Do you agree that there is too much variety and complexity in windsurfing equipment?
(Ronsurfdude)
It is what it is. It's safe to say that it was much easier to decide when there was only one board in one size, one construction, one colour and one sail size. There is something beautiful about simplicity. But you can't ask a sport not to evolve either. Just look at what is possible in windsurfing today: from speed to racing, foils to freestyle, freeride and wave. So it's clear that there are a lot of possibilities - and that it can get damn complicated. But to be honest, in reality most surfers only have manageable conditions and skills, so the choice can be much more focussed. When people buy a car, they don't look at formula race cars, drift cars, drag cars, pickup trucks, sports sedans, luxury cars, exotics, petrol cars, electric cars, hybrids and minivans before deciding what to buy. They narrow down their mode of travel and their ability to move a vehicle before they buy it. I think it's similar with windsurfing.
What happened to the back-to-back tail straps on waveboards? They were always practical for skating uphill.
(FinFoil)
Good question. I loved them on my boards. But they disappeared when I switched to standard boards. I used the front strap a lot when I was pulling height or riding low power through white water. I had to learn to simply place my foot far back in the single foot strap on the current wave boards. It works, even if your feet are far apart. But for me it was more practical with the second strap, which nobody else wanted.
Who do you think is the most promising windsurfing athlete at the moment?
(Finjabg)
I really can't say that. There's a lot of talent out there right now.
When are you coming to Sylt next?
(Vomacur)
I'm not sure. I would have come last year, but I was in the middle of a pretty time-consuming business deal. I wish I had been there because the conditions looked great. But I will definitely be back. There are a lot of great memories and good friends there - and hopefully more to come. Maybe I can make it this year.
Are you still able to surf in Jaws?
(Elke Wiemar)
If the conditions are right, I'll probably go to Jaws a few more times. The one good day this winter just wasn't good timing for me, I don't like westerly swell with easterly winds anyway. Then it's really hard to get into the waves - and you end up riding waves you'd rather not take. Just ask Jason (Polakow, who was extremely shaken in Jaws this winter, editor's note). I don't need to surf Jaws every chance I get to prove myself, but I hope to catch a few more waves when the conditions are more favourable.
Do you regret making kitesurfing so big?
(Raban Cramer)
Absolutely not. I am proud to have been one of the pioneers of this sport. That I have helped to develop it and bring it to many people around the world. Windsurfing is great, but kitesurfing is great too!
What foods do you use to keep fit?
(Melek Toraman)
I eat pretty well, considering I always like to joke about junk food. I eat a lot of pasta and a lot of Mexican food, not so much meat or greasy food. I do drink Red Bull every day, but I haven't had any alcohol at all for about twenty years. I don't smoke and I don't take any other drugs except aspirin or ibuprofen. I try to eat a balanced diet, but I don't drink protein shakes or anything crazy every day. I could certainly eat better than I do, but life is a balance. I enjoy eating and do it for pleasure - rather than necessity or fitness.
Have you ever made a decision in your professional windsurfing career that you regretted?
(Finjabg)
Fortunately, I haven't regretted my decision to become a professional windsurfer for a single moment. There have been a few bad decisions here and there along the way. But overall, I think I've taken a pretty positive path in life. Nobody is perfect, and I'm far from it. But I don't live with any major regrets or have any glaring moments from my past that keep me up at night. I think I'm lucky in that respect. I've always been pretty content with what I had and what I did and never set myself particularly high goals. I've just tried to do my best and make good long-term decisions wherever possible. I hope for a positive future instead of planning for it. So far, so good, I think.
Fortunately, I haven't regretted my decision to become a professional windsurfer for a single moment."
I used to live in Scheveningen and remember your huge jump in the World Cup against Björn Dunkerbeck. Can you remember that too? How high was it?
(Roman Ludwig)
I loved Scheveningen. Those were great events and an epic era for our sport. I don't remember a single jump, but I do remember the good days. We had a day with a cross-offshore wind from the left - there were some high jumps for sure. I think the jumps the guys make today with modern equipment are much higher. But for that time - back in the eighties - it was a gigantic day!
Is there anything you've ever wanted to change about your style or skills - that you wish you had? Have you ever been envious of someone else's abilities?
