Laure Treboux / SUI-4

Waow, I just got back from 2 and a half weeks super busy but great weeks in Holland. Coaching in Amsterdam to start with, on Amstelmeer the following day, in Brouwersdam the following 2 weeks and finishing up with the Mission XL this last weekend... What a great time!

In the last post I was talking about how good the weekend in and around Amsterdam was, and how promising the forecast looked for Brouwersdam. Well it actually kept getting better and better, and we scored a whole week of wind, between 20 and 30 knots pretty much every day! I had a group of 11 super keen people to teach, on the water all day, and still managed to squeeze some free sailing in the evening, stacked on 4.2. I love that spot, there's good big chop outside, dead flat water inside the little lagoon, perfect.

The 2nd coaching event was the girls special. 10 girls joined in, again of all ages and levels, which always makes it fun and interesting. We weren't as lucky with the wind unfortunately, but still we spent a lot of time on the water every day, learning all kind of light wind freestyle moves, and we managed to go through a lot of other stuff with theory sessions, video analysis and so on. Everyone was really motivated the whole time, it was great to see.

A big thank you to Herman from www.boardguru.nl for all his help and support during the coaching events - with the organisation, the boards, sails, SUP's, ... And of course for organising the best windsurfing event of the year - the Mission XL!

There's something about this event that sets it apart from the others. It's all about fun. There's this massive race open to everyone with categories for the youngest ones out there to the masters and pros, and freestyle shows by the PWA pros. It's also lots of windsurfing brands putting their efforts together to promote windsurfing, showing their latest gear, giving it to people to test, and giving away so many great prices for the tombolas, from boards and sails to harnesses, wetsuits and so on. This year stand up paddling was also added to the windsurfing, with boards to test and fun races. And of course, it's the legendary Mission party on Saturday night...

It was a massive weekend and everyone loved it. I especially love to see all these kids out there who are into windsurfing. So good to see the new generation pushing!

I will post more pictures about the Mission XL very soon, as well as some videos... Make sure you come back and check it all out!

After a quick 3 day stay in Switzerland I was hitting the road again. This time I flew to Amsterdam, where I was running a coaching weekend with the Amsterdam Windsurf Club.

Saturday was light but we still managed to do quite a lot - light wind freestyle, theory sessions, etc. Sunday way epic - 4.2 outta control. We drove to Amstelmeer with the club's instructors. That spot is so much fun, big chop outside and a protected pool with the flattest water I have ever seen. Sick place. We had an awesome time, windsurfed all day and all of us slept well that night I think.

I had a great weekend in Amsterdam thanks to everyone there. Thanks to all for looking after me so well, showing me around and making sure I wouldn't get totally lost on my bike somewhere on the wrong side of the city! Awesome.

I am now in Brouwersdam for the next coaching events - a coaching week open to all and a girls camp. The first one just started. I have a super nice group of 11 people, from Holland, Norway, Switzerland and France, from 10 to 40 years old. The forecast for this week is really good too, looking forward to it. Then it'll be the Girls Camp, and then it's the Mission weekend again! This time in XL format... You really don't wanna miss out on that weekend, trust me, so make sure you sign up for it here and we see you there!

Surf Mag (Germany) chose a shot from the Fanatic / North 2012 photoshoot in Dahab for their August cover, pretty cool! The photo was taken by Tom Brendt.