Man sagt, Freestyle sei eine Sportart für junge Leute, und Dieter Van der Eyken (Severne Windsurfing) ist zwar keineswegs alt, aber auf der Freestyle-World-Tour, auf der er 2010 sein Debüt gab, gilt er dennoch als Veteran. Der 34-Jährige, der mittlerweile Vorsitzender der PWA ist, hat einen klaren Kopf und nutzte seine gesamte Erfahrung, um unter den schwierigen Bedingungen von gestern zu glänzen. In solchen Situationen ist Van der Eyken ruhig, überlegt und beständig, was ihn stets zu einer großen Gefahr macht.
Hey Dieter, congrats on making the final, if I'm not wrong that's your first Winners' Final since you won your world title in 2015? How does that feel?
“Yep, this is the first Winners' Final since 2015 for me. To be honest, it feels pretty unreal. I’ve had a few events where I passed the quarterfinals, but then always just missed out on the Winners' Final. It’s been 11 years, and I’ve missed out on a few podiums since then. It felt like a good chance to make a Winners' Final again on a special day, and I just really gave it all in that semifinal. The conditions were tricky, and when it’s tricky, it levels out the playing field a bit. I did face the lightest guy in the event [Takumi Moriya], but I made it work, got around it, and was super happy with my sailing in general.”
How was yesterday on the whole for you?
“I think it was good for me. I was quite motivated to go out and try. I was actually the first guy on the water—not to push or rush to get started, but because the freestylers were given priority over the slalom sailors, and I thought it was fair enough to go out there and test the conditions, as it was very hard to see from the beach. That helped me a lot in knowing where to sail and where not to sail, and understanding how the conditions were. Straight from the warm-up, I felt quite good with my sailing, which is always a nice confidence boost. From then on, I literally took it heat by heat.”
Particularly in the semifinal against Takumi the wind was super light - do you like competing when it gets quite technical in those conditions?
“Yeah, I really liked the tactical side of chasing the gusts. It takes some energy out of you, but for me, it almost gave me energy because it added another dimension to sailing the heat and made it trickier for everyone. When it gets technical — yes, I love it.”
What gear were you on yesterday?
“Gear wise yesterday I was on the same setup the whole time: my Severne Freek 4.8m and the 94L Psycho. I lost some weight since last year, so at 74 kg, it was the right choice. By the end, it was sometimes a bit too light—especially in the last heat—but overall it felt good. I could maximise the gusts; the gusts were more than strong enough, you just needed to be agile, I was very happy with that.
Which heat do you think your best performance was?
“The first heat was probably my best scoring heat because I managed to land a double culo, but overall I was really happy with all my heats. The last heat was still quite special because of what was on the line, and in those conditions, I definitely sailed to the absolute maximum of what was possible. I tried to mix it up every heat and did some tricks I haven’t done in a long time. Every heat was great—none really sticks out above the rest, except maybe nailing some chachoos again in a competition: one against Jacopo [Testa], and one in the last heat right into the sunset, which was pretty nice.”
Looking at the forecast - how do you rate the chances of being able to finish the Freestyle?
“I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to finish the freestyle; I'm
very positive about it. Just waiting in the final is a nice spot to be in.
Whether we finish a double elimination or not, we’ll have to see. I think
there’s a chance tomorrow [Tuesday], and if not, on Wednesday. With the drone
judging and the forecast we have, we should be able to finish. Let’s see
whether I meet 'Crazy Balz' [Balz Müller] or 'Competition Machine 2.0' Lennart
Neubauer, and we’ll take it from there.
No matter what, it’s already a podium for me for the first time in 11 years.
After everything I’ve been through this year, it feels very, very nice to put
together a session and a competition like this—and always remember to fight
until the red flag, just like my mum did.”
Thanks, Dieter. Congrats on a great day yesterday, your mum would be incredibly proud of you and fingers crossed the wind comes through to finish the Freestyle.
The forecast for Tuesday is much better than today with 14-21 knots easterly winds currently predicted. With a bit of luck that will either see the Freestyle completed, or the racing get underway.