STORYS ABOUT US

WHY I LOVE SAILING AND WHEN I STARTED SERIOUSLY TO CONSIDER TO BUY A SAILING YACHT.

I remember I went camping with my parents to The Hague “Ockenburgh” for the first time when I was 7. The reason why we spent almost the entire summer vacation there every year was because I had bronchitis as a child.

From then on, I was drawn to the sea, either because I felt well there or because I was fascinated by the endless expanse and the power of the elements. The pure, clear, iodine-rich air was good for me, and in the first few days I always had the feeling that I could run for hours at a time without running out of breath. On the beach, I always admired the windsurfers surfing the waves.

With my father and friends, I went mackerel fishing several times on a fishing boat from Scheveningen harbor. Once we went on a school trip and took a cutter out to sea in a storm. Everyone got sick except me, so I ended up standing at the front of the boat in the middle of the spray and the ship was pounding in the meter-high waves.

It wasn't until I was 20 that I bought my first windsurfing equipment with my apprentice's wages.

I was so hooked on windsurfing that from then on I spent every free minute on the board and even flew to Fuerteventura or Cuba several times with friends to go windsurfing. Otherwise I surfed in the Netherlands on the North Sea, Hindeloopen Ijsselmeer, Elten Lobith on the Rhein.

Feeling the wind and the waves, riding power jibes full speed in the surf, having spinouts because you glide so fast over the water - that was/is the kick.

The best thing is to surf with your eyes closed and “only” perceive the waves and the wind and gusts of wind through your skin - your sensory nerves - your sense of balance, the smell and the sounds as you race across the water.

It could never be windy enough.

My friends and I agreed that the best time for windsurfing was when the wind was so strong that the sand rubbed so hard on our ankles that it hurt.

We often raced, etc.. Unfortunately, I can't mention everything here, I'd have to write a book about it.

I think windsurfing gave me the right feeling for the wind, currents and waves to be able to steer a sailing yacht and assess the enormous forces involved.

Later, I became fascinated by the mountains and from the age of 28 I was in the mountains almost every year.

I went climbing - mainly high alpine -, downhill skiing or cross-country skiing, or simply hiking and relaxing.

I didn't ski for the first time until I was 28, when my former business partner and friend invited me for sking in France.

I moved to Switzerland when I was 30 because I could combine everything professionally there. The desire to sail a yacht had not yet matured there.

Nature has always offered me the fulfillment of what I need to be balanced and powerful.

It is one of the few places where I can really relax and feel safe.

The law of nature is ruthless, you learn to cope there alone and without support.

Those who don't learn it and don't have the necessary respect for it can perish in it, those who learn it feel free and in their element.

In the course of my training, studies and career, I was able to work in many different places around the world because I was too curious about the world out there, with all its cultures and beautiful landscapes.

Once I was already 32 I flew to Argentina for business reasons and used the time there for a short holiday to fly from Buenos Aires to Patagonia.

I was able to watch the humpback whales calving in October and the killer whales hunting elephant seals on the cliffs.

I remembered standing up there on the cliff. I thought about the movie “Rich and Poor” that I had seen as a child and that fascinated me at the time.

The movie is about two brothers - Tom and Rudy - who are very different. One goes from being a simple man to a senator, while the other gets into the criminal world and starts boxing.

Well, I felt privileged at the time because of my work and the opportunities I had to shape my life freely.

I wasn't a senator, but there were certain parallels. I had achieved a lot for my age. Unlike the senator in the movie, I wasn't in the public eye, but I was, as they say, well-off and also came from a simple middle-class background.

What I did remember was that the senator owned a sailing yacht, which for him was a place of retreat and freedom. There are only two scenes where he is on a sailing yacht.

I found in that moment the idea of owning a sailing yacht and sailing to Patagonia very inspiring.

I think that was one of the first moments when I started to seriously consider the subject.

Well, it took a while before the idea became reality, but 1 year later I finished my Lake Constance skipper's licence class A & D.