Trend show at the ISPO
In the nineties, ISPO in Munich was traditionally the first preview of the new season. Everything of note was there, including plenty of material fresh from the mould. In 1995, F2 buried the legendary Sunset after nine years, but brought a tandem and a Polakow board to Munich. The big competitor Mistral wants to become trendier with the new managing director Flo Brunner ("We don't just realise after three years that no nose is in") and Fanatic brings new Falcons. ACE is showing a board with small side fins on the rail, HiFly has a luxury waveboard from Sean Ordonez in its programme. The big trend is convertibles - boards that can be quickly transformed from a manoeuvre board to a heater board with a different fin and a different strap setup. Robby Naish is present for the first time with his own sail brand, ART has developed a "mini-camber". Both Mistral and Fanatoc also have a range of wave riders. At NeilPryde, the first thing you notice is wave star Jason Prior instead of the rigs: he has had the round Pryde bulleye tattooed on his shoulder (which the brand is celebrating with a double-sided advert). Chiemsee is represented twice at the trade fair: In addition to the original brand, there was also a brand called "Chiemsee Sailing" , which cheekily copied the look.
"Secret spots" in Tenerife and on the Baltic Sea
Tenerife, that usually meant El Medano. But surf authors Christian Tillmanns and Andreas Erbe unveiled new spots in autumn 1995. From the tough local spot Confital (with a hail of stones to greet you) to Güimar and the wave slalom spot Alcala, new destinations are presented. However, El Medano with its centres, hotels and shops remains the focal point. Olaf Dohse, on the other hand, travelled to the Baltic Sea in search of the wave spot Dahmeshöved on the Bay of Lübeck. After a number of detours, he finally arrived at the beach he was looking for - although "beach" sounds all too euphemistic given the meagre strip of sand between the dyke and the remains of the groynes. "Entry point" is more appropriate. But it doesn't matter in view of a clean wave on the sandbank and wind from the side. In addition to the unhappy locals, numerous stones and obstacles in the water also pose a danger. "You just have to go round them," says the insider tip. What's more, Dahme and Kellenhusen are two tamer spots just a few kilometres away.
Robert Teriitehau - The mad dog
Robert Teriitehau was the superstar of windsurfing in the nineties - and an entertaining alternative to the well-planned and organised legends Dunkerbeck and Naish. The colourful dog from New Caledonia was regarded as one of the greatest talents of his time and came within a hair's breadth of the world championship title several times. His stellar career began in 1982 with his first attempts at surfing, six months later Teriitehau was Caledonian champion and in 1984 he beat Robby Naish in La Torche - in front of 100,000 frenzied spectators. Sponsorship deals, lots of money and quick fame followed. At times, Robert's picture was emblazoned on five million packets of French cornflakes. In the surf interview, the then 28-year-old is convinced that he could have become world champion if only he had trained a little more. "But why should I have gone to bed at 10 o'clock at night when the girls were still waiting for me?" Teriitehau also pushes the boundaries of what is possible on the water: In Hookipa, his 18 metre high loops caused even Dunkerbeck, Polakow and co. to shake their heads and his jumps out of the pool at the Indoor World Cup in Paris are legendary. Teriitehau would later take part in the first windsurfing race across the Atlantic - including a jump from the accompanying icebreaker! It's almost a shame that there was no Instagram and co. back then to capture all the crazy actions.
And what else?
- The big fin bible: surf shows the different materials, talks to fin developers, tests almost a dozen fins himself and provides the reader with all the basics and a chart showing which fin really suits which sail!
- Fanatic is German again: following the sale to a US group two years previously, Udo Schütz is now back in charge. The buyer had not paid the last instalment because he himself had got into difficulties.
- Chaos in the World Cup: The riders' committee around Phil McGain fires PBA boss Christian Herles, confiscates files and commissions an agency to organise the tour. A short time later, the PWA is founded, as we still know it today
- 25 years of NeilPryde: Starting out as a hobby, the passionate sailor at times tailored up to 400,000 surf sails a year. In the meantime, there was also a board division with Tiga
- On the Dümmer and Steinhuder Meer, bird conservationists criticise the disturbance caused by windsurfers. 48 observers monitored the population on 379 days, with each cormorant being startled an average of 1.38 times a day. The local surf club counters with the question of what damage a bird suffers "if it flies 500 metres from point A to point B" because of a disturbance.
- Beach surfer guide: surf test drove two models on Coche
- Alongside the brochures, Mistral is bringing out a CD-ROM with pictures, information and stories - for 39 marks! North Sails, on the other hand, has a lighter with logo in its programme for 49 marks!
- Baltic Kölln, Germany's largest surf shop at the time, advertises for franchisees. Interested parties would appear in the Baltic Kölln look, but run the shops independently. But nothing came of the chain, and a few years later Kölln went bankrupt.
- On Paros, a certain Antoine Albeau wins his first World Cup - in the absence of the big names. "My goal is to win when everyone is there, including Dunkerbeck. " Finian Maynard, who is only 20 years old, also comes into the limelight here for the first time.
- At the German Championship on Norderney, an unusual northerly wind makes for hairy conditions. The groynes were even nastier than on Sylt and claimed a lot of victims. In the end, Bernd Flessner won his home match - despite being noticeably nervous - ahead of Andy Laufer. He then let it rip, with Flessner commenting with the legendary line "I have a Norderney flag and Andy has a vodka flag".
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
More surf reviews:
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1977
- These were the highlights in surf 6/1978
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1979
- These were the highlights in surf 11/1980
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1981
- These were the highlights in surf 5/1982
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1983
- These were the highlights in surf 10/1983
- These were the highlights in surf 9/1984
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1985
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1986
- These were the highlights in surf 5/1987
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1988
- These were the highlights in surf 5/1989
- These were the highlights in surf 7/1989
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1990
- These were the highlights in surf 6/1991
- These were the highlights in surf 3/1992
- These were the highlights in surf 9/1993
- These were the highlights in surf 10/1993
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1994
- These were the highlights in surf 7/1995
- These were the highlights in surf 11-12/1996
- These were the highlights in surf 7/1997
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1998
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1999
Tobias Frauen
Editor