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RECAPPING A WORLD CLASS WAVE SEASON FOR Maria Behrens

On her debut full season on tour, Young Blood Graduate, Maria Behrens caused waves on the PWA / IWT World Tour in 2023 and finished a stellar season sailing some of the world's best spots, whilst taking her first podium and ending up Top 5 in the World! We caught up with Maria to re-live her best season to date.

Hi Maria! First of all, a big congratulations to your season! It really seemed like you found your drive this year! Watching you compete was really fun and your positive and energetic approach to Windsurfing catches all of us!

We would love to get a couple of insights from you and thoughts on the season. First up, what was your initial goal for this season and did you imagine it to turn out that good?

After my 8th place in the Wave Ranking last year, my goal was to be in the Top 5 in 2023. Unfortunately, since February, my family have been going through some health struggles so I lowered my expectations a lot for this year and was unsure how much I would be able to train and compete.

Maria Behrens

About Athlete

How did your training look like? Did you focus on anything specific?

I went to Cape Town in January for the first time for one month and I concentrated on improving my jumping. After January my preparations looked a bit different with a lot of training in the gym and less in the water. Normally I go to the gym twice a week. I am doing a lot of specific exercises for knees, ankles and my balance. Besides the fitness I am training my mental health but also national competitions like the Danish Open (1st) and the German Wave Tour (1st) help me to stay in competition mode.

What was your best moment from that season? Can we quickly re-live that one with you?

I have two moments that stayed like mind shots in my memories. Of course, one is my first ever wave podium when I came 2nd place at the World Cup on Sylt in my home country. It was really special to see such a big audience watching and supporting the riders and the sport. Beside that I will never forget my 3rd place in the Single Elimination at the Aloha Classic. Since this was my first-time windsurfing in Ho’okipa and competing in starboard tack I am really happy about that 4th place in the end. Maui is just magical!

What gear did you ride for what conditions? What is your absolute dream set up of the current range?

In Gran Canaria obviously I use the smallest gear I have which is the 69 GRIP 4 SLS and 3.0 or 3.4 SUPER_HERO. In the light winds and small waves we had on Sylt I chose my 76 GRIP 4 SLS and the 4.7 SUPER_HERO SLS. On Maui the wind was light but the waves had enough power so I used the 69 GRIP 4 SLS and mostly the 4.2 SUPER_HERO SLS and 4.5 SUPER_HERO. That is also my absolute favourite setup right now: 4.2 SUPER_HERO SLS and 69l GRIP 4 SLS.

What’s next? How do your winter plans look like?

For next year I really want to work on my jumping with pushloops at the top of the list. There is no better place to practice jumps than in Pozo, so my plan is to fly there before the new season starts. Furthermore, I would like to add a wave 360 or a taka to my wavesailing and improve my starboard tack windsurfing.

Is there anything specific you want to work on in your sailing for next year? How does your “Dream Heat” look like for 2024?

My Dream Heat: three-meter clean waves, wind from the left for 3.7, two waves, one jump counting, bikini conditions and no rocks!!

Are your goals for 2024 already set?

My goals for 2024 are to compete in more World Cups, land a pushloop and improve my starboard tack wave riding on Maui. Of course, the goal is also to stay in the top 5 in the World Ranking!

RECAPPING A WORLD CLASS WAVE SEASON FOR Maria Behrens

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