It's right now, it's right here and just perfect! Living on an island makes it possible to kitesurf with any winddirection and as we have one bft more compared to the rest of Holland we really do kitesurf more than anywhere else. Add some nice northern swell now and than and we go surfing... So on tropical surf island Ameland you never have to be bored!

If you like to attend one of my kitesurfing, surfing or kayak classes, please contact me on +31 46 57 05 73

Aloha!! I know I haven't been so good with my updates this winter, but it was kind of a different winter to me.

I went to Austria to learn to snowboard, because I really needed a break from the kitesurfing. I have done it for so long, reached the status of Pro rider, performed pretty well in competitions and taught a lot of students on my island Ameland. So at a certain point it was somehow very hard for me te enjoy my kitesessions. Therefore I decided to do something different and learned to snowboard!!

This was quite a painfull process with bruised knees and bum, but after three weeks i got the hang of it and really loved going down the slopes!! Living in the snow was also a complete change over and I realized that sun, beaches and oceans are more my thing :D !

After two months in Austria I was relieved to go to the sun again because I looked like a snow woman. White, pale and cold! The destination was Cape Town and to feel my favourite elements again was just GREAT! Sun, good waves, beaches and a lot of happy people. So three weaks in paradise was perfect before starting the season on Ameland. And guess what...... I'm stoked to go kiting again!!

It promises to be a good season again with some great stuff ahead. Check www.beachcampameland.nl for my new project! It's a surfcamp with a fun programme around to get the max out of a visit to Ameland. Come and join!

Next to that there will be the Brunotti team weekend end of april, kitechix for ladies the end of may, madness beginning of june and than the Brunotti Beachcamps in july and august.

Not bad huh? Not bad at all!!

Credits pica's; timhendrics.com

I'm sitting behind my computer and feeling sour all over my body!! But it was worth everything, because becoming 2nd behind Jalou Langeree was a great feeling and the event itself was epic!

The first day I was ready to start my heat and waiting for the green flag to show up. But instead the white/red flag appeared and I had to get off the water. The wind was too strong and the organisation decided to cancel the womans competition for the day as the wind was too strong. (it was pumping, but I was OK on my 6 m depowerd Jekyll :)

So instead of riding I watched the mens on the water and what a show it was!! WHoooohooooo, those jumps and loops and insane tricks in 8 bft were amazing to watch LIVE. Standing on the beach was almost impossible as the sandblast was taking a clear vision. At night I was still fighting to get the sand out of my eyes...

That evening me and Nicole went to bed early as our competition started at 9 am the next morning. Pumping up your kite at 8 is waaaay to early, but after a cup of coffee I was ready for battle.

Before I started I had to drag one of the men of the boatcrew back to shore as the boat was upside down after being washed by one of the big waves. In my first heat we were with three girls and two passed to the next round. I did ok and also the next two heats I was trying to vary my tricks and pop as much as possible. The hardest part of riding your heat is to try to stay upwind behind the beachbreak. Once I was washed big time by a heavy wave after a surface pass and I had a faceplant into the sandbank! Hahaha, so funny, even lost my hairband down there.

I reached the finals of the single elaminations where I had to face Jalou Langeree. She is a real freestyle chick and won the Nationals about five times or so. I just sticked with my own repetoire and did as good as possible. But my 6 meter was halfway my heat not enough anymore and once I was in front of the beachbreak I couldn't get going anymore. I was gutted I didn't take my 8 meter!

Four hours later I had to go again to defend my second place against Judith. I think that was one of my best heats as I landed almost every trick. Unfortunately not my board-off, I just couldn't get my toes in the straps before I was down. The s-bend to blind felt great, also my grabbed-frontroll-kiteloop-transitions(that sounds like algebra)

Now I was back in de finals of the double elamination and there was Jalou again... My heat wasn't as good as against Judith, but Jalou lost her kite 2 minutes before time. I didn't know it, because when I'm riding I never take notice of the other riders but just do my own thing. In the last minute I tried my boardoff again, but I was exhausted so couldn't move my legs anymore to get them back in! Even though I lost this heat, I was quite close... Most of all, I really enjoyed being on the water between a lot of chicks that are riding hard. It really motivated me to keep going and push myself.

Now I'm back on Ameland and staring at the empty Northsea in my backyard. The waves are rolling and asking me for a ride. Alrighty then, wetsuit on, surfboard with, time to have some fun again!

Kitesurfing is just great

Credits pica's: JePe www.jepe.nl

Check out our new movie from a great surftrip to France!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeRR8dpHROI

A few pictures from a short shoot at the southside of Ameland

check http://www.amelandfoto.nl/2009-07-28%20kitesurf/index.html

And a challenge it was! I think I have never been on my board for that long.... But it was such a great experience to kitesurf from one tropical island to the other togeter with friends!

We left Atlantis kitebach at 10 AM saying goodbye to our friends we met on Bonaire and taking all our luggage with us in the safety boat. The wind was blowing 18 knots which was perfect for my 8m Jekyll. The first 2 hours were easy but unfortunately the boat had to pick up Marleen because she was slowing down the rest of us. So I continued the downwinder with Hans, Zwanet and Pieter towards klein Curacao.

Me and Marleen have manged to organize a downwinder from Bonaire to Curacao! We will leave on the 28th of March leaving from Atlantis to klein Curacao. This will take approx. 2.5 hours. At klein Curacao we will have a photoshoot in the bluest water ever :) After some rest, food and drinks we will continue to Curacao for antother 2 hours. Down there we will have a BIG party at Zanzibar sponsored by Amstel Bright.

The Downwind Challenge will happen every year on the last weekend of March. This year a group of 10 kitesurfers and 2 windsurfers will start this Challenge and ride for the charity project called 'Stichting Project'.

Will be continued!

It's all about Freestyle down here in Caribbean Paradise. Although I did find a secret, glassy lefthander :) But nothing very impressive unfortunately. But hey, except for the lack of waves all the rest on Bonaire is GREAT! So I'll stick around here for another month or so untill I can't resist the itch for a hollow righty anymore :)

A short impression from my worldcup in Morocco. This fragment is part of the SurfChicks on Tour movie. If you want to see the complete version go to http://www.surfchicks.nl/ (dutch)

The KPWT worldcup has come to an and I have to say that I'm ready to continue our trip in Morocco. Personally I really enjoyed my time on the water with some very good riders, but when you see the people from the tour there can be no other conclusion than that nobody was really happy. We heard a lot of complaints about many things and it was a shame that many people just didn't enjoy the tour in Essaouira.

But the parties were nice and the Wavemasters in Moulay was SOOOOOO nice with good sets coming in and enough power for my 8 meter. Unfortunately I broke the fin of my waveboard just before my heat started, so I had to borrow another board. I still had a good heat though, with one of my best waves EVER! I loved it :)

But I didn't pass the heat against the nr 1 in waves; Kirsty Jones from the UK... She is a very good rider so I got really inspired for better waveriding! It was also a great show to see some impressive riding from the men, especially Abel Lago. 

Anyway, I had a good time in Essaouira but now it's time to move on again! Hopefully we can put a little movie on surfchicks.nl soon, but our camera has crashed and we are not sure if the files are still alive.

We are on tour again tomorrow, leaving to Sidi Kaouki for two days. After that we go on a roadtrip to Dahkla with our friend Hamada from Yallay kitesurfing who has an awesome 4wd :)  Will keep you updated!