Cover Stance Italy! Comments Off

I looked in my email today and found a cool message: I was on the cover of the new Stance Magazine in Italy! They also put my picture on the cover of the dvd. I am super happy with my 2nd cover!

More Snowkiting! Comments Off

The forecast looked very promising for last wednesday, the snow was still present and I had free time: A perfect combination for another snowkite session! This was the 3rd snowkiting session for me, and I think also the best session. Lisette Blankestijn and me drove around in the neighbourhood and found some nice meadows and clean wind. We asked the farmer if we could play in his “garden”, which was no problem.

Snowkiting in my home town Comments Off

When I went to bed wednesday, it started snowing. When we woke up on thursday, I was very surprised because there was about 30cm of snow! So, in the afternoon (after digging out the car) I drove to the meadows of Annie’s parents and we tried to snowkite! It was fun to try, but the wind was very gusty and the snow was powder so no perfect combo.
But, we have made some pics!

Hopefully next time some more stable wind!

New training movie Fall 2009 Comments Off

Hey everyone, I just finished my new movie! Recorded in August, September and October on my homespot Workum. Check it out and have fun! Another movie will come soon!

Tijn Fall training 2009 from Tijn van Esch on Vimeo.

New gear! Comments Off

Yes! After some waiting my box-o-pleasure arrived. It is filled with new gear, including some of my new Underwave materials!

So, from now on I will be riding my new gear and accessoiries, and also my new Kondor 3’s.
Thanks Advance Kites and Underwave!

By the way, I have been riding with friends last sunday, and there was also videorecording, so I hope to announce a new movie very soon! Annie is also working on a video of me training, all new recorded materials! Stay Tuned!

New sponsor: Underwave! Comments Off

I have been sponsored by Sola and Patlove for almost 2 years, but I decided to take the leap and try something new:

Underwave is a young brand in the sector to whom like water sports as a life philosophy. I am going to ride Underwave harnesses as well as wetsuits and accessoiries. Because Underwave is a new brand, I am going to promote it next to Advance Kites. The materials are made of high quality materials and the new harness is very comfortable.

I will place pictures of my new gear as soon as it arrives in the Netherlands!
Check www.underwave.info for more information about the products and company!

Dutch Championships 2009, 5th place! Comments Off

Friday afternoon we drove in a formation of 4 campers to Scheveningen to participate in the NK Kite 2009. This was promised to be a super good championship, because of the massive wind forecast (over 30 knots) and big names like Kevin Langeree and Youri Zoon. After finding a nice camping place friday night, we went to bed. After a few hours I received a phonecall that the police was checking campers for wild camping, so we had to leave the parking really fast! We got away in time, but 1 of our friends got a 90 euro fine for wildcamping. We slept on a other spot, further from the sea but without police checks. The next morning we drove to the beach to find a good parking, and then registered. Annie was not able to compete because of her knee injury, so she was my supporter all weekend.
The top 10 of last year was pre-seated in the elimination ladder, so my 3rd place was good enough to take it easy in the morning. Kevin, Youri and Bas Koole were not pre-seated because they had not competed in last years championships. This made the trials a nice show to watch. Right after the trials, the ladies competition started. In the first heat, the wind got turned on! Changing from south to south west and increasing from a gusty 20 to a steady 30 knots, the ladies competition got cancelled for safety reasons. There were some girls who wanted to kite, but others had 8m for smallest size and were super overpowered. This was a great oppurtunity to start the men’s event, the forecast promised increasing winds all over the day.

