It's not your usual kite spot for a photo shoot, but the Netherlands plays host to some of the most passionate kiteboarders on the planet. Crystal Veness and the Liquid Force team head there to find out what all the fuss is about. After reading this, you might put it on your list to visit there too!

When wintry weather arrives, most kiteboarders flock to tropical destinations and sunny beaches for a windy escape; most level-headed kiteboarders that is! We, however, had clearly taken a few too many knocks to the head and somehow ended up in the Netherlands. Only the British would be deranged enough to leave one cold, wet landscape for another, but that's precisely what happened. With eight members of the Liquid Force UK and International team arriving from near and far, the British invasion was underway! 

South African but UK born wave shredder, Luke McGillewie, flew over from Canada, with the rainy weather in Amsterdam being a warm reprieve from the snowfall in Calgary. The UK grom team, shepherded by Crocs-and-socks wearing Craig Smith, took the EuroTunnel over in a station wagon with four heaving board bags strapped to the roof. George Dufty, who we didn't know was coming until we received a selfie from the plane, arrived with only his boots, bar, wetsuit, and harness. Grant Clayton flew over from Scotland with nothing but the clothes on his back, while the newest LF team rider, Georgina Monti, flew in with a board bag that was bigger than she was.

On the first windy day of the long weekend, our ragtag bunch of Brits miraculously managed to assemble on the beachfront at IJmuiden (pronounced "eye-MOW-den") before sunrise for our first group session. Looking out over the North Sea in the dark and cold, we were hesitant to leave the warm comfort of Makai Beach Club, where the hot coffee and chocolate croissants were singing their sirens song. 

There is nothing quite like being on the water as the first shards of sunset break through the sky, and the thought of that was enough to pull us out into the cold. With Luke being first to pump up his 7m Wow and head to the water, 15-year-old groms Billy Evans and Fraser Eldred were close to follow. You can always bet on teens and their FOMO when it comes to a kite session!

Walking across the shell-strewn beach shivering in our wetsuits, we were relieved to find that the water in the North Sea was warmer than the current air temperature. We tacked upwind to the pier to meet the only member of the squad without a UK passport: Canadian camerawoman, Crystal Veness, who was waiting on the rocks with fellow photographer Jim (Fraser's dad) by the most prime piece of water in the area. 

With the wind blowing along the coastline and over the pier, there were beautiful butter flat sections of water between the clean, breaking waves. The rest of the crew were quick to join us on the water to take advantage of the golden morning light and wide-open spaces. 

While most of us had ridden with one or another at some point in time, this was the first time we had all gotten together for a kite trip. Having the whole spot to ourselves for this early morning session built a kind of kinship that had us all feeling like old friends, immediately! From ribbing the groms over 'illegal' grabs to swapping boards and trying to one-up each other with freestyle tricks, we all left the water laughing and having forgotten about the cold.

We gathered back at the base for lunch with our local friend Joris, the 24-year-old owner of Kitesurf school 'Windseekers' and 'Makai Beach Club'. For some of us, it was our first time meeting — others, a reunion that was years in the making. The rest, of course, had been kiting together just the other day at Southend in Essex.

Chit-chatting away over a simple Dutch lunch of broodje kaas (bread with cheese), Joris had also picked up a few other local favourites for us to sample. The very non-American Filet Americain which is raw beef served pâté style on bread, which was a hit with some and a flop with the others. A packet of sliced meat with the label paardenrookvlees had been half consumed before we realised it was smoked horse meat; that one got handed back over to the Dutchmen very quickly! 

There was more clear sky to take advantage of before the rain came back, so we headed back out for another session with some of the locals. The conditions looked promising, and even Joris locked up the shop to join us on his hydrofoil. We rode until the squall line moving towards us had everyone with a kite in the air getting lifted off their feet, and the threat of rain was too close, then we packed it in for the day.

After a few days of kiting coastal IJmuiden and Zandvoort, and a few nights of talking about going to Amsterdam to party (but never actually going to Amsterdam to party), we were ready to take a break from the North Sea. Hunkered down by the heavy rain in our sea lodge at Bloemendaal aan Zee, we made our way through a few rounds of Jupiler beer and spirited games of Mario Kart while checking forecasts and locations to find a new spot to session.

