DAM-X: Festival weekend at the Brouwersdam with tow-in, racing, party - and wind!

Almost every windsurfer who lives in the west of Germany knows the Brouwersdam on the Dutch North Sea coast. From Friday afternoon, many addicts head west, as the "Dam" is the home spot for most Rhinelanders. The region around the Brouwersdam has something for everyone: Whether waves in Ouddorp, freeriding on the Kabbelaarsbank or freestyle in the "pool" in front of the Brouwersdam Surf & Zeilcentrum, where the mega event called "DAM-X" takes place every autumn. And so, on Friday evening, I also went to my beloved DAM to present for the German guests over the weekend. My Dutch co-host was none other than IFCA Slalom World Champion Jordy Vonk.

On site, the audience was already grooving in the restaurant with live music for the next two days. Here I bumped into Rick Jendrusch and the former freestyle world champions Steven van Broeckhoven and Dieter van der Eyken. Rick is the brains behind the whole thing and organises a gigantic event here every year.

Racing with the pros, the latest equipment and much more

On Saturday morning, I went to the skippers' meeting on time to familiarise the German riders with the rules, the course and the day's planning as best I could. On Saturday, the wind was a little slow to arrive and so by the afternoon it was only possible to race on the foil. The large starting field for the hobby races is categorised according to gender, age and ability so that everyone really gets a fair chance.

When Amado Vrieswijk and other pros from the PWA go out, you can see at first hand that these guys really are in their own league. And yet it's great to have the chance to be on the water with the absolute world's best. Where else can you experience something like this?

On the water with the best windsurfers in the world - where else can you experience this?

Until the wind finally set in, visitors passed the time on the festival grounds, where some manufacturers were already presenting their 2025 products at the "Boardsports Market".

But even for visitors who are not yet windsurfers, there was the opportunity to choose from a wide range of attractions with an activity pass. They could get a taste of windsurfing, go on the gigantic water slide followed by a jump, go tobogganing on a small indoor piste or even ski on a simulator.

Freestyle show followed by a DAM party

For me as a die-hard freestyler, the highlight was of course the tow-in and foil style show. Unfortunately, due to the weak wind, the freestylers didn't quite manage to glide and so the pros were accelerated with the jet skis. In addition to the young local hero Bodhi Kempen, Amado and crowd favourite Taty Frans also impressed the crowd. The second freestyle show took place in the evening at sunset and literally put the jumps in the perfect light.

On Saturday evening, the party went wild with the motto "Rocket Power & Vintage Hawaii". Many people were expecting me at the party, but after ten hours of moderating in ten degrees and windy conditions, I preferred to seek regeneration, as Sunday morning read perfectly in the Windfinder.

Early start on a stormy Sunday

And so, on Sunday morning, I rigged my 4.0 with the help of the car headlights so that I could get out on the water for two hours myself. Even though the competition wasn't yet underway, you could feel the extremely good atmosphere among all the windsurfers on the water. For example, I had a lot of fun with the Point 7 boss Andrea Cucci, who was absolutely smashing me on my freestyle equipment with his 7.0. The sunrise underlined the special atmosphere with crazy colours.

Just in time for the first race, I was back next to Jordy as the presenter and so everyone on site spent another wonderful day with wind and sunshine. In the evening there was a gigantic award ceremony for all classes and a raffle.

Now I'm sitting on the plane with a big grin on my face as I'm approaching Houston and thinking about this unbelievably awesome weekend with like-minded people. I was able to get another full dose of windsurfing here before I head off on holiday to Costa Rica.

My personal summary of the DAM-X weekend: Incredibly great people, strong organisation and pros to touch at the favourite spot of many Rhinelanders.