Another year of Lancelin Ocean Classic has concluded but what a weekend it’s been! Kicking off with the Wave Events Friday and the NEW Beach Run event Saturday, followed by the famous Marathon from Ledge to Lancelin! Two Legends couldn’t go without a mention, taking the two iconic Lancelin Ocean Classic awards!
Peter Volwater Trophy | Ben Proffitt
Ian Young Trophy | Dale Stanton
Severneshop really do understand what goes best with what when it comes to matching Severne hardware – and one of our most frequently asked questions is “Can I use another mast in my Severne sail?”. Neil Greentree spoke to man himself about Severne’s NEW generation of RDM and SDM masts.
For more info or to order visit www.severneshop.com
With the help of an illustrious expert, Harty investigates the validity of recent Great White sightings along the UK’s south coast.
“You wouldn’t get me going in there – do you really think it’s safe?” Said a concerned walker as I strode purposefully towards the water’s edge.
A more benign day you could not imagine. Under cloudless June skies, 15 knots of tepid wind blew side-on over the waist deep Wittering lagoon. This was not sport at its most extreme.
“It’s OK,” I assured her. “I’ve done this before and I can swim.”
“No, no, no – haven’t you heard? There’s a Great White Shark out there.”
No I hadn’t heard – I’d been away … but somehow wasn’t surprised. The surest sign of summer is when the SUN or Mirror is reporting Great White shark sightings off the most popular UK holiday beaches.
Back home and uneaten, I ‘googled’ the story and sure enough, up popped the headline. Fishing journalist Graeme Pullen said he’s regularly spotted the same Great White shark off Hayling Island for the past 2 years. It’s a claim which was backed up by commercial fisherman Pete Williams from Emsworth who said a huge 12 ft. shark got caught in his nets one night and “broke through them like paper.” Mr Williams said he’s familiar with all of the UK sharks and assures us it was definitely something completely different.
Fake news?
It’s so hard to tell these days. Mr Pullen seems like a regular bloke in his interviews. However, as a professional angler, he has an incentive to play fast and loose with the facts. His profile certainly has gone through the roof since he recounted his story to the dailies. For professional and naturalistic reasons, I’ve always been fascinated by sharks. In some places such as Hawaii and Western Oz, my mind does turn to them in a slightly dark way, as I swim for my kit with a bleeding foot. But in the UK, they’re nowhere on the radar. That’s what so wonderful about our country – very few natural disasters and no beasts to poison or eat you. But why shouldn’t a Great White patrol UK waters? The nearest official sighting was off Brittany. Brittany is basically Cornwall with nicer cider. It’s caressed by the same sea. Time to investigate.
Bring in the Specialist My good friend and sometime windsurfer, Sarah Cunliffe, owns the production company BIG WAVE TV and has made a host of award winning programs for Discovery Channel’s ‘Shark Week’. Her most recent, introduced by Ben Fogle, involved towing a dead whale (favourite shark snack) into the Irish Sea and filming the frenzy of blue sharks that turned up to feast on it.
She’s also been involved in tagging and filming Great Whites all over the world. Over a fine lunch I asked her for her opinion on the Hayling island sightings.
“I would say these reports are extremely likely to be a Porbeagle, which is a relative of the Great White and hence commonly gets mistaken for one. There was once a vigorous Porbeagle shark hunting scene off the Isle of Wight and the numbers were decimated. They’re now protected so you’d expect to see more around but they are more of a deep-water species. Not a lot is known about them, but attacks on humans are very rare – just 2 since records began.
I have to say I’m very suspicious of the press in these matters. They crave a sensation. After our blue shark encounter around the whale in the Irish Sea, the papers reported that ‘people ran screaming from the beaches.’ They did no such thing.” But the question remains – is there any reason why Great Whites shouldn’t venture into UK waters?
“There’s actually no reason why we shouldn’t have them here – and if we did it should be celebrated because big sharks are a sign of a healthy ocean. Great Whites are endothermic, which means they can raise or lower their blood temperature according to the ambient water temperature. We’re on the same latitude and have similar water temperatures to Cape Cod where the Great Whites have returned in considerable numbers.”
Following the film ‘Jaws’, which was set around New York’s Long island, there was basically a cull around the Eastern seaboard, which pretty much wiped Great Whites out. But since they were protected in the late 80s, they’ve rebounded in impressive numbers.
“For our film on Cape Cod we recorded over 200 returning sharks,” continued Sarah. “They migrate up the eastern seaboard following the food and escaping the warm water further south. They pass pretty close to shore but there haven’t been any attacks. There’s one area called Chatham which is off limits to swimmers due to the huge seal colony and, hence, dense shark population.
But I suspect there’s simply not enough food here in the Channel. Smaller than 12 ft., Great Whites eat fish, bigger than that they’re seal eaters. I could perhaps imagine them off Pembroke because there’s loads of seals.”
Happy stats In ending Sarah was keen to point out that attacks are so rare as to not even enter your thinking (although she does advise against swimming in seal colonies). If you’re looking for reassuring statistics, the latest one is that you’re more likely to be killed take a selfie than by a shark. There’s a scientific yet slightly chilling website called ISAF – the International Shark Attack File – which records the details of every attack worldwide. You can search by country.
I’m happy to say the UK is still a blank page – even though last year surfer Rich Thomson got nipped on the thumb while out off Bantham Beach in Devon by a Smooth Hound shark (a dogfish).
Happily it was not deemed serious enough to besmirch our immaculate safety record.
If you’d like to see clips from some of Sarah’s amazing shark programs, check out: www.bigwavetv.com
A relatively mild early winter accompanied by some big winds and waves has prompted this feature on how to cope with high wind sessions and tips for you to focus and reflect upon. A couple of areas that will be called strongly into account are your fundamentals and your fitness. So if you wish to really cope and perform in strong winds then ensure you are very fit and strong and that your stance and transitions are really on song. Remember that in very strong winds (4.0 to 2.9 sails), there is so much power coming from the rig that you really have to be ready for a battle and the rig will not feel as light as sailing in lighter winds as you are rarely sailing as fast as the wind speed! Lastly, any glitches in your basics will be found out, discovered and punished in stronger winds but fear not you can and you shall achieve and the tips herein will help you manage the strong wind challenge.
Words Jem Hall // Photo Clive Boden
(This feature originally appeared in the March 2016 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)
Putting together the parts to survive
I Mindset; it is perfectly natural and rational to be scared but you have to not let this fear lead to failure and go with the famous mantra of ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ from Susan Jeffers.
• The chimp in your head will be saying all sorts of negative expressions but you must discount these and employ a positive self-dialogue. I use phrases like ‘I can do this,’ ‘I’m in control,’ ‘Pull down and get low’. These will be more powerful if you Smile and Breathe, sounds silly but this works both on the beach, and on the water.
Tuning; be ready and rig it right.
• I first place my board on the beach and either weight it down with rocks or embed it in the sand deep. This might not always be possible but it means less kit carrying when out of control with the strong winds blowing you around. If I have done this I get changed into my wet gear and get all my rig parts ready, i.e. the right length and positions. I will then lock up the vehicle so I can get straight to the water without putting my sail down after rigging up, and risk it blowing away.
• I suggest you know your small sail tuning already, and have the straps tuned for your winter boots if it is the first time you are in these.
• The small sails really love the right mast (340 or 370) so if you want to have the best from your rig then have the right components.
• If it is really howling then I have a lower boom.
• You will need enough power, and board, to get out through the break; better kit selection will come through experience.
• Get your harness lines in the right place to match the sail (and long enough). It is easy to oversheet small sails so ensure they are not too far back or apart! In general small sails require moving the harness lines forward of your normal position.
“ Push the rig away and pull the boom down! ”
Exaggerate your key actions, keeping the rig away and from a low body position for all your moves!
Starts; the wind has so much force in these strong winds that you really have to pay attention when getting up and out of the water. You will also have to scan out to sea for squalls that are coming and for the sets. Time your launch just as the last waves of a bigger set are breaking.
• Beach starts should actually begin with laying back in chest depth water, and more akin to a waterstart. This avoids an unnecessary catapult on your first foray!
• Strangely enough waterstarts actually get harder in strong winds, with the lift in excess of what is needed. Aim to really control the rig once you have cleared it from a low position by looking and pointing the nose slightly upwind as you feather the sail whilst waiting to come up, and concentrate!
• To come up really use your legs, whilst throwing the rig upright, and do less sheeting in. Sheet out once up, look upwind, and feel the mantra ‘come up slow and stay low’.
Stance; Getting going and sailing in strong winds will see any bad habits severely punished so you have to be efficient, aggressive and really planning ahead.
• To get going you really have to pull down on the boom and match it with a very bent back leg. Really bear away to get moving quick and early to get the sail light and I strongly advocate both straps before hooking in. Once you have some speed the sail will lighten up and it will be much easier to hook in. You can then choose your route out.
• Scan ahead for big gusts and lulls, waves and anticipate as oppose to reacting. If it is really windy then when you are really powered up you may have to bear away a lot in the lulls in order to keep downwind!
• Your straight-line mantra is ‘get down James Brown and pull down.’ Drop your arse and really drop your elbows to pull the kit into the water.
• You can actually sail without fully sheeting in during huge gusts, as long as you really pull down on the boom, you often don’t need all that power from the wind! I call this throttling off.
• Remember to also straighten your arms and lift your hips in anticipation of lighter lulls and avoiding the ever so easy oversheeting as the wind drops a bit.
• You have to really focus when blasting and cannot switch off for a second so be on your game and get off the water for a break if you are getting mentally / physically tired.
• Look to do short reaches, so you are not going out to the really strong winds out the back and sailing safely.
Transitions; my most important tip is to believe that you will make them! Positive self-dialogue is paramount here.
• Even though getting upwind is easy when overpowered, your tacking skills are very handy. Using chicken tacks to avoid going over bigger sets, and being able to avoid gybing in Armageddon gusts, is strongly advised.
• Gybing in strong winds is challenging and in the less crazy gusts you may have to do wider gybes to actually get downwind!
