Sail numbers, stickers and flags: How Andy Velbinger and Tramontana Grafixx design surf events and much more

You could say that the man has a lot to do with numbers in his job. But instead of soulless Excel lists, Andy Velbinger uses E 334, G 141, K 89 or E 95 - the sail numbers of the World Cup professionals. Andy prints almost everything he can get his hands on with his company Tramontana Grafixx, but the sail numbers are actually more of a hobby. Andy has a van with a printing machine and design computer right next to the equipment tent at the World Cup on Sylt, and word has long since got around among the riders that they can get sail numbers there at short notice. "When I receive a file, the stickers are ready a few hours later," says Andy. "The drivers usually have their own design ideas. If not, I'm happy to help!"

Originally, however, Andy is not almost a fixture at the Sylt World Cup because of his sailing numbers. For over ten years, he has been printing almost everything that visitors see at the World Cup with Tramontana Grafixx. From sponsor stickers to flags and advertising banners on the fences to large-scale tarpaulins for the containers and superstructures. "You can see 160 of our flags on the event site, that's around 540 square metres," Andy calculates, "plus more than 400 square metres of sail stickers." A man of numbers.

Andy goes on sticker patrol before big days

But Andy doesn't just print, he also makes sure that the stickers are in the right places. Throughout the event, he checks the sails of the pros, each of whom must have certain stickers stuck to their sails. If he catches someone, a new sticker is demonstratively stuck to the boom. "We already know our candidates, who like to be asked a second time," says Andy with a wink. He is particularly meticulous when the wind forecast promises a really good day of competition. "Sail stickers only really hold after a few hours. That's why we naturally want all riders to get their sails ready the day before if possible!"

After all, the durability of the stickers is what sets Tramontana products apart from many other suppliers. "Over ten years ago, I got a call from the organisers of the World Cup on Sylt," Andy recalls. "Back then, the stickers were coming off in rows and floating around in the sea. That was a disaster for the organisers." Andy promised to do better - and delivered material that "holds bombproof, whether it's raining, stormy or four degrees". Since then, he has produced GKA for almost every major tour stop on the PWA and Kite Tour.

From the flight plan to the printing press

"I actually come from a flying background," Andy says with a grin that reveals he has told this story many times before. He worked in aviation for two decades, planning flight routes, calculating fuel quantities and coordinating crews. "We basically made sure that the pilots knew what they had to do up there." When a friend asked in 2008 whether it was actually possible to stick stickers on kites, the idea was born. Andy started tinkering - initially on the side, then - not entirely voluntarily - but with growing passion when his airline filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and Andy was suddenly up in the air.

However, Velbinger was not alone at this point. "I was incredibly lucky," he says looking back. Numerous companies and, above all, friends supported him with advice, action and trust, including a big player like Boards & More: "They believed in the idea early on and gave me the necessary tailwind."

What started out as a part-time job soon became a full-time job - after all, he was responsible for his own small family. It was not only necessary to develop adhesive films with strong adhesion, but also removable adhesive films that could withstand the high stresses of salt water, UV radiation and sand - and still be sustainable. "For me, sustainability starts with making things last. The stickers must not come off and then float in the sea, that is the absolute basic requirement."

Design dummies for kite development

There are now six printing machines in the Tramontana Grafixx workshop in Vorarlberg, each optimised for a different material. Vinyl, fabric, special foils for wing and kite material - everything is carefully calibrated. "Every material absorbs colour differently. We don't print anything just like that. Every machine has its own profile," explains Andy. And every new material on the market - such as the extremely light and stable Hookipa fabric, which has recently been used in the wing sector - requires new printing techniques. His team is small - five people, three of whom are freelancers. "That's better for us," says Andy. "We are extremely seasonal. It's a bit quieter from October to March." But the summer months make up for that: That's when he works almost non-stop, from the Kitesurf World Cup to the events in South Africa.

But the events are more or less only the side business; Tramontana Grafixx mainly works with many manufacturers: Advertising materials such as beach flags, deckchairs or clothing are customised with logos, kites are printed with new designs to test the effect of the designs in real life - or to be able to produce advertising images before the new models are finalised. "That saves a bit of development time," says Andy. Sponsor logos are also printed on kites and sails for numerous professionals. The corresponding files are always ready so that production can start straight away.

Special orders from Russian millionaires and Team USA

Away from the mainstream, sometimes bizarre orders come in: a Russian millionaire wanted kites for his daughter - in purple and with unicorns. "It was technically challenging, but we made it possible. It looked really good in the end." Or an order for a well-known fashion company from Munich that requested all-black kites with a golden logo for a commercial. "I said straight away: that's not something you should really go kitesurfing in. But it looked spectacular for the advert."

Andy delivered one of his most spectacular jobs in the run-up to the 2024 Olympic Games: "Team USA messaged me via WhatsApp on a Sunday evening asking how quickly we could print the prescribed country abbreviation on 16 kites," he explains. "The Olympic team sent a courier that same evening, who arrived with all the kites on Monday morning and we finalised them over the course of the day. In the evening, he collected them from us again and travelled back to Marseille!"

"We think along with you!"

Whether it's USA lettering or large-format posters and flags: Andy and Tramontana Grafixx play a major role in how events are perceived by spectators. Always with great attention to detail: Andy personally checks whether logos are positioned correctly and whether sponsor areas look good. "We simply think along with you," he says. "If I see that a logo is poorly positioned or covered by something, I point out that it might look better in a different way." As soon as the set-up is complete, most of his work is done: "When I see that everything is in place at the World Cup, everything holds up and the riders are happy - then I know what I'm doing it for," says Andy. "That's my moment." And then he devotes himself to the sailing numbers...

Under tramontanagrafixx.com you can get in touch with Andy and his team!