The year is coming to an end, time for us to look back on the past Wavetours season. It was a year with many challenges, some changes and, last but not least, many beautiful moments. You have probably already captured your best memories of the summer of 2017. But since everything is more fun together, we want to share our personal highlights of the year with you again:
We started at the beginning of May with the construction of the camps. Our camp manager Michi and the camp leaders David, Anky, Steffi and Dave set off towards the sea and found quite a lot: namely nothing - apart from one shipping container per destination, packed to the brim. We then had to unload these and set up the campsites on site with a lot of skill and creativity. Up until then, the individual campsites had only been ground and pine trees. It was no easy task to set up a tent camp for up to 120 guests that would function for almost five months. But with the combined efforts of the team and a lot of attention to detail, the camps were set up relatively quickly, so that we were able to welcome the first surfing friends over Pentecost.
After everyone had gradually settled in and our newcomers David and David (Dave) had grown into their new camp leadership role, this year’s adh Open took place in Seignosse from June 3rd to 10th. And believe us, if you weren’t there, you definitely missed something.
Around 1200 guests visited our bungalow complex, probably one or two of you too. And you were definitely up for a great time: During the day, people watched the contest, surfed themselves and enjoyed the good weather, and in the evening the day really started. The atmosphere was fantastic, so that the Night of the Champs at the end of the week became a legendary event. Another highlight was the act by the Drunken Masters. The guys rocked the hall and that was the best student party of the year.
Almost incidentally, the Wavetours team took home a number of podium places, including Vincent Scholz coming second in the Open Men and Valeska Schneider coming first in the Open Women. Our team riders were particularly successful in the Longboard Women: Here, our Valeska took second place, losing out to Marie-Theres Ott.
From that point on, our France camps were lively all around. Some of you used our surf express to get there, so that on Saturdays we had up to ten buses waiting in front of our driveways. But despite the (sometimes long) bus rides, we were always able to welcome people in a good mood and hungry for surfing. Our tents found new residents week after week, but some guests didn’t want to go home after one week and extended their stay for another seven days without any problems. Our most loyal guest was in St. Girons: the loving “Dori” enriched us with her presence in the 24plus Camp for around six weeks. But not just Dori, each and every one of you was a legend. Whether it was the surf sessions together, unforgettable evenings with cocktails or punch, or the relaxed conversations over dinner: you always made the best of everything and made the season unforgettable.
The whole thing was rounded off by our chefs, who whipped up a culinary hit every evening with mac’n’cheese, burgers or paella. The washing-up parties afterwards made the washing up a piece of cake. And don’t forget the surfing lessons and the final surfing contest at the end of each week: with a lot of passion and an extraordinarily interesting sense of creativity, you made even the most serious head coaches laugh. We also remember trips to San Sebastian. Whether it was a tapas bar or a glass of wine on Mount Urgull, everyone got their money’s worth.
And while most of you were busy with the waves of the Atlantic, our Wavetours crew grew quite unnoticed: We are happy to officially welcome Jakob Lilienweiss, Goncalo Fragoso and Dylan Groen as team riders! Some of you may have already met the guys, because the surfers stayed with us in the summer. Our “old hand” Arne Bergwinkl could be found in Seignosse, for example, and occasionally in Moliets as the sponsor of the JSA.
Lilly von Treuenfels and Tim Elter also spent the season at the Wavetours Family Camp in St. Girons. This meant that our team riders were able to test the waves of the Atlantic and prepare themselves optimally for the upcoming Surf DM.
If you are wondering what else the boys and girls did at the camp: Our team riders were also there for the daily program such as volleyball tournaments or sunset watching. The fact that the boys and girls can surf a little better could be seen live at the Surf DM 2017 in September: Dylan took second place, leaving Arne first place in the Open Men. The team riders also shone with outstanding performances in the women’s category: Lilly von Treuenfels took silver in the Open Women and Valeska secured first place with her longboard. And not to be forgotten is Tim Elter: Our “Timmi” can call himself the winner of the Grommets, rounding off the successful surfing season.
In general, we can look back on a great 2017 season, which was also noted at the final camp leader meeting in Ericeira, Portugal. It is all the more wonderful to see that the planning for the new year is already in full swing.
Our office moved from Darmstadt to Hamburg last month in order to provide our guests with the best service through even better cooperation. Up until now there were two locations, but this would not have met our requirements in the long term. Wavetours is also placing great value on good advice in the new year, so you now have a permanent contact person in Hamburg.
So that we can continue to be at the forefront in terms of quality, team seminars are scheduled for February and March, where our future colleagues will be trained and prepared for their work in the summer. Expectations of everyday camp life, the French youth protection law, practical exercises such as role plays or planning evening programs are among the things that will be taught. This way we prepare our team leaders, surf assistants and kitchen fairies optimally for their tasks in the summer and you as guests no longer have to worry about anything. Because each of us knows about almost everything in the camp and this ensures that everything runs smoothly on site in France.
In addition to all these organizational matters, we also have some long-distance news for you: We are currently planning new surf camps in Morocco and Central America. We can’t reveal much about it yet, but as soon as we have the news, you’ll find it on Facebook and in the Wavetours blog. We’ll also be very involved in the adh-open and the Surf DM in the new year.
We’re already incredibly excited about the coming season with you. That’s why we’re offering the Summer Opening for our Moliets 18plus and St. Girons 24plus camps again in 2018, where you can enjoy the (still) empty line-ups on the Atlantic coast for little money. And yes, you heard right: our surf camp in Moliets will be an 18plus camp next year, rather than a 16plus camp. That means you have even more freedom and offers tailored to the needs of young adults.
Many team members are staying loyal to us and will be there to ensure a good atmosphere in the camp again in 2018. Whether you’re a camp leader, surf instructor, kitchen team member or team leader: we’d like to thank you for an unbelievably brilliant summer in 2017, which wouldn’t have been possible without your efforts. We met a bunch of cool people, expanded our friends list on Facebook and are taking lots of great memories with us into the new year. Hopefully some of our highlights will overlap and your year will be as full of waves as ours.
We wish you a happy new year and look forward to another great season 🙂 We're definitely going surfing again, are you coming with us?