How To Use Social Media For Windsurfing Pro’s


Windsurfing without social media is unthinkable these days. The pro’s use it as a marketing tool for themselves and their sponsors.

And we the end consumers of windsurfing gear, use it as well, so do the windsurfing companies sponsoring the pro riders all year round.

Some of the proriders are doing a great job with it but most, unfortunately, suck at it. It’s not that they are not interested in doing a better job at it, they just don’t know what they could improve in their social media game.

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Windsurfing Sucked But Not Anymore


There was a time I simply loved windsurfing, it was all I did in my spare time. Even when I could not be on the water, I was reading windsurfing magazines or was watching windsurfing videos.

I’ve also spend hours and hours on thinking my pile of gear over and thinking about what waveboard or skinny mast I needed to add to my quiver.

I was more to be found in my favorite local windsurfing shop than I was in any other kind of store.

Life was good…

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How Much Money Can You Make Blogging


How much money can you make blogging is a question I get asked…a lot on one of my other blogs where I blog about making money online.

And before we go into answering that one question let me tell you a little bit more before we dive into it.

You see, when I reply to the email these people send me in almost all cases it turns out that they’re actually asking the wrong questions.

Well, it’s not actually a wrong question to ask but what they actually have in mind is a question more like this one:

How do I start a moneymaking blog of my own and how long does it take me to make money from that blog?

As both questions might end up with somehow the same answer the mindset is totally different and that’s fine as I explain the mostly in the same email.

How Much Money Can You Make Blogging?

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Where Should I Start


This title should said it all…

Where Should I start…

You see, I’ve neglected this blog of mine for too long. Over the years I had several ideas in my head and some of them I shared with you guys, but not all of them.

Boardrebel.com has seen many changes over the years, and not only has the blog changed, I’ve changed too.

Transforming BoardRebel.com Into A Personal Blog

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Bonaire Windsurfing, A Perfect Windsurfers Destination


So you want to go on a Bonaire windsurfing holiday? We can’t blame you if that’s what you want. If there’s one location on earth that’s a true freestyle, slalom, freeride heaven for windsurfers than it must be that warm and sunny small island in the Caribean that listens to the name Bonaire.

Check any resource online you want when searching for the best location on how to learn to windsurf and Bonaire is probably among the topspots on the list if not on the absolute number one spot.

Being one of the Dutch A-B-C islands in the Caribean, Bonaire might be the smallest when compared to Aruba and Curacao (the other islands that together form the A-B-C islands).

Why Windsurfing on Bonaire Rocks

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Finally Windsurfing in Tarifa Is Around The Corner


Windsurfing in Tarifa has been on my bucket list for ages. Somehow I haven’t been there before and it’s “only” 2400 km from where I live.

I’ve been to Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Leucate, Barbados, Crete, and Rhodos but never actually made it to Tarifa.

But that’s finally going to change and I couldn’t be more stoked about it.

The weather is looking great and the wind predictions are promising as well.

Before taking a flight down there I’ll hope to first squeeze in some sessions at home before, and it’s looking like that’s going to happen as well.

But after that, in a few days, the warm sandy beaches of Tarifa are waiting for me.

What I Know About Tarifa…

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7 Windsurfing Basics Every Windsurfers Needs To Master


Learning the windsurfing basics is the very first step of mastering this awesome new sport. When you know what these basics are it’s essential that you learn them as soon as possible.

Todays article is pointed towards the people who would like to start windsurfing and have no clue (yet) what you need to do to learn this new sport as soon as possible.

Before explaining the 7 essential basics to you let’s first take a look at what these basics are.

What Are Windsurfing Basics

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Windsurf Leucate: Best Leucate Windsurfing Holiday Tips


Are you looking for information about one of the windiest and popular windsurfing spots in the south of France?

Find the best windsurf Leucate tips like best time to go there and where to windsurf and much more!

Leucate is one of those mythical windsurfing destinations that are present in Europe and waiting for you. Not in the last place, the sunny, warm and windy weather conditions make it a great place to spend your next windsurfing holiday.

Why I Want to Windsurf Leucate Really Badly

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North Sails Hero 2017: A Sneak Peak Pre Review


north sails hero 2017Just recently I’ve bought a 5,3 m2 North Sails Hero 2017 and I want to write a review of the sail as soon as possible. As I have not used the sail yet I thought it would be valuable for you guys to have a sneak preview of this sail.

It’s so new in my quiver that I even haven’t had  a chance to rig it which I should do as soon as possible because there’s nothing more annoying than arriving on the beach when the wind is blowing and the waves are breaking and you have to find out how to rig your new sail and change the settings on a regular basis.

So, it’s a top priority on my todo list but for now, I have to postpone this.

Anyway, having said that, let’s move over to the actual pre-review as there’s a lot to mention about this new sail I have

Why I Bought The North Sails Hero 2017

I’m not sponsored nor do I have any connections to any windsurfing brand but I have to admit I’m on Fanatic boards and North Sails wave sails for over 20 years already.

The sails I used to have were a North sails Voodoo 4.2 and the North Sails Ice in the sizes 4.7 / 5.3 / 5.7 and on top of that, I also used to own a North Sails Instinct 6.2.

Not to go into detail all that much but for the people that don’t know any of these sails, they are quite old and though I had some great sessions with all of them it was about time to start updating my quiver.

The 6.2 I haven’t used for a few years and so I had no problems selling it without the need for a replacement.