• The layback gybe is a very useful move where from a low body position and your weight to the inside of the gybe you give the back hand a big oversheet to stall the sail as you carve off the rail and follow with a quick step, and then rig change.
‘Throwing a forward; take your opportunities to do some moves when the conditions allow’
The water is bumpy so you have to use the ocean. Look to gybe after getting over the first waves of the set, and if your timing is good then gybe off a wave. The inside is often flat and less windy so here you just need to give yourself enough space and time to gybe.
• In all your transitions exaggerate the key moves and prepare from a low position and get your hands in the right place on the boom.
• When exiting moves be really low with good vision and get into the straps before hooking in.
• You are looking to push the rig away and not pull it in, BUT in this process you also have to pull the boom down!
Jumping; this is a whole article in itself so I will give you a few quick tips here.
• You will really want to be cautious and jump into the wind, but you must resist this urge and jump across the wind to get better flight and keep speed.
• Get the sail light with good board speed
pre-jump. In the air get rig back and rail up (toes down).
• Hold up your tail for a long time, and keep compact in the air.
• Have fun and really look to boost big old-fashioned rocket airs.
• If forward loops are your thing then really steer round the loops (using your legs and the rig) not sheet round them. This avoids those painful endover crashes.
• Push loops can be easier when well powered and back loops need a lot of control and a slow, later rotation.
• Look to squeeze the best out of conditions, it may feel like you are always out of control, yet when that lull comes you have to go for the moves.
Riding; again there are so many tips for this in mental winds but here are the best ones.
• Backside riding can be easier in side/side on winds as you are turning upwind when you have your most speed.
• Frontside turns need to be short tighter turns off the back foot, to ease excessive speed, whilst you throw the rig open and get your body low and back.
• Really use the wave so you keep speed and have a clean face to ride.
• Only the bigger sets will be rideable, the smaller waves will be chopped up by the wind.
• Take the last or penultimate wave in the set.
• Have a plan and execute it whilst thinking ahead in minutes and batches of 200 metres.
• Get low; be precise and exaggerated in your head and hand movements.
Get out there and attack, you just won’t know until you go!
“ Feel the fear and do it anyway! ”
RRD boards, wetsuits, softwear, Ezzy sails sponsor Jem Hall. Get him live and direct on one of his highly acclaimed coaching holidays but be quick as they are selling out – check out his fab new site www.jemhall.com for details. You can also follow him on twitter / Facebook / Instagram..
Summer in the UK doesn’t mean an end to wavesailing or that you need to fly to find world class waves – if you are prepared to drive. The Isle of Lewis may be further north than most windsurfers have travelled in Britain, but that doesn’t stop the wind or swell. Buckle up as Timo Mullen and John Carter tell tale of their midsummer madness mission.
Words Timo Mullen & John Carter //
Photos John Carter & Roy Davidson
WEDNESDAY 21 JUNE 2017
5 P.M.
JC: It’s the hottest, stillest day you can imagine at home on the Isle of Wight with the temperature soaring to well over 30 degrees. I had just been for an after school SUP session with my son and Sandown Bay was as glassy as I have ever seen it. So thoughts of windsurfing and road trips were pretty much completely off my mind. Just as I was contemplating an icy cold beer and firing up the barbeque, my phone rings…it’s Timo! “It looks on for Scotland at the weekend and it’s the longest day of the year!” Not to be drawn in too early I agreed to check the weather and call him back. To be honest the last thing I wanted to do was drive up to Scotland as it was my eldest son’s school prom on Saturday night, marking the end of his time at school and I kind of wanted to be there to see him off!
8 P.M.
JC: Looking at the forecast I decided Timo was clutching at straws! The swell looked very questionable, 1.8M at 9 seconds with moderate WSW winds, so I decided to give him the cold shoulder! No way was I going to endure 24 hours of driving and two and a half days on the road just to shoot Timo scoring his windsurf fix in waist high waves!
9 P.M.
JC: Oh Lordy, it is all change within an hour! The updated forecast has turned into a potential pot of gold with this rare summer low pressure all wound up to deliver 5M waves and 30 knots of WSW wind. I had no idea how that forecast had jacked up in the space of 60 minutes but even so I decided to bide my time and wait until another update in the morning.
THURSDAY
8 A.M.
TIMO: JC hadn’t seemed that keen on going to Lewis, he had been away from home for a long time this year already so hadn’t seen much of his family (real family, not the lads), so unless it was guaranteed firing conditions he wasn’t interested, so you can imagine how surprised I was to see a Skype message in the morning asking if we were going! Straight away I booked the ferry. I knew that if we decided to go then the one stumbling block would be the ferry or lack of ferry considering our tight schedule. Worst-case scenario we could cancel our reservation, but without a booking we would be going nowhere.
9 A.M.
JC: My ‘red phone’ bleeps, it’s a message from Timo to say he has booked a ferry to Lewis just in case we go; at this time of year they actually can be pretty busy with tourists! We will have to leave by 6 P.M. and drive through the night to catch the 10 A.M. ferry. A night in the van and a 650 mile drive ahead of us…sounds wonderful!
12 P.M.
JC: We still have not made a decision if it is a green light or not. Saturday is giving heavy rain just when the best conditions are set to hit. Procrastinating at forecasts is a speciality for Timo and I, so we decide to wait until 3 P.M. for the final call!
3 P.M.
JC: Just to confuse the matter, Timo launches a second plan to catch a ferry to Belfast and sail on the north coast of Ireland instead. Personally I have not been to Lewis for about five years so after a lukewarm green light from my wife, my vote is cast in favour of Scotland and I start packing for the road. I have to leave home within the hour!
6 P.M.
JC: I arrive in Southampton and load my camera equipment into Timo’s van. As we chat away Timo drives fifteen minutes back towards home in Poole before realizing we are going totally the wrong way…great start!
8 P.M.
JC: I receive a message from my wife, which starts with the words “Emergency, you may need to come straight home!” – it turns out my eldest son has had a disastrous haircut the afternoon before the prom and all hell has let loose! The stupid hairdresser has cut away the bulk of his fringe, which in ‘his terms’ amounts to nothing short of a catastrophe! All of his mates have long fringes with short sides, apparently that is the style these days. As it stands my son has punched a door and is refusing to go to the prom! Let us hope he calms down by the morning! Unable to help in any way we carry on driving headed north. I do seem to remember some pretty bad haircuts myself in the past and locking myself in my room for days on end!
FRIDAY
3:30 A.M.
JC: We cross into Scotland nine and a half hours into the journey! Both completely knackered already! I sometimes wonder if these road trips are all worth it but at least in the grand scheme of things we only have another few hundred miles to go!
4:30 A.M.
JC: Emergency kip on the roadside, both of us are too tired to drive, alarms are set for 5 A.M. !
8 A.M.
JC: We finally arrive at Ullapool ready for the final leg of the journey to Lewis. We collect tickets and stock up on food, all sugar free! Since January Timo has been on this ridiculous diet that involves no processed sugar but fair play, he has lost 12 kilos in the process!
10 A.M.
JC: All aboard, there is no going back now we are on the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry headed for Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. The Captain announces that our journey should take three and a half hours and that there is a stiff breeze outside. Time to sleep (after a greasy breakfast of course, sugar free!)
1:30 P.M.
JC: We arrive on Lewis and the temperature is 12 degrees; around 23 degrees less than it was back home two days ago! The wind is definitely not an issue, but as for waves we are not expecting anything big until Saturday! We decided to splash out fifty quid each on a room in the Royal Hotel, with another long drive on the return journey we need at least one decent night of sleep out of three! The island is the largest of the Outer Hebrides and boasts a population of around 18,500. Nothing seems to have changed since I was last here. Once you leave the main town of Stornoway, you cross an extensive barren peat coved plateau in the centre of the island before hitting the wild exposed coast on the north.
2:30 P.M.
JC: Our first port of call is Bragar, Timo’s favourite spot on the Island in a WSW wind. It is dead flat! We both knew the main swell was forecast for the Saturday but we were at least hoping for a taster session on the Friday. Our next option is Bru, a few miles back towards Stornoway. Bru is normally where you would go on a SW wind but with WSW, we will have to settle for side / side onshore.
3 P.M.
JC: On the bright side we hit a glorious initial hour of sunshine despite the tricky conditions. The tide soon sweeps in over the rocks and there is no shortage of wind with Timo well powered on a 4.2m. But the side shore wind is not quite what we came to Lewis for! We have something in the bag but we need Bragar to fire or we will be driving home disappointed! Timo smashes his face into his sail attempting a goiter but doesn’t seem too phased!
6 P.M.
JC: Just as we are packing up, we spot a soul windsurfer on the loch blasting around on some ancient slalom gear. ‘That must be Roy’ declares Timo, he is one of the two windsurfers on the island. We watch for a while as he battles with the violent gusts before he returns to shore battered and bruised from a few nasty wipeouts. The offer of some hot soup and a coffee is welcome and we spend an hour or two at his house talking story about the island and tales of windsurfing exploits over the years.
8 P.M.
JC: After another check at Bragar, which is still flat, it’s back to Bus Stops, the next break down from Bru for another battle with the elements. With thick cloud overhead, I’m not too motivated but know that Timo will want to clock up some more hours on the water. As Timo launches he gets nailed by the shore dump, which dutifully smashes his prized Severne Nano on the rocks; not a great start. I decide to hike out to the point with my camera gear just in case of a burst of sunshine but know there won’t be much cover if the heavens open.
9.15 P.M.
TIMO: Unlike JC, my criteria to get the job done is not sunshine, so I have no excuses to ignore logo/mast high side shore Bus Stops. Anywhere else in the world this is pumping but to diehard Lewis visitors like myself and JC this may as well be 2 foot slop! With an air of nonchalance I entered the water armed with my new Nano and my 4.5m Severne Blade, well Neptune was there to remind me that even a small North Atlantic swell takes no prisoners, the small 3ft shore dump absolutely savaged me, not once but for probably a solid 5 minutes. I’m talking probably the worst pummelling I’ve taken since the last time I admitted to the boys I bleached my hair! The funny thing was JC was oblivious to all this happening and later asked what took me so long to launch, I made some excuse about adjusting my footstraps! Anyway the conditions were pretty fun but more fun was the novelty that I was windsurfing at 11 P.M. in 100% daylight, an unreal and freaky experience! Most sane people were in bed, yet the Motley Crew were still hard at work!
