Dieter van der Eyken gives a quick heads up on what he's been up to these last few months, what he has planned for the immediate future and his new clinic project.

Hello everybody!

I’m writing this as I am on a flight to Bonaire for a 7 week trip which is my last big trip before the season starts again in April. I didn’t have time to update you guys earlier as I’ve been pretty busy at home. January means exams and since I haven't really done anything during the year it was all hands on deck to pass the exams! I didn’t get the results yet but I think I passed all of them so it was definitely worth the effort!
Besides, I started a new project! I was actually already on it since Brazil but was only able post it online now. The “Next Generation Project” is a clinic program aimed at younger people where we will offer a price including everything besides flights! For more info about this project, be sure to check and like the Facebook page! It’s definitely worth checking out!!

Two weeks ago I also went for the first time in my life to “Das Boot” in Düsseldorf which is one of the biggest indoor fairs for windsurfing. I was only able stay one day as I didn’t have more time but it was great to see a lot of people again, people whom I normally don’t see until competition. Also the Starboard and Severne stand was very nicely presented with the biggest booth out of all the brands, which was really great to see!

At the Düsseldorf Boat show I also met up with Chris Pressler from Continent7 and showed him a clip I made on the last day of last year of one of my Air Kabis in Brazil. He immediately put the clip on his hard drive and put it online the next day. The response on Facebook was something I never could have expected with more than 800 likes and 450 shares! It’s for sure my most watched move ever!

One thing I actually even least expected was to sail at home. Since I got back from Brazil the temperatures in Belgium have gone down a lot and I think we had around 2 weeks of snow which doesn’t really happen every year. I was thinking more of going ice surfing than windsurfing! But last week, the temperatures rose again, going up to 12 degrees which meant a difference of 20° in just one week (crazy Belgium weather!) and above that good strong winds! The sea water was still cold (4°C) but the air temperature and the good Camaro wetsuit made for 3 good sessions on the sea!

Picture by Jonas Roosens

Sailing 4.4m², 3.7m² and 3.3m² in 3 days with some of the best conditions in Bredene I have seen in a while made it a good choice to stay one more week at home! I sailed with friends I don’t see to often and just had a lot of fun wavesailing again. Europe is cold in winter but when the conditions are good they are sometimes more fun than the tropical places we travel to... Although I have to admit I won’t miss the cold water when I'm in Bonaire!

Picture by Jonas Roosens

In the end I really enjoyed being at home for a while, spending time with friends and family made me realize being at home isn’t that bad! But now it’s time for action again and I'm looking forward for a good 7 weeks on Bonaire with good winds and a lot of new moves! But I think that with the Bonaire crew that shouldn’t be a problem!

Aloha!
Dieter - B35

To find out more about Dieter van der Eyken, visit his blog here!

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