09.04.2024

Sitting down with Willem Hooft || Kitemana Hangtime Podcast

Someday in 2017 I was having lunch in Amsterdam and got to meet Laurent. Laurent was telling me about his friend Willem Hooft who was in a severe motorbike accident a year before. Leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Laurent told me that Willem was always a fanatic windsurfer and just loved being out on the water as much as possible. To deal with the biggest challenge of your life and getting used to your new ways of life ain’t an easy feat. But also having to miss your biggest passion hurts just as much. With passion comes an incredible determination and drive to realise that feeling you’re after. Laurent asked me if I knew how we could help Willem get into kiting.

Having kited with Thierry Schmitter, the OG sit-kiter himself, I knew it was possible and that Thierry would be a great guide for Willem. We arranged a meeting at JumpTeam Scheveningen where Thierry kindly showed Willem his gear and explained all the ins and outs of sit-kiting. You could immediately see how the energy started flowing in both of them. One sharing his biggest passion and all of his knowledge and the other eagerly absorbing and learning all of this new stuff that will get him airborne again.

Being in a wheelchair comes with great challenges and it takes a strong mind to see through all the hurdles. To even make it out to the water, you have to ask for help. That might be the hardest part in life for anyone. It’s so hard to feel dependent and to ask for help. The only way to feel good about that is to see the bigger picture and beauty in it. It brings people together, it enables someone to support and help. In the end, how good does it feel to help someone out. Mudita, enjoying someone else's happiness. That might be the single best and most important reason to move your energy. To help someone.

Now Willem is sending it to the skies on almost every windy day, and has developed better gear to enable him to kite even smoother, better and more freely. He found his passion and ignited his inner-fire, you can feel it, you can see it. Willem started his foundation, the Willem Hooft Foundation, to enable others with physical challenges to also learn and experience the freedom and stoke sit-kiting has to offer. This ain’t cheap so raising funds and finding sponsors has now become part of Willem’s mission. Organising events to reach his goals, it’s truly inspiring and I am proud to be an ambassador for his foundation and support him where possible. If you want to donate and/or participate to help make other thrive, visit his websites:

www.willemhooft.com for the speaker
www.willemhooftfoundation.com for the foundation
www.wheelstowaves.nl for the downwinder
www.gofundme.com/wheelstowaves for the fundraiser

Thank you and see you on the water.

Cheers.

Ruben - Team Kitemana