11 P.M.
JC: It’s 11 P.M. and I’m huddled up against a rock in the driving rain cursing my predicament. The rain came from nowhere around 10 P.M., lashing down like no tomorrow and I had no choice but to hunch down next to a rock and sit it out. By this time I am cursing this place! Drenched to the bone, no real pictures to show for all our efforts. I am starting to think this trip is going to be an utter waste of time.
11.45 P.M.
JC: Bedraggled and soaked, we finally make it back to the hotel! I am literally down in the dumps. Timo is slightly chirpier and suggests we hit the bar for a beer! Since it is light outside we have lost all track of time only to find everything is closed. Back at the room, Timo’s MacBook Pro is having a hissy fit and fails to turn on. The computer has all of his work etc. on it, and Timo is not a happy bunny! Now we are both in the gutter. Surely tomorrow will make amends for this tough day at the office!
SATURDAY
4 A.M.
JC: I had a premonition that it could be a mistake accompanying the keenest windsurfer known to man on the longest day of the year! Timo’s alarm clangs away at 4 A.M. and peeling back the curtains reveals blue sky. ‘Let’s go’ he declares in a military tone of voice that I know I can’t argue with. He is a man on a mission even though we know our best slot for the day is on the outgoing tide after 8 A.M.
4:30 A.M.
JC: Down at Bragger our hopes are dashed! It is still dead flat. Well there are a few knee high ripples feathering on the reef but our illusions of mast high perfection are quashed. Timo is still keen to hit Bru for another bash at messy cross-shore conditions…I am not quite so motivated but there is no choice in the matter. I am starting to come to grips with the possibility this trip could be a potential disaster.
5 A.M.
JC: Timo hits the water for his third session of the trip and I head up the point to scratch out what pics I can from the mediocre conditions. Within fifteen minutes the heavens have opened again and this time I make a mad dash to the van for shelter. Five minutes later and Timo has also called it quits, conditions were difficult and with the onset of pouring rain the wind had dropped.
6 A.M.
JC: Back to bed to grab an hour or two of sleep! In front of us we possibly have a full day at the beach, followed by the 12 hour drive home, which is never as much fun as the outbound journey! Right now we are pretty much both quite low in morale! Timo’s computer is still dead as a Dodo, there is minimal swell and it is raining!
8 A.M.
JC: We decide to score our fifty pounds worth and tuck into a full Scottish ‘brekkie’ at the hotel, sugar free of course, so no baked beans!
10 A.M.
JC: We head back to Bragar and en-route we speculate the best possible outcome for the day. Timo reckons he would settle for waist high waves while I am a little more optimistic with shoulder high! There is a moment of anticipation as you arrive at the spot as the lane climbs up a hill before revealing your fate. Down below in the bay we can finally see swell lines and there is no doubt about it…it is on like Donkey Kong!
10:15 A.M.
JC: With military precision Timo drops me at one end of the bay and heads to the other side to rig and launch. The sets seem to be building by the minute and the sun is peaking through the clouds. This is my third trip to Lewis and already the day seems to be lining up to be one of the standouts in terms of waves! By 10:45 Timo has already nailed about five or six waves and I know he will be happy. On his second wave he nailed three huge aerials on a logo high peeling set. That one wave alone was probably enough to make the trip worth it. For the next hour and a half Timo clocks up countless waves before finally venturing in to change board. I decided to head back over to the other side of the bay to shoot from a different angle.
10:30 A.M.
TIMO: I’ve seen this scenario at Bragar so many times before, it is a reluctant beast to wake up, but it always seems to deliver the goods! Today was looking no different, although I have to admit even I was dubious when a mere 4 hours previous it was as flat as a pancake! Already as I was rigging up I could see that there was going to be some fun sections and it was sunny, just maybe our luck was turning! It was nuking so I rigged a 4.2m but was thinking 3.7m was probably best; as it is always a bit gusty at Bragar I went for the extra power of the 4.2 in case our sun and wave time may be limited. As it turned out my setup was perfect, the waves were classic Bragar, super long and clean with as many sections as your legs could endure, which for me after my last 24 hours was not too many, I was pretty shattered after my first 50 waves!
12 P.M.
JC: Roy arrives to check out the action and I decide to deploy him as a second shooter while Timo once again sails alone in the firing conditions. All the while the swell is building with solid logo high and occasional mast high sets now marching into the bay.
12:30 P.M.
TIMO: Severne had made me a new quad this year and when we designed it we had epic wave sailing breaks around the world in mind! Well in my mind these breaks were in Scotland and Ireland so I’ve been frothing to see if what looked good in a shaping bay looked just as good on the wave face. Now was my chance to find out, so I swapped boards to give my Mako Quad its Celtic christening. The conditions really stated to turn on, solid sets were now offloading on the point setting up for the biggest aerial sections and some full speed power hacks, yup this board was definitely at home in Lewis. I lost count of the number of waves I caught, maybe 60-70 waves, with nobody else on the water and heaps of wind I was literally catching waves every 2-3 minutes, contrast that to my previous two weeks in Mauritius where my wave count was every 20-30 minutes with a friendly kitesurfer for company on every wave! The downside, if there can be one, is that I was literally in pieces after a few hours. When you start to get tired and make mistakes then it is always best to stop and fortunately a massive bank of cloud gave me that excuse before I had to admit defeat!
1 P.M.
JC: Timo heads out once again, bang on low tide with the swell squeezing into the bay closing out right across the channel. One mistake here could potentially be nasty since there are all sorts of rips running out towards the rocks. By 2 P.M. even Timo has to call it a day after so many waves and wipeouts. Our ferry is booked for 8 P.M. but we both reckon we have scored the best of the day with the wind due to swing onshore. We mutually agree to go and try and catch an earlier 3:30 ferry from Stornoway. It is not often Timo or myself will leave wind and waves, but the clouds are rolling in and the physical toll has already been enough!
3:30 P.M.
JC: We make it onto the early ferry, both knackered from the previous two days of driving and time at the beach. So far this trip has been alcohol free but after such an amazing day we both treat ourselves to a small bottle of wine. Boy how things have changed since a wild night back in Wick at a nightclub on the first ever Motely Crew road trip back in 2002!
5:30 P.M.
JC: We arrive in Ullapool blown ahead of schedule by the high winds. The ‘sat-nav’ predicts we will be back in Southampton in a mere twelve hours, yippee! A text from my wife is accompanied by a picture of my son and one of his mates on his way to the prom. Ironically his mate has a long fringe and in my books is the one who doesn’t look so cool, but what do I know?
7 P.M.
JC: Just when you thought it was all over, Timo comes up with a plan to find a Loch to sail in. It is still windy and I know he will always be happy to claim another session. So we turn off at Aviemore on a detour to find a watersports centre. An hour later we scrabble back onto the motorway unable to find a decent launch spot. To be fair to Timo, some of the scenery in this part of Scotland is second to none and windsurfing in some of the Lochs we passed by would have made for some awesome pictures.
SUNDAY
12:30 A.M.
It is finally dark and now the toughest part of the journey lies ahead, driving home through the night after minimal sleep and two tough days on the water. At least in the end it was all worth it. I can’t imagine our mood if that swell had not delivered. Fair play to the likes of Windguru and Magicseaweed, who both were pretty much spot on with their swell forecasting down to the hour!
6:45 A.M.
JC: I make the first Red Jet Ferry of the day with 30 seconds to spare, right result!
7:45 A.M.
TIMO: Well if it doesn’t kill you it will certainly make you stronger! Whoever came up with that has never driven to Lewis and back in 60 hours with just 8 hours sleep! As always though with every trip to Lewis, I was returning with a very smug and contented smile on my face. If windsurfing was on a school report it would have read 10/10 for effort and achievement but behaviour and cleanliness could do better, attendance 100%!!
“ I lost count of the number of waves I caught, maybe 60-70 waves, with nobody else on the water. ”
Jamie Hancock – “In December I got the ferry over to France and drove to meet Thomas in the North of France. We scored a few waves and was the first chance for me to test out the new camera and capture Thomas in some pretty perfect conditions.
For filming it was pretty horrendous with constant squalls and nowhere to hide. But despite it the harsh weather the shots came out great with me and the camera gear surviving the day.”
2016 PWA Wave Vice World Champion Alex Mussolini has a secret to his success. Motivated by the advent of his thirties, he decided to get serious about his fitness. He shares with us his experience of the benefits of his training regime and how it has helped improve his windsurfing.
I started fitness training two years ago along with my wife when I hit thirty. I go most mornings, training in the gym or sometimes running. Before that when I was younger I never really thought about my body, I just windsurfed for exercise. When I hit thirty it was a milestone age and I felt I needed that extra strength to help fight off injuries. As the years pass by it takes a lot longer to recover from any small injuries. In the past if I fought through a really long double elimination then the next day I could barely move! Now, after two years of training, the next day after a double elimination I feel like I could keep going full power. I have never been the best in single eliminations but very good in doubles, so I’m hoping this extra strength and fitness will help me even more, let’s see!
CROSSFIT Living in Tenerife, it is not always windy, so now I have my exercise program as a new passion to focus on. I started with running but after a while my knees were suffering from the impact. I was getting a bit of pain. Then my wife told me about CrossFit, which is a type of fitness regime developed by a guy called Greg Glassman. There are many different workouts and they are all based on functional movements, reflecting the best practices of gymnastics, rowing, running and weight lifting. I recently did my first CrossFit competition, which was quite fun and a big change from what we do in windsurfing. All the exercises are in the gym – running, pull ups, ring workouts and muscle-ups. It is not only about weight lifting and getting super strong and heavy. You do a big variety of exercise so your body does not lose flexibility. Within three months the difference was amazing. I could sail much longer and even if I stayed out for hours, the very next day I could keep sailing full power. CrossFit really takes your body to the limit and when you think you are destroyed you keep going! It is a punishment and really helps while I am competing. When I feel my arms are getting very tired, I think ok, in CrossFit class they take me to much further limits, so you can keep going and going!
