MG Windsurfing

Looking back on it now, it has to be seen as one's vain attempt to escape the winter blues. But with temperatures gradually falling, thanks to a constant flux of cold air arriving from eastern Europe, this had to be one of the last occasions to get on the water for the next couple of days. They announced winds from the south east, which is usually a good call for Dierhagen, a flat water spot on the Bodden nearby. However, the forecast dropped a lot when day X was approaching so we started looking for alternatives. It didn't take long to convince Markus to join me on a ferry trip over to the other side of our little Baltic sea, where the wind would be stronger and more consistent. It's always kind of crazy to get there. Since taking the car on the ferry costs a fortune, we used a small trailer for the gear and then walked the distance from the port to the spot. This is not a big deal in summer, but doing so in January was a very special experience. Luckily, we already got in...

Thomas and Gabriel, two fellow windsurfers from Rostock, convinced me to go windsurfing today. I wasn't really motivated as I wanted to study after yesterday's session. Forecast was for about 16 knots pretty much directly from the north. We headed to Roggow, a spot at the Salzhaff, which is a Baltic Sea inlet. Already on the way to the spot, we noticed that many fields were flooded and that this provided perfect flat water. In the beginning we were only joking about sailing on a puddle just in front of Ikea. But when we finally arrived at the spot, we actually noticed that the whole field behind the beach was completely flooded. Unlike the main spot, this patch of water offered perfectly flat conditions. After testing out the depth of the water, we finally gave it a shot. Unfortunately, the wind was not very strong and quite gusty, too. The 4.6 Sailloft Quad proved to be the right choice as it gives you loads of power, even in the lulls. Luckily, the farmer didn't show up. ...

There's nothing like a good windsurf session at the end of a busy week! The wind had already dropped a bit when I went on the water just after lunchtime. But the Patrik Diethelm Trailer Wave 78 and the Sailloft Quad 4.4 worked just fine in these conditions. With the water level being about 70cm above average the waves did not break in the proper sense of the word. They just built up, started to peel, then backed off again and finally hit the shore. So there was a bit of a shorebreak - but nothing too serious, if it hadn't been for the submerged groynes popping up here and there. Surfers didn't seem too happy either with the conditions. But then again, after all that hype about this spot, this might be a good thing to happen. My girlfriend took some photos and we were also doing some filming, so I was really keen to show some nice takas. But that wasn't to be, since every time I went down the line it was really hard to keep the speed and every time I wanted to hit the l...

The forecast for today announced winds from the northwest gusting up to 35 knots. I wasn't really tempted to go for an overpowered freestyle session in icy conditions so I headed to the nearest spot with some waves. I took 4.4 and the PD Trailer Wave 78, which I like to use in the twin-fin setup when the wind is onshore and the waves are mushy and small. It was quite some fun out there, but with some higher cliffs just behind the beach the onshore wind got killed on the inside. Further out I was completely overpowered. Plus, the waves weren't steep enough for jumping further out. So all I could do was some onshore wave riding closer to the shore. Here are some photos from today's session. Some of them are not very sharp but we are working on that issue. As you can see, nearly the whole beach got flooded. So this might have been one of the reasons why the waves didn't form as usual on the sandbar. This is a rather low forward loop off some chop. It was actually har...

The last three weeks have seen plenty of low pressure systems hitting northern Germany. And the good news is: the wind is going to stay. On the downside, temperatures are gradually falling. The first snow of the year arrived yesterday. But we are still far from last winter's icy conditions. When I saw the snow in the morning, however, I thought that I would just go for one of those short winter windsurf sessions that are usually accompanied by icecream-headaches and frostbitten fingers. Once at the spot, the weather slowly improved, the snow melted and the sun ever so often lurked through the clouds. It didn't take long to get on the water and the more moves I did the warmer I got. In the end, it was one of the better freestyle sessions as it was so nice to see the sun after all that rain, drizzle, hail and snow we've seen these last days. Here are some photos from that session and also a video which I named Wintersurf 1.0 as I'm planning to do a series of similar flick...

I got in a short and gusty session yesterday, just before leaving for Hamburg to collect two new sails from Sailloft. Conditions were far from perfect but still quite some fun as the wind was cross-off port tack. My range of the new four-batten Sailloft Quad is now complete with 6 sails ranging from 5.2 to 3.6. I can actually only recommend this sail to anybody who wants a modern, powerful, light sail that is also durable. Here's just one picture from yesterday, but there's definitely more to follow as today was a really good day on the water too. A short video should be up in the coming days.

Germany's top wave sailors came together on the beach of Ahrenshoop for the annual Supremesurf Big Days competition today. I would not count myself as one of the top contenders in waves, but I still took part in that competition as it usually is quite some fun. And on top of that competing boosts your level. Conditions could not have been worse for me: nuking winds, 3.7 completely overpowered, small and mushy waves. Being a lighter and more freestyle oriented rider, I usually prefer more moderate conditions.  I still managed to advance one round. In the end, Philip Köster, who arrived from Vargas to do this competition, clearly took the win. I was amazed at how many people came to watch his performance. Windsurfing seems to be getting a lot more attention here in Germany these days. Didn't take any photos because of the lack of light and a suitable camera but here's me rigging 4.2 and 3.7. More shots at: supremesurfbigdays.de