Merry X-Mas 2018

For those of you that celebrate Christmas, we wish you lovely days with your family and friends wherever you are. We are at home in Austria celebrating with our families. For New Year we will be in the mountains and hope for some fresh snow…

How did the windsurfing stars celebrate and what are their wishes for the upcoming year? We asked Sarah-Quita Offringa, Marcilio Browne, Camille Juban, Jaeger Stone, Lina Erpenstein, Jordy Vonk, Tonky Frans, Dieter van der Eyken, Oda Johanne, Amado Vrieswijk, Adam Sims, Loick Spicher, Riccardo Marca and Antoine Albert how and where they will spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

Sarah-Quita Offringa

Once again I decided to spend time in Aruba for Christmas and new year. It’s just the best time of the year to be home. There are festivities and a there’s good atmosphere everywhere. We basically just eat a lot of food for christmas with the family and we will watch the last sunset of the year at the beach. Somehow it gives some perspective watching that sunset. Every sunset feels special. But the last one of the year, really makes you contemplate!

Aruba is very big on fireworks (my favourite thing). And there are several shows everywhere.

The super loud “pagara” is to get rid of the bad omens of the year. Before 12 we go back to the hotel area at the beach and watch this great show which reflects beautifully on the water. Time to pop that champagne and celebrate the new year right there as well. Last year I got ill 10 minutes after midnight so let’s see how far I make it this time. Hopefully till sunrise!

The wind started to pick up again in the 2nd week of December, It’s not super steady yet, but I’ve been sailing almost everyday.

Thank you Continentseven and all the readers on here for all the support during 2018. It was a fun ride! Wishing you all joyful holidays and another adventurous 2019. Le’s get it!

Antoine Martin

I’ve spent all the holidays in Guadeloupe with my family and friends. I pretty much went windsurfing, surfing, cruising with my friends around the island and partying!! I wish that everyone around the world get their piece of wind and waves and enjoy windsurfing like it was the first and last time! I wish you a Happy 2019 and lets rock this year!

Marcilio Browne

I had my last windsurfing session at Hookipa yesterday. I will just celebrate quietly on Maui this year and spend some down time around here after so many trips.
Just wish happiness and health for next year. Me and my wife are expecting our first baby that is coming in March, so we are very excited.

Marcilio Browne at Ho’okipa

Camille Juban

I celebrate Christmas with my mother and step dad (they were in Maui for the Aloha Classic) and with friends. Last time I sailed was at the beginning of December when I came back from Maui. For New Year there is the old surfing community which organizes a big party with 400 people and I know 350 of them so it’s perfect to end and begin the year. My wishes are to find my future wife and do better result in PWA as well as keep on doing good in IWT.

Oda Johanne

I have been home for 2 weeks after a perfect South American windsurf training adventure. I’m enjoying winter and Christmas at home for a few weeks. Last 6 days I have been at a family gathering every single day. Great food and people. At the same time, I have had one of my best off the water training periods with cross-country skiing, crossfit, and climbing. Today we packed our bags and drove towards my family cabin in the mountains. We have some friends that will join us and we will camp outside in the snow in sleeping bags and wake up outside in nature in 2019. Not bad! After that, I hope to be on the plane and find some wind somewhere. Too many weeks without sailing is not healthy!

Jaeger Stone

I’m well, enjoying home and time with my friends and family. I haven’t windsurfed in 8 weeks since injuring my ankle in Maui so am just waiting for that to get back to 100%. Can’t wait to start sailing again and hopefully it’s soon! I’m spending this week fishing and camping in the North West of WA with my family. It’s been 40deg celsius the last 3 days and this part of the country is so beautiful. In 2019 I would like to continue enjoying my time both at home and when I’m away, windsurf, surf and fish as much as possible and not feel guilty for eating ice cream!

Dieter van der Eyken

I’m currently in the Netherlands and Belgium visiting friends while staying at my girlfriend’s parents for Christmas for the first time in 5 years. I have been sailing quite a lot recently and my last session was Thursday at home in El Medano. After Christmas I will fly to Australia on Thursday for a 4 week trip to work on the 2020 products and plan another full year with Severne. My wishes for 2019 is as always a lot of windy days and lots of fun sessions. Besides that I hope to spend more time at my new home in Tenerife than I did so far this year. I’m looking forward to enjoy my 10th year on the PWA worldtour with hopefully some new spots and great conditions.

Dieter van der Eyken

Lina Erpenstein

I’m really happy Christmas holidays started now. The time before is always a stressful one at uni. We had a couple of exams and I was studying more than I was windsurfing. So I’m really happy to have some time off now. I’m celebrating the 24th at home in Germany with my family. We sit together and have a really nice Christmas dinner and afterwards we all open our presents that we give each other. The next day I fly to Tarifa. I once lived there for half a year so it’ll be nice to see some friends again and hopefully get on the water as much as possible. 2018 has been an incredible year, both on tour and personally. I’m happy that studying and windsurfing at the same time worked out so well and I’m hoping to continue with that in 2019.

