Dieter Van der Eyken – PWA Chairman


"As Chairman of the Professional Windsurfers Association, my goal is simple: to help build a stronger, fairer and more sustainable future for professional windsurfing.

I did not take on this role for personal recognition. I accepted it because I believe our sport deserves a professional, transparent and athlete-focused governing body that works for everyone involved — riders, organisers, brands, officials, fans and our partners around the world.

Despite the challenges ahead and the understandable desire to move quickly, I believe that lasting progress is achieved through a gradual, well-structured approach. Taking the time to establish clear agreements, transparent governance and well-defined responsibilities helps prevent confusion and unnecessary disputes later on. Strong organisations are not built overnight; they are built on trust, consistency and clear foundations.

The PWA is at an important moment in its history. I see this as an opportunity to rebuild and strengthen the organisation so that it serves the entire sport of professional windsurfing. That means creating a structure that is sustainable, professionally managed and capable of supporting athletes, organisers, brands and our partners for many years to come.

My priorities are to strengthen the sport through clear governance, consistent rules, financial sustainability and close cooperation with all stakeholders. At the same time, it is essential that we protect the integrity of official world titles, maintain the standards expected through our relationship with World Sailing, and create an environment where athletes can compete with confidence and organisers can invest with certainty.

None of this is easy, but I have great confidence in the people currently serving on the Management Board. I see a genuine commitment to modernising the organisation and leading the PWA into a new era with professionalism, transparency and collaboration at its core.

The PWA never intended to work in isolation. Our role, as reflected in our bylaws, is to work together with other organisations and stakeholders to help develop the sport. I believe that cooperation is strongest when it is built on clear agreements, mutual respect and well-defined responsibilities, so that every partner understands what is expected and can work together with confidence.

I firmly believe that professional windsurfing grows fastest when we work together. Different organisations, events and commercial partners all have an important role to play, but success comes through clear agreements, mutual respect and a shared commitment to putting the long-term interests of the sport ahead of individual interests.

The PWA’s role is not simply to organise competitions. It is to safeguard the integrity of the sport, represent its athletes, provide a stable foundation for organisers and partners, and help create an environment where professional windsurfing can continue to evolve and thrive.

Ultimately, my success as Chairman will not be measured by the strength of the PWA alone, but by whether professional windsurfing becomes stronger, more united and offers greater opportunities for future generations of athletes. If we can provide stability, clarity and trust across the sport, then we will have achieved something that benefits everyone."
 

Matteo Iachino – Reigning Foil Slalom World Champion:

Sailor Representative

"I’m Italian, 36 years old, and I’ve been competing on the Professional Windsurfers Association tour for the past 17 years. During this journey, I’ve won three PWA world titles and finished six times as vice-world champion. There have been victories, disappointments, tough moments, and incredible achievements, but above all, it has been an amazing journey filled with passion, experience, and unforgettable memories.

I love windsurfing, and I truly believe the PWA is the best — and only — professional institution in our sport. It played a huge role in building my career, but it has also always been a source of inspiration and motivation for me. Competing on the PWA World Tour has been both an honour and a pleasure.

That’s why I felt it was time to give something back to the sport and to the organisation that has given me so much. I may not have extensive experience on a Management Board, but I do understand what helped me reach this point in my professional career. And I also understand that there is a real risk that the next generation may not have the same opportunities I had to become professional windsurfers.

My commitment will be to help push the PWA forward as a fair, professional, and sustainable platform where the best athletes in the world can perform at the highest level. At the same time, I want to help maintain strong standards within the competitions, so that younger generations can continue to see windsurfing as a real professional career, just as it has been for me.

I’m very happy with the team I’ll be working with, and I truly believe that together we can achieve great results."

Robert Stroj – NeilPryde Sail Designer:

Industry Representative

"My name is Robert Stroj, and I have been a sail designer for more than 30 years. Throughout my career I have designed sails that have won world titles across every discipline, set overall World Sailing Speed records, and secured multiple PWA Overall Constructors’ Championships — including the most recent 2025 title. I have had the privilege of working closely with many of the greatest athletes in our sport, including legends such as Antoine Albeau, Sarah‑Quita Offringa, Jason Polakow, Björn Dunkerbeck, and Yentel Caers, to name just a few.

For those three decades, the PWA has been the pinnacle of our sport and the platform where the very best windsurfers in the world compete. That history, combined with my son’s growing passion for wave sailing and my own lifelong dedication to windsurfing, makes me genuinely proud to serve on this Board. It is an honour to contribute back to the sport that has shaped my life and to help support its future."

Sarah Jackson – PWA Media Manager:
Sailor Representative

"I am motivated to be joining the Management Board for 2026 and bring my experience across the sport into this role. I have been a rider on the PWA since 2017 and have competed in Slalom, Freestyle, Foil Slalom and most recently Wave. In that time I have also worked in the industry in marketing, before going on to become the PWA Media Manager. I feel that this breadth of experience within the sport gives me a great understanding of where the sport is positioned and the perspective of different stakeholders and their wants and needs.

