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Welcome!
You are now visiting the website of professional windsurfer Niklas Stråhlén. Here you can check out all the latest action from my travelling around the world for competitions, training and the never ending search for those perfect surf-days with my friends!
News
European Freestyle Pro Tour 2011 is over, shared 1st place overall
Unfortunately the last competition of the European Freestyle Pro Tour in Eilat, Israel, got canceled. This means that the tour is finished for this year. I ended up sharing the first place on the overall result. This is anyway a great achievment for me and we had a great time during the competitions that where done.
Swedish championships 1st place
This year we had a great competition that went down in Torhamn in the south of Sweden. 4.8 full power and I just got my new RRD Twintip 100 that works perfectly. After a full single and dubble elimination I finished on a 1st place. It was really cool to have a competition where the conditions don´t set the limit! Hope to see more of these competitons next year!
 
 
EFPT Sardinia
Today is the last day of the second European freestyle pro tour being held in Sardinia Italy. Unfortunately we still have had no wind for the competition days and therefore no result in Sardinia.
EFPT Milos is over, shared 1st place
The last day of the competition we finally got some wind and we were able to run the competition. I was on a 5.7 so the wind was still very light but just enough. I went through some heats and in the and got all the way to the finals wich was a great achievment for me! I was here against Matteo Fabrizzio from Italy but unfortunately the wind dropped and we were not able to run the heat. This means that we are four guys to share the first place.
Anyway I am really happy with the result and this will be a good start on the tour for this year. My Swedish friend Erik Håkman caught the 9th place here at his first European competition. Congratts! Thanks to all the guys at Milos beach for a really good event as always! Next up i Sardininia Italy.
  
 
EFPT Milos Day 2
The second day of Europenan Freestyle Pro Tour´s first stop in Milos beach is over. We had some wind for a while but unfortunately it dropped after 4 heats. Erik Håkman, the new swede on the tour won his heat against Filippo Bestetti, congrats to that man! I am seeded to the next round so I didn´t get to compete anything today. Hopefully we get more wind tomorow so we can finish the competition. Peaceout!
 
 
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First day of EFPT Milos beach, Greece
A few days ago we arrived to Milos beach on Lefkada, Greece. A nice place to hang out and surf but also the place for the first competition of the European Freestyle Pro Tour. All the guys has been here for some days now more pepp than ever. Unfortunately we didn´t get enough wind today to compete even tho we did get some freesailing in the gusts with 5.7. This sail is working so good, kept light with 4 battens. All the moves stuck nice even tho the wind was light. The forecast looks better for the next days so probably we will get some action done. Take it easy!!
 
 
 
Edit from Egypt
Edits from Haga Park
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Antony Ruenes on Simmerstyle
Check out the interview about it, the simmerstyle team and the new Blacktip 2011!
http://efpt.net/newsdetails.php?n_id=413
Simmer Blacktip 2011 is killer!!
I have been using the new blacktips for a while now and i´m just superstoked. In the diverse conditions back in sweden I have been using all sizes between 5.7 and 3.6. The feeling of the sails are pretty much the same in all sizes which I think is realy important, so that it´s easy to get use to the new size quickly when changing.
As i´m getting use to the extra power you can get out of these sails when fully sheeted in, especially in the bigger sizes, I can use it just before some of my moves to gain more height and to do the moves faster, especially the ponch, and all the new moves where the sail is backwinded before jumping.
The Blacktip 2011 is superlight with the 4 batten construction, but more importantly it makes the sail flat uppove the boom. For me as a freestyler this is really helpful as it gives hundred procent control when ducking the sail for konos, culos and burners. The sail also ends up just where I want it in shakas and nohand-moves.
The new Blacktip is a killer sail which has all I need for freestyle-sailing! In two weeks I will bring them to Capetown and later on to Bali to try them out in the waves! It´s gonna be a sick trip!!
Check out more pics under pictures!
