[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome back to the show.
[00:00:02] This week's episode is a fun one.
[00:00:04] It's with Bohmian van der Linden, the 2021 freestyle wing foil world champ.
[00:00:09] We recorded this episode while Bo was training in Cabo Verde, uh, for
[00:00:13] the upcoming GWA wave event that that one just finished up.
[00:00:18] So enjoy this episode.
[00:00:19] There's a lot of good tidbits of information in there about Bo.
[00:00:22] And, um, I hope you enjoy it.
[00:00:24] Now, if you haven't had the opportunity, I would recommend that you give Welcome to the Wing Life podcast, where we talk about wing foiling and the lifestyles of those who enjoy this great sport. Well, hey, it's great to meet you. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me. Nice little colored room.
[00:01:40] Where are you right now?
[00:01:41] I was holding to a permanent woman and a super colorful house. So I'm not that experienced. We had last year one good week of swell. So I actually only rode the wave during the competition. So you went right into it. Yeah, yeah. I rised the night before the competition last year because we flew in from New Zealand. So it was pretty hectic.
[00:03:00] How was that the first time you've even seen that thing?
[00:03:02] Because it's a freight train and it and you can maybe do like an air or the guys are doing some 360s and you can do some you've got some more time to do some turns but I think it's also these waves you got to choose the right set in your heat and yeah just don't get smashed onto the rocks yeah I heard the rocks there can be pretty intense and my
[00:04:23] neighbor who's a big windsurfer he said yeah only the pros ride there and all the time their gear to have to catch that here over here and see that. So that's coming up next week, right? The 15th, I think the window opens? Yeah, exactly. Oh, sweet. Yeah, 15th to 25th. Nice. You got one week. What's your week look like coming up? Just ride as much as possible. Now we're waiting for a swell to arrive. So there's, you literally can't ride it.
[00:05:41] Well, you can ride there, but you can't ride the waves.
[00:05:44] It's like only crashing a little bit on the rocks. half a year in the Netherlands and half a year in South Africa. So I grew up moving around a lot and being able to enjoy the waters in Cape Town. And then like four or five years ago, I started getting into foiling. And I must say with shame that I haven't touched my wit to have said. No, don't tell us that.
[00:07:02] But yeah, no, it's and see. And then I ended up winning that first competition. So that's how I kind of rolled in to competing. Oh, no way. Because I was like, I'm signed up for this competition. I have to train freestyle and I can't do anything.
[00:08:20] And then I just practiced a lot for like two or three weeks.
[00:08:22] So that was enough to get me the first spot in the two of us, it's a special feeling, yeah. That's what Tom and I briefly touched upon that, especially upon a pretta, because it's like 30, 40 people sometimes, and then you get it to yourself, which is so special. I'm gonna luckily experience it here again, yeah. Yeah, no, I hope you guys get some good stuff coming in. So 2021 freestyle world champ,
[00:09:42] can you walk us through a little bit about that?
[00:09:44] Like how did that season feel,
[00:09:46] and what did that feel like so early on? please help me calculate because I'm not sure. No one's saying anything. And then we were calculating like on our phones together and we're like, wow, it's really true. It's really true. And it was really nice, special moment, especially in Brazil. It was my first time in Brazil and I've really fell in love with the country as well. It's such a nice atmosphere, warm water, really good to
[00:11:02] train. So we celebrated really well that time when it was really a special, really nice moment.
[00:12:05] Pretty much. Yeah. And then your feet go numb, your hands go numb, your face goes numb. Yeah, no.
[00:12:06] But you're fortunate.
[00:12:08] Yeah.
[00:12:10] Have you found the tricks from when you first started to what they are now for you to rank and compete on the women's side?
[00:12:20] Obviously, you've seen a huge progression. Anything kind of catch you off or hoping to be able to pull off or what do you think you could pull off on the wave? Because you just have to let the wing flag out So what is it that you feel that you could get with that?
[00:13:42] Like I'm waiting for the first front flip or something on a wave just flagged out
[00:14:46] I think at the Tureefa event this year, we saw it a lot with the back mode, with the guys and
[00:14:52] Nia with the Palau like posting it like a few hours or the night before the competition
[00:14:56] so nobody has time to practice it and then like
[00:14:58] on the first day of the competition you see people in the morning getting into the water like immediately like trying and practicing it and some people are already landing it so
[00:15:04] you can see like how fast it goes and the sport progresses so fast
[00:16:02] that you get to travel a little bit. So is there a favorite wing foil spot around the world
[00:16:05] that you'd like to share so far?
