Cabo Verde Nha Terra
March 17, 2022
Bonaire King of the Caribbean
July 25, 2022
Yes ! More events are coming back! This time it was time for the Aruba Hi winds.
I haven’t competed at the Hi Winds in years because I’m always competing at exactly that time so when the organization invited me for the event, and I had time I Jumped on the chance fly back home and compete at the fishermens huts.
This week at the Hi Winds reminded me why I fell in love with windsurfing in the first place.
The Hi Winds is about having fun on and off the water!
Racing is challenging and there are always stories about what happened during the races, we’re cheering each other on from the water there’s music on the beach and live music at night. All in all, a week of fun in the sun.
Hi winds sunset magic Photos by: Robin Paul van Veghel
Just to add to the fun I opted to join the kiting the long-distance event to challenge my self.
The first and last time I did the long distance my kite was deflating while making it to the finish and I ended up catching a boat ride back to the beach haha. Safe to say that this year went much better!
I won all three long distance races where we sailed from the Fishermen’s huts to Westpoint and then back to Eagle beach.
I did my races on the strapless boards because I’m used to that now and in the end that might have given me an edge on the upwind part even though I had to have the widest stance in the world to keep control!!
I did try the twintip in one race but that….Was pure torture. My hamstrings were killing me on that one ( In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have gone to crossfit that morning) so now at least I know I definitely prefer strapless riding. I think because it’s way more similar to windsurfing. It was cool racing with Noortje who hasn’t competed in a while but always won the long distance, so we were quite close in most races, and I really couldn’t let my guard down while ahead.
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- Kite longdistance stoke!
Check out some ridiculous droning in this insta video!
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In windsurfing I competed in the open class. This was good training for starting and jibing as the first days were incredibly windy and I was overpowered on my 5,8 and medium board.
Finally, there is nothing like a long-distance start! So many riders crossing the line at the same time and the first minute is all about accelerating and finding your position in the fleet. Nathan Westera is on a completely different level and was so far ahead of us, while I was fighting with the other boys like Jort, Naygel and Terrence. It was great to push hard and trying to keep up with them.
The most challenging days for me were when we did windsurf slalom races in the morning, long distance kiting and then re-rig my windsurf set again for long distance windsurfing. Wow, this week felt like a marathon, but I absolutely loved it.
Re-rigging!
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By the end of the week I was happily sunburned, my hands were destroyed I was exhausted I made new friends and I was so happy and excited about windsurfing. Exactly how I felt back in 2002 when I competed for the first time.
I’m so grateful to the organisation for inviting me back home. I think they did an awesome job at breathing new life into the
Hi winds. The atmosphere was laidback, energetic and fun all in one and I hope that I’ll be back next year for more of this!
Thanks to my parents for treating this as a world cup because they were there to watch and support every day and I really appreciate that.Thank you to Boardwalk Aruba for hosting me a at their boutique hotel, it was a total getaway and super relaxing.
My stay at the boardwalk was magical!
