Mario, you've won numerous German and European kitesurfing championship titles. How did you decide to leave your comfort zone and try something completely new with wingsurfing?
I'm very good friends with Henning Nockel, he and Klaas(Voget, the ed.) were the pioneers here on the Kiel Fjord. I thought it looked like fun and grabbed Henning's equipment in summer 2019 and gave it a go. However, the first session was pretty mediocre. The board only had 50 litres and I was actually just drifting around the whole time. During my second session, I somehow got into riding, which immediately got me hooked. I realised pretty quickly what advantages wingsurfing could have.
What fascinated you so much about Wingen?
Above all, you could have a lot of fun again in small swells. This suddenly made the Baltic Sea spots on my doorstep interesting again. Jumping and freestyle also have their appeal, but of course I can still fly better with a kite, as well as making a radical, aggressive turn in steep waves. But transforming sloppy waves into lots of fun is simply best done with wingsurfing equipment.
You were involved in the development of kite equipment for many years and then founded your own brand, "Kold Shapes". What was the reason for you to do something of your own back then?
I was involved in material development at Carved, Duotone and Gaastra for many years. That was good for gaining experience. The idea of doing something of my own and, above all, something different came after we made a documentary about environmental pollution in 2017. It was clear to me: there has to be another way!
You're talking about the documentary "Plastic in every wave" that you made with NDR?
Exactly. The idea for this came about during a trip to Iceland. Everything was so perfect there - we filmed in great scenery, in crystal clear water and on clean beaches. From my many contest trips, however, I knew that the reality was unfortunately different in many places. So we got down to business and travelled to Indonesia with a team from NDR to show the reality. The extent of the pollution was quite shocking at times. But the documentary was a great success and has since been shown on many public broadcasters. It has also been shown in numerous schools. That's good, because the problem needs to get into people's heads.
Not everything always has to grow, grow, grow. What happens when the hype ends?
What influence did this experience have on your brand Kold Shapes?
I realised that as a professional rider, you are usually not in a position to position yourself as an environmental angel! When I used to get my stuff delivered, the yellow bin was bursting at the seams because of all the plastic packaging. And all the travelling was certainly anything but environmentally friendly. My plan: when I start my own label, I want to move away from Asian production, away from plastic packaging and simply try to make it as sustainable as possible. Kold Shapes should be exactly that.
What are you actually doing to improve the eco-balance of your products?
The boards are produced in Europe, the workers earn a decent wage and the transport routes are correspondingly shorter. For example, we use bio-resins and materials such as flax and wood for the kiteboards and recycled carbon for the wings of the foils. Due to the size of wingboards, this cannot yet be implemented 1:1, but we are trying to improve it step by step and pack everything without plastic. In general, our principle is to build the boards so that they last a long time and can be easily repaired if the worst comes to the worst. For example, we use a special core that cannot absorb water. Last but not least, the amount of CO2 generated during the transport and manufacture of each Kold product is offset. This means that a portion of the purchase price is channelled into projects that carry out certified reforestation, thereby binding the released CO2 again.
Where will the journey with Kold Shapes take us? There is currently a gold-rush atmosphere in the industry.
Actually, it doesn't always have to grow, grow, grow. I'm happy with the current situation. We have a great dealer network that advises customers very well and does a lot of the work for us, but I can still take care of everything myself, advise people and design products. If you go crazy now and at some point have a few people working for you and then, maybe in two years' time, the hype cools down again, what then?
With the "Nørdland" model, you have a wingboard in your range in sizes from 70 to 110 litres. What is the philosophy behind this board?
The board should be uncomplicated to ride, the bottom curve is consistently flat and therefore optimised for easy starts. Bevelled edges, so-called "bevels", ensure that you can get back on top immediately if you drop off unintentionally and we use a fairly long box so that the board harmonises with all foils on the market. Overall, the Nørdland is relatively compact so that it looks nice and small when jumping and also works in the waves, but the bottom line is that it should work for a large target group, i.e. also for freeriding from the second hour on the foil.
Thank you Mario for the interview!
You can find more information about Kold Shapes HERE . We will also be trying out the products from Kold Shapes in the near future and will then present them to you again on the website and on our YouTube channel before
If you would like to watch the documentary "Plastic in every wave - surfing in the ocean rubbish dump" again, you can find it here:
Manuel Vogel
Editor surf
