halls. 250,000 visitors are expected at the anniversary fair. More than 2,000 journalists will report from the world’s largest water sports exhibition.
About the boot Düsseldorf:
The boot Düsseldorf is the world’s largest boat and water sports fair. It’s annually held in January and well established as the meeting place of the entire industry. From 19 to 27 January 2019, the exhibitors will present their premieres, news and products on 220,000 square meters and take you on board for an exciting journey through the world of watersports. With offers from all the topics of boats and yachts, engines and their technology, equipment and accessories, services, canoes and kayaks, water skiing, water trend sports, fishing, maritime art, marinas, water sports facilities and beach resorts as well as charters, there will be something to discover for every water sports enthusiast. The fair is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00. Tickets can be ordered online at http://www.boot.de and conveniently printed out at home. At the same time, they can be used for free travelling with the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (regional transport network).
To find out more information about The boot Düsseldorf, please click here.
