Boating-sailing
Windsurf
4x4
One board, four sails, four sailors = 4x4 windsurfing. The crazy frenchies are at it again with their bid to be the fastest and funniest windsurfers in the world. Raf Filippi brings us behind the scenes for a not so serious look at the entertaining engineering and endeavours of the Quadem project.
9 min |
Issue 371 - November December 2017
Windsurf
I Swiss Army Made Wave Boards
Testing wave boards is never a real hardship, particularly when it is the sector of the sport for which all the testers, without exception, have a true passion for. The difficulty in testing them around the UK shores is chasing down consistent conditions to reach meaningful conclusions. That said, there is significant value in testing these products in ‘real world’ conditions - conditions that the vast majority of the magazine’s readership experience at their favoured break.
5 min |
Issue 371 - November December 2017
Windsurf
Severne Fox
Severne have been making waves with their entry into the windsurf board market. We catch up with Severne head shaper James Hooper to get the lowdown on their new freeride board – the Fox.
4 min |
Issue 371 - November December 2017
Windsurf
Size Matters
The size of successful slalom sailors in the modern era has moved away from the giants of old. Advances in equipment have levelled the playing field and podium places are no longer the preserve of the ‘big guns’. We asked a selection of the world’s best slalom racers for their thoughts on body weights and if size really does still matter!
10+ min |
Issue 383 - March 2019
Windsurf
Lauren O'dwyer-buckland Living With Arthritis
Living With Arthritis
8 min |
Issue 383 - March 2019
Windsurf
Benefits Of Windsurfing For Kids
The RYA explain why windsurfing helps develop positive character traits.
3 min |
Issue 387 - July 2019
Windsurf
Operation Barzan!
Sharp eyed readers of Windsurf magazine may have noticed that our intrepid correspondent John Carter has a mild obsession with shooting windsurfing next to large ships, well actually massive ones to be more precise! Back in 2014, in our ‘Pirates of the Solent’ feature, ‘JC’ and his accomplice Scott Gardener tracked down the Marco Polo, which at the time was the second largest container ship in the world. This issue our senior ship spotter has been at it again with the mighty ‘Barzan’, 400 metres of steel and deadweight of a whopping 199,744 tonnes! Read on as Captain Carter tells his salty tale!
10 min |
Issue 386 - June 2019
Windsurf
Forgotten Paradise
Sarah Hébert explores the small island of Barbuda in the eastern Caribbean, part of the sovereign Commonwealth nation of Antigua and Barbuda. She finds a paradise resurrected after hurricane Irma and perfect conditions for foiling. Read on as Sarah tells us more.
3 min |
Issue 386 - June 2019
Windsurf
K - 700
Nic Hibdige, K-700, leads the UK charge on the PWA freestyle circuit and his 9th place finish at the Sylt leg of the 2018 tour shows he has the ability to break into the top ten in the world. We learn more about the 23 year old sailor from the south coast of England this month as he talks with Loris Vietoris about scoring, finance and future plans.
6 min |
Issue 386 - June 2019
Windsurf
Movement
“Movement is life; and it is well to be able to forget the past, and kill the present by continual change.” Jules Verne.
3 min |
Issue 386 - June 2019
Windsurf
Jem Hall Technique
My technique pieces mainly reflect on how best to go about nailing a certain move or employing a strategy to ‘move on up’. This month however we help you identify the barriers to your improvement. The most important insight I have is you have to WANT IT! I will go onto identify the main areas that may not be maximising your potential and then look at the key moves and where I see frequent mistakes. I am drawing on my 25 years of coaching and also what I observe on many beaches around the world. Understanding much of this will help you become better at self-coaching, which is one of the key ways to improve and enjoy your windsurfing more.
6 min |
Issue 387 - July 2019
Windsurf
The Gentle Art Of Being Coached
There are good and bad teachers. But there are also good and bad pupils. With the holiday season upon us and many heading to centres home and abroad, Harty, with a few thousand coaching hours under his belt, offers much advice on how to get the most out of tuition.
10+ min |
Issue 387 - July 2019
Windsurf
The Black Rock Yacht Club
Summer is here and festival season is well underway, and if you like your festivals eccentric, few come weirder than ‘Burning Man’ in northwest Nevada. So what does a desert rave up have to do with windsurfing and what is the Black Rock Yacht Club, Kevin Pritchard tells tale.
8 min |
Issue 387 - July 2019
Windsurf
Race, Ride, Rage, Repeat
Windsurf culture flourishes in the festival type atmosphere of common gatherings like NWF, Defi Wind and the long running Lancelin Ocean Classic. Combining competition with a healthy social scene, the Lancelin Ocean Classic (LOC) or ‘Lano’ to give it its colloquial name, kicks off the windsurf event season in style. With Western Australia enjoying one of its best seasons in years, the stage was set with an epic forecast for the battle of bragging rights to Lancelin’s crowns. John Carter and an ensemble of competitors give us the lowdown on the action on and off the water.