STRONGER When I started I was lifting 60 kilos of deadlift from the ground, now I can lift 155 kilos. This big step up took quite a bit of time. You need a person to guide you so as not to start jumping up the weights too fast, otherwise you will get injured. It took me two years to go from 60 to 155, moving up the weights like this you have to be patient and take your time. I do it because I am not always windsurfing these days. I need to keep my body moving now I am getting older and it helps me prevent injuries. One of the exercises I can do with CrossFit is to jump straight up onto a box from standstill; I have done 1.2 metres. That is from straight standing and up like a cat. I am not the best jumper on the PWA, but this helps me to get more lift off out of a small ramp.
SAILING STRENGTH A lot of the exercises have definitely helped improve my sailing. I have a lot more power and feel a lot more flexible. My style before was a bit soft but now I can do all the tricks I had before but with more strength and power. I have more spray in the turns, throw bigger airs and can jump higher! I don’t seem to get hurt as much also. Since I started I’ve gained six kilos, I used to be 68 kilos and now I vary between 72 and 74! In the gym they check where the weight is coming from and right now I have about 14% body fat, which is ok. I don’t want to be too skinny. Most of the weight I have put on is all muscle. Yesterday I was sailing a 78L board and it felt smaller than it used to, so I think for Sylt I will need to ride a slightly bigger board. Before 78 was a big board, but now I feel I might need an 82L as my big board. In Pozo and high winds I normally use a 70L.
MENTAL SIDE The CrossFit has also helped me mentally. When I feel really low at an event I think about all my training over the whole winter just for this moment! It helped me a lot last year, in Sylt for sure the extra endurance helped me to take the victory!
There are many workouts that are really tough and I always think that I won’t be able to finish them in time. If I make them in a decent time then I feel really satisfied. I also did a triathlon last year but took it easy as I don’t want to get injured for my windsurfing. I need to save some energy, I am not a machine. I am not sure if it would have made a difference for Köster in Tenerife last year when he got the cramp in the double elimination. His main strength is his power and he lost that. That was in the heat after he beat me! I am not sure exactly why he got that cramp; I don’t know what he eats or how hard he trains. He is young and I don’t think he goes to the gym, like I used to be!
I don’t have any special diet. I like to live my life happy. If I see cake, I want to eat it! I do CrossFit to be happy and do something else other than windsurfing. It helps me stay fitter but I would not call it my second sport! Windsurfing is my number one, two and three sport!
“Maaike and I both love Star Wars as we are both a little nerdy; P So when she asked me to make her a video I knew I had to find the right song to use. I originally had a different song that would’ve fit the video quite well, but then I found this Star Wars Remix and knew right away this had to be the one. Enjoy!”
LIGHTROOM Barcelona sailor – Aleix Sanllehy Gonzalez, CAT 555, gets twisted over the lip at Ho’okipa as JC’s lens finds its target through the rays of light (...)
Motivation – some say you are born with it, others acquire it, but almost everyone needs it to be successful in windsurfing. So what are the secret ingredients of the ‘m-word’?, what motivates the world’s best? John Carter asks the great and the good for their thoughts.
Words & Photos John Carter
Originally published within the September ’17 edition.
ROBBY NAISH
“Finding motivation to hit the water has seldom been a problem for me. Finding motivation to sit down and do emails or take on other real life obligations is where I have often come up short. For me the never-ending quest to improve, to go play in the surf, and to simply have fun doing the sports that I love and somehow continue to get paid for it was motivation enough to keep me frothing most of the time. As time slowly takes its toll on my quest to keep the universe around me simple, the inevitable complexities of life and the burdens (real work responsibilities outside of riding wind and waves for a living) and joys (spending time with family, tinkering on project cars) that come with it slowly tarnish the total focus to want to be in the water at any cost and above all else. I used to put absolutely everything on the “back burner” if the conditions were good so that I could be out there and not miss a good session on the water. These days I still don’t like missing a good day at Ho’okipa, but I realized not too long ago that life still goes on if I do miss a few sessions. In fact, right now I find that I have so many incredible days at Ho’okipa under my belt, and so many incredible moments on and around the water from decades of riding around the world…. and so many priceless memories of events, sessions, photo shoots, wipe-outs, generations of windsurf friends, new equipment, old equipment etc. etc., that I am honestly finding an unfamiliar satisfaction in occasionally doing other things now. I have had an incredibly lucky life. I have lived with passion, purpose, commitment, and an undying love and appreciation for the work and life that I have. I am still pretty selfish and self-centred. I would still rather go and ride waves more than I want to do most other things most of the time…. no lack of motivation there. I just realized at 54 years old that there is still life between waves…and there is still time enough to enjoy both.
But to answer your question, when times get tough… there is nothing that helps settle them back down better than some good time on the water.”
When times get tough… there is nothing that helps settle them back down better than some good time on the water.
MATTEO IACHINO
“I won the PWA slalom world championship last year and the dream I had since I was a child came true. But thinking about it in another way, my original dream was different. I was dreaming about living every single day in touch with the sea, doing what I love. Being a professional windsurfer looked to me the only way to achieve that. Once in 2013 I broke into the top 10 in the world, I understood I was doing a decent job while also having fun on the water. That year for the first time I also understood my potential and my goal went higher. It wasn’t enough staying where I was as a top ten guy, I wanted more, I wanted to be on the podium and I could see it was something I could do. I pushed harder and in 2014 I got 8th, then in 2015 I won my first event ever and I led the ranking until the last event ending the season in 3rd. In the end after 2 years I was again where I wanted to be, on the podium. But to win is something different and that became an obsession to me. Last year, after a lot of training and with the experience gained the years before, I won my first world title. The real problem is that human beings are never really happy one hundred per cent of the time. Now that I won in 2016, I want the same feeling again, I want to win again and I want to win events I’ve never been able to win. You never can have enough of this. This sport is a true addiction from every angle and competing for me is the worst one because you just cannot stop wanting more of this!”
This sport is a true addiction.
GRAHAM EZZY
“Motivation grows with newness. Feed motivation something fresh every day and it will grow and grow. When I’m apathetic about windsurfing, I focus on falling. Intentionally falling is another name for the learning process. Try a new move. Or, get silly. I catch waves with my friends and try to criss-cross down the line. Why not try that wave ride clew first? Or water start with the fins facing forward? Do a double duck jibe? Wave riding back winded? None of those moves are particularly difficult. I challenge myself to learn something new and unusual. And when that fails to motivate, I watch a windsurfing DVD. Polakow’s “About Time” is my personal favourite. Watching windsurfing is a kind of windsurfing. Whenever I’m injured, I go to the beach often just to watch, and I come back to the water more motivated and actually a better sailor than before the injury.”
Feed motivation something fresh every day and it will grow and grow.
KAI LENNY
“My motivation stems from the reason why I started doing water sports in the beginning. It’s of course because I love to do it, but now at this point in my life it has become who I am and I could not imagine not surrounding everything I do with water. It’s honestly unimaginable. So while I’m traveling the world, training, doing all the things required of a professional athlete I stay stoked and happy because it usually always involves being in the water or going to it. Robby Naish was a mentor of mine and he helped install a focus towards my goals and the art of staying grounded along the way. To stay motivated I believe you can’t forget why you started it. If you have a good foundation it’s easy to build upon it. One thing I love that’s not only about riding waves is pushing myself to new goals because the satisfaction of accomplishing them feels so good. I hope everyone can find something in their lives that can do that for them.”
To stay motivated I believe you can’t forget why you started it. If you have a good foundation, it’s easy to build upon it.
ROSS WILLIAMS
“What keeps me motivated is my drive to be at the top of my game. Not just during competition, but also while I am free sailing. I think it’s hard to sometimes be fully on it when competing but when you are free sailing it’s easier. For me it’s especially when I am wave sailing, I love that feeling of landing a nice move and hacking into a thick turn and sending spray everywhere. Then when I come off the water I am stoked on windsurfing and get driven again. I want to keep competing so I can continue to have these moments when I am free sailing. I want to free that rush again, I want to win and beat everyone and feel super blessed that I am continually doing what I love.”
What keeps me motivated is my drive to be at the top of my game.
DAIDA MORENO
“To me motivation is the key to success. Without motivation there are no achievements, you cannot set goals and work had to get to the top. There are different ways to motivate yourself, but mostly setting achievable goals. My main goals in windsurfing are to keep learning new moves, to be blessed just to be in the water and especially to have fun. Windsurfing is more than a sport, it’s a full lifestyle. You go to bed and wake up every day thinking about what’s next. Personally I get motivated staying active, organizing my business (rentals), helping people to stay healthy (physiotherapy), organizing events with my sports club, staying fit and training in and out of the water almost every day… I don’t have time to get bored.”
Motivation is the key to success.
IBALLA MORENO
“I’m proud and happy to live the life I choose, therefore I don’t take it for granted. I’m grateful to my family who drive my life to windsurf and have ocean adventures and more than happy to say that the ocean is my office and where I stay out of stress and problems you can have in normal life off the water. Without motivation you can´t learn anything in life in general. And with motivation you will be happier in the water too!”
Without motivation you can´t learn anything in life.
KEVIN PRITCHARD
“For me the motivation just comes. I see wind and waves and I am on it. I have to say that I think I still sail more than almost any pro on Maui when I am there. I really can’t help it, I just love it so much. I think the hardest time to keep motivated is when the conditions are bad, but even then I still seem to be able to make it. I think that one of the keys is trying to keep doing new moves. I don’t really do many new moves but from time to time trying something new. I think the thing about windsurfing is that the conditions are so hard to get good that you are always trying to find those perfect conditions. It keeps you motivated to go down to the beach and check it out and usually I end up going sailing anyways. I really just can’t help myself!”
