Starting Off '26 by Turning Up the Pool Party | FPT Boot Düsseldorf 2026 Day 1 Recap
January 23, 2026
The 2026 Freestyle Pro Tour season is officially underway, as we kick the Tow-In World Series off at the Boot Düsseldorf!
Day 1 began with a relaxed registration session at 13:00, but the familiar FPT event energy didn’t take long to build. Riders caught up, prepped their gear and rigged their sails behind the pool to start the day off, as both the hype and the crowd started to build for the official opening of the season.
At 15:45 it was Go Time, with the first training session getting underway. Lennart Neubauer, Yentel Caers, and Maaike Huvermann opened with their runs, immediately giving the fans lining the side of the pool a taste of what kind of level we can expect over the coming days.
And if there was a theme already emerging on Day 1, it was this: the Air Funnel Burner is once again looking to be the big money move. “I quoted it last year, and I’ll quote it again,” Lennart Neubauer smiled after one of his runs. “Whoever does an Air Funnel Burner is gonna win.”
Yentel Caers seemed to second that exact thought. “Double Power moves will for sure be the scoring moves,” Yentel said, after starting off rather tame (by Yentel Caers standards anyway), with a few Burner Funnels of his own. The ever-elusive Air Funnel Burner, however, still managed to dodge both Lennart and Yentel on Day 1.
Steven van Broeckhoven’s predictions were very similar to those of Neubauer and Caers, confidently stating that double power moves would be the way to success at this event.
Caers, Neubauer and Van Broeckhoven also showed something extra for the judges, throwing No-Handed Burner attempts. While both Yentel and Lennart ended up scoring spectacular crashes with a super radical stretch, Steven went a little smaller, but landed his perfectly. The message was clear: land one of those, and it might just be the stylish cheat code capable of rivaling even the biggest double power moves of the event.
Maaike Huvermann looked as consistent as ever – single Funnels came easy, even with a glimpse of a few Air Funnel Funnel rotations. Topped off with Burners and Culos, she once again proved why she’ll be the one to beat in the women’s fleet.
At 18:45, the rest of the riders finally hit the water.
Foivos Tsoupras once again proved why he’s THE tow-in wildcard to look out for. He stomped multiple perfect Burners, topped them off with his signature Cana Brava, and even threw in a Shaka – move you almost never see in tow-in, but one made possible by the subtle wind coming from the poolside fans. Classic Foivos.
On the women’s side, Lisa Kloster looked right at home in the Boot pool, enjoying every moment as she worked through single funnel rotations before pushing into double-rotation territory. She also mixed in regular-stance moves and even went hunting for Cana Bravas, clearly using Day 1’s practice sessions for just that – to explore the boundaries of what might be possible in the pool this weekend. Elena Dominick landed clean Spocks and even sticking a Funnel of her own, a moment she was visibly stoked about as she came off the water.
Tigo Kort also looked sharp, stomping a handful of Burners and Culos. After initially struggling with his run-ups, a switch to a longer fin transformed his session, allowing him to find his rhythm and start stomping his moves.
Niclas Nebelung, last year’s runner-up at Boot, was clearly hunting the Air Funnel Burner himself. Despite landing multiple clean power moves, the trick continued to elude him, leaving him visibly disappointed after a few runs. A dangerous sign for the rest of the fleet if he manages to unlock it later in the weekend.
With Day 1 in the books, the tone of this event seems to be set, with the level being absolutely sky-high, and the Air Funnel Burner is once again haunting everyone’s dreams. The action continues tomorrow with an early training session kicking off at 8:00, followed by the opening qualifying rounds at 15:45 in the Hall 17 pool.
Be sure to tune into the Freestyle Pro Tour social channels for behind-the-scenes content, training highlights, and all the latest updates from the poolside of the first event of the 2026 FPT Season.
