WINDSURF MAGAZINE 67BACKGROUND
I grew up in Texel, an island off the north coast of the Netherlands. It is on the
North Sea; on one side we have waves and on the other, the super nice, smooth
waters of the Wadden Sea, where at low tide you can walk everywhere so it is
a very easy place to learn. My brother is four years older than me and both he
and my father were the first to windsurf in our family. About the age of six I
started for the first time in the summer holidays. Once I started I was totally
hooked and by the time I was thirteen I was already competing.FOIL
We are trying to make a big push with foiling for the Olympics, so it’s great
to see how the PWA do it and that is why I came to Costa Brava. When it
was 50 knots we saw the big guys handle that very well and it was interesting
to watch how the lighter guys could cope and what the different sailors are
capable of. I wanted to see and clarify a few issues for myself. I think foiling
could go into the Olympics and would be a very exciting class to watch. I
also think there is a broad spectrum of conditions the class would be able
to compete in. Peter Bijl sorted me out with the latest Gun foil sails, he is a
good friend of mine and over the winter I had tried a couple of prototypes. I
am enthusiastic about them and like the feeling they have. I also like to be a
little different than the rest of the guys. So I committed to them and I think
it is great to see something else instead of all the high aspect sails and new
ideas on the water. With the Future Fly boards, Arnon is a great guy and was
willing to help me out with the board and I am super stoked about that. I
also have Phantom foils underneath my boards to keep me flying. Basically
I just picked and chose a few bits of equipment. They were maybe not the
most obvious choices but I am happy with it.
I love foiling. With the RS:X we don’t go that fast and with the foiling it
feels like a whole new sport. We go pretty quickly even in light winds. You
can also be scared when you are on the edge with the foil. In Costa Brava
the breeze was 30-50 knots and everybody was capable of getting around the
course when the wind eased slightly. This was the first time any of the guys
had sailed in that much breeze. The guys were learning and improving by the
hour, so imagine if they had a couple more hours to tune in. So this showed
there is potential to race in strong winds, so once everybody is dialled in
and have their settings right they will be able to race even when it is nuking.PWA
Coming to the PWA as an Olympian, people obviously know me in the
sport, but I am definitely not treated like some kind of mega-star, I’m just,
‘the dude from RS:X who won the gold medals!’. I have no track record on
the foil and nothing to prove in my eyes. I am just here to have a good time
and check it out. If I do well that’s great, if I don’t that is also fine. I would
like to be competitive but who knows.
It is really cool to sail with all the PWA legends. When I was a little kid
this was the tour that I looked up to. It is awesome to be at a PWA event,
even though with a sport like windsurfing we treat everybody as equals.
Everybody here loves the sport, not for the money they earn but purely
because they are passionate about the sport. I think there will be a lot more
RS:X guys coming into the PWA. This is one of the few classes that we can
have that crosses over. This is really cool because it is much more interesting
for everybody.“WITH A SPORT LIKE
WINDSURFING WE TREAT
EVERYBODY AS EQUALS.”
Dorain and his new toys!