[00:16:07] Well, like I said, I spend a lot of time in Cape Town
[00:16:11] in my youth, and I don't know why,
[00:16:13] but I really still love to go there.
[00:16:15] It's one of my favorite places.
[00:16:17] And this year, I also discovered Downwind Subfoiling.
[00:16:20] And yeah, it's such a good location for it as well.
[00:16:24] So I really enjoyed it again this year. many different countries, like getting to know their culture and also sometimes even traveling to their home country and then welcoming you. It's really a special thing to have friends all over the world and also to see a lot of cultures. I think also like here where like I grew up like in South Africa and
[00:17:42] that's also Africa but this is a different type of Africa. You're like on things. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I know you were riding for North and we love North, like a mic from North. We've been talking to him, amazing guy, great team over there. But you're wearing a nice Armstrong shirt. So can we talk a little bit about that transition into why you've decided to ride for those guys? I had a great two years with North and I really
[00:19:03] enjoyed the team and the gear and it was really, foils do you like the best from that whole range now? So I've been using the MA foils mostly for winging, freestyle waves. I've been really loving them. Also especially in the waves, carving, I have so much control and ease. And then with the prone foiling and supping, I've been using the HA foils and I feel like
[00:20:23] I've progressed so much just in turns even on the little bit bigger sizes so that makes it fun for like the
[00:21:42] super mushy small sessions at home as well's it's much cleaner because there's a pier so but I must say if I'm traveling I don't mind like sitting in the car an hour and driving everywhere but when I'm at home I'm really stuck to my little village and my little home spot and my own surf club I don't know
[00:23:02] why it's just I've been going there for years and it's just in the system Yeah, yeah. No, yeah. Now this year I also really enjoyed the canaries, like a poso with the hardcore wind and I really enjoyed that. It was special. Of course also like a legendary winter spot, so that was cool to be able to ride there thermal spots everywhere. And for folks at home, like we started half the interview, we were in this awesome little house, but now the internet failed. So Bo's outside right now, our buddy Kieran's just on the other side of the camera. Yeah, we can talk about waves.
[00:25:40] Did you guys just get a little bit of swell?
[00:25:42] Yeah, so there was finally a little bit of swell. No, that's fair enough. And what Armstrong gear were you riding for folks at home that want to know a bit more? So yesterday I was using my 625MA with my 140 backtail and then today we went to another spot with a bit more mushy waves and I was going for my 800 with the 140, which I maybe I think I prefer maybe that for the moment.
[00:27:04] What would you say the biggest difference would be between an 800 and a
[00:28:04] in two months so it's good to be back with everybody who's riding on a high level because
[00:28:11] really it motivates you a lot to get better and it's like sometimes a bit inspirational to see like oh these guys are riding so well so it's a really nice feeling again after two months.
[00:28:16] So we were looking a little bit at prone foiling last time and you said obviously you like the
[00:28:21] HAs a little bit more for it. Would there be a difference as to why you would go HA versus So I'm really enjoying that. And also what I really like is, I feel also when you're like riding a bit in the critical section and you want to like tack out of the wave, it's really easy and it like lifts me out of the wave, out of like the little critical sections at the end. So that's also something I was enjoying like in K-TOW when I was riding a bit in shallow sections and stuff that I felt like comfortable like not having to swim every time because
[00:29:44] I was like falling out of the way and stuff.
[00:29:46] Oh yeah, that makes sense. Okay. Yeah. So do you still prefer like a hard handle wing or is this kind of like a happy kind of medium?
[00:31:02] I think it's quite a happy medium.
[00:31:04] I think it's also a lot about what you're used to
[00:31:06] like the freestyle, you're so dialed
[00:31:08] into your gear after a while. Okay, yeah. Like unless it's one you can compress or something? Yeah, yeah. Like I don't know, that could be something. I think just the two handles that you can fold easily is really handy. So maybe, yeah, I think I would prefer that, yeah. And what about board size? So I'm using the 48 liter board.
[00:32:24] So actually all of my sessions, and so often that you're floating and the wind isn't optimal. So you gotta just train on the gear you're gonna compete on. So now I'm just always using the 48L and actually really enjoying this. So I think I'm not gonna go down in liters anymore except for like prone foiling or towing or if it's like lasting like more than 40 knots.
