KEVIN PRITCHARD – COMMITTED

Far from retiring, Kevin Pritchard continues to perform at the peak of the sport and against much younger rivals. Many regard him as one of the best sailors at Ho’okipa and last year he won the hotly contested AWT tour. What keeps the multi world champion at the top is a constant drive to improve. Kevin reflects on his latest program to do just that.

Words & Photos JOHN CARTER

(This feature originally appeared in the August 2015 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!)

Changing what we do is easy, but changing how we do it is incredibly difficult. I was thinking about using the analogy “a leopard can’t change its spots” but the more I contemplate the expression, the less it fits. Since my first time on a board, 30 years ago, I’ve been teaching myself how to windsurf; how to balance, turn, plane. Then linking the things I learn together to become more efficient, faster and more powerful. I’ve always wanted to harness every ounce of the wave’s power through my board and transform it into speed. Then utilizing that speed to smash the lip so hard it makes my knees tremor. That’s what I’ve been working towards my whole life, until this year.

Style is such an objective thing. Style is how you sail, how you turn, how you plane. Every person does it differently. A goiter from Graham Ezzy looks way different than one from Mark Angulo, even though technically it’s the same thing. Style is built from the day you start sailing, that’s why it’s nearly impossible to change.

This year I felt something different. I wanted to try something different. I wanted to push my body and mind to see if I could really change up my style. First thing to do was hire a coach. Ferdi, a local ripper who sails Hookipa every day, seemed like a good choice. I started pounding the pavement, running, eating and breathing windsurfing. ‘Hey wait a minute that is what I have been doing for the last 30 years.’ Here I am thinking ‘I’m going to do something different.’ Well I pushed it pretty hard. Stopped drinking my favourite local beer every night, stopped eating chips and salsa (which was a daily staple) and started jogging, stretching and focusing on what  I was doing right or wrong on the water.

Some of you may be thinking ‘Well Kevin, you’re a pretty good windsurfer already what could possibly get you better at windsurfing?’ Well firstly you need to humble yourself. Having someone coach you is not easy, especially when you’ve been training on your own for so long. I know how to sail and I know how to win Championships. In fact just last year I won the AWT at 38 years old. I know that may not sound like the end all be all of windsurfing, but a 6-stop tour with real wave-riding and the likes of Morgan Noireaux, Levi Siver and Bernd Roediger is pretty competitive.

“ To land those air takas, to improve your bottom turn, and to hit the lip even harder, to me, well that’s the meaning of windsurfing ”

The first thing I started to do is listen, then I started to learn. I wanted to change. One big lesson for me was riding the wave I’m on. Historically, with my racing background, I’m constantly looking down the line. Ferdi picked up on this tip for me, ride the wave you have in front of you. “RIDE IT. RIDE IT. RIDE IT.”  If a section comes down the line, then hit it. That’s why we call it wave riding, not wave hitting. The other thing I learned is you can’t win a contest without a trick on the wave. Well that is something I already knew but it just pissed me off enough to really buckle down and go for the tricks. I love big huge hack carve turns way more than tricks. In fact I love turns so much that I spend my entire day, actually my entire life, trying to get that perfect turn. Going into the lip and carving with so much speed and power that you just can’t even control the joy when you go off the lip. With tricks, I guess you either make them or not but for the most part, you start trying them over and over and then you start making them. So it takes a year or so to learn the big moves but a lifetime to learn the sweet old school carve. Go figure.

Next thing I did was start visualizing what I wanted to do on the wave. My usual routine would be walk for 10 minutes, warming up the tired old dog muscles, then start into a light jog. But here is one of the key things that I found helpful, as you’re doing one of the most boring things on earth, jogging, visualize your moves. I would be jogging down the road and start spinning around making my air taka’s down the road, moving my body in the same exact way I wanted to when I was on the board. I also would do that with turns and hits and everything. So all of a sudden my boring run turned into something like windsurfing on the road, losing weight and learning and feeling what I was doing along the way. Yeah I must look like a crazy person moving my arms and head around as I run down Peahi road, but at my age you tend to care less and less about that.

The third major thing I learned about was equipment. Now I have always believed… always blame your equipment….it is never you, you can always work on your gear, tune your sail up, fins, boards ..it all reacts so minutely that it is incredible. Well, I still believe that. Working with David Ezzy for the past 5 years, his attention to detail is incredible and having each millimetre counted for makes a huge difference. This year he came up with the Taka 2 which takes a 4 batten and a 3 batten and combines them into the perfect combination of both. A sail that has the stability of the 4 battens with the luffability and low end of the things we loved about the 3 batten. For me being able to come down the line and go into the turn knowing that your sail is not going to rip your hands out of your sockets has been a huge thing in allowing me to pull off some of the new school tricks. When I see Graham out there doing his thing, I know the sky is the limit for where I want to go.

“ The best thing about windsurfing is you will never conquer it ”

I also went down to Thailand to work on my boards with the mad scientists at the Starboard lab. It is always a culture shock to go down there and see how hard those boys work. I think we came up with something good with the Kode Freewave and integrating more what I have been working on over the years into the designs. I really think we came up with something cool!

But you want to know something, I learned something that will teach me more than just on the water. I learned about life. I learned that in order to improve, you have to humble yourself. In order to be the best you have to gain confidence. In order to change your style or flow you need to be aware of what others are doing and how to mix it up with what you know already works. Watch yourself as much as you can. Feel what you are doing. Get your best friend to video you. You might not be able to make a movie from it but you can get some footage of you out on the water and watch it. It doesn’t have to be a pro camera or anything like that, just an idea to what you are doing. If you can find a friend who knows what they are talking about, ask them to watch you and tell you what you look like and how you should improve. This one is pretty hard on both sides of the relationship, but if you can handle the criticism it can fuel the fire out on the water. The best thing about windsurfing is you will never conquer it. It is the most technical and hardest sport with as many variables as one can comprehend. In closing, I came back to what I always knew, the fun of progressing is insane even for an old dog like me. To land those air takas, to improve your bottom turn, and to hit the lip even harder, to me, well that’s the meaning of windsurfing.

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