The history of Olympic windsurfing is a very special one. In 1980, the IOC decided to include windsurfing as a new, young and innovative sailing discipline in the programme for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At that time, the decision was made in favour of the Windglider, produced by Ostermann. A long centreboard that could just about pass as state of the art at the time. At the time of the games in LA, however, the board was already hopelessly outdated. On the one hand, the short funboards had revolutionised the surfing scene, on the other hand, the displacement boards were mercilessly superior in the classic regatta area.
The Div. II displacer Lechner A-390 was used at the 1988 Games in Seoul and Pusan and in 1992 in Barcelona. During this time, windsurfing and the equipment were also developing rapidly and while Naish and Dunkerbeck were flying spectacularly through the air in the professional World Cup and earning many thousands of dollars on the World Tour, completely different athletes were competing in the highly sporting and tactically demanding Olympic class.
At the following three Olympic Games, the Mistral One Design was used, a classic, long raceboard that is still current in its basic form in the raceboard class today. Amelie Lux won a silver medal for the German Olympians in Sydney in 2000, the only athlete to date to do so on the One Design. Since 2008, the RS:X has been used until the Games in Tokyo, which are not due to take place until 2021 due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Toni Wilhelm narrowly missed out on a medal in London and Weymouth in 2012 with the RS:X, a hybrid board designed to work in both displacement and planing mode, finishing fourth, as did Moana Delle, who came sixth. Toni was also on course for the podium for a long time in Rio in 2016. There are no German participants in either the women's or men's event at the Games in Tokyo.
For the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and Marseille, "World Sailing", the world sailing federation, has now specified the iQFOiL, a state-of-the-art foil board that can also be sailed with a fin, as the standardised class. Since this decision, the German regatta scene has suddenly been characterised by an unprecedented spirit of optimism in the Olympic class. For many young racers, a completely new competitive option has suddenly opened up and even seasoned World Cup professionals are excited by the prospect of a prestigious medal at the Olympics.
The German Sailing Association has also recognised the dynamics following the material decision and is repositioning itself. Not only will two medals be awarded in windsurfing, but kiters can also compete for gold, silver and bronze in a mixed relay - meaning that three out of ten gold medals in sailing will go to board sports athletes. In order to be better prepared for these opportunities, the DSV has created a new position. Since May, 29-year-old Leon Delle, himself a former squad surfer on the Mistral One Design and RS:X as well as a successful DWC competitor, has been based in Kiel-Schilksee and is coordinating the future of both sports towards the Olympics. We visited Leon there.
There are definitely offices with a worse view than yours with the Olympic harbour and the fjord right in front of your nose.
That's true, but at the same time you often look a little enviously at your colleagues who can go out on the water and you sit at your desk.
That means you're not on the water as a coach.
No, even though I've been travelling as a coach recently and am doing so now and again, that's not my actual job at the DSV. Rather, it's because there aren't many qualified coaches in windsurfing and especially foil windsurfing at the moment.
What are your tasks then?
In principle, to change exactly that. I am supposed to find coaches and will be active in coach training. At the moment there is no national coach because we don't have any squad athletes. The exception is Schleswig-Holstein. We have a coach there, Marc Hollenbach, for the newly created state squad. Regular training sessions are already taking place here. Of course, this should also be the case in the other state associations in the future.
Compared to the RS:X, the Olympic foil class suddenly seems to be interesting again for many windsurfers, both youngsters and established pros. Why do you think that is?
The RS:X-Class had entered a downward spiral in recent years. I have experienced this myself. When they switched from the Mistral One Design raceboard to the RS:X, many athletes dropped out. The switch to the RS:X seemed too complex and expensive for many riders and the class wasn't attractive enough for young riders. The heavy board was inferior to the One Design in light winds and to the Formulaboard in stronger winds. There was a lack of young talent, the clubs didn't invest in expensive new equipment and training and so things went from bad to worse until there were no more national squads - and this meant that the DSV, which is responsible for Olympic competitive sport, no longer had the opportunity to provide support.
What has changed with the iQFOiL?
Many young regatta riders are growing up with foiling quite automatically. There are many talented youngsters who are already competing in the German Windsurf Cup. And the Techno Windfoil 130 is also used in the pre-Olympic junior class from the U17 age group upwards. This will also be the case in the Surf Bundesliga. And for the established riders too, the chance to surf for medals at the Olympic Games is a unique opportunity.
Will there be iQFOiL regattas in Germany?
