Review: The highlights from surf 7/1989

Tobias Frauen

· 11.11.2023

52 Images

Photo: surf Archiv

On the cover of the July 1989 issue: Fabien Pendle freesurfing, photographed by Bernard Biancotto

You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!

Revier-Entdecker: The allure of the new

"Searching for spots is the new sport of the cracks", writes author Susanne Scheuer in a report about windsurfers who meticulously search maps for possible spots and thermal systems. Whether it's Norway or Turkey: if you look, you'll find it - at least back then, before Google Maps and the like. Only the "insider tip" Cape Verde was already on the radar of several adventurers. surf gives tips on successful map reading and asks professional meteorologists in a small experiment: without windsurfing knowledge and wind statistics ("otherwise only close to the water when showering and swimming"), they are asked to show the windiest spots on a map - and are promptly right. There's also a bit of theory: how and where do thermals develop, where are there natural jet effects, where does it blow offshore down a mountainside?

Test F2 Comet Slalom

surf F2, who claim to have created a new board class with the brand new Comet Slalom, have the "courage to fill a gap in the market". 315 cm long, 151 litres of volume, too sporty for an all-round board, too big for a slalom board, and with a daggerboard to boot - the Comet doesn't fit into any of the usual drawers. After a detailed report on the development in the previous issue, the first ride report follows in the July issue: "The manoeuvrability is to be praised for a board of this length. The new F2 cannot be compared with the liveliness of shorter boards," is the conclusion after the first test runs. The F2 Comet creates a gap in the market that still has a lot of potential, for example as a family board or for occasional surfers in light wind spots.

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Photo: Tobi FrauenThe old board from your youth

A short nostalgic anecdote: A later edition of the F2 Comet 315 (the bright green one from 1992) was the first board owned by the author of these lines. Purchased second-hand in the mid-nineties, the board has not only survived various surfing milestones from the first planing over power jibes and first jumps, but also a lot of tinkering. More nose surgeries than Michael Jackson, laminated and foamed centreboard box, failed non skid paint repairs and much more. In the end, the deck was so soft that even the non-existent footpads were no longer noticeable.

And what else?

Demonstrations in Berlin in 1989. In the east, as is well known, for more freedom; west of the Wall, windsurfers take to the streets against spot closures and the removal of campsites.
On the way to the World Cup in Curacao, the plane carrying professionals Robert Teriitehau and David Ross is hijacked. The plane hijackers want to go to Lebanon, but the pilot nevertheless lands on Curacao, where a replacement crew travelling with them overpowers the hijackers
World champion Björn Dunkerbeck introduces surf readers to foot changes and weight distribution in the power jibe series
A psycho-test, created by a pedagogue and a personality psychologist, is designed to help readers find out which windsurfer species they belong to - speed type, all-round type or manoeuvre type.
What do the pros eat? Lots of fruit and rather small meals, the surf authors found out. Just right, say the nutritionists.
How do windsurfers find the right partner(s)? surf accompanied some singles in their search for a partner via the personal adverts in the magazine - sometimes with more, sometimes with less success.
The funboard special in the centre of the magazine contains tips on water starts, spot anecdotes and equipment tips
Germany's favourite sunny island, the "Fuerte des Nordens", once again in the spotlight: in the Fehmarn Spot Guide, Rainer Thide shows an alternative for the elderly, otherwise the spots are far from being insider tips. Thide reports on 80,000 surfers who flocked to the island at Whitsun and mercilessly parked up everything.
How much does a surfing holiday cost? Readers and reporters wrote down what they had to spend on their trips to the most important European spots. The somewhat surprising price winner: the Danish North Sea at around 40 E per day. At the other end: a holiday at Lake Neusiedl costs 80 euros per day.
According to the report, 15,000 spectators attended the Funboard Cup in Heidkate as spectators on the dyke. They included big names such as Jutta Müller, Knut Budig and Axel Ohm.
Ralf Bachschuster shares his thoughts: The best German World Cup pro writes about success ("When I ride badly, I throw a tantrum. It takes me months to get over it.") women ("We in the World Cup are all starting to have a dysfunctional relationship with women. Hardly anyone has a girlfriend.") or fashion ("I hate walking around like a surfing clown. I would never ride in sail or board colours that I don't like.").

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