The 5.7 is still mine and I will keep it for a while…probably…

The 5.3 is the biggest sail I normally use, with a bodyweight of 75 / 80 kilo’s combined with a 99 liter Fanatic Skate freestyleboard I don’t need anything bigger actually as I have more than enough windsurfing days where there’s at least 15 to knots here at the North Sea shore.

The 4.7 I still have as well.

The 4.2 is ready for replacement as well. Yes, it will be exchanged for a North Sails Hero as well.

Now that you have a little background on my quiver, you might start to see why I bought a North Sails wavesail again.

The sails suit me well, I like how they react and the on/off suits my kind of sailing just perfectly.

What I wanted to mention as well is that having only constant curve RDM masts makes choosing a sail designed for constant curve RDM masts a no brainer as well.

What’s New On The 2016 Versus 2017 North Sails Hero Sails?

Compared to the 2016 Hero’s, the main difference on the 2017 edition is that sailwindow has less monofilm and got an extra panel of x ply making it stronger.

Combine that with the already exceptional low sail weight, you’ve got a really light yet strong wavesail on your hands.

The 3 batten option of 2016 has been deleted and now the complete sailrange is designed on a 4 batten wavesail concept.

There are some new colors but that’s not of any influence on the sail behavior, it just looks nice.

Having the Fanatic Triwave as my waveboard of choice though, I choose the red color version as it goes wel with the color of the board.


A New Start For BoardRebel.com (Including Rebranding)


Hi Guys (and girls),

Yes, a fair amount of visits to boardrebel.com are from girls/women who are interested in windsurfing topics and I’m so stoked about that.

Windsurfing is a lifestyle mainly dominated by men but women windsurfing is good for the sport and I wish more women would start investing time to get into windsurfing.

A New Start for BoardRebel.com is coming

In the first few sentences above I’m getting distracted about what I actually wanted to share with you.

And that’s publicly anouncing a new start for BoardRebel.com

I’ve thought long about it but at the end I believe the direction this blog is going to is the right one.

You know, I love writing about the sport in general and helping others with technique issues or giving advice on holiday destinations but the thing is I get most energy when turning this website into a personal blog!

So, what will change here?

Changing BoardRebel into a personal journaling blog

bloggingI’m about as sure as I can get about  wanting to convert this website into a journaling personal blog.

So, no more introductionary homepage but instead a blogroll.

On this blog you’ll find more about me and thing things I do (and love to do).

I’ll be blogging about:

  • Windsurfing Sessions
  • Paddle Board Sessions
  • Other things I like reading (and writiing) about

Windsurfing Sessions

I have not been the most fanatical windsurfer around for the last few years. I must admit that I wanted it as easy as possible so I didn’t botter that much to bringing my own gear to work and have a session afterwards on my own gear.

Instead I rented some gear all of the 2017 sessions and went on the water of an hour (or a little more).

Renting is possible on the nearby local lake, so no wave riding sessions at home for over a few years for me.

I even wanted to sell my wave gear and wanted to get into slalom and speedsurfing completely (I already have a GT-31 device).

For 2018 I decided that my true passion still is waveriding and so I’ll get into wavesailing all over again.

Now I know it will be hard, being a few years older, having gained some extra kilo’s and not to mention the below zero level of endurance I’m in right now.

My medium windsurfing harness even won’t fit anymore so on short term planning I’ll need one size bigger (and I hate it but this is actually a great motivation to make 2018 a great year of learning and improving on all kinds of levels.

Paddle Boarding Sessions

About the same goes for my paddle board.

I have a SUP but haven’t been on it for the last 3 seasons.

So, short term I’m planning on buying a car roof rack to take my board with me as often as possible.

Though it’s a 10’5″ all around board (which I used on flat lake and North Sea conditions until know) I want to learn to wave sup this year and the lack of ocean swell on the NorthSea makes conditions perfect for learning how to wave sup.

So, I’ll be writing a lot about my experiences and learning curve on the stand up paddle board.

Picures and Video for Documenting

Blogging is one thing but visually engaging sports like paddle boarding and windsurfing would benefit greatly from video / photo’s.

So for documenting my sessions I need to grow myself a habbit in bringing camera’s with me as I hit the water for that I need some new gear as well…

I need a backmount harness (for my GoPro) as well and an helmet to take my action cam with me more often.

Most photos I shoot are with my smartphone but windsurfing and paddle boarding will make me need a camera I can take with me on the water. And my GoPro 2 is a great device but is missing some crucial functions the newer models have.

So my GoPro 2 which will be exchanged into a newer GoPro model as they have remote control access which would be perfect for using it on the water and not filming all the time but instead of that only the moments that are worth it.

This will save my battery time as well so a win-win situation and worth the money if you ask me 🙂

Fellow windsurfers / SUP riders are not really enthousiastic when you ask the to stay ashore and shoot pictures / video from you so an actioncam is a logic next step.

A drone would be another option but for now let’s get used to being on the water using a GoPro and not to mention I need to start from zero editing video content as I never did that before.

I wouldn’t even know what software to use for that so don’t expect any awesome footage in the near future.

What About The Rebranding?

Last but not least…

The rebranding as mentioned in the title of this post….

I’m thinking about removing the menu links which you can see up until now for some articles I’ve written.

A logo will be created and I’ll be using my social media accounts for BoardRebel as well. My facebook Page and Instagram account are in use already but my YouTube account needs some serious attention (and I even have a Twitter account what I’ll be using to distribute my upcoming blogposts).

More ideas are floating around in my head but for now this is all.

Let’s make 2018 a great year!

Let’s Round Up

For now this is it, so let’s round this first blog post up.

I’ll be back soon!