WS – How did you get into windsurfing and where did you learn to sail?
JS - Windsurfing came into my life when my Dad’s friend got a hold of a second-hand windsurfer and tried it on a lake. We went with the whole family so my Dad could have a go. The gear was prehistoric, but my Dad got hooked there and then. After him, my brother tried and that was the turning point! Even though I was scared and not really keen, I always had to do everything my older brother did to prove I could also, even if I’m a girl and smaller. I guess here you have an answer to where my motivation comes from! I was 7 and managed to go along a bit. It wasn’t until I was 12 that another opportunity to try came up. I semi-planed for the first time and was hooked for life. From then onwards all my notebooks were covered in windsurfing drawings and my walls in windsurfing. Every summer I would go to the Polish seaside to try and get as much water time as possible. I used to camp in a tent at Puck Bay on the Hel Peninsula. Yes, I learned to windsurf in Hel haha. When I got better I did my windsurfing instructor course and worked there every summer. At some point, probably because I watched “About Time” too many times, I decided to drag the gear through the forest to the open season the other of the peninsula to try windsurfing in the waves of the Baltic Sea. I was on my own and terrified, even though the waves were not even head high. I absolutely loved the feeling of being in the waves and from that moment on the obsession has never stopped.
WS – Tell us about your move from Poland to Western Australia?
JS - Since I was a little girl I dreamed of being able to windsurf on a regular basis and not just once a year. Even the Baltic sea was out of reach for me, as I lived 500 km away and didn’t own a car growing up.
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New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
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Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