For me the motivation just comes. I see wind and waves and I am on it.
JEM HALL
“To motivate myself, I think how I can move forward every day to help me reach my targets and this actually starts with setting targets and forming a strategy to get to them. I am grateful for the opportunity to do the job that I do every day and know that every session is my chance to learn, improve and have fun. This has gone even further now I am a Dad! A main motivator is definitely that I want to set a good standard for my ‘people’ on my clinics and to achieve this I sail with passion, focus and power. As for my clients I impress upon them that this is their opportunity to move forward and that I am a facilitator, an agent for change, but it is them that must take the big steps by focussing on skills, setting targets, self-coaching and doing drills. I empower them to be the pilots and not the passengers. We also work on their internal self-dialogue, starting statements with ‘I can, I shall, I will,’ be it loop, plane, gybe or waterstart. The clients also get motivated as I use them as examples of great sailing during video feedback and then this goes a stage further when they coach each other; peer group coaching is very powerful. With my clinics selling so early I can also tap into them developing before they come by embracing stepping up their fitness, practicing key skills before a clinic and watching videos or reading Tricktionary 3 in order to visualise what they are looking to understand and achieve.”
To motivate myself, I think how I can move forward every day.
SVIEN RASMUSSEN
“My motivation has never been higher! I love windsurfing, paddle boarding and also to develop all that great gear which we test every week. On top of that I love the ocean and I love my 10 year old daughter! We need to ensure that those who come next can live such amazing lives and enjoy the oceans and the planet the way we have. That is not yet the direction the world is moving and my motivation is now evolving around the creation of projects and alliances to protect the oceans, accelerating change. We will step by step bring our sport, our brand, our riders and our employees on a journey of engagement, so we all can find ways to become useful in turning the tide. How can we do that? First of all we need to run a better business by always making better products so we can afford to invest resources into futuristic eco innovations. We need to create benchmark eco innovative products and quickly turn around our company to be become a leading global trendsetter in sustainability. It is indeed symbolic as we obviously are in one of the world’s tiniest industries, thus a drop in the ocean. We however will interact with other industries to move forward and also connect with governments for policy making. These projects are very exciting and motivational as it is a new journey within the current one. I am motivated to help accelerate a positive development where we all strive to be champions in sustainability and making a better tomorrow for those who come next, and yes. I would like to be with them for some time! Purpose is the new luxury!”
My motivation is now evolving around the creation of projects and alliances to protect the oceans.
VICTOR FERNANDEZ
“I love windsurfing and competing keeps me in top shape as I continue to push myself every season. During competition I have to go for it 100% because the level every year is moving up and I want to be up there at the highest level sailing with the best guys and of course nailing all the latest moves. After winning my first world title I immediately wanted another one. It took me six years of hard work to clinch my second title so if I have to train another 6 years to get a 3rd one I will train to compete as hard as I can. This constant goal keeps me motivated to keep pushing the limits!”
CRAIG GERTENBACH
“Keeping motivated is fairly easy, I just go windsurfing as often as possible, on almost every holiday, many weekends and test trips. This already makes me want to improve the products that I use, or that my kids, wife, team riders, friends and windsurf centres I visit use. Being in touch with your products and end users is the key to actually knowing their strengths and weaknesses. And the motivation comes automatically then to me, as I´m a fairly competitive person in whatever I do. I don´t like to lose and I love to see our riders or customers enjoying our products. Hearing that we have extended an older windsurfer’s career who wanted to stop, by developing the super easy to use Gecko, gives me as much motivation as seeing our team riders winning World Championships. I think that is also something I have learnt over the years to appreciate, that windsurfing is not only about wave sailing or slalom at the highest level – the older I get, the more I really enjoy each sailing session, regardless of the equipment I use, conditions or the location.
Working at a brand with such a rich history “since 81” here at Fanatic, is also quite a responsibility, customers see us as an icon in the industry, especially in terms of constructions and quality – so we don`t take that lightly and feel the pressure to constantly innovate, improve and offer the best service. Our forum is a great way to not only gain input from our customers and interact, but also is perfect for getting motivated, as customers often leave a message about products they have finally bought and positively tested, based on our input – that is a great motivator as it underlines our competence in giving the right advice on the right products. Lastly being part of a perfect team is the best motivation, working and sailing together with the younger generation of Klaas Voget and Daniel Aeberli, keeping Sebastian, myself and Karin fully motivated!”
Being part of a perfect team is the best motivation.
TIMO MULLEN
“Well getting motivated to go windsurfing for me takes not much effort, I’m always ready to go at the drop of a hat! I think living in the UK helps that motivation a lot as it is not always 100% guaranteed conditions here so you really have to make the most of even the weakest forecasts and sometimes mediocre conditions. I have been to Maui before and seen guys who have been there a while and turned their nose up at conditions that quite honestly I would have given my left nut up for! I must admit some of the missions I embark on are pretty crazy, but I think the crazy ones are the guys who stay at home and don’t follow what to me looks like a no brainer epic forecast! I think local knowledge helps in making those decisions, as all my crazy missions are pretty well thought out, I’m not going all those miles for a picnic! I think that previous knowledge of the spot helps the motivation as I know what to expect when I get there, and trust me it is usually worth it. I also balance my life as a pro windsurfer with a full time job, so my time off is pretty valuable, sitting in a windowless showroom for five months of the year keeps my mind focussed on being motivated to go windsurfing I can assure you! Ultimately the biggest motivation is the fact I love windsurfing!”
The biggest motivation is the fact I love windsurfing!
RICARDO CAMPELLO
“Well, honestly, my only motivation lately has been myself, I have been fighting for years and years and I have just been through two disappointing years on tour with both bad results and a few niggling injuries. On the other hand these past years I have been feeling like I am sailing my best out on the water. Now that I do not have a board sponsor my personal goal is still to become world champion in waves, so this is my own personal motivation! I will do it for myself and no one else!”
My personal goal is still to become world champion in waves
ARNON DAGAN
“The main motivation in life for me is the understanding and belief I can still improve and do better. The moment this is gone then I’ll have to stop, however at this point in my career, I feel it is very much alive. Surprisingly even after all these years there are new cool things to learn all the time alongside aspects of the sport I am already an expert with. It is the excitement of learning together with the confidence of – ‘I know how to do this, I am good at this and I can still get better and better’ which motivates me the most. In Costa Brava I was on top after the first round, it has been a long time since I won every single heat and then the final as well. This is motivating me like crazy! Costa Brava was an explosion after three weeks of no wind and horrible conditions in Korea and Japan and that brought back the fire for me. Obviously achieving strong results help keep the dream alive and also the beautiful places you get to see and experience and my love for the sport also keeps me motivated.”
The main motivation in life for me is the understanding and belief I can still improve.
ROBBY SWIFT
“I have 2 different feelings on motivation and both of them are probably equally strong. The first and most obvious one is that when it is epic, I can’t even sleep the night before because I am so excited to go sailing. When the conditions are firing, I can’t think about anything else and I think I have more fun now than I ever had. My wife Heidy always teases me because when I come back from an epic session I always say “that was the best session ever” but it’s really true as it’s normal that you improve as you gain more experience and the better I sail, the more fun I have so every epic session I have tends to be better than the last one as I have slightly better wave knowledge and have (hopefully) improved my technique since the last epic session I had!
The second form of motivation I have is a harder one, it is to really train, but it’s almost as strong as the first one now. I love training for the contests, so no matter how bad the conditions are, I try to find 1 or 2 things that are useful to work on in those conditions and that will give me a better chance of winning heats. That way, no matter how crap it is out there, I can always have something interesting and exciting to do that makes me feel like I am progressing. That one has been getting more and more fun for me since I have learned how useful it is! I love going to Gran Canaria every year. When the conditions are good here, it’s unlike anywhere else in the world. You can jump so high and get so many opportunities to do moves that you just dream about the rest of the year that it’s always exciting. Unfortunately, those epic days are quite few and far between. When I dream about going to Gran Canaria, it’s those half-mast to logo high days with wind for full power 3.7 that I think of but the reality is that every year we only get about 4 or 5 of those days from at least 6-8 weeks spent here. We are always able to sail almost every day though in some kind of semi-decent conditions and that’s when the second type of motivation comes in. I work on trying to do doubles off the tiniest ramps possible or on shakas and takas on the way in, doing 1 hand, 1 foot back loops off more difficult ramps and in more difficult wind conditions so that when the heat comes, I have more ammunition in the bag in a wider variety of conditions to hopefully give me the best possible chance of making it through my heats!”
When it is epic, I can’t even sleep the night before because I am so excited to go sailing.
FARREL O’SHEA
I think you have to separate motivation in terms of work and play, so let’s start with the nasty “work” stuff first – although both may actually be driven from the same place? Work related drive always comes back to the same conundrum – can we improve our product. It never ceases to amaze me at times the shallow job some of the companies we know and love in our industry do product wise. We always look at our competitor’s product hard – yet at our own even harder! We spend many an hour assassinating our own product with the view to try and take it ahead of the rest. As a small player in the global market I know we will never compete marketing wise with the bigger fishes, so I always aim to make a better and higher quality product through more extensive testing – you have to put the benefit of all those years spent arsing about on the water to some good use – right??
Windsurfing is a very frustrating sport, it takes time to hone those tricky skills….however I find those misspent hours very rewarding and therefore it doesn’t take a lot of motivation to keep going! Wave sailing in the 80s was a very progressive time, and it was great to be on the cutting edge during those fast evolving years. However now I’ve been reborn as a pie eating speed sailor the rules of engagement change. No longer are we in the subjective world of wave sailing, with speed the only thing that matters is the time – a much simpler concept to grasp. I’ve never been one to live in the rose tinted glory of the past; the only thing that matters is your last ride! Is enough ever enough? I had a real struggle moment at the 40-knot barrier, which seems almost laughable now, only to revisit that same dark moment in the 49-knot hurdle – completely stuck for a few years. During that contemplative moment I remember talking to Chris Bertish (the Transatlantic SUP man) a person for whom motivation is a speciality. Over a beer he said re: 50 knots “See it, dream it, believe it – do it !!” Perhaps in hindsight I’d had trouble believing it? Is enough ever enough? No – the goal posts just move right in front of your eyes. Forever windsurfing – forever speed ….”
