Ladies Windsurf Camp 2

Due to so many excited windsurf girls who wanted to join my camp I decided to run two ‘Ladies Windsurf Camps’ this year, and after a very successful camp last week it was time for the second one last weekend.

One of the things I love so much about these camps is that I get to meet so many new and cool windsurf women. And what I love even more is seeing ladies joining again who have been on a Ladies Windsurf Camp before / who have been to my Yoga & Windsurf week and even who have been joining me every year since my very first camp in 2015! I guess that is one of the biggest compliment I can get :), and it’s so great becoming good friends, seeing them growing in the sport and getting better and better each year.

Friday night meeting each other (again)

The forecast for the weekend was not great although for a while it looked like Friday night could be a great start of the weekend with a decent south western wind. I started the day with a nice wave session in the morning at Wijk aan Zee. I was using my 3.7 HERO and 69 liter QUAD and it felt so good using a small sail again! Although it was a Friday morning the parking lot close to the ‘Peter Volwater Pad’ was completely packed with cars. I guess a lot of windsurfers are either unemployed or very clever to find a way to never miss those good days ;-).

It was nice to see my fellow team rider Eva Oude Ophuis back on the water after giving birth last year.

After two hours of sailing and enjoying the waves I had good hopes to top it off with a freestyle session at Strand Horst afterwards but unfortunately the wind was gone earlier than expected. By the time the clinic started and people were arriving nothing was left of the 3.7 wind I had at Wijk aan Zee in the morning. A bummer, but part of the sport we all love so much! 

Nevertheless we still had a great start of the weekend. Good food, good stories, nice windsurf goals and all full of energy for the weekend. Saturday morning we started with theory while the wind was building up. We practised the fast tack ( my favourite dance move ;-)), the jibe, duck jibe, harness and the right stance. It went from sunny and warm weather during the theory to lots of rain combined with wind while being on the water. Suddenly everyone was planing! That was a nice little surprise. The wind went down again and we were not able to plane anymore,  but it was a perfect wind to practise moves like the fast tack, helitack, beach start and duck jibe.

Theory in the morning 

After some hours on the water a suspicious looking cloud turned out to be a thunder cloud. We had been expecting this a bit as we saw it in the forecast in the morning so we were all close to the beach and we decided to use this little thunder storm as a good moment to have some lunch and a break.

Dark clouds in the background 

In the afternoon we went back out on the water until it was time for a hot shower and a nice dinner. Telstar Surfclub made us burritos filled with vegetables, meat or cheese with salad and fries. After dinner (and coffee and cake) we went outside to avoid falling asleep straight away after dinner and our long day on the water. Telstar had some longboards we could borrow so some of us were cruising around on a long board while others where testing their balance skills or just enjoying the beautiful sunset, before going in an having a drink and playing some games.

Apparently everyone felt pretty knackered from a long day on the water because on Sunday we woke up from the smell of tasty croissants being ready for us at breakfast. This morning we went through some new moves on the simulator. Once they understood each part of a move or trick and they could all do it on the simulator we went back out on the water. Some ladies really wanted to practise the waterstart. There was not enough wind to really do the move, but with a board on the beach without a fin they could still get the feeling and understanding of the waterstart.

In the afternoon everyone was keen for some stretching / yoga to loosen up the muscles a bit. The wind had died off even more in the afternoon which made the lake completely flat. Pretty bad for windsurfing but perfect for yoga on a… SUP! Telstar was very kind to lend us some inflatable sups and I was actually pretty impressed how long it took before the first one of us fell in to the water!

SUP yoga 

Time flies when you are having fun and way too soon came it was time to finish the camp and to say goodbye. We all packed up our gear and were ready to leave but the terrace in the sun was too appealing so we ended up enjoying each others company a bit longer with some drinks and food!

THANKS to Telstar Surfclub for the great hospitality and this perfect location and to all ladies for making this camp so unforgettable again. Hope to see you on the water again somewhere soon!

Stay tuned for my next adventures! I will be in Holland for two more weeks before flying back to California beginning of June to take part in the American Windsurfing Tour at the Rio Vista Grand Slam near San Francisco and in The Gorge in Oregon. Afterwards will be the start of the PWA Tour for me, and I will be flying to several competitions in the Canarian Islands.

End of October I will organise one more Windsurf Camp at Telstar Surfclub, more information will follow soon!