(Alexander Ladischensky)
Good question, not really! Nobody can have everything. I, for example, was the perfect size and weight for all disciplines in the first decades of windsurfing. As the sport evolved into longer, straighter fins and a more upright surfing style, I slowly became too small and too light to be truly competitive in the races. But I never wished I was taller or heavier because that would have been a disadvantage in other things. There have always been very good surfers in the waves with different styles. I've been impressed by a lot of people over the years and I've certainly learnt a lot from watching other windsurfers. But I never wished I could ride like them.
What about your fitness? Do you need more time to recover after a long session than you did when you were 40? What do you do to stay fit?
(Günter Stoiber)
I definitely feel the pain more than I used to after a good training session. My neck, elbows, lower back and right knee in particular are no longer as pain-free as they used to be. I definitely have to take ibuprofen sometimes. I've had cortisone injections in my neck twice in the past because I was in pain and had lost feeling and strength in my right arm. And finally last year I had stem cell injections in my neck - too many unfortunate landings and crashes over the years, both windsurfing and kitesurfing. I've never had a car accident or any other sports accident though. But overall, I'm still pretty fit and strong and can still push myself when I'm on the water. I now train a bit more than I used to in my gym at home to stay strong between sessions. I also swim in the pool and run on the bottom of the pool with weights to be able to hold my breath longer and work my cardio. I also skateboard in my driveway with my curfboard to stay loose and work on my cardio. Lately, I've had a few heart fibrillations while surfing or SUPing - something that scares me a bit. I'm trying to find out what's causing it. But apart from that, my health is really good and I'm pretty fit for my age, both on and off the water.
I'm pretty fit for my age, both on and off the water."
Which wave windsurfers have you admired? Who you thought were better than you?
(Norman Nennmann)
The list used to be pretty short, but is getting longer as time goes on with new talent coming into the sport year after year. In wave, there were only a few guys in the past who were competitive enough in all conditions to win events. But there were a lot of guys who had a really great style, or a certain move that was just brilliant. Or who were incredibly good at one spot in certain conditions, but then not so spectacular when they surfed somewhere else. I've been lucky enough to ride with several generations of new riders over the last almost 50 years. Whether I was better than them - or they were better than me - wasn't that important. From Jürgen Hönscheid to Mike Waltze and Pete Cabrinha in the early days to Dave Kalama, Robby Seeger, Mark Angulo, Josh Angulo, Björn Dunkerbeck, Rush Randle, Jason Polakow, Scott Carvill, Josh Stone, Kevin Prichard to the stars of today - Thomas Traversa, Levi Siver, Robby Swift, Camille Juban, Ricardo Campello, Marcilio Brown, Victor Fernandez, Philip Koster, Morgan Noireaux, Jake Schettewi and I'm sure many others I've forgotten to mention. I was able to ride alongside the best in the world. Many of them have come and gone over the years and I have watched the sport evolve and grow with them. It has been a great honour and a great pleasure.
I was able to ride alongside the best in the world. It was a great honour and a great pleasure."
Do you have any tips on how to become a good windsurfer - apart from spending a lot of time on the water?
(Torsten Fischer)
Time on the water is definitely the key. If you can't get on the water, cross-training (especially pull-ups to strengthen your biceps and forearms) is good. And any board sport will help all other board sports - so surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding: Everything will help your windsurfing get better the next time you get on the water.
I've been surfing for 45 years now. Today I surf on modern equipment, but I can also enjoy an old Mistral Naish board or Mistral Competition. Do you have that too, Robby?
(Adbouwens1111)
If I lived in Kailua or somewhere on a lake, I'm sure I'd still have a classic old-school longboard style windsurfer. But since I live on Maui, we just don't have the right conditions for it. Most of the time it's too windy, and when it's not windy - there are other sports for me!
Are there any boards or sails that are very special to you? Or with which you have a special relationship? I remember the custom shapes in the film RIP with the big skull motif - one of them had a do-not-touch sticker. Do you still have that?
(Sören Kuhlmann)
Oh yes, for sure! I don't have all the boards from my entire career anymore, but I have most of the special boards and at least one board from every generation of custom and production boards I've used. I have my first Skull Asymetrical, my first custom slalom board with the blue flames from Scheveningen, all my successful Pan Am boards, all my Jaws Guns since the beginning. And I still have sails from every season, right back to the eighties. I also have dozens of fins from all those years, with so many crazy designs that it takes your breath away. It's a lot of stuff that now takes up a lot of space. But it's the history of the sport, represented by my personal gear, basically from the late seventies to today. I can't give that away.
