Team Member of the Month » July 2006

Name : Geoffrey van Damme
Born : 1977
Team member since : 2001
Prior Club Mistral Destinations :

Geoffrey van Damme is this month’s Team Member of the month.

Geoffrey has been working in Tarifa since 2001 and, apart from a winter season in Cabarete, he has always remained true to the Club Mistral Centre in Tarifa.
Geoffrey grew up in Dunkirk, a windy town on the northern French coast near the Belgium border. His parents' house is right on the beach so he started young – the only way to separate him and his board was with force! Before he started at Club Mistral, he spent five years in a surf shop up until 1999, when left to take his first position as a windsurfing instructor, jobbing around the world. His mother language is French but Geoffrey also speaks perfect Spanish and English and has recently learnt a bit of German!

There is only one thing in Geoffrey’s life that is more important than windsurfing, and that’s his girlfriend Melanie. They’ve been a happy couple for over a year now, both working together at Club Mistral in Tarifa. Melanie is his biggest fan.
Two weeks ago they had a real reason to party:  if you know Tarifa and its party scene you’d be forgiven for wondering why you need an extra reason…but everybody was very impressed to see Geoffrey land his first double loop. It was a big achievement that commands real respect!
Now that calls for celebration!
Not only does Geoffrey learn incredibly fast, but he is also a fantastic teacher. In fact, you rarely see him in the Centre itself as he spends pretty much all his time, in and out of the water passing on his skills.
Last winter Geoffrey was also one of the board testers for “wind” magazine.
Tahiti is a place that Geoffrey dreams of living on. Tahiti has the perfect wave, surfing being another of Geoffrey's hobbies.  Fortunately, he is already with the right company, for at Club Mistral, we know that dreams often come true.
So thank you very much,Geoffrey, for all your hard work and reliable service to Club Mistral up until now - long may that continue as we are very proud to have such a talented windsurfer on our team!

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