There were a lot of fresh faces on the PWA scene this year and many stand out for their exceptional talent and great promise, but one has that little edge above them all – Ethan Westera. Check him out in this mini ‘Inside Sylt’ featurette.

We took the moment to sit down with Ethan over a beer, well for us anyway, the 16 year old was happy to just join us and let the world know he is in town. Ethan first took to the PWA three years ago when they visited his hometown of Arube, now he tells Boardseeker he has rejoined the PWA for his first proper event before competing in the full world tour next year. What’s more exciting is the dreams this young lad has, could he be the next Robby Naish? We not only questioned him but also a fellow home town hero, none other than Sarah Quita Offringa, who just showed her face her in Sylt for the weekend.

Over to Ethan:

BS: Slalom and freestyle… what discipline do you prefer?

I like freestyle but I am better in slalom so in competition it has to be slalom but freesailing I really enjoy freestyle.

BS: Ok so your first PWA event, other than Aruba 3 years ago, how was it for you?

Yeah it was a good experience, I learnt a lot and it is pretty fun to sail with other top guys in the world and next year I am keen to do the whole tour.

BS: Both slalom and freestyle?

Yessss

BS: There’s not many guys doing two disciplines, one easy example is Taty Frans, is he one of your idols, do you train with him?

Yeah of course he is one of my idols, sometimes I train with him, but only really in the local competitions because I’m from Aruba and he is from Bonaire, but we are talking about hooking up once in Aruba and once in Bonaire for training.

BS: How did you choose to get into slalom?

I don’t know it was just automatic really. I started with old gear from the 80’s/90’s, then one day my dad saw me just flying over everyone and he noticed I was better in slalom than freestyle and so we pushed to get sponsors for slalom.

BS: You started with freestyle?

Yeah mainly because of Sarah and Quincy Offringa, they are super nice and it is fun to see them on the water.

BS: Sarah Quita, tell us more about Ethan?

Yeah I haven’t been home in the last four years, I just return every 6 months so I really see him progressing a lot. Not just in slalom but also freestyle, he is landing skopus, burners, culos, air funnels, etc…

BS: To Sarah; So the next  Taty Frans maybe?

Yeah for sure, I think we’ve proven by now that freestyle helps your slalom.

BS: What do you dream of achieving in the next 5 years?

My dream is to become good in all disciplines but really in the top, like top 5, maybe even top 3 and I’d love to also go to the Olympics of course.

BS: So the next Robby Naish?

Yeah a lot of years ago there were guys like him doing everything and I want to try and bring that back.

BS: How often are you windsurfing?

Almost everyday, at a minimum it has to be 6 times a week for 2/3 hours. I’m telling you Aruba we had 6 months straight of 25/30 knots every single day!

BS: So everyone has to go to Aruba?

For sure!

BS: Cool, well thanks for the interview and we wish you all the luck, any last shout outs?

Aruuuba 🙂