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
Exploring Israel's Windsurfing
Boasting 275 km of coastline with access to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Israel enjoys solid wind statistics all year round and offers everything from flat water to waves. It has a buoyant windsurfing community, but outside of the country relatively little is known about it as a windsurfing destination; Eric de Cruz made a trip there with PWA slalom sailor Benjamin ‘Babou’ Augé and Esteban de Cruz to find out more.
9 min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
Defi Wind Japan
Miyako island in Okinawa Prefecture played host to the inaugural Defi Wind Japan last month and interestingly the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands, is twinned with the island of Maui! Japanese windsurfing culture is one of the most interesting in the world and combining it with the DéfiWind concept was always going to be an interesting mix; we talk to some of the athletes and organisers to get a flavour of the event.
10+ min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
All In Good Time
Harty this month suggests that improvement may lie focussing not so much on ‘how’, but ‘how long.’ It’s all about time and timing
10+ min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
Windsurf
The Magheroarty Mission
After a three year wait, the Red Bull Storm Chase finally found the weather system they were looking for, storm ‘Gareth’, to green light the event and in keeping with the Storm Chase’s history, produce one of the most spectacular wavesailing contests ever! Rain, hail, snow, an 8 metre swell and force ten plus winds tested the riders to their absolute limits at Magheroarty, county Donegal, NW Ireland; John Carter caught up with the competitors and contest organiser Jobst von Paepcke to find out how it all went down.
10+ min |
Issue 385 - May 2019
SUP International
Go Big & Go Easy
Surfing must be one of the hardest sports to learn. But learning to surf on a SUP is probably even harder.
10+ min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
On Europe's Amazon
The Danube Delta is one of the wildest corners of Europe. A labyrinth of jungle-like waterways bedecked with climbing vines that hide kingfishers, pelicans and floating islands leading into a mystical world of deep forests and rivers. Sadly like any paradise, it is under threat.
10 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
The Great Route
Data can only tell us so much. Environmental researcher Michael Walther wanted to make a more qualititave invesgitation into the effects of the anthroposcene on the remote west coast of Greenland. As he saw, climate change is altering not only the extent of the ice, but more crucially the way the ice behaves. The impact on the people that live there was profound.
8 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Small Minded: Wiping The Slate Clean
A few years ago I wrote about a perceived ‘eddy’ of lower and lower volume surfing paddleboards spinning away to the side of the sport’s mainstream. A veritable closed shop of elite riders chasing shortboard surfing-esque performance atop pieces of equipment that increasingly resembled just that: a surfing shortboard.
4 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Practical Progress
Progress in our modern world is a given. We innovate more, we advance – it’s the human way. But sport is cruel, progress is not always a linear path, more a zigzag, back and forth towards the next level. Finn Mullen offers some practical tips for an aspiring SUP surfer looking to keep their progress on track.
10+ min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Prohibited Items
I’d almost forgotten about the weariness with which airport staff– from check-in personnel to baggage handlers look at you when they see you bumbling your way through departures with a large board bag.
2 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Paddle Science #14 - Blood Testing
We can be doing all the right things: for example eating a low carb diet, following a training program, but it is not easy to know if our blood glucose levels are in the right range, or if overtraining is leading to chronic inflammation.
6 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Lost In Koh Chang
If the newly crowned world champion sup racer gives you a tip-off to visit a place, it’s probably worth more than a casual glance. Daniel Hasulyo has just taken the technical race title at the ISA event in China, and if you’re wondering what his training schedule runs like, it looks a bit like this…
3 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Composite Or Inflatable?
A great polymath once said, if N is the number of boards you need, and S is the number of boards you own, then N = S +1. This month, we’re going to look at your next board purchase, and how to zero in on the construction that you need.
4 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Ten Years After
When you’re having a good moment, say on a trip somewhere you thought you’d never get to, or after the best surf you’ve ever had, or finding yourself at last planing with a foil, or perhaps even better - getting a new dog or addition to your family, do you ever think about what your ten-years-younger self would have thought if they knew it would be coming up?
2 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Logging In
I am sitting in a tuk-tuk carelessly sneaking through the chaotic traffic of Colombo way faster and way more dangerously than it should be. All around me I pass by thousands of people looking busy with their everyday lives. Drivers, beggars, porters, passengers, policemen with white gloves, buddhist monks dressed in orange, schoolboys in uniform, street food sellers, and hordes of ordinary people just going somewhere. I wonder what they do all day. I wonder what their reality is like. I came to Sri Lanka to experience first hand the spirit of a country in which everyone these days seems to be interested in.