Is enough ever enough? No – the goal posts just move right in front of your eyes.
BRIAN TALMA
“I train and organize for failure, and anything after this is a success. I put myself on the line, on and off the water! As a professional windsurfer, there is nothing better than being paid to play and with the BCWT World Championships and IWA it has been about scoring pictures and competing. I love that, being in the water all the time means my windsurfing was improving during the competition. Also in 2016 at the Aloha Classic, I qualified from the International Windsurfing Tour pros into the Professional Windsurfing Association main event after almost 12 years off the tour. As I said, I train for failure and any success is a win!
As a successful professional windsurfer through 1990 to 2014, as you get older you’re putting your past achievement on the line whenever you compete. And since being a professional windsurfer still plays a very informative function on how I generate money it is important to find a path to keep my profile high. It gives me such a rush to continue competing and doing well. It also helps keep me fit and I am still continuously learning. This is how I came up with the saying, “The brain smiles and life sings…happy rings and we dance to the music.” I work extremely hard and keep my focus during the hard times, which represents part of my saying, “The brain smiles”. Although I might not be smiling, my brain is happy working on a vision. This is when the competition might think they have me beaten. Then once the successes start coming in, this is when the second part of the saying comes to life, “Life is singing” and my face has a smile.
This year I’ve pushed myself to the next level, and it is working and my biggest move for 2016 was “Giving is living”. This year so far the coverage is coming in and we did a BCWT World Championships in Los Roques too, which was a huge success…”
Every year people flee the UK to get their windsurfing fix on holiday somewhere hot and sunny. But how can these adrenaline-seeking tourists get a shot of the same when they return home? The RYA tell us how.
Words RYA //
Photo NEILSON
Dave Parsons was a typical windsurfing tourist. A veteran of some 20 Neilson and Mark Warner adventures in Greece, Turkey and Egypt, Dave, who lives near Durham, had never contemplated windsurfing back home. For a start, the water would be too cold, wouldn’t it?
Yet, after a bit of coaxing from some Rutland-based windsurfing friends, Dave relented and to his surprise he enjoyed it. Now he is looking at what he needs to do it more regularly.
Dave explains: “Windsurfing was always something I did on holiday and I was happy with that. But over the past couple of years I’ve got more confident and a bit better. Our friends windsurf a lot in the UK and they kept egging me on saying ‘We’ve got a wetsuit, we’ve got a board, just have a go!’ The water was warmer than I thought it would be and with a good wetsuit on, once I got moving it was fine. Now I’m looking to join the windsurfing section at Derwent Reservoir Sailing Club, have bought a wetsuit and am researching what kit to buy.”
Dave’s concerns about the cold are common amongst holiday windsurfers, as are his queries about how to pick it up back home when everything is on a plate on holiday. Yet RYA Instructor Trainer and Coach Sam Ross insists just doing a bit of windsurfing when you come home means you can return overseas much more proficient. “You see people spending the first three days of their holiday getting back into it again and then fatiguing quickly towards the end of the week. How much more would you get from your holiday if you didn’t have to catch up? Nothing is better for windsurfing fitness than windsurfing and going home and practicing what you’ve learned on holiday means you will improve faster too.”
Top tips for post-holiday windsurfing
Don’t put it off!
UK sea temperature is warmest in September and October, with the main season running until the end of November. In the UK when it’s windy from the south, it tends to be mild too. If you plan to wait until you think it will be warmer in the spring, you probably won’t go at all. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing!
Find the best place local to you
Whether you want more tuition, to hire kit or need equipment storage, the RYA’s Where’s My Nearest website (www.rya.org.uk/wheresmynearest) is the best place to find RYA Training Centres and clubs that can help.
Some centres, such as The OTC in Portland, Bray Lake Watersports in Maidenhead, Lagoon Watersports near Brighton, Queen Mary SC in London and 2XS near Chichester do gym style memberships. These are starting to appear more and more.
Certain sailing clubs, like Derwent Reservoir SC in the North East, Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club in Somerset and North Lincolnshire and Humberside SC, also offer kit access and packages for windsurfers.
3. Pick the brains of your holiday instructor
There are three essentials you need to know to pick it up back home
What volume board do I need?
What width board do I need?
What ‘starter sail’ do I need?
Yes there are lots of other technical bits to learn about along the way, but these, plus a good wetsuit and a harness, will get you started.
Get kit you’re comfortable with
You don’t have to get your own kit immediately, but if you do want to buy a board don’t go the ‘I’ll grow into it’ route – if you can’t do it you will lose interest. Kit has a much longer shelf life than it used to, so get a board you’re happy on and you will be surprised at how long you’re able to use it.
Use the expertise in windsurfing shops
Windsurfing shops get most of their custom from repeat business, so they are going to tell you what you need to know, not just try to sell you the most expensive thing. Their knowledge, both about kit and windsurfing locations, is vast too.
The National Watersports Festival (www.nationalwatersportsfestival.com) is also a great place to demo kit on the water that is much more representative of what a post-holiday windsurfer is likely to find at home.
6. Enjoy home comforts
The UK has some fantastic locations and conditions for windsurfing, coastal and inland. Don’t think because the sun might not be permanently shining or there isn’t a Mistral blowing that it’s pointless. Savour the new experience and return to your favourite holiday destination a better windsurfer than when you left.
Ezzy give us details of their new Elite sail – “The Elite is our “desert island” sail. Our choice for every kind of condition, from flat-water to double-mast high surf. The New Elite is manoeuvrable enough to rip up sideshore waves at Hookipa and onshore waves in Pozo. The Elite is powerful enough to deal with the strong current and gusty winds in the North Atlantic and stable enough to have fun when the winds blow hard but the water is flat.
Through adjusting the shape and the materials, we have found a way to create a sail that feels on the hundredth day the same way it did right out of the bag—no loss of performance over time due to deformation. And at the same time, we work every year to expand the wind range one or two knots so we don’t need to re-rig as often. Further, tweaks in the material reduce the sail’s weight and make it quicker to get planing.
David also split the tack panel, so that we have warp yarns up the luff and along the foot. All of this makes the new Elite a bit stronger.
Best News of all !!! – the new Elite is the same price as the previous model!
Check out this gallery of more shots of the sail in the studio and in action and for more info. see www.ezzy.com and for UK enquiries call Ezzy Uk for more info 01903 778828
Tenerife Slalom R&D – Our NorthSails chief sail designer Kai Hopf and our test riders work tirelessly to push the gear and sports boundaries to the very limit. Kai recently travelled to Tenerife to meet NorthSails chief slalom tester and PWA hot shot of the season 2017 Marco Lang and also our team newcomer Malte Reuscher for some proper slalom testing to make the new Warp F2019 even better.
Kai Hopf – Our Australian former world cup winner and the mastermind behind the sails, is one of the most influential sail makers worldwide. Kai, who also develops high-grade fin profiles for some of the best Windsurfers and Kiters, still prefers to spend most of his time on the water, not only to thoroughly test the designs but to also live his passion. Kai has been the head of sail development here at NorthSails since 25 years; this is longer than any other designer has worked for a single sail brand. This kind of experience is quite simply immeasurable and irreplaceable.
THE TEAM – Top athletes and World Cup Racers like 8-times PWA Freestyle World Champion Gollito Estredo and 2-times PWA Wave World Champion Victor Fernandez are our driving force, our most important source of innovation. Therefore, we put particular emphasis on continuous communication between them, the engineers and head designer Kai Hopf. Through this intensive interaction we’ve secured numerous World Cup victories and world titles, making us one of the most successful sail brands in history. This speaks not only for the outstanding performance of our products, but also guarantees every NorthSails customers the same high quality material as used by the best in the world.
Discover the windsurfing paradise of West Portugal and stay at the Hotel Feelviana on Cabedelo Beach. This eclectic hotel offers modern and comfortable accommodation and has an incredible in-house sports centre.
Price based on one week flight inclusive package per person (UK flights & airport transfers or car hire where needed). Other European and worldwide flights available.
The stunning St. Regis Mauritius is situated on an idyllic beach, surrounded by a tranquil lagoon of turquoise waters and some of the best windsurf spots in the world. This luxury hotel also has one of the best kids clubs, so bring the whole family along!
Price based on one week flight inclusive package per person (UK flights & airport transfers or car hire where needed). Other European and world wide flights available.
Ocean Vagabond in Dakhla is located at the northern end of a 40 km lagoon on the Dakhla peninsula and is a stunning eco-friendly resort. The stylish bungalows are located right on the water’s edge. This is the perfect spot for your windsurfing holiday!
Price based on one week flight inclusive package per person (UK flights & airport transfers or car hire where needed). Other European and world wide flights available.
The longboard racing scene, whilst not huge, is stable and popular across the world. The boards are 380 cm long, with an 80 cm daggerboard, 40-55 cm fin, sliding mast track and a maximum sail size of 9.5 for men and 8.5 for women and youth. This monster setup is designed to give maximum performance racing upwind and downwind over the widest possible wind range from 3-30 knots. Only two sails are allowed per contest, so downhaul, outhaul and harness lines can all be adjusted whilst racing to give best performance upwind, reaching, and downwind in non-planing, planing and hang-on-for-dear-life conditions!
Sailing upwind and downwind on massive kit in almost no wind then hanging onto the same stuff in 20+ knots might not sound that fun, but longboard racing is fun and rewarding. There are so many aspects that must come together to win a race, or even get around the course! Tactics (wind bends, gusts, shifts, other competitors, start line, tide, etc.), fitness, equipment setup, technique, speed and that all-important focus.
Words Louis Morris // Photos Louis Morris, Andy Watkinson & Richard Whitson
Originally published within the October ’17 edition.
