Blast From The Past

Sarah Hauser’s (Tabou / S2Maui) passion is definitely waves! The 31-year-old has earned herself the reputation of being a charger as she shows little fear even when the conditions get big. The New Caledonian now lives in Maui and has sailed Pe’ahi, while see finished second in the 2016 Aloha Classic! Sarah is next up in ‘Blast From The Past’.

Hi Sarah, take us back to the memory of your very first windsurf experience - where were you?

New Caledonia (home)

When was it? 

Something like 1996… 

Who were you with?

My cousins 

What do you remember from that very first ‘session’? 

Wanting to get rid of the sail to just lay on the board and get dragged by my dad’s little boat  (way more thrilling hahaha)

Who was your local hero? And why? 

My dad! He would participate in the Noumea Cup back in the day with his old equipment, there was always something that broke and he would end up in the loser’s final and then win it and I was like “that’s still a win Papa!”

What gear were you using? 

In that photo that’s my cousin Bic dolphin gear. I remember the board was very slippery. 

Describe your feeling when you were planing for the first time…

I thought “and now I’m going super fast too!!!!” I just wanted to do this for hours, I felt free and on an adventure!

How did you realise you were becoming a professional windsurfer?

After my first trip to Maui, I flew home and filled in the immigration card: “occupation = pro windsurfer” and the agent at the counter looked at me and asked “is that even a job?”. I had just spent the most epic 6 weeks of my life in Maui and was like “I don’t care what it takes, I don’t care what people think, I don’t care if I just spent 5 years working to get an engineer degree, one way or another I’m gonna make this my job!"

Give a tip for the next generation…

Cherish your dreams! Don’t take them for granted, even if it seems like they make your life complicated and things could be simpler if you’d just work, eat, sleep. Having a passion is a blessing, if you found yours nurture it and you’ll live great adventures!

Thanks, Sarah.