For years, Jesper Vesterstrøm’s father gave him the same advice: stop windsurfing, find a stable job, save money. Then ALS came, and his father changed his mind completely. With weeks left to live, he told his son to go and compete with the best windsurfers in the world.
Vesterstrøm spent twenty years on that.
Born in Hørsholm, Denmark, on October 25, 1976, he reached a world number one ranking in Formula Windsurfing, represented Denmark in the Olympic programme, and won titles across four continents. He is 49 years old. Today he runs a fitness and coaching business in East Hampton, New York, and has been married to actress Jennifer Esposito since 2020.
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
| Full name | Jesper Vesterstrøm |
| Date of birth | October 25, 1976 |
| Age | 49 (as of June 2026) |
| Birthplace | Hørsholm, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Current location | East Hampton, New York |
| Occupation | Fitness trainer, NLP coach, former professional windsurfer |
| Married to | Jennifer Esposito (September 13, 2020) |
| Business | Move Equals Life |
Two Decades on the Water
Vesterstrøm grew up in Hørsholm, north of Copenhagen, and picked up windsurfing at twelve. He competed professionally for the next twenty years.
He raced on the PWA World Tour and across four continents. His competitive record, as published on his own website:
- 1st world ranking in Formula Windsurfing
- 5x Nordic and Danish Champion
- 2x US Windsurfing Champion
- Vice European Champion, Formula Windsurfing
- Australian Open Slalom Champion
- South American Champion
- Danish Olympic windsurfing candidate and national squad member
- Coach, National Danish Youth Windsurfing Team
In his biography on the PWA website, Vesterstrøm wrote plainly about what competing at that level takes: “Long-term goals are the most difficult to achieve. You’ve got to stay on top of it all the time, every day counts. You can’t waste a single minute.”
He also worked with brands including Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Singapore Airlines, Pirelli, North Sails, and Fanatic during his career.
His Father, ALS, and the Business Named After a Loss
Vesterstrøm named his fitness business Move Equals Life. The name came from watching his father die.
His father died from ALS, the neurological disease that strips away a person’s ability to move, speak, and breathe while the mind stays fully intact. On his website, Vesterstrøm describes it: “My Dad lost his life to ALS; he lost his ability to move. He was slowly fading away like a leaf on a tree and in the end, he lost all control off his entire body.”
Before the diagnosis, his father had spent years urging him to quit windsurfing and find a stable career. After the diagnosis, that changed. Watching his son return from competitions became one of the things still giving his father real joy. With weeks left, he told Jesper to go and be the best. Andrew Batista, who directed the documentary Chasing the Wind with Vesterstrøm, described that conversation as the moment his father gave him the permission he needed to fully commit.
“He inspired me and told me to go live my dream,” Vesterstrøm writes on his website, “because we never know when time stops and when we will lose the ability to move. My dad gave me the green light to go and pursue my dream to be among the best windsurfers in the world.”
When he retired from competition, Vesterstrøm founded Move Equals Life in East Hampton, where he now works as a certified fitness trainer and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) coach, offering personal training, nutrition planning, and windsurfing instruction. “For more than 20 years,” he writes, “I have practiced health and wellness by seeking the best education, the best trainers and the best practices.”
Chasing the Wind
In April 2017, Vesterstrøm co-produced a short documentary titled Chasing the Wind, directed by Andrew Batista. Filmed at La Ventana on the coast of Baja California, the film follows his father’s ALS diagnosis and the promise his father asked him to keep. It was published on Vimeo and covered by specialist publications including Continentseven and Windsurf.co.uk. He holds an IMDb credit for it.
Hope Loves Company
His father’s death also led Vesterstrøm to partner with Hope Loves Company, a nonprofit he describes on his website as “the only non-profit in the U.S. with the mission of providing educational and emotional support to children and young adults who had or have a loved one battling ALS.” The organisation runs camps across the US connecting young people in that situation. He also supports the ALS Association Golden West Chapter, which serves patients across 31 counties in California and Hawaii.
Jennifer Esposito
Vesterstrøm and Esposito have been together since 2016. On September 13, 2020, they married on a beach in East Hampton. There were no guests. A friend officiated. He arrived on his board in a wetsuit. She wore a yellow dress and sneakers. Both were barefoot. After the ceremony, he went back out on the water. Esposito later described it on Live with Kelly and Mark as “the best way to have a wedding.”
Esposito is the actress known for Blue Bloods, Crash, and NCIS. This is her third marriage. She was previously married to actor Bradley Cooper in December 2006, with the relationship ending four months later, and to model Louis Dowler from November 2014 until 2016.
In a 2024 interview with Avenue Magazine about Fresh Kills, her debut film as writer and director, Esposito said she had mortgaged the house to fund it. She described telling Vesterstrøm what she intended to do.
“I will say I have never in my life had someone support me 100% more than my husband.”
Fresh Kills had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on June 16, 2023. Vesterstrøm attended.
In March 2023, Vesterstrøm posted photos marking seven years with Esposito. The caption was about her work. He has not made much of a public story of himself at any point.
His father’s name does not appear in print anywhere. What his father said is there in all of it: the business name, the documentary on the Baja coast, and the twenty years of racing that came before. “We never know when time stops and when we will lose the ability to move.”
