Review: These were the highlights in surf 4/1983

Tobias Frauen

· 14.10.2023

76 Images

Also on the surf cover in April 1983: "Funboard fun with Pete Cabrinha", photographed by Guy Motil

We go back into the archives and take a look at old issues! Here we show you the best finds, remarkable test results, bizarre anecdotes and much more! This time we're going back to 1983!

Jenna de Rosnay - Nobility obliges

She will be omnipresent in surf for years to come. In April 1983, surf dedicates its first major story to Jenna de Rosnay. The beauty, who was just 20 years old at the time, developed into a speed queen in a very short space of time and was also a model in front of the camera - or vice versa? In any case, the daughter of the former editor of "Surfer" magazine was a talented surfer "who looked down on the clumsy sailboarders with a tired smile" until she met Arnaud de Rosnay." It wasn't until she spent "a few weeks" in Polynesia with the 17-year-old baron from Brittany that the windsurfing spark was ignited in Jenna. In 1981, she came to Weymouth as a photographer for Speedweek, and a year later she took part and set a new record straight away, although this was not recognised due to measurement errors. The de Rosnay couple brought a lot of glamour to the windsurfing world - until Arnaud disappeared without a trace around a year and a half later.

Windsurfing in the GDR

surf author Dieter Fabritius travels behind the Iron Curtain and reports on the windsurfing scene in the GDR. While official party organs were writing "Board sailing is a sport that could only develop through capitalist greed!", a lively DIY scene was developing in garages and backyards. Instructions from Poland were published in the youth magazine Praktika, and several TenCate boards and wind gliders were built countless times. VEB Waggonbau Ammendorf was finally allowed to officially build "Delta" boards, whose mediocre riding characteristics were optimised many times over. High-jump rods became masts, engine mounts became a kind of power joint, "still the number one item of exchange for every DIY board builder". However, the waiting time for such a board was up to five years, and the black and second-hand market flourished. However, windsurfing was more of a hobby for employees or the self-employed than for the ubiquitous workers and farmers. "That's because higher up, the colourful crowd that had recently taken to the lakes was eyed with suspicion - from the yacht rails." Anyone who wanted to take part in regattas had to join a company sports group, but this also gave them some freedom. Windsurfing also became more and more popular as part of the relaxation policy of the 1980s, although the open Baltic Sea was still taboo in 1983.

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The birth of the World Cup

In February 1983, the LTU Cup on Fuerteventura was the first World Cup in windsurfing history. Although the event is not really exciting due to a lack of wind - the official wind limit is still 15 knots - there is a great sense of optimism. A lot of space is devoted to explaining the regulations: Manufacturers pay into a pool and nominate riders and officials, there are course races, slalom, wave riding and an overall classification. In addition to the World Cup, there are also the Funboard Cups in categories A (Europe) and B (National), in which riders with equipment other than that of the ten pool manufacturers are also allowed to compete. At the end of the season, the best and worst 20 riders are relegated and promoted respectively. This structure later gave rise to the PBA and, following its insolvency, today's PWA.

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Wuffi Neudert, film and party legend

In the early eighties, he was the "court jester of the Mistral family" and extremely well known in the surf scene: Walter "Wuffi" Neudert from Lake Starnberg, who ran a delicatessen shop and was "notorious for his drinking and punch resistance". He gives Robby Naish a Tyrolean hat, slaps a dodgy tour operator on the open stage and takes part in dubious "mast length tests". The local shop is buzzing, but the onslaught of sailors and surfers leaves Wuff little time to get out on the water himself. So he leases out the boat and heads to Elba "to philosophise" with ten crates of beer. After three crates he knows: I don't want children yet, after seven crates his own surf school is out of the question and after the last bottle, Wuffi decides to make surf films. With success: in 1983 he had already exposed 15 kilometres of film and shot many advertising films for major brands. And he was still at the forefront at the parties.

You can click through the entire magazine in the gallery above!

And what else?

surf heaves 1.2 tonnes of test material to Gran Canaria for the big test - 25 boards, 48 rigs and various bits and pieces. On the way back, Spanish customs officials want to refuse the export and are difficult to dissuade
surf has developed a measuring device for mast hardness and distributed it to surf shops. Now if only the sail manufacturers would specify what hardness the respective sails need...
Police boards and sails are to be purchased for all guards in the vicinity of surfing areas in order to check the driving licence requirement still in force at the time. There are also to be special surfing courses for chases, starting on 1 April 1983 - which of course exposes the story as an April Fool's joke.
There was much discussion in the readers' letters: Is surf allowed to inspire readers' dreams with pictures of jumps and hurricane sessions - or does it tempt them into reckless and irresponsible actions?
Advertising pearls, part 1: F2 advertises Lightning and Stratos with a wildly designed and very text-heavy double-page spread. "It's common among surfers to read test results from surf magazines before buying a funboard. Sometimes recommendations from dealers and friends are decisive. We at F2, on the other hand, advise you to pay particular attention to the results of funboard cups, and here's why..." This is followed by a series of similarly soporific arguments that would drive any copywriter to despair.
Pearls of advertising, part 2: The "Birdy-Rigg", a three-bladed sail construction, is designed to generate lift and propulsion at the same time and can be ordered from the inventor. "If you're a sporty, ambitious surfer who wants to keep up with the top with a conventional rig, you'll have a hard time in the future."
Continuation novel: surf prints the seventh chapter of "Black Christ", a slightly outrageous adventure novel about a windsurfing playboy on a treasure hunt. Included: Jim Drake, who uses a computer to build the hero optimised material for a race.
Comprehensive test: All the advantages and disadvantages of 13 current funboards are presented on 44 pages. At that time, the rigs were also included in the evaluation. From "flimsy" to "miserable looks" to positive feedback, everything is included.
"Are we riding the wrong fins?" asks Jim Drake and talks about the physical influences in an article. His - theoretical - conclusion: "Trapezoidal shape, very thin profile, thickest point far to the rear."

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