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Promising Kiwi windsurfer Veerle ten Have chats to the Herald from the south of France about her start in the sport, returning to international competition and the switch from the RS:X board to the IQFoil ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
Veerle ten Have has loved the switch to the windfoil board. Photo / Sailing Energy
When did you come to NZ from the Netherlands?
Wemoved at the end of 2006, when I was five. My parents went on holiday to New Zealand and liked the country so decided to move - mostly for fun. I think I was the most excited out of my whole family. We moved to Tauranga, which is definitely one of my favourite places.
I did a course at a holiday programme with my brother and some other friends. It was sailing and windsurfing and stand-up paddle-boarding - and I absolutely hated it. So I stopped and just continued with my life.
I was really big into riding horses but my horse broke her pelvis so I couldn't ride her, so I was like, 'What am I going to do? I have so much spare time'. I was still playing hockey and doing tons of other sports, but I thought I had lots of time. My brother had kept windsurfing and was always pestering me to come, and then it just evolved from there.
What do you remember about winning silver at the youth world champs in 2018?
That's still one of my favourite regattas. We didn't really have any time before the regatta to train, so everyone had to figure it out at the same time. I remember sailing my first race and I was looking around going, 'Oh my God, am I sailing the right course?' I was so confused. But I finished the race and they sounded the hooter for when you finish first, and I was like, 'What the hell?' I thought it was a fluke but in my second race I had another first or second and then thought, OK, we're on.
That was on the RS:X so how have you found the switch to foiling?
My favourite part of windsurfing is the racing and the competitiveness. My strength on the RS:X was when there was wind and we were going fast. I was one of the bigger girls and I just hated any light winds with a lot of pumping.
Now on the foil, it's not just the racing - I really enjoy the training as well and it's always fun because the whole foiling thing is just addictive. If I have a strength now, it's almost the light winds. I think it might have reversed. I still really enjoy racing, especially since we didn't get to race any big regattas in the last two years.
Veerle ten Have competing at the Princess Sofia regatta in Palma. Photo / Sailing Energy
You're finally back overseas and this month finished seventh overall in your first international event on the foil in Palma?
That was incredible. I came in, deep down, with high expectations of myself, but I didn't want to put too much pressure on and be disappointed. But to come away from my first regatta with a result like that, I'm pretty happy. You always see the girls' results on Instagram or whatever and you're unsure whether you're up there. So to come over and get that reassurance that I am up there and in the game is cool.
What's it like to be competing at the top level again?
It's mostly about getting back into the racing itself. In Palma, I noticed I got more comfortable around the girls. I think the first day my heartrate was like an average of 170 the whole day. It was crazy. Whereas by the last day I was sitting at an easy 100 for most of the racing. I have to get used to having 70 other girls blasting around in close proximity, and then I definitely need to work on speed and manoeuvres when it's windy, because they seem to do a lot of high-wind racing here.
Will you and the Kiwi team scout the 2024 Olympic course in Marseilles?
We're training in Hyeres now and Marseilles is an hour or so hour north of here, so we'll do a little day trip up there to check it out and see what it's like. We'll be based in Europe until halfway through June, and then we come back in September.
Any free time to experience the south of France?
We did a little bit of sightseeing. We've all got some friends here and there around the world, so we get tours where we can. But we don't have a lot of free time, so we just like to relax and read a book or watch Netflix. And study. I'm studying business psychology, which is a bit distracting at times, but it's OK.
