Congratulations to Danish Waveriding Champion Jakob Appel! The danish dynamite rider was unbeatable and took away the win! Here is his story of the event…

From Jakob Appel (Envy/5´11 skate)

The Danish Championships in waveriding finished a couple of days ago. And what a spectacle. New format, new sponsors and a lot of new surfers were the basis for the succesful event. Previous events had suffered from being elite only thereby not attracting the attention from the crowds. This year the format was changed so that time on water was maximised and raw competition was limited to a 30-minute final heat consisting of the five best riders, nominated by all the other riders.

I was lucky to be one of those five riders in the final heat, with perfect conditions with sideshore winds for 5-7 m2 and sets with up to 2,5 m clean faces in the hardcore spot “Hvide Sande” (English “White Sands”).

From the beginning of the final heat I decided to focus merely on unhooked riding and letting the kite drift downwind as I rode the waves. I was lucky to get four good waves in a row at the beginning of the heat. And from those waves on I was able to land a couple of good aerials on some solid waves. I knew I had put a good heat together, but was still very surprised when I was actually picked for the number one spot of the Danish Championships.

This is my first Danish title and I am convinced that it would not have been possible if my Liquid Force Envys did not support my type of powered unhooked riding that lets me concentrate on the wave and less on the kite that drifts reliable downwind while ripping. I rode a 5’10 Liquid Force board that is super controllable and smooth in the bottom turns, while enabling me to tail slide whenever the conditions are right or bust an aerial. Also it is important that the board and the kite have good upwind capabilities allowing the rider to catch as many waves and have as much fun as possible.

The day after the event we were a group of competitors that drove further north to a spot called Agger (part of the Klitmøller area a.k.a. “Cold Hawaii”). That day we had 2-4 meters very clean faces with wind from the opposite direction and no crowds whatsoever. We sailed until the wind were to strong for our 4m2! It was with tired bodies and big smiles we drove the 450 kilometres back to Copenhagen.

All the pics are taken from the event and the final heat.

Cheers,
Jakob Appel