Frederik's love of sailing was passed on to him by his French father, Prince Henrik. At the age of ten, he received his first Opti, which he trained with until a near capsize scared him so badly that he didn't dare go out on the water again for years. The young prince overcomes his fears on a family charter trip in the Caribbean. Back home, he was finally bitten by the sailing bug. Years of training in the Yngling class and in a Hobie Cat follow, until he is allowed to sail the Øresund on his father's dragon for the first time.
In 2001, Frederik got his own kite, with which he achieved respectable placings in the Gold Cup and the European Championships. His boats are all named "Nanoq", which means "little polar bear" in the Greenlandic Inuit language. This is due to the Danish royal family's traditional ties with the former colony. In addition, the Crown Prince took part in a 2,795-kilometre dog sled expedition in the north of Greenland in 2000 and has had a very special relationship with the inhabitants and the Arctic nature ever since.
Combat diver and marathon runner
The fact that the heir to the throne has a penchant for tough challenges is also demonstrated by his successfully completed training with the elite combat swimmers of the Danish Navy and his regular marathon participations. He always seems to blossom when he can take off the royal corset and instead be an "equal among equals". A shark tattoo on his lower leg and his nickname "Pingo" still bear witness to his time in the Frømandskorps (Frogman Corps).
So it is not surprising that Frederik is switching to the Farr 40 class. "The class is difficult to sail and the competition is fierce," says the competition-hungry prince, who also openly admits that he sails with an experienced crew and is the least experienced person on board. The Dutch sailing star Bouwe Bekking was later hired as tactician to compete in the 2007 Farr 40 World Championship in Copenhagen. Seventh place was achieved. The following year, "Nanoq" sailed to fourth place in Miami Beach.
His long-cherished dream of competing for his home country at the Olympic Games was probably shelved when he and his wife Mary were expecting their first child. In addition to the many obligatory appointments that accompany a crown prince, intensive training would probably have taken up every spare minute. Today, Frederik X and Mary have four children - ironically, the two met at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
