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.

Ice And Irony

Austrian freestyle pro Max Matissek always wanted to visit Iceland and windsurf amongst the icebergs. To make his dream a reality would not be easy though; a test of patience and an ironic twist to the tale, read on as Max tells us more about his mission.

Get Hooked On Windsurfing!

The RYA tell us more about their initiative to get more people hooked on the best sport in the world – windsurfing!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2019 Winter Travel Guide

Need help planning your great winter getaway? Life can be tough enough, let alone having to figure out what corner of the planet is warm and windy. It’s like trying to pick a favourite child …or biscuit. Fear not though, in your greatest time of need, we are here, sometimes, unless it’s above 12 knots then we are very busy finding excuses to leave the office. But regardless of our dodgy work practices, let us park your thinking cap and relieve you of your burden with our specially designed pages of winter travel information, wit and wonder. Well, maybe just information, but it’s the thought that counts. So if you fancy swapping your booties for board shorts then read on as Jane Faughnan from Sportif Travel and Marcus Bull from Planet Windsurf pick their favourite winter destinations and we provide micro-guides to a selection of windsurfing spots that don’t need seven layers of neoprene for a session in January!

Foil Racing UK

2019 has witnessed an explosion of UK Windsurfing Association (UKWA) foil racing; Rod Davis of the UKWA gives us an insight into the competition series.

Stance

Getting your stance right is a bit like eating your vegetables. We know it’s important and done right could have a dramatic impact, but it’s maybe not as exciting as other things we could be getting stuck into! However, stance is the one bit of windsurfing that joins every single move together, so if you get it right it will allow a huge amount of progression. It’s also the most important thing for sorting your entry to moves, which is where most issues occur.

The One Hour Classic

The ‘One Hour Classic’ is a unique windsurfing race held in Lake Garda and 2019 marked its 30th anniversary. The aim of the race is to reach in 1 hour the largest number of laps around a course defined by two marks positioned on opposite sides of the lake. John Skye flew the flag in the event for the UK and his sponsor RRD; he recounts his experience of the event.

Back Up And Riding

Harty tells us why Dave ‘Whitey’ White, 2 years after a stroke, takes resilience to a new level.

Windsurfers' Rights

The RYA tell us of their work in promoting and protecting windsurfers’ rights.

2019 Mediterranean Travel Guide

Bordered by Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Mediterranean Sea's exotic waters are prime playgrounds for windsurfing, offering conditions from flat water to waves and catering for beginner to pro. Find your ideal Mediterranean getaway as we highlight some of the best spots with our micro guides and get expert advice from Sportif Travel and Planet Windsurf on their recommendations for the region.

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.

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.

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.

Two Big Onions!

This month Harty sings the praises of Tobago, a very special island.

Foil Gybing

There’s a reason the pages of this magazine have been long populated by carve gybing articles. It’s the benchmark move of our sport, a measure of how far our technique has progressed if we can blast into the beach and leave again with almost no perceptible drop in speed. So there is no surprise that with the advent of foiling the goal posts haven’t moved that far, just a little higher up. However this time we’re not alone, whether you’re a kiter, moth sailor or Ben Ainsle’s America’s Cup team, the new measure of success for any form of wind foiling is can you gybe without touching down.

Summer Solace

Whilst the UK is enjoying a warmer, more stable period than most of our European cousins, we felt it a good time to ask our test team to investigate the windSUP options of 2018. After all, they’re likely to be the most appropriate option for summer adventures to the seaside if the June heatwave continues. And now that we’ve put the test in print, sod’s law is we’ve probably cursed the country for increasingly windy, unsettled conditions.… you can thank us when you see us at the beach!

Firing Range

‘Broad Bench’ in Kimmeridge Bay is one of the south coast of England’s wave sailing gems, but extremely rare to catch, not least because access to it is controlled by the Ministry of Defence! When the elements do combine though, waves rifle down this point with sniper like consistency. With a huge storm firing up the southwest approaches, a green light was given to mount an attack on the ‘Bench’! John Carter assembled a troop of sailors last autumn to launch an assault on the iconic wave and following declassification of the files, now brings us an account of the mildly daring raid!

Mast Matters

Slalom racers are obsessive about every part of their equipment setup, so when it comes to masts, what are the secrets of the pros? We lift the lid on the mysterious world of slalom masts as the pros reveal what lengths they go to in finding, testing and preserving their very best ones!

Late Call

Pe’ahi / Jaws on Maui had a slow start in 2018 for wave sailing, but a late season swell in spring gave a skilled group of sailors a shot at its respected waves. The grateful crew who scored give us a rundown of the session.

Aquaventures

My neighbour’s trampoline is clearly sick of being the nail, not the hammer, and has just vaulted 2 fences and back-flipped into a shed.

Be Like Water

Kuba Gasiewski is a skilled all-round waterman, originally from Poland, but now based in Mauritius, where he is the chief windsurfing instructor at ION CLUB in Le Morne. Kuba rips on any kind of board, from windsurfer to surfboard, kiteboard to SUP, but what he is quickly building a reputation for is challenging the conventions of learning how to windsurf. We’ve featured before his innovative methods for teaching windsurfing to children, but now Kuba has turned his attention to the very basics of windsurfing instruction, which he argues haven’t changed in line with the breakthrough design changes of modern boards and sails. He advocates a more fluid approach to learning and our stance, encouraging us to embrace Bruce Lee’s saying, “Become like water”, arguing that windsurfing is easy if the correct method of instruction is used. Read on as Kuba opens the debate on the methods of teaching windsurfing in the modern age.

Corsica

Only a few hours from mainland France by boat, the Mediterranean island of Corsica lives up to its name as the “Isle of Beauty”. It offers a range of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets, from public campsites to 5 star hotels and perfect conditions for slalom and freeride windsurfing. This year, PWA slalom sailor Benjamin ‘Babou’ Augé took 3 young sailors, Julien Mangel (15), Antoine Tavan (14) and Esteban de Cruz (13) on a trip to the island to explore its southern shores and offer them some coaching at the same time. Eric de Cruz tells us more.

Wave Sailing The Sticking Points

Fresh from a season of wildly windy wave courses around Atlantic shores, Harty has much advice for all standards of wave sailor on how to overcome the classic stumbling blocks.

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!

Lauren O'dwyer-buckland Living With Arthritis

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