PWA Tenerife

Somehow I got the idea of going to Tenerife to join the PWA event. Looking back, I do not really know why and when this idea came to my mind. Maybe one reason was my unlucky first PWA experience at Sylt last year: I had a hard seeding and was super nervous! So, maybe I wanted to show, that I can do better. At least, I wanted to show myself, that I can do better! And of course I wanted to go windsurfing in warm and wavy conditions with good friends, which is the most important reason, I think! Thanks to Condor, the check-in on Thursday evening went really well and Claudius and I left for Tenerife the next morning. After meeting up with Fabi, we immediately went to the beach to get a nice evening warm-up session. I loved the spot right away with the first wave. Steffi and Dominik joined us the next day and our "house community" was complete. In the afternoon, the PWA event started. Steffi went straight through the elimination to find herself on 4th position! She sailed really well and showed perfect waveriding! For me, the single eliminaiton was over after my first heat against Eva Oude Ophuis. During my heat, I had the feeling that things are not working well. I did not find any proper wave for jumping and my waveriding was risky and let to a swim session after nearly every wave. However, I was surprised to see that somehow I won the waveriding, but lost in jumping. So, the heat was not that bad as it felt like, but bad enough to realize, that you can only become a very good wave sailor, if you start to learn jumping! I could not sleep the whole night, since I was suffering from a cold and I was angry about myself. I knew it since months, that I need to learn jumping! But what did I do the whole last months: waveriding... because it is so much fun! Sometimes, one should better train things which hurt and are not that funny! In the next days, I watched the pros and went freesailing to get to know the south swell and to free my mind! On Wednesday, the wind was still there and so was my bad cold. I never felt that tired and unfit, when coming to the beach. Well, I had to sail though, since the double elimination was running. I sailed quite ok in my first heat against Jolien Berg and went to the next round, where I had to sail against Maria Andres. I knew, that she is quite good in wavesailing, so I was super focused to find proper waves for riding and at least some for juming (... I am sorry to inform you, that no miracle happend until than...my jumping was still crap..). At least, all the wave sessions with Claudius, Steffi, Dominik and Fabi in Hanstholm payed off and I got some quite good points for this. Ohh....and I even got 2 points for a wet and bad backloop. All in all, this was enough to defeat Maria, who was sailing great! Back on the beach, I was super exhausted and happy to have reached the 9th place. But, double is only finished, when you have lost your last heat. So, I had to go on and sail against Amanda Beenen. I knew already before the heat that I would not win, since I was tired and overpowered on my 3.3. Amanda sailed really well and I...well, I think my grandma can do better than this..I lost. But, this was ok. Now, I could take a nap and be ready for the next freesailing sessions with the crew. Steffi ended up in 4th position after the double! I was super happy for her, since she has a great waveriding style and a great attitude! Karin did the biggest backloop of the girls fleet in the event! That was sick! If I can ever jump like this, I will throw a party! The event and the trip was super nice: Wine tasting with the PWA crew, opening ceremony, nice food, nice weather. A big thanks to Claudius, Steffi, Dominik, Fabi and Karin for giving me advices. And again to Steffi for helping me during the double with my gear and for borrowing me her carbon boom ( I know, I had a second one in my bag...but I was to confused on this day).

In the end, I was happy to have gone to Tenerife with you guys! It was a great experience and it was so cool to see so many people I have not seen for a while!

Oh, one thing I will really miss is the 2.50 € Mojito on the way back home after the surf session. Not because of the Mojito, but because of the fact, that you WALK back home after a surf session!