Maui born and bred, Graham Ezzy seems an unlikely transplant to Germany, but for part of year the Hawaiian swaps Ho’okipa for Hamburg and Pacific swells for North Sea surf. Graham reflects on his Deutschland days.
I come from the land of ‘Always summer’, where you can sail in shorts all year-round, and it is not totally uncommon to see flip-flops on the feet of people at work, no matter the job. But I have left Hawaii to live half the year in Hamburg, where my partner Kathrin is from. Ham-burg is 33 degrees more north than Hawaii, which means the winter days are cold and end early. And obviously, Hamburg is not the windsurfing paradise that Hawaii is known to be.
But the summers tell a different story. In Hawaii, the sun sets on a summer day around 7 P.M., and most people are in bed shortly after “Maui-midnight” - 10 P.M. Summer on Maui is windy, but often without waves, which come to us from the winter storms that track from Japan across the northern Pacific. But up in Hamburg and in Denmark, where the nearest good wave sailing is, the summer sun sets around midnight in June. Which means that a windsurfing day can be endlessly long. When the days do finally end, they begin again at around 4 A.M. -or some other ungodly hour when I’d most definitely rather be sleeping.
RISKY
This story is from the Issue 384 - April 2019 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 384 - April 2019 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
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!