I have at least one board from every generation of custom and production boards I've used."
How many waveboards would you recommend for a 90-kilo surfer in Euro conditions?
(Olaf Meyer)
To be honest, I think that with modern equipment you only need one wave board for all conditions. Sure, if you're a pro, you have bigger and smaller onshore and sideshore boards. But I, for example, only have one wave board and can ride it with a 5.0 or 3.0. It may not always be perfect, but it's always good enough. For Euro conditions, I think if you weigh 90 kilos and need a 3.0, you'd better not go out. 4.0 or maybe 3.5 would be small enough even in really strong winds. If you need a smaller model, I don't think it's fun - and it's not safe. And at 90kg, a 6.2 is still surfable to have enough fun.
Which brand do you admire the most?
(Arcstrand)
In our industry? Or outside our industry? Within our industry, that would be a difficult question. Outside, I admire many brands, but especially those that have created a business through their passion and sport and have always, or at least mostly, stayed true to themselves over the years. I know that I am sponsored by them, but even if I wasn't, Red Bull is a brand that I have always had great respect for. What Dietrich Mateschitz created and built was and is truly unique and incredible on so many levels. I was also impressed by the Porsche and, of course, Ferrari brands, which live out their passion for motorsport - and have managed to harmonise racing with the actual business of selling cars. But there are many examples inside and outside of sport where companies have managed to find their own way - from Patagonia to Quiksilver to Tesla.
How much money did you get for your company?
(Uwe Herholz)
A tidy sum, but I won't tell you that :-)
What do you think about the development of windfoiling compared to windsurfing?
(Holger Reis)
Windsurfing has developed, changed and grown over many years. Technologies have been invented that have allowed us to build lighter boards, better rigs, fins and sails - so the sport has continued to evolve. It took years, decades and was an exciting time of invention, exploration and, above all, fun. Today, everything on the water seems to revolve around foils. This has given surfing in much lighter winds more speed and a kick than anyone could have imagined a few years ago. With wingfoiling, there is now a whole new dimension to foiling with a very quick learning curve and less equipment to deal with and cheaper too. It's great to see how things have developed. I know it can be sad for a die-hard windsurfer to see so many kitesurfers and wingfoilers on the water and fewer windsurfers. But when I started windsurfing, nobody knew what it was - not even what the sport was called. It was unique and exclusive. Almost nobody did it, that was part of the appeal. We're now moving a bit more in that direction again. People now have lots of opportunities to go out on the water in windy conditions. And that's a good thing. Not everyone has to windsurf. Windsurfing is no less fun when it's less popular - it's just less crowded!
What would you perhaps do differently if you could be 30 again?
(Torsten Fuchs)
I've learnt a lot over the years. We all make mistakes, and I've made a few here and there. But in general, I've had an incredibly eventful, fulfilling and happy life so far. It would be selfish of me to ask for more than I've already been given. So instead of thinking about what I would do differently, where I would invest money or time, where I would go, who I would or wouldn't see - if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would probably be absolutely thrilled to do it all over again in the same way. I'm very grateful for the life I have, for who I am, and for the friends and family I have. I'm probably not one of those people who constantly thinks about what if.
How do you make sure that after the sale of your company the products continue to come in the Naish style?
(Alfred Höhn)
Things will certainly change a little over time, but that's okay. Most of the developers and designers are still with us and will continue on the path we've been on for the last 25+ years. But I'm also excited to see what will come with new ideas and a new direction. I still own the Naish brands so I have some oversight of the products to make sure it doesn't go off the rails. But I don't want to micro-manage and try to get the new owners to keep everything the same. One reason for the sale was the hope that the Naish brand can grow and prosper in the future with new energy and new opportunities. This will only be possible if I let go. But I will remain involved as an athlete and will contribute my ideas and feedback. But they don't necessarily have to listen to me like they used to. I'm excited to see what comes next.
I don't want to micro-manage and try to get the new owners to leave everything as it is."
How can we make windsurfing interesting for more people again?
