4th place PWA Freestyle Fuerteventura

The PWA World Cup freestyle event in Fuerteventura is finished and I finished fourth overall. I’m very happy with my sailing and happy with my result, but of course just missing out on the podium is never the greatest feeling 😉 The level of the girls was very high though, and it was so cool seeing that in most heats girls were pulling off shaka’s / kono’s and loops. Congrats to Sarah Quita, Oda and Maaike for their podium places.

The days before the event I got a bit ill, and I was very worried it would influence my sailing. Luckily I felt better again on the second day of the competition and I actually think that having a few days of rest for the competition was good for my body. Rest is as important as good training!

For most heats I have only been using my 3.7 and was very overpowered most of the heats but I quite liked those extreme difficult conditions. Even the guys were having some difficult moments sometimes with crashes or missed ducks, due to the strong and gusty wind and the big shore break near the beach. I did like the strong wind and waves though, it was so much nicer sailing that the week before the competition when it was completely off shore wind and without waves.

It was the first year with live scoring and it’s so cool that people at home can really follow our heats and see who is leading the heat. It’s also nice for us, to see how high some moves score and to get a clear vision on the heat afterwards! I enjoyed watching the heats of the guys a lot as well; I always liked watching them as most of the sailors are good friends and its exciting to watch, but with the live scoring it was even more exciting to watch as you can really follow who is leading and how close the difference is between sailors.

After the competition I had some free sailing days with my brother and one of my best friends. So cool to sail together with them again – as we learnt to windsurf when we were really young.

They were also the two best caddies in the world! They have been helping me so much, having my spare sails ready, carrying everything up anddown the beach and just being super nice to me all the time 😉

Also a big shout out to my sponsors for their support, and for getting all my new 2017 gear with me in time for the competitions! 🙂

Right now I’m sitting in a little bar in El Medano, in Tenerife. Yesterday I flew from Fuerteventura to here, for the second stop of the PWA Wave Tour that is starting on Monday. It’s nice to be back here and to get a few days of training in waves in before the start of the competition. I just came of the water from my second session here and getting used to it again. The first session I always tend to hurt my toes as I’m so used to kick my feet in my freestyle straps, while the straps of my wave board are a bit further apart from each other ( so I end up kicking my toes right onto the strap ;))

Keep you posted about this event again!