 
 
Interview on EFPT.net
Check out my interview on the european freestyle pro tour website! Im looking forward to a new competition-season soon! Rip it up!!!
http://efpt.net/newsdetails.php?n_id=408
"Before you rig one of our sails, masts, tighten one of our booms or slip into one of our harnesses rest assured that we have dragged numerous prototypes and versions of every single one of them, several times around the world to have the worlds best windsurfers test them in every imaginable condition just to make sure that Quality, Performance and Reliability is in fact not just something we say, it is, a fact.´
These are the words in the about section of Simmer Style´s web appearance. Truely a brand with a long history. We spoke with Swedish rider Niklas Strahlen about the new freestyle sails for 2011.
EFPT: Hi Niklas, where are you now?
Niklas Strahlen: Hey guys! Right now I am working on a container-ship on the coast of the USA to make some money for surfing! Right after this I am heading to Cape Town, South Africa to get some sailing done!
EFPT: What are the main qualities a freestyle sail that suits you should have?
NS: It has to be light, the new four batten sails get it done. It´s important for me that the sail is flat above the boom when there is no power in it, this gives good control in ducking the sail for Culos and Konos, but still it has to be powerful for early planing, speed and powermoves.
EFPT: A few weeks ago Simmer Style released it´s new sail range for 2011. Now they offer 4 pure wave sails and one wave/cross over sail. Which one is your weapon of choice?
NS: Simmerstyle is getting a stronger range of sails, accessories and team riders year after year. 2011 is no exception. For me as a freestyler, the Blacktip is an easy choice. Blacktip is the cross over sail in the line and is perfectly built to learn the new moves and to do it with style, both in the waves and on the freestyle arena. When I first tried the sails my expectations were high, but these sails are something different! The four battens make it super light and - maybe even more important - easy to handle. The sail ends up just where I want it in theShaka, Ponch and Burners. I wouldn´t them for anything in the world!
EFPT: Are you as a rider included in the sail design process?
NS: I´m never at the drawing-table. I´m the guy on the water who gives feedback on things that could be changed and improved.
EFPT: You are - together with Edvan Souza de Pedro and Yarden Meir - in a very successful team at the European Freestyle Pro Tour. How important is support from your teammates?
NS: Yarden and Edvan are supercool guys and we have a great time on the competitions during the season. Unfortunately we don´t train so much together during wintertime at the moment. I hope to see them this winter in Cape Town or Dahab!
EFPT: Thanks for the interview Niklas
Take it easy!!
//Niklas Stråhlén S-4444
image credits: Anna Persson, nhema.se"
Three pages in Nordic Surf Mag
I recently appeared with a three page interview in Nordic Surf Mag. They didn´t do windsurf-articles before, until now. One more step forward for newschool-windsurfing! I hope to see more windsurfing in Nordic Surf Mag in the future!
You can buy it in any Pressbyrån and several other stores around Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Also check out their website at: www.nordicsurfersmag.se.
EFPT Final at Naxos, Greece!
Just got back from the finals of European Freestyle Pro Tour at Naxos.
With early mornings we got through a nice competition even though the wind
was a bit up and down. One single and one double-elimination were made
during Thursday and Friday where I ended up on a 9th place. During the
weekend we did some jibing where we got dragged to planning behind a boat
and so on. A really good time, great organization and of course a great
show! EFPT is really stepping it up at the moment, putting a lot more
effort in making the comps something to watch. Great for the tour, riders
and spectators!
So this was the last competition of EFPT 2009, which gives us an overall
result of the year that looks like this:
EFPT overall result
1. Steven Broeckhoven
2. André Paskowski
3. Niko Akgatzian
4. Davy Scheffers
5. Niklas Stråhlén (Simmer/RRD)
6. Edvan Souza (Simmer/RRD)
7. Yarden Meir (Simmer/Fanatic)
Thanks to my sponsors who made this possible!
Simmer Style, RRD, Surfers and RipCurl
Surftrip Windsurfclinic in Rhodes is over and out..