[00:33:40] Yeah, well, it's a decent size.
[00:33:41] Like I finally hopped on something smaller.
[00:33:43] I hopped on a 56 or 57L.
[00:33:47] And I'm running strapless And then you said you guys got out for some fun. Finally, you got a little bit of swell rolling in so contest is starting to look better and better you're thinking. Yeah, I think everybody's talking all the time that the swell's coming, the swell's coming. I know it's really like to look on the forecast.
[00:35:01] You mentioned that, yeah.
[00:35:02] Yeah, because I'm going to get disappointed.
[00:35:05] We're telling Kieran he's not allowed to watch the forecast for more than one day. Cause you, I guess you got to study everything, right? Like where is it starting to break? Where should I, like, where should I line up? Like all of those things? I think those are really important, like feeling it from the water. Cause sometimes you can maybe like look from the beach and say like, okay, this is a section I want to go on. And then when you're on the water, like, Oh, was it this rock? If I that rock, like the few changes from the water.
[00:36:20] So it's really important to maybe watch someone
[00:36:23] who's already been training there for a while
[00:36:24] and see what they're doing
[00:36:26] and then combine it with your own experience
[00:36:28] out on the water. So I think you need to be pretty careful, but I think it isn't as bad as as what everybody says Or what it looked like sometimes. I don't know last year It didn't I didn't really feel like people were there some people had a few like bad washes But nothing like to crazy that everybody wasn't a bitch like this, you know
[00:37:43] Was I answered on their eyes? Well, it's positive. It's like really beautiful with the sun going down.
[00:39:04] So if you're visiting the island, I would definitely do that. And let me think what Come over to America when there's like six cheeseburgers and then e-bikes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. We got a little obesity pandemic going on over here, but it's okay. It's okay. We'll get through it. Okay. That's cool. Any kind of pregame rituals that you love to do before contests or a couple of days
[00:40:23] before?
[00:40:24] No.
[00:40:25] I guess not actually. And then how many wings do you normally have set up on the beach? Do you have a couple in a heat just in case? Mostly I have at least one to two on the beach. It depends a bit on what's the wind, or just one extra size of the perfect size for that day, like if you have a really stable wind, or one size smaller and one size larger,
[00:41:41] what I'm planning to use just to see if the wind changes,
[00:41:46] you have like maybe two waves and you can do two waves scores counting and two freestyle tricks counting like okay should I use my last attempt for a wave before a freestyle trick like I think that's when it gets pretty like helpful the information because you know it's a jury sport sometimes you feel like you're doing
[00:43:00] your waves were super good or your freestyle was super good but maybe it's the other way
[00:43:03] around you're really sometimes you just could you know if you're getting caught up In paying attention to your surroundings on the ocean a bit more. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I think it's That's like a competing isn't only like who's the best on the water. It's a very strategic
[00:44:20] Often I guess especially in this place situations where you have like choices between freestyle or waves
[00:44:26] or even I think at a certain moment, like every competition before going into the competition, you already know like, okay, these are my like four best scoring tricks I have like in my portfolio, and you'll always try to get those four tricks in your, in your heat, I guess, and then my,
[00:45:40] my plan is always just try to land all four, so she knows the wave pretty well, so that's her very strong points. And then Nia, she has a lot of hills on the wing, and she's been doing like 360s on the wave and airs logistics and finances? Is it sponsors? Is it fear of getting injured or hurt? I think maybe Ponce de Pretta, it's also a little bit fear of the wave because it has
[00:48:20] such a gnarly image, I guess, and it looks pretty do you find that competing has changed you in personally? Do you find that you can deal with stressful situations a bit more because you're dealing so many things at the same time? Culture shock, putting yourself into a brand new situation on the water and then also having to deal with so many different factors.
[00:49:40] Do you find from it.
[00:51:00] But it's also like once you start competing, maybe the first time, if I was a build, I
[00:51:06] wouldn't have competed ever. Well hey, thanks Bo, thanks for joining and thanks for chatting with us, getting to know you a little bit better. And we are looking forward to seeing you on the live feed and I wish you luck and hope that contest goes really well. Thank you, thank you. You have some in La Fontana? Yes, I cannot wait. It's going to be very fun.
[00:52:21] Yeah, I can imagine.
[00:52:23] Do some good. Like we did I think an 8-10k downwinder.
[00:52:26] No, I won't.