I got in the competition in heat 4, against Govert Brinkman. I managed to land a super overpowered backmobe and some mega loops, finishing with a railey to blind just when the red flag went up. It was enough to pass, while the wind was still increasing. After one more heat, the organisation decided to ride 2men heats in stead of 4 men, I was very happy because you need all the space there is in these conditions. My next heat was against Sven Stijn, with windspeeds of 32-38 knots, measured on the beach! Sometimes the gusts were so hard I could not hold on to my 6, fully depowered and my ass in the water! I took it easy, doing some oldschool tricks and big airs, and finally I did some megaloops to win the heat. The crowd was loving it, and I enjoyed the heat so much I was even waving to the crowd from around 10m high. I had some time to chill, and I had a warm soup with my parents and sister who came to look at the competition. In the mean time, Kevin Langeree did some of the highest jumps I have ever seen, easily reaching line length heights! When he did a super high kiteloop, Ruben Lenten could not hold it any longer and pumped his kite too, to show the massive crowd (over 500 people I think) how a real Len10 loop looks like!

In heat 3, I was up against Youri Zoon.. Shit. I did my best to unhook (the only way I could ever win this heat) but it was too much and too gusty. The waves were building, some around 2m and this made it super difficult to do tricks. So instead I did some high loops and jumps and a railey, but Youri managed to land a blind judge, flat 3 and Sbend next to his kiteloops too. Really impressive, the wind was around 45-50 knots in the gusts! So when the heat was over, I knew I had lost so I went upwind outside of the competition area and did a megaloop 360 to please the crowd

I packed my kites and we watched the finals, obviously it was Kevin vs Youri, both doing unhooked tricks in insane windspeeds! After the day winner announce, Kevin Langeree, we had free pizza in the riders tent. I went to bed early to be fit for the double eliminations!

The next day, the ladies comp started at 9.00, so I had to wait untill about 13.00 to start my heat. Jalou Langeree won the single eliminations easy, it was fun to watch my homespot kitefriends in the competition. I was curious who would end up in my heat, it turned out to be last years champion Klaas Adema! He is a local on my home spot too, so it was a nice heat. I was out on my 10, and did a blind judge, backmobe, kgb, 1 footer and 313-toeside and indy. It was enough to win the heat!

Next round I was up against Johan Spelt, who used to ride pkra, currently not active in competition. I did a slimchance, huge 313, frontmobe, indyglide, backmobe, 1 footer transition and blind judge and sbend-blind judge3 combo to win the heat. Next I was up against Jerrie vd Kop, who was 4th on last NK Kite and also several 1st places in the German Trophy in Juniors. We had a super technical heat, both riding to the max. I opened with a buttchecked backmobe, big 313 toeside with my kite going straight down, frontmobe, big kgb, s-bendpass, clean powered backmobe, high airpass, boardoff, indyglide, 1 footer, another frontmobe (supposed to be to blind but landed heelside) and blind judge 3. This was enough to win on variation and technical difficulty, but it was a close heat! Next I was up against also spot-friend Bas Koole, and I was super happy to ride against him for the 4th place! I opened with a backmobe, blind judge and powered slimchance, then I did a boardoff but lost my board. Then I did a 313 but I crashed. Then I did a 1footer 360, but I landed in a collapsing wave, which took me for a ride My leash got around my bar and my kite started looping like crazy. When it finally hit the water, I got tossed into my lines by another wave and got all tangled up. Lucky for me, some guys ran downwind and helped me restart and untangle my kite, and another guy gave me my board (which was really close somehow!) I got back upwind, and did a double sbend, which was supposed to be a frontmobe, then I tried to get out for a 313 but the time was up. I lost my heat, so I ended up 5th place.
Bas had to take on Rolf vd Vlught, who is actually not training for freestyle but speedkiting. Bas had a convincing win, and had to take on Youri Zoon. Bas put up a good fight doing regular and switch tricks, but Youri was much stronger, finishing it off with a kiteloop 7!
In the finals, Kevin showed to be the weekend ruler, winning the heat over Youri with more tricks and higher difficulty level including a mobe 7 and kiteloop NIS.

Overall, I am happy with the result and super happy about the event. I have never seen an national event with this super insane windspeeds, crowds, media and good riders!

My goal for next year is to end up top 3, I am super motivated to train for new tricks and more power!