We had some really nice and windy last days of our trip, even tho some stayed for one more week.. We had a few dinners and drinks together aswell before most of us catched a flight back to Sweden.
I had a great time during this week and I hope we all did! Stay tuned for a last video from Surftrip TV..
Click the picture for gallery!
Surftrip TV, day 3
Surftrip TV, day 2
Surftrip TV, Pre-riding
Surftrip Windsurfclinic in Rhodes started, day 4 and 5
The swedes are starting to land their moves and now you can really be proud of being a viking-surfer. Tommy and his smaller copy Jeppe are landing vulcans and going for flakas, Frida is making her first heli-tacks, The Rosen-brothers are going for powerjibes and long lunches, Hasse has been sailing all morning going for helitacks and duckjibes, Tony is sailing 7-8 hours a day, just started to go switch and is already doing e-sliders, punetas and almost chachos. Mr Micke a.k.a Mr progress came here 5 days ago, wanting to know what freestyle was and learn how to jump. Now he´s doing helitacks, full speed duckjibes, jumping the vulcan and today is project forwardloop. Look out for this guy!
I´m filming the guys from the jetski every afternoon and we look at it later, a great way to learn and also to get some good laughs from crashes..
Yesterday the owner of the center took us to a greek restaurant in Ialyssos where he had pre-ordered all the greek food I knew there was, and more to it. A good time that ended up in a late night in the hotell bar, even the kids managed to stay up!
Check out the pictures and stay tuned for next Surftrip TV...
Click the picture for gallery!
Surftrip Windsurfclinic in Rhodes started, day 1 and 2..
We just started the first windsurfclinic from Surftrip together with Apollo. I got together 7 people for the clinic, and it´s a nice team! Yesterday most of the guys arrived here in Rhodes, except for some whos already been here for a week. We had a bit introduction, everybody got there equipment together and we got some sailing done too. The wind was not at it´s best but it was alright for planing with a 5.7.
It was cool to see that everybody was really trying there moves, all from gybes and backwindsailing, to vulcans, and Tony, that managed his first e-sliders.
Some of the guys wanted to do some learning off water. Now they are all doing spocks, chachos and flakas, lets just take it to the water! We got some sailing done aswell ofcoarse and I was filming from a jetski a few hundred metres out. The pictures from today are therefore not the best, but stay tuned..
Tonight where having a barbeque with some greek dishes, windy tomorow!
Click the picture for gallery!
It´s getting close to the windsurf-clinic in Rhodes
I will be arranging a windsurf clinic together with the travelagency Apollo the 23rd to the 30th of august. There is a nice crew already joining but there is still time for you to come with.
I just had a freestyle-clinic at Haga Park Öland. Great time!!
Read more about the clinic and book you place at:
www.SurfTrip.se
European Freestyle Pro Tour Alacati over
European Freestyle Pro Tour Alacati, also called King of the bay is now over after two doubleeliminations. The competition should go on the whole weekend but the chanses for wind are pretty much zero so thats why they do the prizegiving already today.
I ended up on a 6th place in the first double and a 4th place in the second, after a judgingdesission against Paskowski that I don´t really agree with, but thats competition I guess! Overall I got a 6th place in Alacati wich put me in a 5th place in the EFPT-ranking.
My teammates Yarden Meir and Edvan Souza are also sailing good over here and I´m sure they had good fun!
Afterall we had a great time here in Alacati, as always! Tonight we go for some party with the guys and on monday I fly back to Sweden to try to catch up with midsummer..
Results:
1. Steven Broeckhoven
2. André Paskowski
3. Nicolas Akgatzian
4. Davy Sheffers
5. Phil Soltysiak
6. Niklas Stråhlén
7. Sassa Teixeira
8. Andraz Zan
8. Edvan Souza de Pedro
10. Stam Promponas
10. Yarden Meir
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...
Click on the picture for gallery:
European Freestyle Pro Tour Alacati day 1
Hey again!