RACEBOARD
OK, so that’s racing, but what does it feel like to actually sail one? The extreme length of a raceboard results in quite a different feel to a conventional short board. Your freeride board is slow and draggy off the plane, but when that gust comes, the board overtakes its bow wave and suddenly accelerates onto the plane. A raceboard on the other hand, has glide and efficiency when not planing and as a result, getting planing is a smoother transition. The mastfoot is placed at the front of the long adjustable mast track off the plane. This maintains a flat and efficient trim. Once planing however, it is moved to the very back, bringing the sail’s centre of effort over the fin and allowing you to step into the rear footstraps and blast around just like on a ‘normal’ board.
The real magic is upwind. With a massive daggerboard, it is no surprise that raceboards go upwind like a train. But there is more to it than just pointing it in the right direction. With a bit of technique, you can really fly. The key is ‘railing’. By pushing through your toes, the thick, parallel, leeward rail digs into the water, working with the daggerboard to provide extra sideways resistance and improved upwind performance. With the windward rail slightly raised, drag is also reduced and as the board accelerates, the daggerboard produces more and more lift. Before long, you are standing in the upwind footstraps on the rail, wrapping your feet around the rail, counterbalancing the powerful sail and vertical lift from the daggerboard. There is no feeling like flying upwind on the rail. On a slalom or formula board, you aim to fly the board and have the minimum possible surface in contact with the water. On a raceboard, you try to keep the whole leeward rail engaged with the water, that way you can sail at a tight upwind angle and slice through the chop. As a result, the stance aims to drive pressure through the mastfoot (to engage the rail and hold the nose down) and through your feet (to hold the rail at the perfect angle).
COMMON GROUND
Sailing a raceboard well requires sensitivity to trim, balance, and power – that is where I find the common ground with wavesailing. While the differences in the disciplines far outweigh the similarities, wavesailing really does require sensitivity to trim and balance. Sailing a small board out through the break without much power requires a very dynamic type of balance and trim, so does carving a nice turn on the wave face or adjusting direction to hit the lip in the perfect place. The pressure through your feet, boom, and mastfoot must continually change. A good wavesailor can plane without much power, yet stay in control when overpowered in rough sea conditions and maintain controlled manoeuvrability in both situations. A good raceboard sailor must do the same.
ROOTS
How did I get into two such different disciplines? For me, it was a natural choice. Like many young windsurfers, I started out in my local Team 15 club. I got hooked on the racing aspect and ended up following the RYA Pathway. I raced in the Techno and RSX classes. At the age of 18, it became clear to me that a career as a professional RSX athlete was not for me. It was also clear that I wanted to keep course racing. With a competitive and dedicated fleet in the UK and internationally, and a market of very cheap second hand boards, the Raceboard class was the best choice. Strangely, having lived the first 18 years of my life in Cornwall, wavesailing barely featured on my radar back then!
I was given my first raceboard for free, I think it was almost as old as me! With the RSX sail I already had, I spent a couple of months getting to grips with the new board before entering my first UK competition. I saved up for a second hand Starboard Phantom and won most of the events I entered the following year. After this I was lucky enough to get the support of Tushingham Sails. They sorted me out with a new Tushingham XR-Race and Starboard Phantom 377, and in 2013 I amazed myself by finishing 3rd at the world championships. I’m very grateful for the continued support of Tushingham / Starboard and am now using the Severne raceboard sails and have just won my third national title. The aim for me at national events now is always to win every race, and to sail every race perfectly. I think that goal will keep me occupied for a while. I would also love to return to the international podium after falling short for a few years.
My interest in wavesailing didn’t really take off until I started university, where my windsurfing depended on finding another windsurfer with a car. Most people of a similar level were interested in windsurfing on the sea, so that’s what I did (being able to fit a wave board in the corner of my room in halls helped too!). The Student Windsurfing Association (SWA) wave series was a safe, friendly introduction into wavesailing and as well as freesailing as often as possible, I started entering the occasional BWA event. I won the Amateur fleet at the Tiree Wave Classic last year. I think my racing background definitely helps with wave competition. Although the format is completely different, being able to perform under pressure, stay focussed, and have that ‘will to win’ are traits that really benefit both. It can be hard to combine both disciplines, and I have to say that I spend more time on my wave board than on raceboard these days. However I enjoy both, each have their own challenges and there is always motivation to improve. The RYA pathway doesn’t just produce Olympic medals, it produces young people who’s skills enable them to have fun in all kinds of windsurfing – Wave, Slalom, Freestyle, RSX, Formula, Raceboard, Freeride and Foil. I think it’s quite noticeable that ex-Techno windsurfers are progressing into a variety of disciplines now, and that can only be a good thing for the future of British windsurfing!
When a trip starts bad, it sometimes only gets worse. Graham Ezzy reflects on a recent trip to the African island of Cabo Verde in the company of Thomas Traversa where he found wind,
waves and the ironic meaning of ‘Gri-gri’.
Words Graham Ezzy
// Photos Pierre Bouras/Liquideye
Originally published within the September ’17 edition.
Thomas Traversa drove my rental car through the crowded Marseilles traffic, weaving between cars and loudly cursing the van driving slowly in the left lane in front of us. The other 4 passengers were quiet. I felt like a silent child driving alongside an angry father. Kathrin, my girlfriend, sat in the backseat and so did Sophie and Lola, Traversa’s fiancé and 2 year old daughter. We drove to the airport to catch a flight to Sal, Cabo Verde for a forecasted swell. This was my first trip with Traversa, and though I consider him a friend, he is also an idol.
TRAVERSA – THE MASTER
Traversa is a windsurfer’s windsurfer. He is not as flashy as Marcilio Browne or Philip Köster. Traversa’s mastery is more practical, less for show. He is the best big wave rider right now in our sport. He hits the lip on waves that the rest of us respect enough to leave alone. He is a master of the fundamentals: he always catches the best waves, sets up in the right spot, and times his board with the flow of the ocean. His small body (63kg) results in a light, slidey style that uses the power of the swell to guide him. I’m 5 years younger than Traversa, and growing up, Thomas was one of my inspirations. I was impressed by his ability to adapt to any new spot in minutes.
CHECK-IN
We arrived at the airport with just less than 2 hours before our flight, more than long enough I thought. I collect air miles on Star Alliance; I travel a lot, and I like the game and perks of status. Traversa, I feel, is too cool for an airline loyalty program. No single airline can bribe him. Traversa’s loyalty is not for sale. When we showed up at the TAP counters, the regular line was full of people snaked back and forth. The elite line only had 1 person. I told Thomas that I could get our gear on the plane for free – we each had 2 board bags. Thomas replied: “No you can’t. Not here in Marseilles. You pay what they say.”
“Watch me.”
“No. You can’t. I will just pay and go through. I hate the stress of not knowing what they want to charge.” “Trust me,” I said as I completely misjudged the situation and made a mistake that haunted me for the rest of the trip. I edged in front of Thomas in the elite line to make sure I could speak with the TAP woman first. The guy in front of us had just paid 90 euros for each board bag. I had to prove to Thomas that I could get his board bag on the plane for free. I am proud of my system of negotiating the board bags, not because it saves money but because it comes from an understanding of psychology. A few years ago, I realized that the airlines don’t have clear, well-defined rules for board bag fees. The person behind the desk defaults to the highest amount possible so that they don’t get in trouble for under-charging. The goal is to make her feel confident and empowered enough to give the lowest possible price. This time, the woman didn’t want to give anything away for free, but she was not totally convinced on the rules (it’s hard to be clear on the rules when clear rules don’t exist). She left the desk to talk with her supervisor. Traversa’s face could not hide his annoyance that I had complicated and lengthened our check-in process. He left to get a coffee. My girlfriend crossed her arms in disappointment. My vanity was ruining everyone’s trip. Kathrin and Sophie are both German, and they talked between themselves. I was left alone at the counter to reflect.
SPREZZATURA
For years before I knew Thomas, I considered him the perfect example of ‘sprezzatura’, which is an Italian word that means, “practiced carelessness”. Sprezzatura is at the core of cool – mastery without even trying, winning without even wanting it. In the age of Instagram and Crossfit, sprezzatura is rare. Instagram, especially pro windsurfing Instagram, is full of #training, #workhard, #inspiration. Crossfit is about training for the sake of training, trying for the sake of trying. Traversa, I thought, embodied the old-school cool, winning a world title seemingly by accident. He seemed like the kind of guy who, if he were to post any photos at all, would post a photo smoking a cigarette rather than a photo running (#sprezzatura). I’d heard so many stories about Traversa that turned him into a legend in my mind: showing up at the airport for a windsurfing travel story with his clothes packed in a black trash bag despite being sponsored by Quiksilver; 4×4’ing up a steep hill in Chile, barely making it to the top, then realizing that a board bag had fallen off, and responding “Just leave it.” But it turns out I knew the legend, not the man. Traversa the man is more complex, more emotional: as men tend to be compared to legends.
THE WAIT
Ten minutes had passed as we waited for the TAP representative to return. Five more minutes passed. Thomas came back. He talked to Sophie angrily in French – about me. I don’t speak French, but it is pretty easy to tell that you are the subject of an angry monologue 2 metres away. And still we waited for the lady to return. Lola, the Traversa baby, started to cry. Still we waited. At this point, I didn’t care about free bags. I wanted to tell the lady just to charge us whatever, anything. But still we waited. Traversa went to stand in the regular line, which was even longer than when we had arrived. He didn’t look at me. I knew that I had disappointed him. Somehow I still felt like a child. Traversa hates waiting, I could tell. It reminded me of being picked up by my dad after school to go windsurfing. The last class ended at 3:00 P.M. and if I arrived at the road a second after 3:05, my dad would be grumpy and silent on the drive to the beach. Still we waited for the TAP rep to return. Kathrin was angry with me too: “We can’t travel with other people like this. They have a baby and now you’re making them wait. Thomas just wants to relax and you’ve stressed him.”
Still we waited.
