Sarah Quita Ofringa
“For the past 15 years windsurfing has been the red line in my life. It’s not just a hobby or a job! It has really become a lifestyle. Because even if I didn’t compete anymore, I would still yearn to get on the water. This I know for sure, because every time I get to the beach I’m so extremely excited to get on my board and experience the feeling of the wind filling up my sails, my board picking up speed, getting into the straps and finally blasting across the water at full speed.
Coming from a small island like Aruba, I never thought I’d travel to the edges of the world and this is all because of windsurfing. It’s a challenging sport in every way imaginable, but very satisfying. It takes a while to master the basic techniques, and then when you have those down there’s always the next level to work towards. Having worked so hard to learn something, once you manage it, it’s so incredibly satisfying you keep coming back for more. I’ve learned a couple of things from that; first of all… the best stories are from the times that you were learning something and crashing all the time! Second; you can always get up if you fall and finally that you alone can and need to put the work into something if you want to progress. Travelling with the bags is the biggest hassle I can think of, but you forget all of that when you find yourself sailing in crystal clear waters in New Caledonia, in massive waves at Ho’okipa or surrounded by snowy mountains in Iceland. One of the best things of the whole lifestyle is getting in touch with people from all over the world and learning their views on life and our planet. It’s a special clan of people. Windsurfing has taught me to work hard, and at the same time be flexible. Not everything works out the way you want to, so when it doesn’t, just figure out another way to get there. In the meantime; just enjoy the ride!”