Kitesurfing on the North Sea – Where Dominik's Journey Began 🪁

There are stories that begin with a grand plan. And there are stories that begin with a 12-year-old secretly ordering a kite on eBay. This is the second kind 🪁

My name is Dominik Karl. I am the founder of Oceanmata. And before I started removing plastic from the ocean, I tried to fly over it. This story begins on the North Sea – and it changed my entire life.

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Image credit: @afuafex

At 12 years old: A kite, a quarry pond, a broken arm

It all started quite unspectacularly – or actually totally spectacularly, depending on how you see it. At 12 years old, I ordered my first kite. Not from a shop, not with lessons. Simply on eBay. Used. And then I took it to the quarry pond.

What can I say? It ended with a broken arm. But also with a passion that never let me go.

"I started kitesurfing at 12. That showed me this connection to the ocean."

Kitesurfing showed me for the first time what it means to work with nature instead of against it. You are completely dependent on the wind, the water, the conditions. You can't force anything. And that's exactly what fascinated me.

The North Sea years: Training, first sponsors, almost pro 🏆

After the quarry pond came the North Sea. St. Peter-Ording, Sylt, the Dutch coast – wherever there was wind, I was there. Every weekend, every holiday. The North Sea is an absolute paradise for kitesurfers: shallow water at low tide, constant wind, huge sandbanks for practicing.

And it went well. Very well, in fact.

"I was so close to making it professionally as a kitesurfer. I got my first sponsors."

Imagine this: A teenager from Southern Germany suddenly has sponsors and dreams of becoming a professional kitesurfer. I was so close. So damn close.

"The extreme distance to the sea" – Why it didn't work out

But there was a problem. A big one. I didn't live by the sea. I lived in Southern Germany, hours away from the nearest coast.

"The extreme distance to the sea – it's definitely good to live by the sea to be able to train kitesurfing really well."

While my competitors could be on the water every day, I had to drive for hours just to get one session in. The training deficit was simply too great. No matter how talented you are – if others are on the water 300 days a year and you're there for 50, you can't catch up.

The winch: Dominik's DIY solution 🔧

But giving up? That was never my thing.

"Back then, I built myself a small wakeboard system, a winch, so I could practice when there was no wind."

Yes, you read that right. As a teenager, I built my own winch. At the quarry pond. So I could practice tricks even when there was no wind. That was probably my first moment as an engineer – long before I started at Airbus. This "there are no problems, only solutions" mindset has accompanied me ever since.

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Image credit: @mai.roper

From the North Sea to Sri Lanka, Bali – and to Oceanmata 🌏

The dream of professional kitesurfing eventually faded. But the connection to the ocean remained. Stronger than ever.

Years of travel followed: Sri Lanka, Bali, everywhere there were waves and wind. And everywhere I saw the same thing: plastic. On the beach, in the water, in the rivers.

"It started in Matara, a small village in Sri Lanka. I was there for surfing and the amount of trash was overwhelming."

In Bali, I then met a local in Medewi who was collecting plastic on the beach all by himself. Day after day. Without pay, without recognition. That was the moment that changed everything. If you want to know more, read our article about surfing in Medewi, Bali.

In 2020, I quit my secure job at Airbus and founded Oceanmata. The idea: to see plastic not as waste, but as a valuable resource. For every product sold, remove 1 kg of plastic from the ocean. Today, we have collected over 300,000 kg – with 11 team members in Bali and a community of over 165,000 ocean heroes.

Want to know the full founder story? Then check out the article Surfing in Unstad – another place that shows why the ocean deserves our protection.

What kitesurfing has to do with ocean conservation 💙

Kitesurfing gave me the most important thing in my life: the connection to the sea. Without the kite on eBay, without the quarry pond, without the North Sea – there would be no Oceanmata.

Every water sports enthusiast knows: The sea gives you so much. Freedom, energy, humility. And now it's up to us to give something back. The kite community is growing, and with it, the responsibility for our oceans.

Join the movement 🌊