Final results men:
1. Kevin Langeree
2. Youri Zoon
3. Bas Koole
4. Rolf vd Vlugt
5. Tijn van Esch
6. Jerrie vd Kop

Final results ladies:
1. Jalou Langeree
2. Esther Oud
3. Judith Roetman
4. Lisette Blankestijn
5. Marije den Breems
6. Jitske Hendriks

Kitesurf Magazine no.5 2009 Comments Off

Kitesurf Magazine published another article about me, it is an interview about how I am compared to last year and what my plans are for the winter. I really like the kiteloop picture, that was one extreme gust

E-Vento Sardinia 2009 log Comments Off

Monday
08.30
Advance Kites invited me to the E-Vento event on Sardinia, which takes place from 18 to 20 September. I found a nice cheap flight from Belgium directly to Sardinia, where I will stay with Gianluca Marcis until the event starts. Luca is an Advance Teamrider too, he won several waveriding and racing competitions. I hope to learn some waveriding from him, when there is wind and waves.

I am leaving from Amersfoort, the Netherlands to Charleroi, the small Airfield south of Brussels. My dad was so kind to offer me a lift to Belgium, an offer you can’t refuse! So we drove off at 08.30, planning to arrive at 11.30. My flight leaves at 13.45, gate closes at 13.15.
The thing is, Belgian people don’t know how to make road signs, so when we were about 20km from the airfield, we had no clue where to drive. It was kind of stressfull not to know where the airport is, with only a short amount of spare time. When we found the signs (they are so small you cant see them until you pass them) we found our way to the airport, luckily and arrived at 12.45. Perfect timing, my dad dropped me off at the gate and I checked in. No overweight (yeah) because I did not bring many things. I packed my 8 and 12, shorty and harness, some boardshorts and tshirts (it is supposed to be nice and warm there). I left my board at home, because I can take one of the Advance Crew I am going to meet on Sardinia!

14.30
Flying somewhere above Europe, I have a nice seat with loads of footspace. As always, I hope to find my bag with kites on the other end. No free food or beverages on this plane , so I plan on being hungry until I can have some real Italian pasta. I think I will watch a movie now, and then learn some Italian from my pocketbook.
15.30
Flying over Corsica right now, looks very nice. I can also see whites on the sea, so maybe there is wind at Sardinia too. I bought a Pepsi, 1,80 for 150ml… there goes my savings hehe.

18.00
I am now at Luca Marcis’ house, he is trying to fix the window blinds in a really dangerous way
No wind here at Sardinia, hopefully tomorrow. Will update later on!

Tuesday
11.00
Just went out for a nice cappuccino, Italian style. The weather has changed, it is now nice warm and sunny. We are expecting the thermic to kick in this afternoon, so probably some kite action today :-).

21.00
Just finished packing the van, we had a good session today. The water is nice and warm, and the wind was a bit gusty but okay for 8m. I rode the Kappa L, which is more wide and long than my own Omega Wake, it took me a while to get used to it. After I mastered the board, the landings were easy. It is great to see so many Advance Kites in one place! Now we go out to eat, I am kind of starving because we Dutchies are used to eating at 18.00 hehe. No pictures from today, while I have been on the water the whole time. Tomorrow morning we drive to San Teodoro in the north, to prepare for the event and make some photos of the new material.

Wednesday
19.00
This morning we drove to the event in San Teodoro, which was about 3 hours from Cagliari. Advance Kites boss Alessandro showed us our new home, a beautiful apartment right on the beach! We filled the apartment with kites and boards, all nicely displayed in the living room. Because there was no wind, we surfed instead. First I went out on a Advance wave board, but it was a bit too small for me to ride. Then I got out on the SUP board, and finally rode 1 wave yeah. We have a whole bunch of new 2010 Kaiman’s here, and it is told to be even better than the last version! If there is wind tomorrow, we will go out and give them a good test! Also the new Kappa board will arrive tomorrow, looking forward to riding it. More updates tomorrow!