Now we just did the first day of competition in EFPT Alacati Turkey. We did a single and a double-elimination already today. Good winds even tho it was very up and down. I was sailing both pumping 5.7 XD and full on 4.7 Mission.
I ended up on a 5th place after the single after winning Meir but got eliminated by Davy Sheffers. I thought I did a good heat but Sheffers stuck all his moves and was very hard to beat!
In the double I was winning 2 heats against the Jericoacoara-Brazilians Chico and Sassa. I was happy about that but I was stopped by Nico Akgatzian and ended up on a 6th place. I have a hard time to do really good in the double because I have to sail so many heats after each other and there is no time to rest. But anyway Im happy with 6th place the first day. Hope for good winds tomorow!
I don´t have the whole results of today but here is a bit:
1. Steven Broeckhoven
2. André Paskowski
3. Phil Soltysiak
4. Davy Sheffers
5. Nico Akgatzian
6. Niklas Stråhlén
European Freestyle Pro Tour Crete over
Hey!
EFPT Palekastro Crete finished this Sunday with strong winds. I was on a 4.2 totally overpowered, a bit different conditions to compete in, which also showed in the results that ended up a bit different than usual.
We did two single and two double-eliminations, which means aloot of sailing, almost collapsing there in the end of Saturday. The conditions were hard but I had a great time sailing there with small sails and good action. I had some good heats and made it through to the final heats in both rounds, the second one I ended up in a 3rd place after beating Nicolas Akgatzian in the double. He likes strong wind so I’m very happy about that heat. In the end I got a 4th place in the event which is my best ever result, really cool after a good winter of training in Brazil and Egypt.
Really cool people that do the EFPT this year which makes it so much fun and also great organization by Hannes and his guys at the Freak-station.
Monday night we went with the ferry to Athens where we stayed the whole day today doing the tourist-round with old building and cameras, not really use to that but now we seen Athens. Right now we are on the ferry to Chios and from there we will go to Alacati for the next event that will go down in a few days.
Click the picture for gallery!
European Freestyle Pro Tour Crete day 2.
Hey!
Day 2 is just over and we had sick conditions for competition, 4.7 full power the whole day.
We started with finishing the finals of the single-elimination from yesterday. Affortunatly I lost against Paskowski, even tho it was reeally close, and I ended up on a 4th place in the single, still superhappy about that!
Then we started the dubble-elimination straight away and there I finished 5th. After some break for lunch we did another single-elimination where I won against Davy Sheffers again, and ended up on a 4th place. Super stoked about the results so far, tomorow we do the last dubble and the wind will be strong!!
No we go for some dinner and a rockkonsert tonight. This is not really the party-town we ended up in so probably we get some early sleep..
For pics click the picture below!
European Freestyle Pro Tour Crete day 1.
Hey!
Day 1 of the EFPT-competition in Palekastro Crete is just over and we got some good wind straight away even tho the forecast is even better for the next days! We got through almost the whole singleelimination today but the wind affortunatley dropped before the finals.
I had a great day of sailing, winning my heats and I am now in the finals togehter with André Paskowski, Steven Brockhoven and Nicola Akgatzian. We sail the finals tomorow-morning and probably its gonna be strong wind, and sick action!
Take it easy! Greatings from Crete!
Niklas Stråhlén
S-4444.com
SURFTRIP.se
European Freestyle Pro Tour Milos over
We just finished hte competition in Milos Beach for this year. We got some wind for the singleelimination the first day but then it was never really enough to get through the double. It was a fun competition tho with high level of sailing, cool people and nice partys!
Thanks to the organizers and to Christos for everything! No we leave for the airport to go to Krete, where the next competition will be held in a few days. The forecast looks sick with strong winds, 40 knots. Might be a really cool weekend.
Result Milos:
1. Steven Van Broeckhoven
2. Davy Sheffers
3. André Paskowski
4. Nico Akgatzian
5. Edvan Souza
5. Niklas Strahlen
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Niklas Stråhlén S-4444
European Freestyle Pro Tour Milos day 1.
