Yannick De Jager // Storiesfromheretothere
I foråret bragte vi et interview med den belgiske surfer Lars Musschoot, som var I Danmark for at filme til projektet “Storiesfromheretothere”. Hans episode fra Danmark er kommet på nettet og hvis du ikke har set den endnu, kan du her I artiklen se klippet.
Via snakken med Lars blev interessen for projektet kun større og derfor har Riders.dk taget en lille snak med den Hollandske surfer Yannick De Jager, som også er igang med selvsamme projekt gennem deres fælles sponsor – Protest. Yannick har allerede to rigtig fede episoder ude, som du kan se her I artiklen.
Carlos Pinto. http://www.charliephotos.com
Læs interviewet – tjek videoerne ud – bliv inspireret til din næste tur I bølgerne.
Efteråret er rundt om hjørnet og vi ved alle hvad det betyder… VIND = BØLGER!!!
Hi Yannick..
Hey guys!
How are you?
I’m good! Preparing for the European summer now and getting my stuff together. I am about to go to Newquay in the UK for the Boardmasters wqs event and from there I’ll go straight to France for the Lacanau wqs.
How did a guy, coming from Holland in the cold north sea start his surfing?!
My dad has been one of the first surfers in Holland that started to surf the North Sea consistently. Surfing has been his passion for more than 30 years now.. so ever since I was born my whole live revolved around the beach, the north sea, neighboring oceans and surfing.
I lived near the beach at home and on every school holiday we would go to a place in France, Spain or Portugal where the sun was shining and the waves were pumping. My dad would go surfing, my mum and I would be on the beach. Ever since I was a baby I always played in the water, later I went on little body-boards. My first (real) surf session, where I stood up on a surfboard on my own, was in Portugal when I was 7 years of age.
Who/what inspired you in your surfing, growing up in Holland?
When I was in my teenage years none of my good friends really surfed. I went skateboarding with them, but no one was surfing. So I watched surf movies on tape and would go to the beach behind the dunes where I lived with my parents. I surfed for hours and created my own little world there.
Later I found a few guys that surfed in Scheveningen so I went surfing with them. We had a really core group of young guys and we were always stoked, no matter how hard the wind was, how strong the rain or how small the waves. We always went in the water, surfed and enjoyed ourselves.
Koen Veldman – http://koenveldman.com
Tells us a little about a typical year for you.. How much of your time is spent at home and where do you travel to?
This year I think I am going to spent about 4-5 months at home and the rest I am away surfing elsewhere in Europe or the world. My year consists of photo shoots, competitions and trips I organize myself. For training, sponsor obligations, or competition purposes. Most of all, I just want to have fun while progressing as a person and surfer. Usually my travel destinations are around Europe, but nowadays I also get to go around the world to Australia, North & South America, Indonesia and a lot of other places for photo shoots etc.. it’s not a bad life situation! 🙂
Any favorite spots around Europe that our readers should travel to, according to you?
Well, first of all, I would love to come to Denmark soon! It looks like it receives a bit more swell than Holland and also has a bit more variety in the coastline. Excited to come and surf the waves you guys get and do some North Sea exploring. For now I love Scotland, Ireland and Portugal. Those places are definitely my favorite in Europe. If you are tired of the bad weather for a bit and you just want a bit of sunshine and good waves, but don’t want to fly for too long; go to the Algarve in Portugal. It has sun and good waves every month of the year.
Your first episode of your ‘storiesfromheretothere’ looks sick. Nice to see good footage and surfing from the North Sea. The episode is centered around you hometown.
How did this project start out?
Thanks. We are stoked with how well the whole international surf media received it…the feedback and comments we got from people was amazing. We were happy that people were happy to see what is going on up here. It was all recorded in about 5 days.
It started out, because every rider in the Protest team wanted to do something with their blog / website. We all came up with different video projects and then we sat down with Protest to mold it into one project that had separate stories for every surfer / teamrider.
The ”stories from Here to There” project is something I’m excited about, because the main goal is to portrait who we are and what we do in a honest way. It hopefully will show our lives, goals, as well as enough random, spontaneous moments that just happen in every life or while on the road.
Ray Max – http://ray-max.com
How are the future episodes turning out.. Is it still going to be centered around your home?
The next 4 episodes will get a different feel, more like you are there with us. That can be on the road, at home, at a contest or just during random things that happen. I will go out there, look for good waves in special places and try to get out of my comfort zone during international contests. Other than that I hope to score some more good waves at home in the next few months, there are a few interesting coastal protection projects going on at the moment. They pump up sand and it can create man-made sandbank perfection!
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Over the next few months I will be doing the European wqs events as well as doing the stories from here to there project. This winter I want to do a new project for my own little online world at; http://www.jagershots.tv
What are your overall goals with your surfing?
To put surfing from Holland and the North Sea on the international stage. To progress as much as possible as a surfer while staying true to myself. It would be cool to serve as a inspiration for young, aspiring, north sea rippers and to lay down a road that they can follow.
International contests are also a challenge, I have been getting a few fairly good results, like a 5th place in a wqs event in Portugal 2 years ago and a 1/4 final at the opening wqs event in France this year. International contests are out of my comfort zone though, I am not used to surfing heats at that level and it’s something I would like to learn, for myself. To be able to do my own thing and to bring my best surfing in those heats, that’s also a personal goal.
Finally, what advice would you give to our young North Sea rippers, who wants to develop his/hers surfing?
I think the North Sea can be a very good friend during your developing years as a surfer.
It will learn you to ”feel” waves really well, because you need to adjust to all these different waves that are usually hard to surf and are often small or weak. You learn to make the most out of waves and sections and if you surf the NorthSsea a lot you will be able to ”read” waves as good as anyone in the world. Just remember to keep surfing on your rail and learn to go with the flow of the waves, even if they are very small. Sometimes North Sea surfers get overexcited and try to force their way on waves, it looks terrible and it won’t get you anywhere. Never pump, but always use your rail and play with being light-footed and try to feel when it is time to apply the right amount of pressure. It’s something that talented surfers that grow up in good waves learn automatically because of the wave strength, but we as North Sea surfers need to be aware of… to learn it properly.
Search for waves that only appear during certain tides and will allow you to make the most out of sections. Here in Holland the tide can change the waves so much, I am sure it will be sort of the same in Denmark. Ever since I was young I always searched for waves that had a bit more wall or power, to allow better lines in my turns or to be able to get more speed for lip tricks or airs. Most of all; cliché, but so so true – enjoy!
If you have any other things you would like to share with us, please just let me know.
If you are in need of north sea inspiration / action, or bored, or if you are just interested and want to follow me; http://www.yannickdejager.com & http://www.jagershots.tv
Thanks you and cheers!
Cheers!
Lars Musschoot 2. Episode:
Yannick De Jager episode 1
episode 2
Af Jacob Gaston, Riders.dk