MG Windsurfing

Last Saturday, roughly about 30 riders gathered at Großenbrode for another freestyle competition. The organizers had decided to give the whole thing a go just the day before. It was quite stressful for me to make it to the event since I had to drive all the way from Munich. I was super tired, it was cold, the wind was really up and down but it was still quite some fun. I made it into the final where I sailed against Tilo Eber. It was a very tight heat and once again I only got second in a much disputed decision. Yet, I was happy with me heat: I could land a burner, a planing kono, a spock culo and a normal culo among other. I would have liked to do some bigger moves but the wind really didn't allow for more this time. The clip which you can find at the bottom of this page shows a couple of moves I did in my first heat. When watching it you may get a feeling of how average the conditions were. Still no complaining here. Here are some photos:  A kono, right in front of the j...

I've been off the radar for a while... but that doesn't mean I haven't been windsurfing. Despite a very calm August I managed to sneak in at least one session a week. We often had to drive quite a bit to get to the windy spots but it was mostly worth it. The Baltic Sea wasn't that windy in August so I often drove west. I got to see the North Sea from a very different angle these last three weeks or so. It seems a lot less crowded than the Baltic. There are not many distractions around. So you have more time to contemplate its beauty. Everything around there seems to be shaped by the forces of the elements. During one session we even had to escape from a small tornado. But what really got me was the sound of the board when sailing in one of the mirror-flat channels.... Today's session in Saal wasn't that bad either though. I even have a photo from today. It's me sliding out of a switch chachoo in what seems like very low winds. Forecasts for Friday and next ...

There's an abundance of windsurfing footage from Fuerteventura everywhere on the web right now. So here's some more of it... The PWA Freestyle World Cup has just finished and the moves that could be seen there were simply amazing. The wind dropped down a bit while the competition took place and we got a week of 4.4 weather in. As I prefer lighter winds a lot, it was really a shame I couldn't compete. But the level is unbelievably high this year, too. So I am still not sure whether I would have been able to make an impact. What I found was that the top 10 or so are again a big step ahead. Anyway, Fuerteventura was a good experience and I got to know some interesting people. I am now more motivated to practise new moves and cannot wait to be back on the water here in Germany. Here are some photos from the last day on Fuerte and also another short clip filmed at Matas Blancas (scroll down to the bottom of the page): In case the video does not appear, here's the ...

Fuerteventura’s south is probably one of the most popular windsurfing spots in the world. The summer months’ wind statistics speak for themselves – if you go to Fuerte in July, there’s going to be a lot of wind. Another interesting fact: Fuerte’s south offers a vast beach that can turn into a nice lagoon at high tide. However, it is not really that freestyle paradise which one might be tempted to call it given these prerequisites. The wind is strong but in fact quite gusty, the spot at centre 2 is packed with windsurfers of all levels. Most of the time I am completely overpowered on 4.0. But after almost a week of sailing I’m getting used to the conditions and the flying sand on the beach. I have got some footage from yesterday which I edited to a very short film, which you can watch here. We just filmed for about half an hour and with the old camera – so don’t expect anything exceptional. By the way, many professional windsurfers have already arrived on the island to prepa...

The first German Freestyle Battle of 2012 was on about 4 weeks ago. The water was just under knee-deep, the wind was gusting 9 beaufort and it was really flat on port-tack. I finished this event in 5th place. It went really bad for me as I got kicked out in the first round of the single elimination. However, sailing all these heats in the double to get back on 5th place, where I lost against fellow Sailloft rider Adrian Beholz, really was a lot of fun. So no complaining here. Check out the video right here:

A quick glance at the weather maps yesterday told me that it was time to check out a new spot that I'd wanted to sail for a long time already. In Northern Germany, Whit Monday equals heavy traffic and crowded spots. With my home freestyle spot Saal near Rostock being invaded by thousands of kite boarders and with parking fees on the rise, it was not hard to give this spot a skip and drive a little further to find perfect freestyle conditions in an uncrowded lagoon. The spot did not look very windy when we arrived. The wind seemed to stay further out. However, the water state was just really deceiving. Since this spot is mostly knee-deep there were not many white caps forming and the water surface was flat as a pancake. I was perfect to slightly overpowered on 4.8 and 99l. Here are some photos shot by Hannes Bubolz. Thanks a lot buddy!

The footage for this video got filmed during five sessions I had between January and March 2012. With temperatures close to zero degrees, filming gets a lot harder. Windsurfing in winter is a unique experience. A grey and chilly morning can turn into a perfect day on the water. While most people sit in front of their tellies, you are out there braving the cold. Even after a short session you can't but smile... Thanks to Julia, Hauke and Markus for filming. Most sessions were in rather light winds, so I was using the 4.6 or 4.4 Sailloft Quad and a 90l Patrik Freestyle or 78l Trailer Wave most of the time.