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Josh Stone 2005 has long been a legend; for many years, the prototype of the Hawaiian sunny boy has characterised and embodied windsurfing. The fact that things were not always so sunny for him becomes clear in the story about the Stone family: father Tom, a tough and recognised surfer on Oahu's North Shore with Polynesian roots, was still very young when Josh was born. As a member of the feared Black Shorts and thanks to the odd crooked deal, he occasionally made a guest appearance in a prison cell and his parents separated early on. But he also passed on a deep love of the sea to his sons Josh and Jason, who was born later. As a lifeguard in Kailua, he was one of the first windsurfers there along with Robby Naish and Pete Cabrinha, and later the family lived just a few houses away from Naish. "Whenever I saw him surfing, my passion became stronger and my ambition greater," says Josh. However, his father Tom was only able to follow his rise to worldwide windsurfing stardom from afar - his sons had broken off contact with their father after he beat up a homosexual on the beach. But eventually the Stones got closer again, and for this report they invited Canadian journalist Alex Jowett to a sacrificial ritual on Haleakala, where he immersed himself in the family history. Incidentally, Jowett also sacrificed himself - by racing down the slope on a kind of sledge.
Celebrity surfing with Atze Schröder
The man has hardly changed: Minipli and aviator sunglasses were the same 20 years ago when Atze Schröder was the shooting star of the comedy scene. After taking his first steps with Paula Klemt and an advanced course with surf tester Jonas Holzhausen, he bought a van and his own equipment. During the surf trip to Norderney, Atze met up with the surf editors, but stayed away from the usual skittle club hotspots: "You see a lot of ugly people there who have had far too much to drink." His idols - alongside Bernd Flessner and Josh Stone - are the surf dropouts: "I've always admired the surfers who live from hand to mouth on Lake Garda or in the south of France and have their passion. I wanted to know - what's the kick in it, how can you give up everything and just want to surf?" describes Atze. "I can understand that now!" Even though he missed out on the golden eighties, when he probably wouldn't have stood out visually or in terms of his appearance, he firmly believes in a second windsurfing boom. "And then I'll be in the loops and jumping my first moves!"
Shapes from the computer - pioneer Sebastian Wenzel
More than 15 years after the first computer shapes (see surf 1/1989), Fanatic shaper Sebastian Wenzel has established CAD technology. In his workshop in Portugal, a computer-controlled milling machine does the shaping work, while Wenzel himself sits in the clean office. The hope is to implement changes to prototypes in a much more targeted way, because "the best shaper can't match the precision of a computer-controlled milling machine." The deck of a waveboard alone consists of 55,000 coordinates, says Wenzel. To operate the programme, he had to cram "four folders with over 1000 pages" of instructions. After that, a second-hand CNC milling machine had to be adapted to the requirements - Wenzel enticed an expert with a free holiday in the Algarve to his Portuguese home of choice.
And what else?
- Josh Stone, featured in the big report at the beginning, is ending his World Cup career and is also switching from his long-time sponsor JP/NeilPryde to his mate Francisco Goya
- The end of "The Team": Gaastra kicks out sailmakers and riders, but wants to continue negotiating with the individuals
- Rub your eyes at the prices in the big wave test: even the finest cloths cost less than 500 euros, boards are available for a maximum list price of 1,400 euros!
- F2 builds boards with vents: small ventilation channels from the deck to the cutouts are supposed to improve the riding characteristics. Futur Fly is currently experimenting with a similar principle again!
- Can Cannes do more than just lay red carpets? Jean Souville and two locals show that the upmarket town on the Cote d'Azur also has some fantastic windsurfing spots to offer.
- The Mandicho Lake, the Lech Reservoir 23 near Augsburg, is presented by locals.
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