Who can possibly forget the iconic images of racers screaming round buoys in breaking surf in windsurfing’s heyday! Since then, slalom has become a little tamer due to world cup events in surf locations often having a wave event taking priority when the surf is up, or it simply being too dangerous to lay a course! All that changed in Portugal at that the inaugural Viana World Cup as racers dodged waves, each other and took to the skies, voluntarily or involuntarily, in some of the most extreme slalom dogfights in modern times. John Carter assembles a collection of windsurfing’s finest to look back at a thrilling event and finds out how the riders coped with racing in the nuking ‘Nortada’ winds of Cabedelo Beach at Viana do Castelo, North Portugal.
MATTEO IACHINO
The event was amazing. It is the best event I have ever raced at since starting the PWA tour. I won, but also the conditions were off the scale. We raced a lot on 5.5m sails. It was wavy and mega windy and not so choppy. It was just incredible fun. It was by far the best conditions ever. The waves gave a whole new dimension; they made the racing more difficult, but with the challenge of extreme wind it was high-speed racing at its best. I love this because you could play on the course, come back and gain positions. This is proper racing. I was just focussed to race well in every single heat. I have trained for high winds in Tenerife; I love racing like this, and I think one of the keys is that you must like the conditions. The passion I have for windsurfing is for this type of racing. I just concentrated on my performance race by race. When we had the waves it was kind of dangerous, but we are professional windsurfers so we need to race in the best and most extreme conditions. Maybe we need to race sometimes when normal guys cannot even make it out. This is the core of our sport, so it was great that the race director put the buoy in the waves…we need more events like this!
BEN PROFFITT
This story is from the Issue 379 - September 2018 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 379 - September 2018 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
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Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
