Musso’s win at the world cup in Sylt and the sick action shots taken by John Carter made it easy for magazines to chose their next cover shot. Both Surf Germany and Windsurf UK picked this stylish backside wave ride as their cover. Nice one Alex!
Next time can you please use your umi sail stickers? Ah yes, sorry, you didn’t have any… [Note to self: print more umi sail stickers!]

Surf also opened their story about the world cup with a double page spread of Alex flying high over the Sylt shorebreak.

Here’s the cover of Windsurf UK, also featuring Alex. We haven’t seen the contents yet, but he’s bound to be in there somewhere as well! Who’s next?

Share

Back in August our new team member Graham Ezzy went for a quick trip home to Maui. Turned out to be a really good decision as the two weeks he spent there were blessed with wind ánd waves, quite rare for Maui that time of year. Right before going back to Princeton NY, Graham had a nice little evening session at Hookipa. Check the clip on vimeo here.

The guys at Tabou were obviously quite pleased with Alex winning the world cup in Sylt, his big smile has been heading the Tabou site for over a week now! Besides congratulating Musso, they also interviewed him: about the event, the gear he was riding, his friends on tour and his plans for this winter. So in case you haven’t read enough about Alex yet, check the interview by team captain Matt Pritchard.

In this brand new series we’re checking out what the umi boys are riding and why. Kickoff is with Jonas Ceballos, who tells us all about his Seb Wenzel Fanatic shapes. Over to you Jonas!

‘This is my 78-litre board shaped by Sebastian Wenzel. It is about 231 cm long and 56 cm wide. I’ve been working on my boards a lot and we made some changes this year. This board has more rocker than before and we put some more double concave in the mono concave. We also moved the finboxes more forward. The rail we kept the same as my previous boards, they were working really well. When I tried this board the first time I was so stoked, it was exactly what I was looking for.’

Do you tell Sebastian exactly what you want to change on a board, or do you tell him what feeling you are looking for?
‘Normally I explain him what I want from the board and then we check what we can do to achieve that goal. I have my prototype boards and I only make small changes to them. Sebastian has his computer so all my designs are in there. If I like a board that he already has on his computer, we work with that basic shape but for instance with a different rocker and different concaves. Then he makes the board with his CNC machine, I try it and if it’s good we keep working on it. If it is not good we put it away and try again. Small changes every time.’

Are your boards much different from the ones Victor and Brawzinho are riding?
‘Yes, they are different. I was trying their boards on Maui, Brawzinho uses wider boards than me, because he’s heavier. His rails are also different, softer than what I have on my boards. His shapes were good, but a bit harder to turn; I was feeling more confident with my own shapes. Victor uses the same kind of boards as Brawzinho: softer rails and the same concaves.
‘This year in Maui we did an overall test with all our boards. The whole team said they felt very confident on my boards, they had a lot of speed and a really nice bottom turn. Some said the top turn was not really good. Maybe that was cause they couldn’t control it haha.’

What’s the difference between your boards and the Fanatic production boards?
‘My boards have more rocker and more concave than the production boards. For the production boards they make a mix. Say Klaas Voget is testing… he likes the rails I use, the bottom shape of Brawzinho’s board and the outline of Victor’s boards, they try out all these element to come up with the best shape. I don’t mix though, I never go for really big changes because I don’t know whether it is going to work or not. I have had my line since I started with Fanatic and when I feel good with something I prefer to make small changes, step by step.’

You switched from single to twin, do you still use single fins?
‘No, after I started using the twin fins I stopped using them. I sailed a single fin in Hawaii in springtime and I felt like it was not me sailing there. I felt like a beginner. A really strange feeling when you think that I rode single fins for a long time before, but the turns are really different. The single fins have more open long turns, whereas with this board here I can just kill it.
‘What I felt in the beginning is that with the two fins I had more drive on the wave, tighter turns and a better snap. The boards slash really easy, they don’t stick to the water, a very fluid ride.’

What about jumping?
‘I thought that with two fins I would be slow, but I feel I have the same speed for jumping. Besides that I have really good control before the take off, it’s perfect.’

You have your fins really to the front of the fin box, why is that?
‘Putting the fins to the front gives me more drive in the turns. Especially on the closer turns, when I push really hard with my feet. If I want to do three turns on one wave it is good to have this setup. It also gives me more control. I always use 16 cm fins on this board, they fit perfectly. The mast foot I put a bit to the front, I never really change that.’