8 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Endurance
A great shout erupts from the centre of fifty neoprene-clad people clustered on the dark banks of Loch Ness. The wind whips and pulls at the group of paddlers, all of whom are fortified by a dram of whisky, as the sound of Scottish bagpipes signifies the first grey light of dawn. With it, the true scale of Loch Ness stretches out before the challengers, as dark, ferocious gusts claw at the surface of the black water and bands of sleet and rain cut at bare flesh.
10+ min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Le Morne-ing Of The Earth
After 11 hours in a stress position, otherwise known as coach class, Valentin Illichmann and I finally land in Mauritius. Flung out in the Indian Ocean some 800km offof Madagascar with only Reunion for company, its closest neighbour in the other direction is Australia (where interestingly they also drive on the left).
6 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
City To Sea
Lena Erdil and Kai Steimer switch plans with the caprice of the Sinop wind on a trip that takes them out of Istanbul and onto the Black Sea…
10 min |
Spring 2019
SUP International
Between Storms
It’s deep winter. Boots, gloves and hood are ready to go..., but I have been very fortunate and grateful this year (thanks to some awesome support from my key sponsors ION, Fanatic SUP International and Nik Baker K66) to have not needed the aforementioned items – yet.
3 min |
Spring 2019
Windsurf
Redcar Wind Power
The northeast coast of England on its day has some of the best surfing and windsurfing conditions in the UK, but many of the spots are a closely guarded secret or off the beaten track. Redcar though is a well known windsurfing beach and its credentials as a windy spot not in doubt given the huge wind farm just offshore. John Carter, Timo Mullen and Steve Thorp fill us in on a recent Redcar session, one of the North Sea’s top windsurfing spots.
9 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Two Big Onions!
This month Harty sings the praises of Tobago, a very special island.
5 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
The Spinny Gybe
It goes by many names, but the basic pivot gybe is not only a practical ‘get out of jail’ card, but also introduces technique elements that should take your regular carve gybing to another level. Harty elucidates.
10+ min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Project Portugal
Always searching for the best conditions, ‘The Windsurf Project’ have been on the road again, this time destination Portugal and its wild west coast. Chasing an XXL swell and north winds were project stalwarts, Thomas Traversa and cameraman Jamie Hancock. John Carter got the last minute call to join them and gives us the lowdown on the mission.
10+ min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Sardinia
Sardinia offers conditions for all levels of windsurfer and every sort of water state from waves to flat water, all served with a healthy slice of Italian style. RRD’s International Marketing & Team manager, Matteo Guazzoni, gives us a guide to the island and why it is a favoured base for their distributor meeting.
8 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Redcar Wind Power
The northeast coast of England on its day has some of the best surfing and windsurfing conditions in the UK, but many of the spots are a closely guarded secret or off the beaten track. Redcar though is a well known windsurfing beach and its credentials as a windy spot not in doubt given the huge wind farm just offshore. John Carter, Timo Mullen and Steve Thorp fill us in on a recent Redcar session, one of the North Sea’s top windsurfing spots.
9 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Northern Exposure
With the recent news that the magnetic north pole is on the move and speeding rapidly towards Russia, we’re taking the opportunity this issue to recalibrate our editorial ‘compass’ and review windsurfing’s northern latitudes.
3 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Northern Lure
A land of rugged beauty with stunning seascapes and mountains, the beauty of Norway’s Lofoten Islands drew freestylers Adam Sims and Oda Johanne Brødholt north to explore its windsurfing. Adam and Oda report back on their adventures.
9 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Deutschland Days
Maui born and bred, Graham Ezzy seems an unlikely transplant to Germany, but for part of year the Hawaiian swaps Ho’okipa for Hamburg and Pacific swells for North Sea surf. Graham reflects on his Deutschland days.
4 min |
Issue 384 - April 2019
Windsurf
Hellenic Odyssey
Jono Dunnett continues to inspire with his epic journey round Europe. We join him this month as he recounts his passage along the Greek coast and onward to Turkey, where after much consideration his journey takes a pivotal step. Read on as Jono reflects on his winter travels.
10+ min |