Long before Lennart Neubauer his skate park made of jumps (if you don't remember, the project is presented here), Sigi Pertramer was a pioneer in 1985. The tinkerer from Feldmoching built a jump weighing almost half a tonne for his local lake because he didn't want to miss out on jumping at home. A surf author describes the jump experience: "With a short stroke, the fin threads into the guide groove. [...] The board accelerates tremendously on the constance jump because the water resistance is now suddenly absent. Long, happy seconds follow, then gravity grabs hold of you." Petramer even took his jump to Fehmarn for the surf test weeks, where a tandem jumped over the ramp alongside dozens of other surfers.
Testing on Fehmarn, doesn't that ring a bell? That's right, the surf test week on the south beach was held for the fifth time in 1985, making it a forerunner of today's Surf festivals. The ingredients haven't changed much: 26 manufacturers, almost 500 test boards, seminars on riding technique and trim, lots of stars and a party in the evening - it was the same in 1985 as it is today. Where the beach camp is today, there was still a circus tent back then - in which "professional entertainer Vossi-Bär" heated things up with "hot music".
The big rig comparison
"To batten or not to batten - that is the big question this season". Because "ground-breaking profiled sails" came onto the market last year and "surf set off an avalanche of development", over 40 sails were tested against each other in a mega test. In the August issue there was a general overview as an introduction, the individual test groups were to follow in later issues. One of the findings: "Profiled sails are more difficult to ride for less experienced surfers". This is because sails without battens signal to the rider with a fluttering "counter-belly" that the rig is not yet properly adjusted. With better surfers and strong winds, however, batten sails have advantages because the "counter-belly" no longer occurs and slows you down. The foot batten is particularly important for the surf testers, as it can minimise air turbulence when cleverly positioned.
"Suitability for women" put to the test
Attention, chauvinist alert! "Well then, there's probably a few of them that still bang really hard even in six-force winds, but there are so few of them. And they shouldn't do that! They should stay ashore and bake a nice cake! - Besides, who else is going to look after all the equipment on land?" said Manfred Charchulla when asked why fewer women than men continue surfing after their first course. Fortunately, that's something you wouldn't even think today, let alone say and even less print - and was already borderline in 1985.
surf sent three ladies off (to Fehmarn of all places, where the Charchullas also live) to test the new "Lady Fun" board from Cobra and compare it with other equipment. In addition to the riding characteristics, the focus was also on the handling: Can the board also be lifted from the car roof by a woman? How much force is needed for the mast track, boom and trim? The conclusion: With just one exception (a stubborn back end of the boom had to be separated from the spars with a hammer), the three female testers coped wonderfully on their own and were also able to ride and adjust smaller boards. Conclusion: "There is no special equipment for men and women. There is only good or bad equipment!"
Otto, Röhrl and Charles: celebrity windsurfers in the surf
In 1985, surf delivered a major beginners' series to attract new people to the sport. After health and fitness topics, the August issue now focuses on "social aspects". Particularly nice: prominent windsurfers report on why they surf. "I prefer wind trousers to pants," says Otto Waalkes, while writer Martin Walser can switch off while surfing: "Windsurfing gives me a physical balance after my desk job." Show host Michael Schanze even came sixth at the World Championships in the Bahamas, and singer Wolfgang Ambros gets a kick out of it: "For me, surfing gives me a similarly wild feeling as when I'm totally exhausted on stage." Walter Röhrl, the eternal rally legend, even gets a "speed rush on the board like on the piste at 190 km/h." Only Charles, then still a prince and "future king", apparently did not respond to the surf enquiry.
Craig, the crack
Craig Maisonville was a big star in the 80s: he looked good, shaped outstanding boards for hi-tech and had an unmistakable trademark with his white gloves. surf author Wolfgang Bernhard visited the shaper on Maui. Back then, there was a saying that Maisonville was the only surfer the wave was afraid of. He doesn't find that funny himself, but back then it was his incredibly powerful style that was famous - "The guy shoots down [the wave] at full speed, flips his board up vertically - leaving not a single fin in the water - and pulls his edge into the smooth front so that the lower half of the wave's face flies off as a fountain."
On land, Maisonville is more relaxed and shuttles between the shaperoom in the cannery (still the epicentre of material development today), hi-tech shop and Hookipa line-up. "His dwelling, which can be labelled a hut with a clear conscience and simply referred to as a discarded shack, is a sensation in itself!" writes the surf author. When asked about the secret of his rapid ascent, Craig Maisonville says: "80 per cent of success is always and everywhere based on one and the same thing - self-confidence. [...] You need absolute conviction, the realisation that you're going to make it - in training on the water as well as in business. Without that one-hundred per cent conviction, you'll eventually stop on your way, even though you could actually go much further!" His own path later led Maisonville to faith. In the early nineties, he is said to have been active as a preacher on Maui and turned his back on windsurfing - taking his place in the Windsurfing Hall of Fame but he has more than earned it!
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
And what else?
- The Federal Ministry of Transport denies rumours about a "surfer's licence". There was no increase in accidents in the previous year, so there is no reason for a "certificate of competence", it says.
- Flextails are the trend: flexible tails are designed to fit perfectly - surf presents some approaches. There are various ideas, from spring-loaded plates to extremely thin tail sections with a springy laminate. surf advises you to start your own tests with "old junk cucumbers" first.
- In the light wind series Karsten Kemmer shows preliminary exercises for duck jibe and pirouette on land.
- Pearls from the advert: sports giant Adidas is promoting a special surf shoe, the "Windsurfing Super". 600 "mini suction cups" are supposed to provide grip on the board, while the high shaft creates an "almost seamless" transition to the wetsuit. Visually, the footwear is more reminiscent of boxing or hiking shoes.
- Let's stay with the feet: In a small news item, surf reports on the first footpads, invented by boom pad developer Bob Beadle. These are also designed to suck in the feet through a kind of "mini-vacuum" and also keep them warm.
- A big topic even back then: camping and windsurfing. Author Joachim Rubel reports on his own attempt to go on holiday on Lake Garda in a motorhome ("Plush on the inside and clumsy on the outside, they [...] swayed in the bend with their surf shop on the roof - a sinker for prestige visible at the very top") and gives tips on renting, buying, costs and upgrading.
- Dispute over hollow boards at the Funboard Cup: Axel Ohm and Heiko Hoffmann are initially removed from the ranking because they are riding hollow raceboards, of which allegedly less than 500 were produced (the boundary between series boards and prototypes). On the last day of the regatta, HiFly proves by telex that 628 boards were delivered, Ohm and Hoffmann move back into the rankings and Ohm wins. The Association of German Regatta Surfers then cancels the distinction between prototypes and series.
More surf reviews:
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1979
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1981
- These were the highlights in surf 5/1982
- These were the highlights in surf 9/1984
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1986
- These were the highlights in surf 8/1988
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1990
- These were the highlights in surf 3/1992
- These were the highlights in surf 6/1991
- These were the highlights in surf 4/1994
- These were the highlights in surf 11-12/1996
- These were the highlights in surf 7/1997