My goal on the board is simple, make the PWA World Tour stronger and more sustainable for future generations. As the only female member of the management board I want to fight for equality for the women and make sure they are accounted for in the decision making process and not an after thought.

I have also been heavily involved in the PWA Youth Slalom Tour and this has motivated me to make a World Tour that gives them the same opportunities, and more, that I experienced on the tour. One of the challenges the sport faces is that kids drop out of the sport when they turn 18, so I want to reduce this drop off and keep more people engaged in windsurfing both competitively and recreationally.

Raoul Joa – Duotone Windsurfing Division Manager:
Industry Representative

"Windsurfing has been at the centre of my professional life for over 30 years. My entire career has been spent inside the windsurf industry as a Division Manager — across marketing, product development, and sales — which has given me a deep understanding of what drives this sport commercially, what brands need to thrive, and what it takes to build something that lasts.

I have the genuine pleasure of working alongside Board Members who are overwhelmingly aligned in their thinking and their commitment to moving the sport forwards. The quality of the people around the table — their experience, their passion, their willingness to put in the work — gives me real confidence that the PWA is heading in the right direction. That's not something to take for granted, and it's a large part of why I'm happy to contribute my knowledge and experience.

My priorities going forward stay focused on the two areas where I believe the return on effort is greatest: Unifying the windsurfing world. The fragmentation between the PWA, IFCA, IWT, FPT, and other associations is one of the clearest things holding our sport back. From a marketing and commercial standpoint, a divided sport is a weak sport — harder to sell to sponsors, harder to present to media, and confusing to the outside world we're trying to attract. Closer collaboration, and ultimately unification between the associations, isn't just desirable — it's the only logical path forward for the long-term health of professional windsurfing. I want to actively support and accelerate the work already underway to build bridges between organisations, with a unified structure as the end goal. As a concrete step, we've developed a concept for a major unified slalom tour incorporating IFCA and PWA, launching in 2027 — a proposal we're genuinely excited about and one we believe can become a powerful rallying point for the entire windsurfing community. Growing the sport through youth and visibility. That starts with young people having a clear, accessible, aspirational pathway into the sport. I want to help build the structures — a unified youth class, co-ordinated outreach, a stronger collective identity for professional windsurfing — that make the PWA something people genuinely want to be part of.

Thirty years in this industry has taught me what resonates with audiences, how to communicate value, and how to build something people truly care about. Those are exactly the skills I bring to the board, and I intend to keep putting them to work.

I believe in the PWA — not blindly, but because a strong, well-run professional tour is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep windsurfing alive and growing. I'd rather contribute from inside than comment from the outside, and I'm committed to doing whatever it takes to make progress — for riders, for brands, and for the next generation picking up a board for the first time."
 

Graham Ezzy – Professional Wave Sailor & Coach:
Sailor Representative


"I was born on Maui into a windsurfing family. My father, David Ezzy, is one of the original Ho’okipa sailors and a sailmaker, so I grew up in a sail loft. I started my pro career at 14 and competed on the World Tour for about twenty years. For nearly half of those years, I was on the board of the PWA. I originally stepped up to be on the board because I was tired of complaining about the tour and felt ready to work to make the changes I wanted to see. I stepped off the board and away from full-time competing to focus on my family and my coaching (Windsurfing Masterclass).

But I was recently asked to join the board again, and I felt duty-bound to answer that call.

My main focus is on the integrity of competition. While we go through many exciting changes on the tour, we want to make sure that competition remains fair and that PWA events represent the highest level of competition in windsurfing."

Andrea Cucchi – Founder of Point-7 & Professional Racer:

Industry Representative

"I’m happy to be joining the PWA Management Board and to support the future development of professional windsurfing from both an industry and rider perspective.

Windsurfing has been at the centre of my life and work for many years through Point-7, a brand that has always supported young talents, invested in a strong racing team, and stayed closely connected to the core of the sport. However, with the reduction to only a few events per discipline, the visibility and promotion of windsurfing towards customers has slowed down significantly. This also affects sales, industry growth, and the motivation for brands to continue investing in riders and teams.

Coming from a racing background myself and having lived the life of a professional athlete, I really do not want to see the sport lose momentum. That is one of the main reasons why I wanted to join the board and actively support the growth of professional windsurfing again.

For me, one of the key objectives is to help rebuild a stronger structure capable of bringing back more events and helping them grow sustainably in the future. I believe it is important to work with a long-term vision and not only focus on short-term solutions that do not create real value or stability for the future of the sport.

Through product development, international events, and daily contact with riders, shops, organisers, distributors, and the wider community, I am involved in all levels of the sport from A to Z, and I hope to help balance the different needs and perspectives to move the sport forward together."