Sacha Bongaertz

SACHA BONGAERTZ

Introducing Sacha grew up in the Dutch coastal city of the Hague. As a young kid he was interested in a lot of sports but he had a hard time finding the right ones because of his Rheuma. He persisted and found that surfing the small North Sea waves helped him tremendously.

Travelling the world he noticed that he was having the most fun surfing waves that were pushing his limits. He finished his highschool and took the decision to go surf at the famous big wave spot called Mavericks in the United States. After his first session he knew what he wanted to do: big wave surfing.

Fast forward a few years and Sacha took the leap of setting up a big wave basecamp in Nazaré, Portugal. For those who don’t know it: this is a small coastal town in southern Europe is where the biggest waves in the world are surfed.

He is the only Dutchman with his own warehouse in the portugese big wave mecca and together with other big wave warriors he spends every winter pushing his limits, trying to surf the biggest waves there are to be found.

Name: Birthplace: Height: Weight:

Sacha Bongaertz The Hague, NL 178 cm Never ask a woman about her weight Resides: Nazaré, PT and The Hague, NL Work: Professional Surfer / Rope Access Specialties: Big wave Paddle and Tow Sponsors: Mystic, Emmel Surfboards, Noordzee Boardstore, Big Wave Drops Other Sports:

You will see him paragliding, skydiving or mororcrossing in his spare time.

Skills: certified surf teacher, certified skydiver, certified climber.

Other interests: Discovering new cultures across the globe, Bathing when he can.

Opportunities Sacha is one of the only surfer from the Netherlands with a big wave setup in Nazaré. This means he has his own Jetski with sled and all the appropriate tools to be able to surf the enormous waves. He also has his own warehouse where he maintains his equipment, trains to stay fit and is able to store his boards. This warehouse is a hangout for a large portion of surfers that dare to challenge the deadly, big waves of the area and there are the occasional get-togethers like barbeques etc.

Surfing these kinds of waves comes at a cost and we are looking for partners that want to help us get Sacha on the biggest and scariest waves possible.

Examples are: - Main sponsor (Being visible on all Sacha’s boards, Jetskis and social posts) - Board sticker sponsor (Being visible on every board that he rides, big or small) - Jetski sticker sponsor (Always Visible when it’s a Tow-Surf day at Nazaré and lifestyle content) - Equipment sponsor (no stickers, but Lifestyle content will be created for his and your channels) - Other kinds are of course possible and open for discussion

Visibility Sacha has had a lot of visibility over the last few years and there is a lot to come. He also competes events that are happening in the big wave world when he can. Next to his growing instagram account (4k), examples are: Film: - Dream Big short film by Michael Zomer and Mystic Articles in magazines: - 6surf Magazine: Full spread about a surf trip in South America - Soul Magazine: 5 page article about his first season in Nazaré - Soul Magazine: 3 page article about a surf mission to Ireland

Online Articles: - Dutch Newspaper Algemeen Dagblad Article about surfing with Reuma - Redbull: Underdogs of Nazaré article Events Competed in: - Subzero surfleague paddle comp at Nazaré (2nd Place) - Punta Galea challenge in Spain

Video: - The Hold Down (is in the Edit Phase : a short documentary about his life and big wave career) - HBO 100 foot wave (will probably be featured in the 3rd season of the series and the video is already shot last season)

Surf focus: - California during the El Niño Season - Hawaii During the winter with focus on Jaws, Pipeline, Himalayas and Waimea - Southern Hemisphere trip to Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa for Dungeons and Skeleton Bay

Future Surf4reuma Project: When Sacha was young he suffered from juvenile arthritis. Surfing helped him get over the condition and that’s why Sacha is setting up a foundation in The Netherlands. The main goal is to set up a movement program to help the youth that suffers from it like he did.

Nazare: Getting on the First Peak bomb during the XXL days and expanding the team at Nazaré. Also with a big push to become the #1 paddle team in the area. He also wants to compete in big wave tow and paddle competitionsz

GALLERY