Do you have a fixed distance between your footstraps?
‘Yes, I do but I don’t remember how much it is haha. This year I put them even further apart, like 2 cm extra for extra control.’

What do you think about quads?
‘I don’t know about them. A lot of guys are going for that now, but I don’t know if that is really the way to go. Maybe it is good for wave riding, but not everybody is able to really ride waves, you know?’

All action shots by John Carter/PWA

The guys at Riders Match have chosen the umi video from PWA Pozo 2009 to be used on their front page. Considering this competition covers a lot of sports, all of which are more popular than windsurfing, this is some great exposure for our sport and kudos for umi!

Riders Match is an online world contest, open to professionals and amateurs for the categories surf, skate, kitesurf, windsurf and BMX. If you haven’t already voted for us please visit the site, sign up and vote for both of our clips: Ricardo destroys Pozo & Josh Angulo at Punta Preta. We need both of them in the top 5 by the end of October to get through to the final, so there’s no time to waste. Show us some loving!

During the recent Réunion Wave Classic event our raving reporter, Sophia Regerbis, had a chat with French master photographer Gilles Calvet. Here are his thoughts and stunning photographs from the Indian Ocean.

La Réunion is a beautiful island, when was the first time that you came here?
‘I discovered the island in 1992 with Raoul Lequertier and Vincent Lartizien to make some pictures because we heard from the locals that the island could offer great surfsailing conditions. We sailed more or less all the spots and met one of the main local riders, Fuji, who wanted to buy our boards. After this I came for four more times with different riders like Angulo, Bourroux, Kauli, Teboul etc.’

What has changed since 1992?
‘They built a highway lately, which makes it nowadays easier to travel around the island to enjoy all the spots without being stuck in the traffic jams. This road also offers a really nice view of all the places and fits perfectly with the local’s car addiction.
In windsurfing nothing really changed, few people and hardcore conditions.’

How did you feel arriving in la Réunion this time?
‘I am happy to be here and I just try to see this place with a new eye. Not looking in the past, just living the moment.’

You have already taken pictures for the Fuerte Wave Classic, what do you think about this new kind of windsurfing wave competition which, up to now, has always been blessed with good conditions?
‘I think it is good for the sport, it shows nice places, nice actions and a nice way to live for the kids to dream about. About the conditions, we chose the right time to travel to the right places and we have twelve days of waiting period so everything is made to get it good. The competition format is good, the judgement made by the riders is a good thing. I would maybe do it more easy to understand by having only two rankings: an individual one and a team ranking. I also think the teams should be made of people from the same place.’

You have been in this business a while, can you tell us what has changed in the style of windsurfing? Are the young guys from today more radical than  before?
‘Overall down the line surfing did not change, there are not a thousand ways to ride a wave. But the top turns became more technical and more pushed, thanks to the creativity of young people. And the freestyle created new possibilities, different ways to turn. All this was not possible before.’

Considering the conditions and the ambience, was it a good competition for you and the riders?
‘It was very nice: the spirit, the level of all the riders in overall and the conditions were awesome. Everybody is spending a nice time here, we have had some nice riding, everybody tried to show the best of his own style and the light is always so nice here.’

What do you think will be the future of windsurfing?
‘I hope more kids will become windsurfers, thanks to the good image windsurfing can give… but until now poor people are excluded from windsurfing because the industry is focused on the middle and upper class. Maybe some work has to be done by the riders or the brands to change this. For example making a wave kit that only costs 1000 euros.’

Which places would you visit at la Réunion if you would be with your family here?
‘If there are no clouds I would be in the mountains, when there are nice waves I would go surf, the kids playing in the shore break and my wife bodysurfing, I also would visit friends and have a BBQ with them!’

What is your next plan after la Réunion?
‘I will go back home: surf, windsurf, do some fishing and make love with my wife. Hopefully the next trip will be to West Africa and I am looking forward to getting my next plane ticket for the next Wave Classic.’

Is the economic crisis affecting you and windsurfing?
‘I don’t see any crisis! I have no TV, I have no newspaper, I already see too many Mrs Browns in my village everyday!’

Pics by Gilles Calvet. Words and picture of Gilles by Sophia Regerbis – © umi 2009

Just before Alex went on his trip to the island of La Réunion, he had an epic day in El Médano, Tenerife. ‘I will never forget this day: I was sailing in the bay upwind from El Médano called El Cabezo, together with Dany Bruch and it was just perfect. Super strong wind – I used my 65 liter Da Curve and 3,6 Riot and was still overpowered – and logo high waves in the sets. Cabezo is a great place for jumping and wave riding, I personally prefer the riding, but if you like to jump you can always get some massive ramps. We had a lot of fun this day, the funny thing was that almost no one was sailing, just us two. An incredible day in Médano, at just five minutes away from my house.’

