Jägermeister Wave Riderz

Jägermeister Wave Riderz
The second edition of the Jägermeister Wave Riderz was again blessed with good conditions and great atmosphere. After the island of Vlieland this years destination was Denmark. The area the trip could go to was between Denmark and France. The wetter forecast looked good for Hvide Sande/Denmark, so that was the first destination. Wednesday evening all the stuff was loaded and 8 riders and 8 crewmembers headed to Denmark with the massive Jägermeister partybus and 3 campers.

The trip
After driving in the dark through Germany and Denmark the whole bunch arrived at the beach of Hvide Sande at sunrise. That the wind was picking up was already noticeable by the truckdrivers during the last hours before arrival. The cars where parked at the beach and the surf was checked. Conditions where quit good, but it was freezing cold. The PWA guys just came back from Tiree that is not known for high temperatures, but here in Denmark it was even colder. After a quick sleep the sails where rigged and the first part of the competition could start with the Big Air jumping session.
The competition

The wind was gusty and already dropping a bit, but the riders could get some solid airtime. Most impressive riders where the PWA sailors Thomas Traversa, Kevin Mevissen and Martin ten Hoeve. As the wind dropped a bit more, but with improving wave conditions, chief judge (and PWA judge) Thijs van der Meer changed to waveriding.

As it was getting colder and colder so the decision as made to call it a day for the competition. This didn’t stop the judges and other crew to get out for a nice evening session with improving wind conditions and joined by some Danish riders like Robert Sand. They drove to Hvide Sande as they had no wind in Klitmoller where the Danish championships in wave and freestyle where sailed.
In the evening Karel served us some nice Hutspot meal. A typical dutch meal and new stuff for Thomas Traversa, but he liked it. Everybody was tired from the day and the trip, so after a few drinks it was time to sleep.

Up north to Klitmoller
After waking up and seeing no sign of wind the forecast was checked in the local bakery. Funny that the bakery’s in Denmark often have internet connection. The only chance on wind was Saturday around Klitmoller. So the trip went on to Klitmoller. We parked the cars near the local bar/surfshop where cook Karel served again a very nice dinner.

There was also a Danish wave event in Klitmoller and the nice coincidence was that they had a kind of a party in the bar next to us. There was a meeting first, but the people that did not like to talk already found our partybus. The atmosphere was getting better and better with every Jägermeister. Then it was time to check out the bar. Kevin Mevissen put on his wooden shoes and was taking care of the music and everybody had a good time till a local thought it was funny to throw a beer over the laptop of Kevin. That caused some hectic in the bar. But anyway it was a nice party.

Sailingtime in Klitmoller
Next morning not everybody was sharp. But there was a little wind already. After checking out the freestyle competition that was going on it looked like the wind was picking up and some small waves where building up also. So the guys went out for a freesailing session in front of the camera.
The next thing was to decide what to do. Stay in Klitmoller or not? The wetter forecast did not look very promising what made us decide to go back to holland again and have a party on the way back. Folkert had some good experiences in Arhus. After some hours drive we arrived there and parked the cars in the big harbour. We could see a partyboat lying close to us that already was recommended by a Klitmoller local. So that was the place to go for the night.

Partytime in Arhus
The partyboat was not very full yet, but the blond ladies on the dance floor took the attention. They where dancing with a come and take me attitude, but the reality was the opposite. They where not very accessible but maybe four days without shower was the real problem for the riders? But not for 2 of the older single crew members we will not name here. One of those 2 gave a kind of a kind of a live show in the camper that night with the only lady in Denmark without blond hair. Age brings experience …..

Back to Holland
After waking up and telling the stories of the night the trip back started. After dropping Lampie at Flensburg for a trip to a certain girl in Sylt and a pitstop at the Mc Donalds in Holland the group split up and everybody went home again. It was again a great experience for everybody. Good to see a group like this can travel and have fun without a bad word.

The results
And of course there was also a serious part of this trip; the competition. The best 3 riders of each discipline come in a movie that can be voted on. The event judges selected the top 3 riders and make 50% of the result, the other 50% is the decision of the public.
In both disciplines (Big Air and Waveriding) the same names where on the top 3 list;
– Thomas Traversa (Tabou/Gaastra)
– Kevin Mevissen (JP/Neil Pryde)
– Martin ten Hoeve (Fanatic/North)

The movie will be edited now and when it is fixed the voting can start. To be continued

More info can be found on www.waveriderz.tv. The event videoreport can soon be found on www.riderz.tv soon after the event.