In this issue

Natural High - Traversa scores Brittany, Madagascar’s emerald paradise, Tested: 2020 125 litre freeride & freerace blasting boards, Extra large jaws, How-to aerial, Lüderitz speed, Arthur Arutkin and Fabien Vollenweider profile, Harty’s freeride board guide, GB olympians, Aloha classic reflections

NATURAL HIGH

The start of every year seems to be marked in recent times by all sorts of self-improvement articles and TV programmes.

3 mins

MANIC MONDAY

Thomas Traversa, northwest winds with a monster swell and the famed French big wave spot of Île aux Vaches; put these four elements together and you know there will be a windsurf session worth documenting. John Carter, Timo Mullen and Thomas Traversa tell the tale of a manic Monday in December.

10+ mins

EMERALD PARADISE

The Emerald Sea is a pristine lagoon at the entry of Diego Suarez Bay (the second largest bay in the world after Rio de Janeiro) at the northernmost tip of Madagascar. The origins of its name are obvious with its paradisiacal water colours, but what about its windsurfing? From waves to flat water, Bastien Ramery fills us in on its attractions as he makes a trip there in the company of Jules Denel and renowned photographer, Jérôme Houyvet.

8 mins

DECADE WAVES

On the eve of a new decade, a XXL swell marched into Maui’s north shore to give 2 days of extreme windsurfing at Pe’ahi over the 30-31 December 2019 and a memorable end to the year for a lucky few. Robby Naish dusted off his big wave guns and showed he knows this wave like few others, Sarah Hauser caught what people are calling the biggest wave ever windsurfed by a woman and Marcilio Browne banged out a crazy top to bottom aerial that is being hailed as one of the best windsurfing rides at Jaws ever. Read on as the talented trio tell us more about their sessions.

8 mins

THE CHOSEN ONES

After a tense and demanding selection process, the British Sailing Team announced who will represent Great Britain in the RS:X windsurfing class at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The chosen sailors were Emma Wilson and Tom Squires, we learn more about the dynamic duo.

9 mins

AQUAMAN

By the age of 15 Arthur Arutkin was European youth slalom champion, these days it’s hard to pin him down to one discipline; he’s one of the very few sailors that competes on both the professional SUP and windsurf tours. A world champion in SUP racing, he’s equally at home in a PWA wave heat and regularly posts videos of himself ripping up his home spot of Wissant in Northern France, not to mention recently windsurfing the famed break of Teahupo’o in Tahiti. Read on as Arthur gives us an insight into his life.

5 mins

SPEEDY RECOVERY

Karo Van Tonder suffered a serious shoulder injury at 2018’s Lüderitz Speed Challenge that required surgery. Far from setting her back however, she set her sights on entering the 2019 Lüderitz Speed Challenge! Karo tells us more about her accident and inspiring comeback journey.

10+ mins

The New Breed Of ‘Fast'

The desire to go fast and the ability for windsurfing to deliver the addictive exhilaration of doing so, will always be one of the sport’s best traits in the world of watersports. It’s what attracts most people to the sport in the first place - seeing people buzzing across the water, going faster than most other waterborne craft and seemingly having more fun than most too. And I’m sure many of you reading this can still account of the first time you experienced the sensation of planing, no matter how long ago that may have been!

10+ mins

SURVIVE AND RIDE

The 2019 Aloha Classic will go down in history as one of the most extreme float and ride if not survive and ride contests in PWA history. With world titles on the line and plenty of gear destroyed on Ho’okipa’s infamous rocks, the sailors did not hold back. We take a sideways look at the event as Graham Ezzy sets the scene with his take on the proceedings, while JC talks to some of the men and women who ventured into the swell to find out what equipment, technique and tactics they used to navigate a treacherous lineup.

10+ mins

FABIEN SHAPES

Fabien Vollenweider is one of windsurfing’s most respected shapers. As the man behind Tabou’s board designs he is known for his high-performance shapes, but did you know he designed the BIC Techno and has been shaping since he was 14 years old. Fabien gives us a revealing insight into his work.

7 mins

TECHNIQUE CONFUSED. COM?

Even for those with their fingers on the button, choosing the right kit doesn’t seem to get any easier as board categories mutate and multiply and new definitions drop into the lexicon. Focussing on the ever-expanding freeride category, Peter Hart, with erudite comments from Windsurf magazine’s chief tester, Tris Best, sheds some much-needed light. By the way … it’s all good!.

10+ mins

MOVE ON UP AERIAL TIME

This month we look at the frontside aerial as a way to boost your wave riding and your ability to work with the wave. I will outline its place in wave sailing and give you tips to learn and improve this move but some great advice is to just try some. As they say in Punta San Carlos, Baja, ‘You just won’t know until you go!’ I have few regrets in my windsurfing journey and the right moves came to me at the right times, yet personally I really do wish I had worked on aerials at least a decade or more ago, I was too focussed on regular top to bottom riding. With this in mind I really push my wave rippers to attack aerials when the opportunity presents.

5 mins

Latest And Greatest

For all the latest and greatest in windsurfing head over to our facebook page and like it! facebook.com/windsurfmagazine

6 mins

HONESTY

Harty explains why being truly honest with yourself and those looking to help, is the best way to improve.

5 mins

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Windsurf Magazine Description:

Set sail for adventure with Windsurf Magazine, your passport to the exhilarating world of windsurfing.

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