The plan for 2021 is to have an iQFOiL division in the German Windsurf Cup. We will initially start together with everyone else and the courses will be based on those of the Olympic class. So up to ten knots slalom and above that up-and-down courses. In addition, we would like to adapt the material rules, which are currently still very open in the Open Class, to those of the iQFOiL. This means reducing the sail sizes from ten to nine square metres, for example, so that the Olympic material does not automatically put you at a disadvantage compared to the Open Class. There will be a separate classification for the first time and if there are enough participants with iQFOiLs, there will also be a separate fleet that will start separately.
Successful professionals such as Nico Prien, Sebastian Kördel and Lena Erdil recently joined the renowned sailing club NRV (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) in Hamburg, clearly demonstrating their Olympic ambitions.
The NRV was previously active in the Olympic "boat" classes. It is interesting to see that the NRV is now involved in the new "board" classes. We still have many surf clubs in Germany. However, there are too few that offer regular regatta training and are therefore unable to optimally promote young talent.
How can the DSV provide support in the future, for example with materials?
Unfortunately, there is a lot of ignorance here. The Competitive Sports Department receives money from the Ministry of the Interior, which is passed on to the DSV by the DOSB. This is to ensure that athletes are successful at World and European Championships and the Olympic Games in the future. This means that it hires national coaches, pays for travel expenses, accommodation and entry fees in order to enable the athletes to participate in competitive sport where they can concentrate fully on their activities. We can also finance athletics trainers, physiotherapists, career counsellors and sports psychologists. However, these services are not only provided by the DSV, but also by other institutions. What we can't do, however, is buy the athletes equipment. That sounds strange at first for an athlete who usually gets their equipment from their sponsor. After all, the Olympic equipment for the men costs 9500 euros. But if you offset that against the association, what the association finances and provides is worth significantly more.
Who receives this extensive funding?
There are three different squad levels. The Olympic squad, which includes athletes who can compete for medals in the current Olympic cycle. The prospective squad includes those who are eligible for the next cycle, and then there is the junior squad. The German Sailing Federation is active in these three squad levels. In the junior squad, this is done in conjunction with the national associations, with the latter taking on the main tasks here.
At the moment, only the Schleswig-Holstein regional association has a junior squad. What advice would you give to a young surfer who is interested in the new Olympic class?
In any case, it is essential that he is a member of a surfing or sailing club that is a member of the DSV. Many clubs are. This is the first prerequisite for obtaining all the information. However, not all state associations have a department for the board sports windsurfing and kitesurfing. In this case, the club can also contact the DSV directly. Unfortunately, many clubs no longer organise regular training sessions for young people. Last year at the German Youth Championship on the Techno 293, the 40 starters came from just ten clubs. But there are several hundred clubs in Germany. There is a lack of initiative in many places and a certain rut has crept in. If a club doesn't have enough money for a coach, it can turn to the German Sailing Youth and apply for support. Several clubs that are not so far away from each other could also join forces and share a coach. But if there isn't even a weekly training session, then the children won't get the idea of taking part in competitive sport.
How do you want to change that?
So far, there are relatively few qualified windsurfing coaches for competitive sports and even fewer in the windfoil sector. This year, we are organising several camps, for example at Lake Dümmer and in Berlin, where we have the new Techno Windfoil 130 with us and want to introduce the kids up to the age of 19 on the one hand, but also help the coaches to support this in the future. Next year, these camps will be organised throughout Germany.
Many up-and-coming DWC sailors got their first taste of regatta racing at Vincent Langer's Kids Camps.
That's true. We need to network even more and also tell the kids where they can continue after the camps and where clubs in their area can offer training. So far, many of them have been competing on their own. But we have to show the kids how great it is to be out and about in training groups on standardised equipment. I've experienced it myself, training together in camps and travelling to regattas, pursuing your passion and maybe, if you're the best, competing in the Olympic Games one day.
In the men's sector, we have some good racers at international level and the young male talent is also doing well. But the situation is completely different for the women and girls. How do you see the situation?
Unfortunately, there are hardly any women in Germany who race. We offered free courses in June and received just ten responses from all over Germany. Nevertheless, there is now a training group of six women, three of whom are teenagers. One of them has even decided to go to the affiliated sports boarding school here for the coming school year. But there are also girls from sailing who are switching to foiling. They usually already have very good tactical training, which many windsurfers lack, and they learn foiling relatively quickly. Competition training and regattas are much more firmly anchored in sailing clubs than in windsurfing clubs. We also need to show the children that after the Opti they can not only switch to another sailing class, but also to board sports in which there are Olympic medals to be won.
Andreas Erbe
Chief editor surf
