Hyeres, France, what a BEAUTIFUL spot! Windy and sunny everyday with lots of slalom heats. Two weeks ago I was there for the European Slalom Championships. I got to meet some of the French guys who where ready to race. It was a tough week of competing with all the top youth guys. I became 8th overall, losing my 5th / 4th place during the last day when my boom broke in the Winners Final. But I had another learning experience to always stay on top of my equipment. Also you have to be mentally and physically ready to compete in the Top 10 with these guys!
A few days ago I came back from “Ronde om Texel”, a famous long distance race rounding this Dutch island, that has the size of Aruba. Big guys were competing, like Taty Frans, Casper Bouwman, Amado Vrieswijk and The Rijsselberghe brothers. This race was very intense: my legs where killing me after sailing for two hours. But it didn’t end how I expected it to… Half way during the race one footstrap got lose. Not a big deal because I brought my own screw driver. But the really bad news was that 500 meters before the finish I hit something in the water and I lost my 44cm IFJU fin L. But I didn’t give up. When I finally got to the beach I walked half a kilometer to the finish, carrying my windsurf gear. It was a good workout! I finally finished the race after 3 hours and 15 minutes, losing a few spots. My goal is to perform better next year.
I’m currently in The Netherlands. Because there is no wind I am training in Sportcentrum Cardo in Veldhoven. The next trip on my calendar is to Italy for the World Championships Slalom. Wish me luck !
