THE FRENCHMAN
Along with Kauli on this incredible day was a Frenchman, a crazy Frenchman ? we wanted to know more ! By the power of Facebook we were able to track down Charlie and here’s what we found out. My full name is Charles Vandemeulebroucke but everybody knows me as Charliboy in the watersport world. I just turned 30 and have been windsurfing since I was 14 years old. I was born and lived for 28 years in the French city of Dunkerque, close to Belgium (where my last name is from). I am a physiotherapist/chiropractor and studied in Bruxells, Belgium. For 7 years I have been sailing for Naish as a French team rider, I only wave sail along with some Kitesurfing and SUP, competing on the pro tours of both. I moved to Teahupoo 2 years ago, first for a month but never left. I surf pretty much every day in barrelling waves and live in front of the surf in my beautiful house, built on piles. I now have my own business here so everything is set up and I won’t move again for a long time.
Tahiti is probably one of the most difficult place to access for a windsurfer; there is only a few local windsurfers, the spots are hard to find and if you break your mast you’re 1 mile from shore with the current going out. It is an amazing place though because it’s still wild, people are nice if you respect them and you won’t find any hotel with thousands of tourists. The nature is insane in Polynesia, colours too and the quality of ride in any surf sport is the best, that’s what makes Tahiti so special !
Scoring this day was not luck, I was ready to do it and waiting for a day like this for a long time.I sail Teahupoo when it’s good, it needs a bit of size to get good in windsurfing and a special wind too. You get a lot of windy days at Chopes during the windy season (Tahitian winter) but to get clean and perfect, a really precise angle is needed, a few degrees out and it is unsailable. Combine that with the need for a clean swell and the fact that you have to be at Teahupoo to know it (no forecast can predict the rain and wind accelerations here) makes the days here pretty rare to score and challenging for a visitor. It is the only spot that can handle super sized swell, if it’s not that big the other spots around are more fun with jumping and longer waves. I’m the only windsurfer guy around here so I’m not taking too much risks if I’m alone. This day was special, massive swell, perfect angle and with the best wind I’ve had there, sun and just Kauli and I out. It wasn’t crowded with surfers like normal probably because of the wind and the fact that we had a few big swells in a row so everybody was surfed out.