“Three riders in particular” stand out at Hookipa, the undisputed heart of windsurfing. Alongside veteran champion Mark Angulo, they are Levi Siver and Marcilio Browne. *surf* puts the three “Kings of Maui” in the spotlight and has the Facebook community singing their praises. Mark Angulo has since largely faded from the scene, Levi Siver is still tearing it up at Hookipa – and Brawzinho, with five World Championship titles and an all-round talent ranging from down-the-line riding to mega jumps, is a legend in his own right. But today, both share the Hookipa honours with a host of equally talented style masters such as Bernd Roediger, Camille Juban, Morgan Noireaux and many more!
The origins of Windfinder
Dreams in green, yellow and red – these are brought to life in Kiel-Wik. That’s where Windfinder is based, one of the first digital forecast providers and still among the top three wind services for water sports enthusiasts today. The inspiration came from a provider of real-time wind data based in the US, which, however, showed no interest whatsoever in expanding into Germany. So founder Oliver König and three friends set to work themselves, launching a small-scale live service and soon integrating forecasts as well. It soon became clear that this could no longer be managed as a side project for enthusiasts, and Jonas Kaufmann, a professional programmer, joined the team. He ensured that the information of interest to surfers could be extracted from the meteorologists’ vast amounts of data. And the rest is history: with apps, Super Forecasts, animated current maps and much more, Windfinder continues to evolve unceasingly to this day!
Cesar Finies and ‘Flowstyle’
Nobody likes light winds. For the pros in particular, it can never really be windy enough. Really? The living, magical counter-example is Cesar Finies, who does incredible things with his sail even in the slightest breeze and continues to wow the Instagram community on a regular basis. His “Flowstyle” was brand new back in 2012; surf visited Cesar on Bonaire and got him to reveal a few of his secrets. The idea came to him whilst riding a BMX; he then applied the principle of spinning around the steering axis to windsurfing. Even though some manoeuvres have to be quick, “it’s enough to know when and where to position yourself.” New tricks are practised on land first, before heading out onto the water on an XXL board with a mini fin – Cesar’s little secret. The basics, he says, are helitacks, sail-body 360s, riding with the clew ahead and riding backwards; with these, you can already combine a lot of manoeuvres. Even though Cesar has to admit that he regularly wrecks his kit – and has even had a sail fly onto the roof of a beach bar – flowstyle is his thing. At the World Cup (yes, he’s brilliant even in strong winds!), Finies even managed to incorporate a sail throw into his heat once – but was disqualified because his board wasn’t registered...
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So, what else is going on?
- A nature reserve in the north-west of Fehmarn is set to be expanded; surfers fear for the Westermarkelsdorf and Altenteil spots and have launched a petition. Not against nature conservation, but in favour of practical solutions. We have seen similar scenarios in recent years from the Action Plan for the Protection of the Baltic Sea and the failed national park project.
- Obituary: Fred Ostermann, the inventor of the Windglider, died in early 2012 at the age of 77. surf pays tribute to the pioneer from the Saarland.
- “It looks cheap, and it is” – not a complete write-off, but the approach taken by K4 Fins, which, as we now know, has proved successful
- A modern trapeze is made up of around 70 parts – from support panels to soft padding. surf was given the chance to help put it all together at ION.
- A brief announcement has been made regarding a slalom training camp in Tenerife. The birthplace of the legendary TWAS training camp, a breeding ground for countless slalom professionals
You can browse through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
Tobias Frauen
Editor