When the airline woman finally returned, I didn’t even want to go to Cabo Verde anymore, let alone ask about the cost of the excess baggage. It made no difference when she tagged our bags and handed over the passes without asking us to pay anything. Family Traversa and family Ezzy went in different directions, not speaking to each other. After security, we only had time to buy a bottle of water before the plane started boarding. I felt small and still like a child, but yet I still did not fit in the cramped space of the economy section of a modern airplane. Kathrin didn’t talk to me but instead talked 5 seats up the aisle in German to Sophie. I knew I needed to ‘mea culpa’, trying to express my genuine unhappiness with the situation when I knelt down by Traversa’s seat to apologize. He was too cool to even remember that he had been upset. And then we took off. Maybe there is some truth to the legend…
THE CULT OF CABO
In Cabo Verde, the four of us stayed in downtown Santa Maria, and our photographer Pierre stayed in the outskirts of town, in an area where paved roads give way to dirt and packed sand. Stray dogs poked noses into piles of trash; I would have been scared of them had they not been so small and starved. Whatever charm exists in Santa Maria – live music in the air, restaurants, cobbled streets, any street at all – does not exist here. Pierre’s neighbourhood is the ugliest kind of Africa: European apartment boxes sticking out of the dirt with thought neither to anything traditionally African nor European civil planning.
Cabo Verde exists as a legend in the collective mind of windsurfing. Who could erase the images of the 2007 world cup wave event from their memory? Kauli changed boards overnight when he debuted the new-school twin fin against Angulo in the final. Angulo won the event, but Kauli won our hearts.
It is impossible to go to Cabo Verde without expectations of great waves. For what do expectations exist if not to be destroyed like waves on the shore. We went on a forecast, and 30 Spanish windsurfers showed up the same day. I like all of them as friends, but if there is one thing that ruins offshore, down-the-line waves, it is too many windsurfers. Actually, kiters are worse. But 30 extra windsurfers are pretty bad.
FORECAST
Our love of forecasts fascinates me. We treat the models like gods who know the future. Of course, they are not gods and they can be wrong, even when we are certain. The sea is a fickle mistress. We leave our wives for her, we give up our jobs for her; yet, her passions are handed out capriciously. Our first day sailing was basically flat. Only in the evening did waves start to show up in Ali Baba. The wind was so light that even Thomas – the most efficient 63kg sailor on the world tour – struggled to catch waves. This meant that I faced a near impossible task. With my Christmas weight, I was about 20 kilos more than Traversa. That is like Traversa carrying a 5 year old child on his back. The sets were too infrequent and the wind too light. Sinking so deep that the water came up to my waist, I balanced on my board as I watched Traversa catch small waves on the inside. Finally, after an hour of balancing, a set came. I caught it way too deep. I saw the wave rising in front of me. I knew that either I had to outrun the wave’s wall or risk being caught behind the whitewater. I hit an air and landed, but the wave was breaking too fast for me to get to the open face. I tired to push through the whitewater, but the next wave forced me onto the lava rocks. Such was the start to my Cabo Verde trip. The last time I was in Cabo Verde was the 2009 PWA World Cup. I won the super-session with the first carving taka in competition, but I finished last place in the main elimination. Who beat me? – Traversa. The wind was light, and he sailed circles around me – literally – and caught all the good waves.
TAXI
The next day, I woke up lethargic and in pain. Breakfast was ‘Catchupa’, a slow cooked Cabo Verdian dish of corn and whatever ingredients are at hand – beans, pork, and sausage. Ours was topped with a fried egg and it reminded me of the Ropa Vieja found in the Canary Islands. Thomas loved it. I was less enthusiastic. Traversa did not want to rent a car, insisting that taxis are the best way to get around Sal. This meant that we had to find a taxi big enough to take 5 adults, 4 board bags and a baby. Traversa and I split up, wandering the streets looking for pickup trucks that might happen to be taxis. Kathrin was still grumpy with me for making the check-in process more difficult when we left Marseilles. And she let me know that she was not happy about looking for a taxi when we could have been doing something more productive – like windsurfing.
We finally found a guy in a Toyota pickup that looked like Idris Elba. He was already booked on two airport rides for the day, but he said that he would drive us. He drove over to a group of men standing around trucks and gave two of them the time and place for the airport runs later in the day. He didn’t smile. He was from Espargos, the other town on the island of Sal and the island’s capital. Santa Maria feels the touch of Europe – Italian restaurant owners, signs in English, shops set up to sell talismans to tourists. Espargos has none of that. He said, “Santa Maria boys don’t like work. Party boys.”
PAIN
Punta Preta was flat. The swell was more northerly than forecast, which meant that we had to drive up the coast to Ali Baba, where we were met with strong almost straight offshore winds, medium swell, and lots of kiters and windsurfers. The wind picked up as we rigged. I was overpowered on a 4.7, muscling the swarm of other people for waves. My body felt terrible – my lower back ached so deep that I wondered if my organs were failing. Then my stomach tightened. I sailed into the beach and lied in the sand on my back. I wondered where Kathrin was and what was wrong with my body. In answer to my thoughts, she walked over to tell me that she did not find my current laziness attractive. She said that she needed to be in a relationship with someone who inspired her and that at present I did not inspire her. I struggled to concentrate on her words – my body and mind were stretched in pain.
Pierre swam out with his camera to take photos and Sophie shot video from the land. Kathrin told me that we travelled all the way from Germany to get to Cabo Verde, as if I had somehow forgotten. She said that I should take advantage of the cameras otherwise the trip was pointless. I didn’t want to go sailing, but I realized that more important than how I felt was how my girlfriend felt. And she felt that I needed to be sailing. So I went sailing. I was in too much pain to do anything worth recording, so it was a waste of time anyway. But it’s the effort that matters; it’s better to pretend than to do nothing at all. At dinner that evening, I had no appetite. I ordered a watery lentil soup while Thomas had another dish of catchupa. I could only handle a spoonful. In the middle of the night, I woke up with my stomach muscles gripped tight. In the toilet, I threw up all the water in my stomach (there was no food). Even with an empty stomach, my body still wanted to eject its contents. The next morning, I could not get out of bed. Clearly, the gods were punishing me for my airport arrogance. My memories of the days that followed are cloudy. I could not eat, I had to force myself to drink water, and I spent most of the day in bed while Thomas rode around with Pierre going to secret spots on the north coast of the island. At the end of each day I got to see the amazing photos and videos of the day. Kathrin stayed with me instead of going with everyone else to watch the windsurfing. During my sick days, we would walk the streets of Santa Maria for as long as my sickness could bear – an hour, maybe two.
The wind whipped up the sand and dirt so that it swirled over the cobbles and around the corners of the blocky buildings. The dust and dirt and wind reminded me of some biblical scene. The island’s name, Sal, translates to salt. Just windy, dirty, sandy and salty; a dry desolate place like the punishment for Adam and Eve after they got kicked out of Eden. I hoped my comeuppance was complete.
THINK MAN
The Traversa family left Cabo Verde, but Pierre, Kathrin, and I had two more days before our flights home. I still was not eating, but I felt better and I wanted to at least get one photo.
Kathrin and I rented a room near poor Pierre’s building. It was some kind of African hostel, and the room smelled strongly of iodine and rust. I could count the springs of the mattress as I slept, but otherwise it was fine—all we needed, a place to wash and sleep. Though Kathrin decided not to shower because the porcelain of the shower was so red with rust. During the day, we all went up north trying to find the last remnants of the dying swell. I sailed Coral Joule and another secret spot. But the waves were so small that they broke right on the rocks. It was scary without the thrill of riding big waves. Despite the fact that I had not eaten in days, I had fun. I found a few pockets for cutbacks and lips for airs. Windsurfing is such a strange sport. We go around and around in circles, riding the same water that keeps rising and falling.
Back in Santa Maria in the evening I wandered around the shops, feeling good enough to be out but not good enough yet for dinner. Pierre wanted to buy a ‘Gri-gri’ for Keano, Florian Jung’s just-born baby. I wanted to get a small statue for Kathrin’s father. Kathrin joined Pierre on his hunt, and I walked to the next-door store. I found a small black ‘Think-man’ statue that I liked. ‘Think-man’ is a theme in African art; a man, often abstractly represented in flowing lines and circles, sits with his hand on his chin, thinking. What is he thinking about? What is he pondering? Aren’t we all that ‘Think-man’?, pondering the why’s and what’s? As I was lost in these thoughts, the storekeeper said, “Is this your big boss-lady?” I turned around and saw Kathrin with her arms crossed over her chest. “Come on. We are not buying my dad any more of this. He has too many.” And she took my hand and walked out. Pierre had found a sewn doll ‘Gri-gri’ for Flo’s newborn baby. A ‘Gri-gri’, he explained to me, comes from African magic. They bring good luck and protection from evil.
Exhausted, we took a cab home to the outskirts of town and went to bed.
Our flight was the next day around noon, and I wanted to get in one more windsurfing session, so we woke up at 7 A.M. and found our taximan. After sailing, we turned up at the airport salty and still wet. We munched on bread and chocolate. I still had not eaten a meal since being sick. It was at the airport that Pierre realized that he did not have the ‘Gri-gri’. He must have left it in the taxi the night before. We went to the airport shops to look for a replacement but all they had was Duty Free alcohol and European chocolate. With nothing else to do, we checked in and went back home.
Insane top speeds with full control at all times, combined with impressive early planing and easy gybing. This is what make the Monster on the of the most fierce freerace weapons available. Designed by legendary Italian shaper Aurelio Verdi, who has over 20 years experience designing market leading slalom boards. The outline is craftet to give the board maximum control in all conditions, with more parallel rails towards the middle to keep a wider nose. This is import to generate as early planing as possible. The one step tail cut out creates release which keeps the control even at high speeds. A generous amount of V towards the nose to absorb chops and give the boards a smooth and user-friendly performance. The monster features all the winning performance features seen on the 3XS but in a more user friendly package, pure freerace firepower for the people.
He came, he soared, he conquered. Philip Koster well and truly shook the demons of a knee injury off his back at Gran Canaria this year with tweaked craziness like this over Pozo leading him to first place at the opening round of the 2017 PWA Wave World Tour.