First day of competition in Milos Beach Lefkada is just over. We had good winds for the single elimination already today and got it all through. Good fun competition with sick level of sailing compared to last year. Everyone is doing new moves like Kono, Burner and Culo, sick!
I was sailing with 5.7 XD and Twintip 100. With this I had full power through the heats and got good speed, go big or go home!
I got through the first heats but went out against new 17 year old rider Davy Sheffers. This guy has improved alot the last year and makes now all new moves in light winds and he also got up to a second place today.
I ended up on a 5th place wich I´m really happy with, a good way to start of the new season!
Now we go for some celebrating with a few drinks, dinner and English ladys! Tomorow we will go on with the dubble elimination!
1. Steven Van Broeckhoven
2. Davy Sheffers
3. André Paskowski
4. Nico Akgatzian
5. Edvan Souza
5. Niklas Strahlen
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Niklas Stråhlén S-4444
Click this picture for pics!
Movie from Ian Hellgren!
Henke Hagen filmed a strong day in Fisken and Ian Hellgren made a movie out of it,
Hard times, Hard music. Check it out!!
Sweden is giving it´s best!!
We had some great days in Sweden now with winds over 30 knots. yesterday morning we were doing some filming when sailing 3.7 full on. Stay tuned for that! In the afternoon my dad took some pictures, when the wind dropped to 5.3. Thats all I got at the moment, take it coolers!
Now I updated with some more pictures, check it out!!
Niklas Stråhlén
Click the picture for gallery!
Swedish Windsurf Tour Öland is over
I just got back to Gothenburg after the first competition in the Swedish Windsurf Tour held at Öland.
We got two days of wind and got through singleeliminations in both Men, Women and Amathours. The first day we had wind at Haga Park and got through all the heats in the women and amathours. Afortunatly the wind dropped for the mens heat. The second day we moved the competition to Grönhögen, a well known Swedish wavespot. There the wind was good for a 5.3 and the singleelimination for the men was done!
In the semi-final I was against the Gottland hero Petter Jakobsson. I went through to the final and I was then sailing against the new wildcard Markus Robert. I have never seen him on the water before but he was ripping! I am very happy about the win. Thanks to the organisers from Öland windsurf club!
Result Herr:
1. Niklas Stråhlen
2. Markus Robert
3. Petter Jakobsson
Result Dam:
1. Anna Jönsson
2. Emma Johansson
3. Emmi Roosling
Amathour/Junior
1. Ola Bjäreborn
2. Henrik Hagen
3. Mattias Ottosson
Check out pictures from the event! Just click the picture below!
Take it easy!
Niklas Stråhlén
Day 2. Swedish Windsurf Tour, Öland
Day 2 of the first Swedish competition this year at Öland is just over and again we got blessed with some wind! The morning started of calm but still the sun was shining. At 14.00 the wind was still superlight but we found some wind on the internet, at the southern part of Öland. We all paked our cars to go south, and we ended up at Grönhögen, a spot thet usually gives good wave-conditions. Today tho we had no waves but we did get some wind for a 5.3.
The competition for the men started of straight away and I was in the first heat against the local Erik. We got through the whole single-elimination before the wind dropped of. I ended up on a first place and I am very happy about that after the training I just got in Egypt.
For tomorow the winds look ok, so maby we will be able to do a dubble-elimination too, lets hope for that!
Check out pictures from the event! Just click the picture below!
Take it easy!
Niklas Stråhlén
Swedish Windsurf Tour, first stop Öland.
I am right now at Haga Park at the island of Öland in the south of Sweden. The first day of competitions is just over and we had some good winds, sadly it dropped before the Pro competition started but still I got some good freesailing with 5.3 Mission and 100 ltr Twintip.
The girls got there competition done early and with good winds, It was tight but Anna Jönsson, local at this spot, took the win.