10+ min |
Issue 362 - March 2017
Windsurf
Starboard Supercruiser Foil And Foil X Board
When Starboard released what they called, “Our easiest foil ever”, the “SuperCruiser”, we heard that there was actually a top secret new design of foil board in the works too. Starboard’s head of brand and design, Tiesda You, gives us the lowdown on both their new 2020 Foil X board and SuperCruiser foil.
4 min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
Pushing For Victory - The Push Tack
This month Peter Hart dissects an old favourite, the push tack. It’s vaguely functional, happens on, rather than above the water, but still introduces elements key to many new skool stunts.
10+ min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
Guadeloupe
John Carter and 2016 PWA slalom Champion, Matteo Iachino, head out to explore the windsurfing paradise of Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. Hosted by fellow Severne and Starboard world tour racer, Tristan Algret, and avid local sailor Bruno Kancel, the planned itinerary was to windsurf as many of the island’s best locations in a mere six days. John Carter reports!
10+ min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
Energise
“The key that unlocks energy is desire. It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.” Earl Nightingale
4 min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
Big Cornwall
John Carter muses over the dilemma that many of us face when weighing up weather forecasts. Do you go out searching for that pot of gold, or do you stay at home in your comfort zone, but spend the day fearing that your mates are scoring a session you are going to live to regret missing?
8 min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
New Foil Army
The advent of foiling on the PWA tour has brought a new group of men and women racers to the fore, John Carter takes a look at the Olympic windsurfers upsetting the rankings and asks the PWA elite for their opinion of the new contenders.
9 min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
True Champion
Victor Fernandez is one of windsurfing’s good guys. His third PWA wave world title may have come in strange circumstances in 2018, but it was thoroughly deserved nonetheless. Known for his unassuming demeanour on land, but a complete competitor on the water, his windsurfing skills are testament to both a unique talent and a relentless work ethic. Victor normally lets his sailing do the talking, but we managed to get an insight into his life with these candid words from the man himself.
10+ min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
The Big Stuff
Tenerife has become the winter go-to spot for slalom sailors, but let’s not forget Tenerife in winter can also offer huge Atlantic surf on more exposed parts of the island. Visiting Polish PWA racer Maciek Rutkowski took a break from training round the buoys to sample the big stuff.
8 min |
Issue 389 - September 2019
Windsurf
Youthspiration
2016 and 2017 UK Youth Wavesailing Champion, Ruaraidh Somerville, is an up-and-coming young gun with ambitions to be a pro windsurfer. Based in Glasgow, his water time is limited but he has an interesting take on how to stay motivated. Read on as Ruaraidh gives us an insight into the world of an aspiring fifteen year old wavesailor.
6 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
Francesco Cappuzzo
Italian windsurfer Francesco Cappuzzo has a few strings to his boom. He competes on both the PWA freestyle and wave tours, no surprises there, plenty of sailors dabble in both, but how many do you also know compete on the Professional Kitesurfing GKA tour?
7 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
Invasive Species Week 2019
The RYA tell us about the ‘Check Clean Dry’ initiative to help stop the spread of invasive species and diseases.
3 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
Other Voices
It’s a paradox of the vast array of communication tools of our modern age that still some of the most interesting voices are those least heard.
4 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
Seavets
Seavets is a UK based senior and veteran windsurfers association, vice-chairman Ruth Tracey tells us more about their merry clan.
3 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
New Caledonia: Blue Lagoon
With over 1600km of outer reefs circling New Caledonia, this stunning French island in the South Pacific is surrounded by the largest lagoon in the world. With this huge coral boundary protecting the shallow waters within from the ocean swell, this dazzling expanse of azure is possibly the ultimate freeride windsurfing playground! Keen to test the waters, John Carter assembled a selection of lucky pros to blast around this dream location whilst he shot from the air and water. Read on as the crew recount a classic session where windsurfing proved to be the ultimate island hopping craft.
10+ min |
Issue 379 - September 2018
Windsurf
Benone
The Causeway Coast is an area of rugged beauty on the northern Coast of Northern Ireland, famed for its natural attractions and history but most recently rising to global prominence as a filming location for the ‘Game of Thrones’ series. For windsurfing, the area is also rich in wavesailing due to its coastline facing the North Atlantic and at its western end lies one of its jewels – Benone beach. Timo Mullen talks us through the spot and his last session there in the company of Adam Lewis and John Carter.
8 min |
Issue 379 - September 2018
Windsurf
Check, Clean, Dry.
Seeking new waters to explore? Don’t bring back more than you bargained for! The RYA explain the ‘Check, Clean, Dry’ initiative to help stop the spread of invasive species and diseases.
3 min |