He’s only sixteen and already a world champion: Youp Schmit from Netherlands (NED-27) is the new JP Australia team member

 

Youp is from Holland originally, has however been lucky enough to move to Bonaire with his family at the age of seven and then grew up on this dream destination. The Dutch island of the Antilles is considered to be paradise for freestyle windsurfers.

 

Hence, Youp grew up surrounded by water. Yet he only started windsurfing five years ago, which makes his current achievement quite remarkable. When he first tried it out, he got hooked straight away and soon met the freestyling stars Taty and Tonky Frans as well as Kiri Thode. Together with them, he spent every afternoon on the water henceforth.

 

After only three years as a windsurfer, Youp won the Pro Kids World Championship at the age of 14. A year after that, Youp joined the league of professional windsurfers at the PWA Freestyle Worldcup in Fuerteventure and scored 17^th amongst the adults.

Youp is said to be one of the most promising talents in the freestyle windsurfing scene. Since April, Youp is a “Top Young Gun” or “Top upcoming talent” at the JP Australia Freestyle Windsurfing Team. His goal: to make the top ten at the PWA. Not unlikely if you watch this boy on the water – or if you see the sparkle in his eyes after a windsurf session.