My friends from my homespot, Kalle and Henrik, did very well in the amathour comp. Henrik ended up on a second place and Kalle on a fourth, congrats!
I was in the first heat in the Pro´s but the wind died of just when we started. The forecast looks good for tomorow tho so hopefully we get some sailing done!
Check out pictures from the event! Just click the picture below!
Take it easy!
Niklas Stråhlén
Coaching of Young Gun Tour in Varberg
Now I just got back to Gothenburg from Varberg where I spent the weekend coaching the kids in the Young Gun Tour.
The wind was not really on our side but the sun was shining and the boys and girls where doing great on the water! Sweden will be dangerus in competitions a in a few years, you can count on that!
We where surfing as much as we could, and when the wind was all dead, everybody got to play with standup paddleboards and Jetski, and we got to talk over some equipment and rigging.
Alot of fun coaching these kids, everone is motivated and I didn´t hear anyone complaining about cold waters and bad winds, keep it up!!
Surfing in Sri Lanka
Hello! Now I am in Sri Lanka to get some uncrowded waves, and for sure we found some! I went here with some Swedish friends after a great time in Brazil. I arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the 5th of february after some problems in Sweden with getting the Visa to go here. I met up with Fred and Emma in Hikaduwa on the south-west coast because of the swell this time of year. In june the east coast starts working. Hikaduwa is the main break on the Southwest coast and we staid here for a few weeks. The reefbreaks are supercrowded tho, the japanese crew is out at 6 in the morning and dont leave untill darkness. I guess there is a few of them.
When John and Sandra arrived we traveled down south to find some new spots. Every km we went with the bus along the coast we could see new great spots with no people on. We ended up in a small village called Midigama, close to the Yale national park. Here we hang out and get great surf every day. Check out the pictures taken by our Israelian friend, this is our backyard!
Kitesurfing in Brazil January 2009
We have had some great days of kiting in Jeri, just 15 min walk from the windsurf-spot. The pictures can also be seen in the next number of the magazine "KITE" were you also can read about all the spots on the north coast of Brazil. Check it out!
Brazilian Championship December 2008
Since two days I´m no longer in Jericoacoara. I am now in another spot a few miles south from Jeri called Icarazinio. Here is also perfect conditions for freestyle with superflat water on the inside and some waves going out, pretty much like Jeri. I am here because they have arranged a big competition here, PWA-style, and all the guys are here! The Brazilians is really ripping in these conditions and you can see that they like it here. Edvan is for sure one of the best guys in the world at his homespot.
The night we arrived everybody was sleeping and we had no place to stay. We were all over the place and after planning to sleep on the beach we found a guy that could rent us a room. Very appreciated!
The next day was competition-day number one and it was intense for sure before it started, a lot of money on the game and it seems to the Brazilians that this is the biggest event of the year. I was mostly trying to get my equipment together in time and wanted to try the spot before my first heat. I got some hour of sailing before we started and it felt good! Windsurfing calms you down for sure, love it! The competition went really good and for a while I was in the final against Edvan, sadly the judges changed their decision but I was still super stoked to be in the loosers-final. In the night we had a really nice barbecue, a beer and some guys trying to sing Jimi Hendrix in Portuguese. Probably he turned in his grave!
Day two we had a bit less wind at start so I went with my 5.3 Mission and Twintip 100 liter board. The first heats went perfect like this. In the semifinal of the second elimination I did not know what sail to take. I choose a 5.3 and thought I was man enough for it, too bad.. Chico went with a 4.2 and went for a superhigh clewfirst ponch on the way out, sick!
I ended up on a 5th place and I’m pumped too go back to Jeri and practice some new moves, higher and faster! I always get so motivated for training after competing when you see the best guys in the world go full power. Respect to Edvan for his sailing over here!
Thanks to all the guys making this competition happen and also to Gigi from Italy letting me use his board for the weekend!
Go schredd were ever you are!!
  © Niklas Stråhlén - PROFESSIONAL WINDSURFER // S-4444
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