Portrait of photographer Jean Souville
Most surf readers will have come across the name Jean Souville before. The Frenchman takes gifted pictures, often with breathtaking lighting moods. He has also introduced you to many spots in his home country, from the Mediterranean coast into the Normandy. In July 2009, surf presented Jean Souville in detail in a photographer series and showed some of his best pictures to date. "He captures moments of light and landscape like no other," says author Steve Chismar, describing what characterises Souville. This also includes a love of detail and an eye for the extraordinary, such as the reflection of a windsurfer in a drop of water dripping from a rope. "I would like to photograph surfing more artistically," says the somewhat taciturn Souville in the interview. "But it's a breadless art. All that's needed is good action." He also gets them in front of his lens, mostly from the French pros with whom he spends a lot of time travelling. Even in Hawaii? "I was there once. I saw everything. There are a lot of surf photographers there, the competition wouldn't be profitable for me." Souville does not describe himself as a professional because he has no training in photography techniques and does not have good equipment. He used to work in a surf shop, but now he can still make a living from windsurfing and kitesurfing pictures. One of his highlights so far: the legendary Falklands trip on behalf of surf, with Ben Proffitt and Mariano Estevill"Every moment there is a different impression: bright light, dolphins, penguins, storms. It makes a photographer's heart smile!"
iDO: Is windsurfing being reinvented?
"Surfing with the iDo is as easy as riding a bike with training wheels!" surf cheers about a new invention that is set to revolutionise training, "you might just be watching windsurfing being invented for the second time!" Behind iDo is a new base plate system for large school boards that prevents the sail from falling into the water. A limited ball joint allows the rig to tilt in all directions, but it stops at around 30 degrees. Beginners can thus experience the full pleasure of surfing without exhausting themselves at the start of the sheet. Sounds logical, and the first impression during tests on Lake Garda is also good. At the time, inventor Dario Oliviero still had to develop his idea to the point where it was ready for series production, but not much has been heard of the system since then, even though he continues to advertise it on his website.
The Rene Egli story
Hardly any other spot is associated with a person as much as Sotavento with Rene Egli. The Swiss national laid the foundations for a windsurfing empire there in the south of Fuerteventura. For his 25th birthday, surf editor-in-chief Andreas Erbe paid Egli a visit - just as he did on his very first surf business trip. Egli started out with eight boards, which had to be carted from the cellar of a hotel to the beach and set up every day. The additions came gradually, rather by chance - the World Cup equipment store was converted into a permanent storage facility. Nevertheless, Rene Egli had already sketched out his centre in the early days exactly as it looked in 2009. He pursued this path with Swiss perseverance: "I never worked with banks," he reveals, "I preferred to start small and not get into debt." One key to his success was the World Cup, which Egli had been organising since 1984 - for many years without interruption, only during and after the coronavirus era were there years without a Fuerte event. Time and again, the organisation meant a lot of persuasion from the authorities and local media - initially because of the funding, and later to prevent the sport from disappearing behind the parties. Talking and convincing is Rene Egli's main job in 2009 - but he still tries to get out on the water every evening.
Surf trip to Estonia
Not many windsurfers are likely to have Estonia at the top of their travel list. However, the Baltic country, culturally and linguistically closer to Finland and Scandinavia than to its big neighbour Russia, stretches a large part of its coastline towards the wide-open Baltic Sea, so in theory at least, there should be plenty of windsurfing opportunities. Andy Wolff and Henning Nockel thought so too, and after spending a night in Tallinn and crossing over to the island of Hiiumaa, they soon spotted a sign saying "Surf Paradise". "I can't believe it's supposed to be the Baltic Sea in front of me," writes Henning Nockel. "The conditions are reminiscent of Klitmøller on a very good day with a south-south-westerly wind." There are no locals, but at the end of the day there are a good ten windsurfers on the water, most of them from Latvia. Worldcupper Andy Wolff is the big attraction at their spot, everyone wants to show him what they've got, even if Andy pulls back a little here and there after a few heavy washes. "It's not even the height alone that surprises us so much, it's the power in the waves that's really impressive!" There is free Wi-Fi everywhere in Estonia (2009!!!), but there is nowhere to buy food. The very friendly locals seem to live on drinks anyway, and every now and then someone shoots a moose...
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
And what else?
- A certain Philip Köster, 15 years old at the time and still with a Spanish sail number, won the wave riding in the Spanish Funboard Cup. He also took part in the freestyle "just for fun" and came third
- Mistral passes from Boards & More into the hands of Anders Bringdal. The ex-professional has big plans for the brand, but was only a stopover in its slow decline (read more: Mistral is back - what's behind it and what's to come)
- At the surf festival on Fehmarn, some of the pros go round the island. Bernd Flessner manages to set a new record despite the sail being too big in places.
- A comparison of construction methods: Does it make sense to buy the more expensive luxury board or would you prefer the same shape in a slightly heavier construction? Conclusion: The centre is often the best place to be
- Mark Angulo is more creative than ever after his rehab and shows his new move "Mutant", a kind of very high jumped goiter. Angulo was visionary when it came to the next generation: "I dedicate the Mutant to the Zane Schweitzers, the Connor Baxters, the Bernd Roedigers, the Kai Lennys and the Noah Angulos of this world!" - back then still newcomers, today some of the most stylish watermen of our time!
- "I've always been a bit of a poser," says Roberto Hoffman in a surf interview. The World Cup presenter talks about the wild days with Josh Stone or Brian Talma, but nowadays "it's a dead end, you can't get a word out of the freestylers."
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