Last weekend the first stop of the Belgian Wave Championship took place at Bredene on the Belgian coast. After one full Double Elimination Dieter van der Eyken won the event in front of Thomas Beullens and Olivier Pas.
“After only getting 4th in the single elimination I found my rhythm again in the double, winning 5 heats in a row to win the double. Thanks to the organization and judging to keep going eight hours without stopping. The level went up a lot and I was lucky that every heat I sailed in the double was almost perfect so quite stoked to win in stronger conditions as well!” (Dieter van der Eyken)
Belgian Wave Championship Photo Gallery
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Text by Deining Media about the conditions:
The conditions where challenging as well as very rewarding. Sweet waves both for jumping and riding, and a strong southeast wind that made almost all riders rig their 3.6.
In the singles it was the rather unknown rider Thomas Buellens who took first place by surprisingly beating Dieter van der Eyken (in the semi’s) and high flying bird Olivier Pas (in the final). Dieter Van der Eyken fought back in the doubles, beating local favorite Nick De Wannemaeker, Olivier and Thomas a first time. In the last of the daylight a super final was sailed to determine wether Dieter, or Thomas would take home the victory. It was a true clash of styles with classic moves like big one handed back loops from Thomas and freestyle orientated waverides from Dieter. In a nerve wrecking score count Dieter took the edge over Thomas, placing the young freestyler from Antwerp on the highest stage of this wave event.
