Winter storm adventure
In October last year, a handful of fearless surfers from all over Germany "gave the monster an earful". During an extreme autumn storm, they took to the water in St. Peter-Ording, Sylt, Steinhuder Meer and Chiemsee. The North Sea is no longer navigable in some places, so the SPO crew takes refuge in Dazendorf, where there are still two metre waves ("gigantic for the Baltic Sea!"). Some of Philip Richter and Olaf Fippinger's old cars do not survive the rigours of the headwind. On the Steinhuder Meer, local Volker Cornelius' self-made three-and-a-half fits ("I didn't think the seams would hold."), and on Lake Chiemsee the island marathon is on the agenda. In the slipstream, many starters misjudged the size of the sails and were mercilessly blown away, with only 33 of 111 participants crossing the finish line in the end. "You can't imagine what a race board can do on the cross course in a good seven-strong wind," says surf regatta editor Alois Mühlegger in amazement. In keeping with this, there are tips for winter surfing from the doctor, which don't differ much from the current recommendations, except: "After a day of surfing, in a heated room, a tea with rum [...] is recommended." Cheers!
The "piggy factor" and the beginnings of CAD shaping
What on earth is the piggy factor? Surf used it to categorise how much "excess" volume there was in a board. Back then, length was still a status symbol, and manufacturers made many short boards thicker to make them more suitable for the masses. But for very light or very heavy surfers, the bestsellers of the time were not ideal and remained out of reach. Three students from Erftstadt have therefore built the first CAD shape machine. Instead of swinging a plane in a dusty shaping room and aligning it with templates, the blanks are cut to size by a computer-controlled heating wire. The three of them wrote the program themselves on the "toy computer" C64. surf ordered a "Mini Sunset" with a volume of just 90 litres as a test: The same shape as the classic, but much more suitable for lightweight surfers. The three will also be available a little later at the surf stand at boot so that visitors can calculate their dream board. Meanwhile, there is already a company in France that has the calculated shape planed out of the foam using a milling machine - not so far removed from today's high tech!
Who is afraid of the custom made?
The trend colour for surfboards in the eighties was clearly white, not least for production reasons. The fact that custom mades can also be colourful is one of the big arguments for having your board built by a small shaper instead of a big brand. However, because many manufacturers expanded their model range to include small boards at the end of the 1980s, this market is collapsing for the custom shapers. "The Bullitt really cost us money this year," admits one of Horney's founders. Instead of seven, Horney now only has three employees because "around 50 fewer slalom racers" have been built - figures that many big brands can only dream of today. The number of custom suppliers is just as astounding, and there are also many "black shapers" who build in their garage at home and can sell at a correspondingly lower price. If you dream of a customised board yourself, you should spare the shaper handmade construction drawings and absurd ideas ("17 centimetres of scoop and four centimetres of rocker"): "Don't order a board that planes earlier than the Sunset, but is also faster and more manoeuvrable. If there was such a board, it would have replaced the Sunset long ago!"
Björn Dunkerbeck: Mr 10,000 Volts
Björn Dunkerbeck became world champion for the first time in 1988, reason enough for an in-depth portrait. "What goes on inside a person who has so uncompromisingly focussed his life on surfing victories?" author Rainer Thide wants to know. Dunki, just 19 years old at the time, was already a master of mental preparation. He was under high tension before every start, "he absorbed all the tension and nervousness into his concentration", his caddy chats. If he wins, the tension is released in the form of a good mood, if he loses, then the material and tactics are scrutinised meticulously. "You can only become world champion today if you can deal with defeats quickly," says his shaper Peter Thommen, describing the secret to success. However, it is not just the mental side of things that is important, but also the equipment. Dunkerbeck has a suitable board for every sail, sometimes with radical details; if in doubt, Thommen can build him the right board for the conditions and spot on site. His flat rocker lines are just as ahead of their time as the long and narrow fins and tuttle boxes. Thanks to his F2 salary, prize money and various sponsors, Björn earns well and, at the age of 19, discovers that there are other things besides surfing: "He's even been seen in a discotheque," surf wants to know. While sister Britt is flirting with Phil McGain ("I'm glad she leaves me alone."), Björn rides his mountain bike, drives an off-road vehicle or goes surfing. And even if the world championship title is just the start of a unique record-breaking fairytale, Dunki still looks up to Robby Naish: "He will always be my idol!"
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
And what else?
- Matthias Neumann, then F2 team manager and later organiser of the World Cup Sylt, received a visit from the military police: he had not complied with a call-up order due to toothache. "It took Neumann five hours to convince screaming spits and staff doctors that he was unwell," surf recalls.
- Klepper is history, the last rescue attempt has failed. Shaper and a former employee are arguing in court about whether a small series of the 89 boards can still be produced.
- The "Specialist Association of German Surf Retailers" (there used to be such a thing!) warns against buying at the upcoming boot trade fair. Complaints could result in "subsequent costs for travelling, shipping or telephone calls".
- "What will the '89 surf season bring?" asks surf. Mistral wants to turn its back on the World Cup, F2 is going full throttle, Fanatic is focussing on quality and HiFly is proclaiming the "Year of the Rig".
- With a rig on his snowboard, windsurfing and snowboarding pro Alexander Schwab jumps clean backward loops, "not flat as in windsurfing, but radically over the top of the mast." This makes him not only the European champion in the snowsurfing combination, but also "the only survivor of this manoeuvre."
- A "tie for the well-groomed water sports enthusiast" is advertised as a newsflash. Behind it is a tie with a fish look. Yummy.
- When it comes to board shorts, skin-tight cycling shorts are all the rage - as can be seen in a shockingly impressive fashion double-page spread
- The birth of Team Germany: because the World Cup is soon to be replaced by national teams instead of manufacturer teams, Team Germany is launched. It would continue to exist in a loose form for many years to come.
- At the Funboard World Championships in Florida, the wind dies right at the opening and only picks up again during the closing ceremony. The more than 120 starters immediately jump onto the water, but the race is not scored due to various false starts.
- Björn Schrader relentlessly reports on the lives of the World Cup stars, from boredom in calm conditions, stress at the airport, sinfully expensive phone calls home and the longing for loved ones. Nevertheless: "Windsurfing is still the greatest thing in the world for me!"
More surf reviews:
- surf 4/1977
- surf 6/1977
- surf 6/1978
- surf 4/1979
- surf 9/1980
- surf 11/1980
- surf 4/1981
- surf 5/1982
- surf 6/1982
- surf 4/1983
- surf 10/1983
- surf 9/1984
- surf 12/1984
- surf 8/1985
- surf 8/1986
- surf 9/1986
- surf 2/1987
- surf 5/1987
- surf 8/1988
- surf 5/1989
- surf 7/1989
- surf 4/1990
- surf 3/1991
- surf 6/1991
- surf 3/1992
- surf 10/1992
- surf 9/1993
- surf 10/1993
- surf 4/1994
- surf 7/1995
- surf 6/1996
- surf 11-12/1996
- surf 7/1997
- surf 8/1998
- surf 9/1998
- surf 4/1999
- surf 7/2001
- surf 5/2005
- surf 3/2006
