LOUTSA: LENNART NEUBAUER

Loutsa, around 35 km east of Athens is one of Greece’s most popular windsurfing beaches. Greek ripper and 2021 PWA Freestyle Youth World Champion, Lennart Neubauer, fills us in on its charms.  

Words – Lennart Neubauer  //Photos – Alex Grymanis / Red Bull Content Pool 

This spot is one of the best known in Greece. It’s the spot where I stop and have a session before almost every international event, as it’s just a 10 minute drive to the airport. Every time it’s windy, a really cool scene of keen local windsurfers show up, even in winter time! The strong Meltemi wind makes this place work very frequently with wind from left and has a smooth little wave rolling in on the windier days, making for an absolute dream freestyle and wave spot.  

CONDITIONS 

It’s generally pretty easy to predict the wind in Loutsa, since the weather forecast is very accurate in this region. The spot is divided into a shallow area where you can comfortably get in and out of the water, and the actual wave bit, which is a little more upwind. Here I recommend wearing boots, as it can get sharp at certain spots.  

People with all kinds of levels sail this place, from beginner to pro. Usually I sail on my freestyle gear, meaning anything from 4.0 to 5.2, with my most frequent setup being a 4.8 on my 93-litre board. One of the unique things about this place, is that on every day, regardless of the wind, there will ALWAYS be someone on the water, be it on iQFOiL gear or on the smallest wave sails, so you will always have company on the water.  

SEASONS 

People often think of Greece as a mostly summer windsurfing scene, which is partly true, I say partly as in my experience the period from September to December is the best wind wise. In the late season the water temperature is still nice and warm and the outside temperature has cooled off a bit, which is the ideal circumstances for strong winds here. In the deep winter also there are sometimes heavy storms off the coast of Athens, which can make this spot a dream for jumping as you can see in the pictures. For this session, conditions were 3.7 wave sailing, and later 4.0 freestyle. The water temperature never drops below 13°C., even in January, so it’s always nice to put your hands in the relatively ‘warm’ water when compared to the cold outside temperatures. From December to March I use a 4/3 mm wetsuit and if necessary some gloves and a hood. The rest of the year a shorty works perfectly fine. All in all, Loutsa is definitely a spot I can recommend !!!