(Ben Schwarz)
I'm really not sure about that. I've never been good at looking into the future. But it is what it is. Windsurfing is an incredible sport. Just look at what people can do on a windsurfer today, from the Windsurfer LT class, which goes back to the roots, to a modern foil class with really good equipment, with the Olympic iQFOiL - to incredibly good freeride, slalom, foil, wave and freestyle equipment. The sporting level of the freestylers and wave surfers is breathtaking. Speed is also back in, and some legends of the sport have cracked the 100 km/h mark and more. Windsurfing is cool. But it's pretty hard to learn. It's pretty expensive. And you need pretty good equipment once you get to a certain level. A lot of people are unfortunately not very patient and don't have a lot of money or time to spare. And as I said, there's now a wide range of choices: from mountain biking to wakeboarding and kitesurfing to wingfoiling and surfing and much more. Maybe something will come along that will suddenly make windsurfing more popular again. But at the moment I have no idea what that might be.
Hey Robby, I'm curious what you would consider your top 3 wave spots in Europe for wave riding and some nice aerials? Have a great birthday and stay healthy!
(Yannik Erdmann)
Thanks for the birthday wishes, I'll certainly try to stay healthy! To be honest, I don't really know where to find good European sideshore spots for aerials. I've spent most of my years travelling to the same spots over and over again. Windy places, but not necessarily down-the-line wave spots. We went to Almanarre, Sylt, Tarifa, Scheveningen, Zandvoort, Guincho, Pozo, El Medano. But I never really spent much time exploring places other than the World Cup spots. There are certainly some great spots (and some of the spots I mentioned can be sideshore if everything fits perfectly, but mostly it's more onshore). I would rather ask Thomas Traversa. Every time I open a magazine, he seems to have found another great sideshore wave in a different part of Europe! I wish I had a good answer for you. But since I live in Hawaii and most of my trips to Europe over the years have been for World Cup events or trade shows, I don't really know most of the spots in Europe. If you find out where these three places are, please let me know - I want to go there too!
I would ask Thomas Traversa. Every time I open a magazine, he seems to have found another big sideshore wave in another part of Europe!"
What is your favourite place in Europe and when can we meet you there on the water?
(Gisela Benoist)
I really like travelling to Sylt. I also like Torbole and Tarifa. And the Basque Country in France. I hope I can visit all these places more often soon!
How would you introduce a seven-year-old girl to sport?
(Udo Bräutigam)
Of course, not everyone is the same and it's not good to generalise. But as I have a 40-year-old daughter, a 16-year-old daughter, a 13-year-old and a nine-year-old granddaughter, I would advise you to always take a friend with you. You have to make sure it's fun for them. And just because windsurfing is fun for you doesn't mean it's fun for her. It seems that most girls at this age don't necessarily want to do things with their dads, and having a friend (or two) along makes it easier. Girls like friends. I loved doing things on my own as a kid. But girls generally seem to be a bit (much) more social than I was. But again, regardless of age, everyone is different.
After all these years, do you remember one or more special days on the water?
(Mark Wijnstekers)
Of course I remember! Do you have a few hours to spare? I could tell you about many of them. If I hadn't had so many unforgettable days on the water, I wouldn't still be surfing after so many years! The good days just keep coming. Today I had a good day on the water and it looks like tomorrow could be epic.
What were the coldest conditions you've ever surfed in? And where was it?
(Ele Walker)
The coldest was either in Omaezaki, Japan, or in La Torche, France. Both events were in spring, in April, if I remember correctly. We also had a few cold days on Sylt, but not as cold as these two events. I remember the water temperature in La Torche was eleven degrees, but I can't remember what the air temperature was. It was about the same in Japan. It was so cold that you really needed gloves. Most people also wore booties, but I can't surf with shoes on. It was definitely uncomfortable for a heat-loving islander like me, but I don't think the locals loved it either. Surfing in such extreme situations was part of what made being a windsurfer so challenging and fantastic. You were fighting against nature as well as against your competitors. It wasn't always easy and it wasn't always enjoyable, but in the end I loved it. The good waves, the shitty waves, the big crowds and the empty beaches, the good winds, the gusty winds and even the artificial indoor winds.
Why is the cool logo with the skull no longer on the boards and sails?
(Thorsten Ruth)
This is my personal logo, sometimes used on Naish products, and for a few years now also on a separate Quiksilver product line. It's been used on and off over the years and will certainly be back on some products in the future. But the skull and crossbones is something that works in some places and markets and for some products and not so much for others. It's hard to believe, but some people are offended by it. That's why we tend not to use it too often. There are people who find something negative in everything - and people who can be offended by pretty much anything. These days, it's sometimes hard to navigate the madness and political correctness.
The best pictures from Robby Naish's career can be found in the gallery above!
