On 5th of May the first big Freestyle competition of the low-countries- named "King of The Dam" was held at the Oesterdam, near by Bergen-op-Zoom in Holland. It was the first competition of the year after a long winter, which had given many riders lots of time to train the newest freestyle moves. Everybody was a bit nervous and curious, because everyone wanted to know which moves their opponents had learned during the winter!
A single elimination started with the youth… so, because I’m still young, I had to go on the water for some low-wind freestyle. I took my 5.8 360Free because it gives enough power in low wind, and it still is easy to throw around. With my moves- Gecko and Jizz-in-the-boom- I scored the most and managed to get in the final.
Then the wind dropped completely!… but there was still hope, because a nice 15 knot wind was forcast for the afternoon. After having waited a while, and exchanging travel stories with the other freestylers, the wind picked up!
Now the men had to start their first single elimination. Because I’m sailing with the men too, I had to go also on the water. I took my 5.8 again, because the wind was not at his best yet and I needed power.
My first round was terrible (I only made one spock I think), but anyway I got to the next round. From that moment it went better… I even got in the final! I sailed a real nice heat, although the wind was already too much for my 5.8, but after a retrim I could go out: I made some spocks, grubbys, willy skippers, a flaka and even an E-slider! But it was not enough. The others were too strong. So I ended at the forth place after the Benelux freestyle top.
The competition was not over yet. I had to sail another elimination with the youth. During the entire elimination I was sailing quite constantly and again I managed to get in the final. The opponents were strong and I did not sail as good as I did during my final with the men. But it was good enough, because I took the first place and I got 3 kisses of Evi Hanssen!! ( a nice Belgian celebrity)…
Roeland DeRyker