Thursday
20.00
Today we started building the stand on the event site. A lot of other Advance related people joined, including Yuri from the Advance office and Arthur Catalani, Italian freestyle rider. After carrying about 20 new Kaimans to the stand, we went out for a kite session. The wind was offshore, and decreasing and gusty to about 15 knots. I was out on the new Kaiman 10m, which proved to be suitable for wakestyle tricks. We had a small photoshoot, and I was able to ride without a wetsuit :-).
When the wind dropped out completely, and we had a nice lunch. After lunch the wind turned to side-onshore, and increased to about 18 knots. I went out on the 10m Kondor3, and Arthur and I had again a photoshoot. This time with good result, we have some really nice pictures with stylish moves, blue sky and clear water. Heaven for a Dutch brown-water rider like myself! We were also testing the new Underwave Sultan harness, which will be in production soon. So far, the harness did good, we had no rash on the hips after a few hours of kiting. Underwave is becoming a very complete company with a diverse line of products, from dry/wetsuits and harnesses to t-shirts, bathrobes and footstraps.
Now we are about to go out to dinner, and then to the opening party of the event, which will take place somewhere in the city.

Friday
23.00
Wow, no wind today whatsoever… We spent the day brainstorming about possible improvements on the Kondor, tomorrow we will decide about it in a riders meeting. It was very interesting to talk to Carlo, who is the head of the Advance R&D.
In the afternoon, the new Kappa board arrived. I love it, the graphics are cool and it will be available in 3 super sizes: M- 131×40, L- 130×41 and XL- 132×42. I hope to ride the L very soon, what a perfect size! I have made some pictures of it, as seen below. Tomorrow hopefully some wind, but there will be no competition for me because there are too few international riders (only Mario Rodwald and I).

Monday
Saturday we had the ridersmeeting, which was very nice to whitness. I never seen a brand that works this close with the riders, because we discussed all possible improvements on the kite. I hope to be testing a prototype soon, because the goal will be to make the perfect freestyle kite. After the dinner we went to a party, which I really enjoyed. It was a super nice setting, with good food and a pool with colored lights. After we went to the local dancing, which was fun too.
Sunday we went out for some more kiting, and there was a guy from the organisation of the event filming. I think there is some nice footage! After a while the wind dropped out, so we stopped kiting and started to pack the stand. We left the nice beach house and drove to the harbour to go to Italy by ferry. I was a bit sad to leave because I have met a lot of super friendly people, which I will definitely want to visit again!
On the ferry we had a nice dinner, and then we  went to “bed” in the cabin. (I slept on the floor because I was not planned to travel back on the boat hehehe.
I have left the island with an new sponsor, Arbeke. Arbeke is a clothing brand from Sardinia, which focusses on powerfull riders in all sorts of extreme sports. I hope that my bag is not overweight because of the new clothes For more info on Arbeke, visit the website!

Now I am in the headquarter, looking at all the new stuff, and I had a tour around the place too. Tomorrow morning I will fly home, so I won’t be making any other updates in the meantime. I will receive some photos of kite action, which I will put in here when I get them. I have had a great time visiting Italy and will definitely come back soon!

PKRA Germany 3, 13th place! Comments Off

After 17 days of Germany, I came back home this night around 03.30. I havent spent a lot of time on the internet lately, so here is the wrap up:

Friday, we had a early skippersmeeting because of the decreasing wind. I was in the 2nd heat, up against Jan Schignitz. I went out on my 8, and I had nice pop. My heat started and I tried to ride as powered as possible, since the judges of the PKRA prefer that style. I opened with a frontmobe, but buttchecked-crashed it with my kite on the water. Then I did a backmobe, 313 with grab buttchecked (really powered), slim, blind judge, and kgb which was enough to win the heat. Then I was up against Alberto Rondina for the 9th place, I was a bit too late on the water and did not really got into my heat. I crashed my backmobe 4 times, landed a 313, kgb regular and switch, and powered slim, but it was not enough to beat Rondina who did all of his tricks regular and switch.
So my final result is 13th place, and I am pretty happy with the result. Next time I will try to ride top 10, so I keep improving myself
Photos will come soon.

Now I have to work some days to get some money in the pocket, repaint the van and train some on Workum. My next trip will be Italy soon!