CATEGORIES

Bob Fisher OPINION

Once we get past this peculiar time, our sport should brace for an influx of newcomers - as sailors we must be ready to welcome them on board

A BRIGHT FUTURE

The final RYA Dinghy Show to be hosted at Alexandra Palace was a resounding success. We pick some of the highlights

Ace Your Club Race

Quirky courses and mixed fleets - Mark Rushall talks tactics and sorts strategy for club race situations

2020 VISION

We asked leading figures in the windsurf industry to give their thoughts on the next decade, covering everything from cost, competition, accessibility and most importantly, their vision for the next 10 years. Candid, controversial and unplugged – here are their informed opinions about our sport’s future!

BIG WAVE HUNTING

Galicia’s wild Atlantic shores proved the perfect hunting ground for Thomas Traversa, Julien Taboulet and photographer Pierre Bouras as they chased a winter storm to some remote big wave spots. The fearless French crew recount their mission.

CHASING FREEDOM

Whilst daily life is changing by the minute, the kit for the latest test managed to arrive in time for the test team to get out on the water before the lockdown. On the menu this month is no-cam freeride contenders … and here is the test team’s findings.

FREEZE FRAMES

Balz Müller is known for taking foiling to new levels; here he tells us of his latest escapade in the Swiss Alps - foiling high altitude waters in freezing low temperatures!

PHILIPPE BRU

Philippe Bru is the man who has put long distance windsurf racing on the map and most certainly has a vision for our sport, he gives us an insight into his life and his legendary DéfiWind events.

IN SEARCH OF SILVER LININGS

Harty tells a horrendous tale with comic overtones that he hopes may inspire us to cope better with the current situation.

LATEST AND GREATEST

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Marcilio Browne

Touted by many as the best wave sailor at Ho’okipa, Marcilio ‘Brawzinho’ Browne narrowly missed out on his second wave sailing title when events did not go his way at the 2019 Aloha Classic. But with a new baby in his life and an epic winter season to look forward to, Brawzinho didn’t waste time dwelling on the past and rode his way into the new decade with some of most insane airs and hits ever witnessed at Jaws. With a car rental business also keeping him busy, as well as wave sailing clinics with his Goya teammate Levi Siver, John Carter sat down with the 30-year-old Brazilian to hear how he is living his best life!

TACK … EVERY TIME.

It’s simple enough on day one and painfully elusive as you take it onto smaller boards and into pressurised situations. Here in the first part of a two-part examination, Harty reveals the right methods to nailing your tacks.

THE IQFOIL STORY

In November 2019 the World Sailing Council approved the iQFoil as the equipment for windsurfing events at the 2024 Olympic games in France, replacing the RS:X, which was the chosen Olympic equipment since Beijing in 2008. It was a massive coup for Starboard and Severne and the result of years of hard work, innovation and dedication from the team behind the scenes. John Carter caught up with some of the key players to learn more about the process of winning the bid and designing the gear, and we also learn about how you can get a hold of the kit in the UK and get racing on it!

VISION

‘Where there is no vision, there is no hope.’

Turning Points

With spring in the air and the start of a new decade, thoughts naturally turn to what we can do differently in the name of betterment. Finn Mullen reflects on some changes to consider when looking to improve your SUP surfing.

THE CLOSE OUT- TREV'S GREAT BIRTHDAY ADVENTURE

I have had my fair share of great birthdays, usually coinciding with a national holiday in a country that I’m visiting. But this one was a bit different.

Paddle Science #18 - The Body Fortress. Boosting Immunity

At this time of year, the rate of infection for colds and flu normally tends to slow down as we enter warmer, springtime months. However, if you’ve been anywhere at all in the world recently, then there’s one word you can’t escape at the moment: Coronavirus. Infection rates, mortality rates and prognostic data are changing daily at the moment. As a new virus none of us have previously been exposed to it, meaning that currently, we have no immunity to it. It’s only through being infected by a virus that our bodies are able to make the right antibodies to not only enable us to recover but to also help protect us from any recurrent and future infection from it. If you’re keen to stay well and keep getting out on your SUP board this spring, then focussing on boosting your immune system is a positive step to take.

Ceylon Stories

Like a teardrop on the tip of the Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka is a little tropical El Dorado of beautiful landscapes, rich cultural heritage and people with incomparable kindness. Thanks to its favorable exposure to the swells of the Indian Ocean, the has a large number of good waves along its incredible southwest coast where French pro Alexis Deniel and his partner Melanie had an unforgettable experience this winter. Discover their colorful journey through this dream destination sharing its jewels after decades of civil war and the tragedy of the 2004 tsunami.

Polar Bear

In 2019, the Polar Bear showed the world his teeth. After a fourth place in the toughest SUP race in the world, the Red Bull Heavy Water, the now 19-year old Christian Anderson became World Champion in November in the Technical Race at the ISA World Championships in El Salvador. He also won the U-18 title on the Euro Tour with an 11th place overall. What’s behind the young Dane's rise to power?

SHADENFREUDE

TEST REPORTS

Desire Lines

We were on the outskirts of Helsinki, scouting a new destination for our sup camps. Just 45 minutes’ drive from the city, the untouched nature of the Nuuksio National Park stretched out before us. Mirror-smooth lakes, wild herbs and an impressive fauna waiting to be explored over on board or on foot via the many desire lines made by the land mammals.

Magical. Mystical. Epic.

Alexandra is a club ambassador and SUP racer for Bray Lake; relatively new to the SUP scene she completed her first race season in 2019. She participated in her first international event, the Gla Gla, 2020, and placed 1st Brit, 8th lady and 81st overall, out of a mass start of 637 paddlers. Here she shares the highlights of her first Gla Gla experience.

Green Medicine

As a keen outdoorsman and busy GP, Paul Sampson has come pretty close to attaining the mercurial work-balance. When not busy with his patients, he can be found hiking, climbing, paddle boarding, wild swimming… anything that gets him outside soaking up the great outdoors and reconnecting with nature in the beautiful South of Cornwall.

Depth Charge

Many of us have are staying away from the beach for a while, some are confined to our homes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still train for the surf. If you try the following for just one week you’ll see results, never mind three months…

Cold Gold

For many UK paddle surfers, the end of November signals the final days of their season; it’s just too cold, there’s literally not enough hours in the day, the storms and swell size are beyond reasonable abilities or there’s simply not the desire to travel to find somewhere less daunting than the closed-out local beach break.

Bliue Thunder - Backside turns.

In an ideal world, all waves would peel right for hundreds of meters towards the beach where a nice strong rip would take you back to the lineup. However in the world we live in they don’t and most beach breaks provide entertainment in the form of lefts, rights and straight-handers dumping on the beach.

A Quiet Union

Once, it was the perennial question: where do you go for warm, quiet waves and a cool beer afterwards without locals regarding you as a walking ATM? We don’t even ask anymore, we accept that anywhere that fits the criteria had its day in the distant past. However, eight years ago Jeremie Tronet created a practical answer to this question and developed his own corner of paradise – the JT Pro Centre – on the south shore of a delightful speck of sand, coral and palm trees sitting in the Caribbean Sea…

New sensation

The Excess 15 is a yacht hoping to bring some of the fun back into multihull sailing. Sam Jefferson discovers whether the new boat strikes the right balance between fun and function

Striking the perfect balance

Nautitech has prided itself on offering a great blend of comfort and performance, and its new N46 Open looks to keep up the good work, as Sam Jefferson discovers

Marque of respect

Mike Taylor talks to Kit and Jess Rogers of Jeremy Rogers Ltd about Contessa Yachts and the enviable but delicate task of managing a reputation