Adam Sims

I am doing great besides some minor injuries after kicking a rock late one night. On Christmas Day, had a fun riding session at Whitsands, 3-4m walls with some punchy close outs in front of the rocks. Cape Town has been a bit slow this season but looks like it’s all kicking off now. Got an awesome crew out here this year (Flo Ragossnig, Olli Ando, Oli Stau and Adrien Bosson), everyone super motivated to surf and windsurf so we are on the water every day. We had a fun Christmas Eve at the Mystic house beach party, Jordy Vonk and a few guys were there also. And then yeah just windsurfing and swapping a few funny presents on Christmas Day.
For New Year we will all head into Cape Town to join the New Year celebrations, there’s almost some pretty awesome beach parties going on. Then hopefully we get a huge swell and strong winds the day after, ha!
My New Year wishes: Personally I’d love an injury free year, ha and to head out on even more wild and crazy adventures. In between all that more quality time with family, friends and my girlfriend.

Amado Vrieswijk

I have been enjoying being home on Bonaire for a while. I’ve spent Christmaswith my friends and family. Also my sister Chanel who’s living in Holland since June came home for the holidays, so we’re all together. We go windsurfing, to the beach and party as much as we can these days. New Year’s eve will be the same, popping the champagne at midnight and celebrate the New Year around the island. My last windsurfing session was yesterday. The wind is up and down these days. Up you can find us at Lac Bai and Sorobon, is the wind down on the foil in the Bay of Kralendijk cruising around Klein Bonaire. My wishes for the coming season are enjoying windsurfing and the tour again as I did in the past years and stay injury-free. Hopefully my season will start on Bonaire in April, 2019 but before Cape Town and Los Roques are on my travel-itinerary. From Bonaire I wish you all all the best, health, wind and succes for 2019 and see y’all somewhere on the planet in the upcoming season.

Jordy Vonk

I am enjoying the off season in Cape Town, one of my favorite destinations. It hasn’t been a very windy period in Cape Town, but as I brought my slalom gear too I’m still sailing almost every day. Like last year I spend this time of the year in Cape Town, took my family on a Christmas dinner somewhere in November before I left haha. 2018 has been an amazing year and obviously I want to maintain my flow of improving my results every year. It will be probably the hardest step to take so far, but I’m convinced I can do better then I did this year and hope to give the big top 3 a hard time! Let’s see how it will end, it’s a very thin line between success and failure with the level being so close lately. But I’m gonna give it my all to step up that podium!!

Jordy Vonk in Cape Town

Victor Fernandez

I’ve just arrived at home 3 days ago from Chile where I had my last windsurf session at Topocalma on the 20th of December. I spend Christmas at home with family and friends in Almerimar. And I wish everyone a healthy and a happy 2019. Lots of wind, waves and many windsurfing sessions.

Victor Fernandez in Chile

Tonky Frans

I will celebrate Christmas in Bonaire with grandma and grandpa, where I grew up… such a good feeling. My wish will be to have a healthy and amazing year, if I could compete in some events would be very cool, especially at the events on the Canaries.

Loick Spicher

Study mode is on 😉 Two days ago I had my last windsurfing session on the Lake Biel! It was 11 degrees and it felt actually pretty warm after my last session in 6 degrees!! ? Tonight I am celebrating with my family and having a nice dinner. I will spend new years eve in my home town together with good friends. For 2018 I hope to learn a bunch of new tricks and that we get a lot of sick freestyle contests!!

Loick Spicher in Brazil a few weeks ago

Antoine Albert

I currently Living at the caledonian rhythm. A few days ago the wind died so I’m doing other stuff like hiking or surfing. Usually I spend Christmas and new year at home in New Caledonia with my family and friends. The wind should be back today and looks like I gonna have some reef action before NY so it’s gonna be fun !! I am wishing everybody the best for this year, no injuries, lot of windsurfing, love and fun !! Hope 2019 is gonna be epic!

Antoine Albert – Pic: Gill Chabaud photography

Riccardo Marca

I’m home in Italy at the moment. It’s always good to spend some time with the family between one trip and another one. My last windsurfing session was in Egypt about one week ago. It actually was a really good session, with warm weather and good wind. This year Egypt hasn’t been that windy compared to the past years, but the last session I had was the best one. I’m gonna celebrate Christmas with my family, I’m always happy to be home around this time. I will head to Cape Town on the 31 of December, and actually I’m gonna celebrate new year in Paris since I have a 12 hours stopover. I’m really looking forward to be again in Cape Town and start my winter trainings.

Riccardo Marca in Egypt

Yarden Meir

I am spending some time in my home town Eilat. My last windsurfing session happened about a week ago here in Eilat with great wind and I was mostly training Shiftys. I do not have any special plans for Christmas… Probably I’ll go drink a beer or two with some friends at one of the bars.

My wishes for the upcoming year is to sail as much as possible and train new moves, sail new spots, love as much as possible and laugh as much as possible. I also wish pepole will stop thinking I’m 37… I’m 27. Happy new year everybody!!! See you in the water.