Who is Mattijs

13 years ago I was born in a little town in South Africa. Nobody was thinking I would become a windsurfer! When I was 5, I started playing soccer. So it was my big dream to become like Ronaldinho. Until I did a football camp in 2007… Next to the soccer field there was a little sweet water windsurfing spot where a windsurfing camp was taking place. I was actually watching the windsurfers, when the coach wasn’t looking and it seems that they were plaining and they were going so fast I found it amazing I wanted to do it! So the next week I said to my mom I want to do a windsurf camp next year! My Mom said a windsurf camp? Are you sure?  Yes It looks amazing! She said: ok, let’s go and sign you up for the camp. So the following summer 2008, it was the first day of the camp I got a little 1.5 square meter sail and I took off. I couldn’t plane but I found it sick! Immediately I sailed to the other side of the lake and I needed to walk back because I couldn’t turn yet. I learned a lot at that camp. In 2009 I became a member of the club: Windsurfing Deinze. My Mom knew somebody who was already a surfer. He had a Tribord 3.0 sail and a huge Orange Bic board. I surfed really long with that stuff until we bought a sail and a board, it was an RRD and I also sailed al long time with that.


However   I went to Dusseldorf the BOOT SHOW, where they also had windsurf gear and I got there my Starboard Prokids Flare 72 liters, which I still use. After that I bought a Severne sail XS-1 3.6 and that was freestyle gear I didn’t know, but I heard about it. So on YouTube I searched for freestyle windsurfing and I found a movie about the PWA in Fuerte and that was crazy. I never thought such crazy things existed. I wanted to do that So I started training moves I saw online. I did learn the helitack, and upwind 360 and all little low wind moves and then I did a camp with Dutch Pro freestyler Davy Sheffers in Holland. There I learned my first air jibe techniques and I started practicing.
 
The funny thing was I couldn’t do an air jibe only a spock! Then I started doing competition. In the beginning I didn’t really like it because I always ended at the last place. Then I really started training so hard like every time there was wind I would go with my Mom or my friends to the Brouwersdam.. I participated at the WK Prokids and I got the 6th place and I was really happy! Afterwards my Mom and me were discussing about going to the finals of the EFPKT in France where I got the second place. I was reallyyyy happy because I was second and I also got crowned as rookie of the year 2011 and I got 2nd place in the overall results for the EFPKT 2011!! Now I am just going to train hard! My goals for 2012 are getting again top 3 in the EFPKT 2012 and I am also dreaming of getting top 3 in the WK prokids :P! And I will keep training hard an learning some sick new moves!! I think 2012 is gonna be a pretty awesome year :D!!