Dropouts on Fuerte
Jürgen Hönscheid did it back at the end of the 1980s, followed by many wave-hungry dropouts: a significant scene of mainland Europeans has formed on Fuerteventura, who came to surf on the barren Canary Island and then simply stayed. There's Küssi, alias Markus, who has set up a bike hire business and a shop: "I was fed up with pissed-off summers and stressed-out guys," he says about his emigration plan. "I've never regretted my decision!" There is also Wasi, who lives in an old villa on the beach in Corralejo, where he paints, makes art from mannequins and earns his living as a DJ. Among others, "Corky" Corkham, who runs the trendy pub of the same name, and Danny Seales, who has sadly passed away in the meantime, came from England. They are trying to help shape the emerging tourism in the north of the island and build a livelihood for themselves - as sailmakers, with a shop or in other ways. Because Fuerte belongs to Spain and therefore to the former EC, the paperwork for foreigners is relatively simple: "At least you don't have to marry a Spanish woman to get your business licence these days!" says Corky happily. Nobody knew the word Brexit back then...
AHD: Blue boards with Swiss precision
"The Swiss mentality - precise, motivated, orderly - is a perfect prerequisite for the quality of the end product," said the marketing man from AHD during the surf visit to the factory. The Swiss company with the light blue boards has built up a reputation on the windsurfing market in recent years and produces at home on Lake Geneva instead of in the Far East. "In Thailand, you only have a tenth of the labour costs, but ten times the amount of work plus transport costs," he calculates. Nevertheless, there are rumours in the industry about Moroccan illegal workers. AHD has its origins in Australia, the first models were built as semi-customs in the USA on the Gorge. AHD boss Christophe Piaget (from the watchmaking dynasty) bought the rights and launched the company on the European market in 1991. The first sandwich boards in trendy white and the first series board world championship title with Svein Rasmussen ensured a brilliant start. Later, the second brand ACE was also established. AHD is regarded as an innovative brand, "there are only three months between the prototype and the start of series production". Piaget dreams of taking part in the 2004 Olympics with its early gliders. As is well known, this did not materialise, but AHD lives on to this day, currently in French hands.
Namotu Fiji Wave Classic - The best wave contest of all time
"The best wave contest in the history of windsurfing!" said Josh Stone at the end of the Namotu Fiji Wave Classic. The PWA wanted to showcase the sport in the best possible conditions and brought 38 male and 10 female riders to the tiny island of Namotu. "Other people pay thousands of dollars to go on holiday to Fiji. We pay thousands of dollars to work here," joked Ralf Bachschuster, who reported for surf. The pros got "waveriding conditions that even worldcuppers might only get once in a lifetime." The wave rides were spectacular, the wash runs brutal. While Robby Naish jumps 30-metre aerials, Anders Bringdal and Scott Fenton destroy three rigs in a single heat. In the end, Robby Naish wins: "We've been waiting a long time for a competition like this. Finally we were able to show what we can do in really good conditions!" The fact that Namotu is firmly anchored in the minds of countless windsurfing fans around the world is also due to the video that sponsor O'Neill released after the contest. The VHS tape was more in the VCR than in the case of the author of these lines, and the film can still be seen on YouTube today:
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
And what else?
- Advertising gems: Laird Hamilton for Oxbow, the legendary Reef adverts (only because of the shoes, of course!), Francisco Goya for Chiemsee... this look shaped the then young author of these lines
- The big Indoor World Cup is due to take place in Berlin at the end of October, and surf readers can apply for a place in the public race
- Turtle Schulze was the first German participant to take part in the legendary "Trilogy" in Morocco. The concept: no prize money, but mega conditions at top spots. "In 30-minute heats and in logo-high waves, the action was awesome over the course of two weeks," reports Turtle. "Ordonez did manoeuvres in the wave that I've never seen before!" The PWA, who were organising the World Cup on Namotu (see above) at the same time and had to do without some big names, were less enthusiastic...
- A new world record was set on Lake Garda on a board specially built by the VDWS: 19 surfers with a rig on one board
- In the flow channel at the University of Bremen, two engineers were commissioned by surf to research the effects of damage to the fin on riding performance. The results in the laboratory and in practice: fewer spin outs than feared, but a clearly noticeable braking effect in the event of a frayed tip or damage to the leading edge.
- Josh Stone shows the Willy Skipper, one of the dream manoeuvres of the early freestyle era. The most important tip: "Don't break your ankle!"
- HiFly promises that you can learn to windsurf on the new Revo in just one hour. The PE buzzer anticipates what the Starboard Go will later pick up on: short, wide, thick.
- A small announcement heralds the launch of a brand that everyone knows today: JP-Australia starts as a side project of F2 with three wave boards and two freeride boards - in the trendy yellow colour of the time, of course.
- "Can a spot in the Netherlands really be empty and still be good?" asks author Christian Tillmanns and after a visit to Egmond, Bergen and Castricum he is certain: Yes, it is possible here!
- There was no winner at the King of the Lake due to a lack of wind, but there was plenty of up-close action in the heats from Dunkerbeck, Ian Boyd, Mathias Holmberg, Josh Stone, Robby Seeger and co. "Events like this with power music give the sport a shot in the arm," enthused Ian Boy, somewhat strangely.
- At the Funboard-DM on Sylt, the Shorebreak provides a lot of natural selection, in the end Bernd Flessner wins in all disciplines as befits his status
You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!
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Tobias Frauen
Editor