Starboard ProKids Freestyle & Slalom

2009

Laureates Stabroek
EFPT Naxos
NK Lago di Amstel
3 Games - Mastergames
BK Windekind
3 Games - X-Tream Games
BK Freestyle De Punt
Starboard ProKids World Sardinia
King of The Dam
Starboard ProKids
3 Games - Wild Games

For the 4th time in a row the Starboard ProKids were held at Brouwersdam. The Freestyle and, since last year also, the Slalom competition for young guns under 18. The weather forecast was Saturday 14-16 knots and Sunday 10 knots. After we finished the registration on Saturday there was already a nice wind of 15-16 knots and everybody could plane. The first heat started at 12.00. There were 3 categories, Boys (U18), Grommets (U13) and Girls. In total there ware about 27 competitors in the freestyle which is a nice turnout. We used a new judging system. You could do 8 moves of which 6 would count. I needed to adapt a little to this but in the end I liked it. The heats were 5 minutes with 2 minutes transition. Everything went very well and I adapted good to the new judging system. The final against Davy was very thrilling. We scored almost the same amount of points but I lost with a 2 to 1 vote of the jury. Then came the slalom where I also competed. The qualifying rounds went OK and I usually ended up on the 3 rd or 4 th place. Jordi Vonk – the only real slalommer amongst us was very fast and could win every race. The first six would move on to the final which would count towards the final result. I had more than full power in my Severne Overdrive 7.5 and made my best start ever. I crossed the start line full speed right at the time the horn went. This gave me a head start towards the others and surprisingly took the lead. Jordi fell at the first turn and could not close the gap anymore although it still was very close at the finish line. It was the most exiting and thrilling slalom heat I every sailed. The next day there was less wind and the organization decided to start the freestyle at 11.00. Everybody started to prepare themselves and the wind started to pick up. During the first heats the wind was still gusty but as the competition progressed the wind picked up. Then came the final. I had to win this one in order to be able to take the title again. Luckily the wind picked up even more just before the final. I started with a nice shaka which gave me the confidence. I had no stress at all and landed a few nice moves like Chacho, Bob OH, SS Chacho Diablo and a nice SS Kono which made me win this final. So Davy and I had to go back on the water for a super final to decide who finally would take the title. The wind picked up even more and I was a bit overpowered with my Severne S1 4.7. Davy fell a bit more than me so I took the lead. Davy tried a burner as last move but crashed – I answered with a nice funnel 900° which made the difference and secured the title. We continued with the slalom. The wind was blowing hard now and I had more than full power with the Severne Code red 6.5 and Isonic 101. I started a bit behind Jordi but his speed was faster so I could not close the gap. Together we took the first buoy and both finished with a big advantage before the rest of the fleet. The second race didn’t go so well and I ended up 4 th. My end result was a 2 nd place in the slalom with which I am more than happy. It was a nice and thrilling weekend !