That's It For 2023
Jordy Vonk (Duotone / Duotone Sails): Tenerife, Austria, Lake Garda, Holland, France, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Sylt, Japan, and Cape Town: I collected enough miles to keep my gold status for flying and drove enough kilometers for my van to hit 350,000 km by now; it's been a long season!
As it's December now, and I'll be taking a little time off the water to recharge, it's time to look back on 2023.
PWA World Tour
In 2023, the PWA tour expanded to include 5 slalom events scattered throughout the year, featuring locations with both light and strong winds. This diversity contributed to the emergence of a deserving overall winner, and our competition spanned from May to November.
Lake Garda proved to be the most unfortunate event of the year, despite favorable conditions before and after. Thankfully, a fantastic last day showcased the venue's potential as an excellent racing location.
Pozo, an event I eagerly anticipated, didn't unfold as expected with the winds we hoped for (40/45 knots). Despite this, choosing between my 6.8 fin and 5.4 foil sail, I found joy in racing at this historic slalom windsurfing spot.
Fuerteventura consistently delivered excellent conditions, and Sylt, surprisingly warmer than usual, added a positive twist to that event.
The season concluded in Japan, featuring two incredibly intense high-wind days. Shifting this event from spring to autumn marked a significant improvement in the conditions we encountered compared to the last two times.
PWA Lake Garda / 10-14 May / 4 eliminations / light wind / 17th place
PWA Pozo / 1-9 July / 10 eliminations / strong wind / 6th place
PWA Fuerte / 27-31 July / 11 eliminations / medium to strong wind / 14th place
PWA Sylt / 22 Sept - 1 Oct / 7 eliminations / light wind / 22nd place
PWA Japan / 10 - 14 November / 6 eliminations / strong wind / 12th place
11th place was my final ranking.
Am I happy?
No.
Why?
It's been a mentally challenging season, where it felt like I was battling more against myself and the equipment than my fellow competitors. Consequently, my confidence was quite low, leading to disappointing results. In this highly competitive field, there are many skilled individuals ready to take your place when you're not at your best.
The highlight?
Winning an elimination in Pozo. It's one of the two eliminations this year that were won on a fin, and I'm happy and proud to have achieved this.
How can I turn this form around?
First and foremost, next year the fin and foil will be separate, a positive change that benefits both disciplines. I plan to compete in both, especially focusing on the foil where I feel I have unfinished business. Spending the winter in Tenerife, my main focus will be addressing the issues from this year, working hard and smart to come back stronger.
Clinics & Promotions
Out of competitions there was also plenty of stuff to do. Like usual the last couple years I started with a organised slalom week in Tenerife. Where last year we struggled to get good conditions, this time it was windy every single day. Definitely a great succes.
In May together with Surfcenter we organised the Defi Wind Experience for the second time, we managed to double the group size and get all participants to finish at least one race: win!
In the Dutch autumn we saw the return of the Real Trip, it was one of the first competitions I ever did in 2007 and it's awesome to see it back on the calendar. Although wind wasn't really on our side, it was good to see a lot of people and especially kids coming to this event.
In October the Dam-X took place again where I took a more prominant role this year of being the moderator of the event. It was the first time I did such a thing and I have to admit, I had a prettty good time!
Together with plenty of other things; like the Duotone launch parties and Surfcenter Oktoberfest, I would definitely say it was a great time being with the people.
Social Media
The last 'main task' of the year I'd say were the social media activities. It's pretty time consuming, but it's statisfying when things go well. I've had over 1.2 million views on my reels, gained a solid amount of followers and on both Facebook and Instagram my reach was over one million (till 31 November).
I've learned and tried some things and of course hope to improve the numbers by a lot again in 2024, the sky is the limit on social media!
Thank you
Another year done and I'm still feeling very lucky to be a professional windsurfer. I want to give a big shout-out to everybody that helped me through the season; my wife/son, family, friends, supporters and sponsors. Without you guys this journey would not go on.
2024 is a new year with new chances: let's go!!