Veerle ten Have | Sport

Veerle ten Have was born in the Netherlands and moved in 2006 to Tauranga, New Zealand with her parents and older brother when she was 5 years old. She attended the Tauranga Waldorf School for 7 years and started Mount Maunganui College in 2015. Currently she is in year 11.
Veerle started windsurfing at 13 years of age. After 2 years of windsurfing on a Techno board, she stepped up to the RS:X Olympic Class in November 2016. In her first regatta on the RS:X, the Oceanbridge NZL Sailing Regatta, Veerle performed very well. Because of her skills and passion for both windsurfing and competing, she was selected for the YNZ/HPSNZ Pathway to Podium Programme to enable her to develop even faster. This NZ winter she travelled to Europe to compete at the RS:X Class Youth Worlds held in Italy and the BIC Techno293 Plus Worlds in France. She gained heaps of experience in sailing these big fleet regattas and showed that the hard work in the gym and on the water pays off.
In 2015 Veerle won the Kendall Cup and in both 2015 and 2016 she received the Crimson Award at Mount Maunganui College. Last April she was awarded the Young Legends Trophy for the Junior Yachtsperson of the Year at the Tauranga Yacht and Powerboat Club.
Windsurfing has given Veerle so much, whether it’s lifetime friends or a healthy lifestyle. But perhaps even more the skills that strengthen her in everyday life like having a positive can-do attitude and confidence. She really enjoys the thrill and speed of windsurfing, is happy to step out of her comfort zone and deal with the stress of competing. Her ultimate goal is to one day stand on the Olympic podium and represent the women of New Zealand.