The wind in the Netherlands was hard to get used to. Georgina lives in Cabarete, Dominican Republic where the thermal wind blows nearly the same way every single day of the season. Cape Town local, Luke, is used to a pumping South-Easter, which has made his home spot famous. Here in the Netherlands, the wind would blow a different direction at a different time every day. Luckily, the forecast was always accurate, so you could look for that one or two-hour wind window, check the direction, and find a spot that would work. This was a little complicated for those of us that were unfamiliar with the area, but we were fortunate to have some local help.

With a whole lot of rain in the forecast for the last two days of our trip, the only spot with a short gap of sunshine and wind was Maasvlakte, a man-made 'island' and home to Europe's biggest port in Rotterdam. The forecast said the wind would start at 14:00, so we met up with Joris at noon and made our way south to the spot. 

It rained for the whole drive, and we were sceptical that there would be blue skies at our destination. And yet, as promised, we arrived as the clouds parted and the wind began to blow. Looking down from the dunes over the kite spot, we couldn't contain our excitement — flat, flat, flat water in a beautiful lagoon with windmills towering overhead. We hurried to unpack our gear and got ready to walk down - only to realise that we had forgotten a pump. Nearly a two-hour drive, and nobody brought a pump! Classic. 

In the Netherlands, kitesurfing is a major sport. At passport control, when 'kitesurfing trip' was the answer to the question of why we were here, the agent at the desk smiled and was quick to inform us that there was a lot of rain in the forecast but a few windy days coming up. 

When we arrived at the distant kite spot, which was a long drive from any residential areas, in the early afternoon on a workday, it shouldn't have been a surprise that there were already dozens of kiters on the spot. There were even a few other Liquid Force riders there with the MaxFlow pump adaptor! 

With our session saved, we hurried up to the top of the lagoon to find the flattest slice of water for our Maasvlakte Shredathon. With Crystal perched in the sand at the edge of the water, we took it in turns to ride by and show off our most stylish manoeuvres for the camera.

There are only so many tricks and grabs one can do for the camera before it gets repetitive, so our photoshoot quickly devolved into who could do the kookiest looking trick and get the biggest laughs from the rest of the team. With only a small window of riding in the forecast, we made sure to have as much fun as we could.

The clouds opened up, and the rain began to pour as we were making our way back up the dunes with our gear. While we were hurrying to escape the rain, there was a small army of Dutch kiters racing down the dunes to go pump up their kites and have a session amidst the downpour. While it was refreshing to see how passionate the locals were about kiting no matter the conditions, we were happy to be heading back to the warmth and comfort of our seaside cottage. 

With so many people in such a small space, you couldn't take a call (or a crap!) without everyone else hearing it. By the last day of the trip, we had all gotten to know each other more than we had ever wanted to! Still, packing up our stuff for an early morning checkout on the last day was bittersweet. We had been having so much fun that it was hard to imagine it coming to an end.

However, it wasn't over yet! There's always time to squeeze in one more session, and with the departing flights scheduled after lunch, Joris had one last spot to take us to. We arrived at 'The Horse of Marken' lighthouse just in time to watch the sunrise (Although describing it as sunrise would be a bit of a stretch) A more accurate description would be watching the rainy sky go from dark grey to slightly less dark grey.

If we wanted to get that last session in, we'd have to time it just right. We drove to the spot and parked our vehicles alongside each other at the water's edge to wait for a break in the rain. Throwing baby tomatoes back and forth, while debating who had the guts to get on the water, we continued to wait out the storm. There were only short gaps of 10 - 15 minutes at a time where it wasn't raining, so we set up two NV's in the grass to be ready for the next one. 

With offshore wind and no easy entry point, the only way into the water was by jumping from the grass over a gap of tall reeds and bushes! Joris was the first to take the plunge and found out the hard way that there were also cement blocks underneath the bushes. With nothing more than a bruised ego, he carried on with his session while the rest of us nearly killed ourselves laughing in the cars! 

Luke couldn't resist joining him! After launching his kite and dodging a platoon of Dutch cyclists, he hopped off the side and into the water for one last flatwater fête. The risk paid off on that last session, and the boys had the spot to themselves, firing each other upon each passing tack. With a big red bus full of tourists pulling over to check out the action, they had one last chance to throw kite loops, board offs, and big airs before the rain started yet again. 

We warmed up in the car on the way to the airport while belting out 'Call Me Maybe', which had somehow become the song of the trip! 

By Crystal Veness
Editor at IKSURFMAG, Crystal Veness hails from Canada but is based in South Africa. When she isn't busy kitesurfing or reporting on the latest industry news for the mag, she is kicking back somewhere at a windy kite beach or working on creative media projects.

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