Photos © CMD – umi 2009

The final slideshow from Scotland is from the north shore of Scotland – the home of the legendary surf break Thurso. Brendan Pyatt comments: ‘In the summer of 2006 Phil and Dave Horrocks, Andy King and myself drove up looking for some waves. It was a gruelling drive, 16 hours and poor Dave had to sit on a deck chair in the back of the van, with all the kit and no window. It was a funny trip, we arrived in the middle of the night, had no idea of where to go and ended up putting the tent up by the side of the road in a gale. We scored some really good conditions and personally I found it interesting to check out the beaches affected by the UK’s nuclear disaster back in the 1960’s. There are a couple of beaches that they don’t advise you to surf at or even walk on – that didn’t seem to deter a lone German surfer!’

‘The breaks are all pretty much reefs and there are loads to choose from, just have a drive around. One thing to bear in the mind is that the waves are really dependant on the tides, check a spot on a falling tide and it can be flat but return when the tide is pushing and it will be overhead. A lot of these photos were taken in the rain and I really enjoy that about them. The mags are always pushing for super saturated pictures but I love the greyness of some of these shots.’

Click here to see the slideshow.

Last weekend Alex Mussolini won the PWA wave world cup of Sylt. In up to mast high waves and strong onshore winds our Catalan poster boy proved that he can do more than sail in perfect down the line starboard tack conditions. ‘A lot of people think I am a starboard tack sailor, from when I lived on Maui, but I think I am even better now in port tack. Sailing El Cabezo, Tenerife teaches you that!’ We had a chat with Musso in Sylt’s ‘one and only dance club’ Z1, where he talked to us about his contest, his game plan and the worst waiting experience ever.

Alex, congratulations on your first PWA victory, did you ever think you would get this far?
‘Not really. So many times I start good and then it just doesn’t happen. I didn’t think I was going to win, it never goes through your mind. But after the third or fourth heat I thought I had a chance. Every heat I was sailing the same way, I had the same plan. You sail the wave like this, you jump like that. So I thought maybe if I keep up with this same plan I can get to the final!’

Can you talk us through the day?
‘The first day we had wind from the right, cross on to onshore with the waves building throughout the day. My first heat I was up against Eleazar Sanchez, Jonas Ceballos’ little brother. Then I kicked out Jason Polakow in the second round, after that local Klaas Voget, who knows exactly how the spot works, how the waves break… I got to the last eight and was up against Robby Swift who was sailing really well, he is one of the guys who really knows how to compete. I won that one as well and then got Antoine Albeau, who I think nobody expected to get that far, but he was sailing really well. I got to the final with Josh and though, wow, maybe now it is possible!’

How did you handle the pressure and the cold?
‘Dany Bruch was a great help for me, he was taking care of me the whole day so I wasn’t getting too cold, he gave me soup, water, bananas… Mentally he was also pushing me. “You have a big chance, this is your day”, he said.’

Turns out it was!
‘Yes, incredible! When the final heat was over I saw Josh’s face and he said: “I think you won.” I couldn’t really believe it, I thought maybe he is bullshitting me. And then when they said my name… it was a dream come true! To win the single was a great success for me, my sponsors and everyone who has always supported me. When they say your name, when you are number one, that is just crazy, a magic moment.’

What’s the first thing you did after the final?
‘I walked back to the tent and everybody was yelling and screaming my name, I will never forget that. I called my girlfriend, she had been checking the live ticker the whole day and saw me getting through a couple of heats and just knew I was on fire. Her female instinct told her I had a big chance of winning it. I then called my dad, he just finished working and never checks the live ticker. We have this tradition that if I don’t call him during the competition, something happened to me, bad or good. So when I called him he already thought the event was over, that I was back in Barcelona. When I told him I had just won the single he thought I was bullshitting him! I could hear in his voice that he got emotional. It is a dream for him too, he has been windsurfing for 30 years now. That his son can actually win an event is a dream.’

After the single you came to a new situation: having to wait on top of the ladder.
‘The waiting was the worst experience ever, I had to wait for seven hours until it was my heat. Every hour that passed I was getting more and more nervous about what I was going to do in my heat and how my body would react to the cold weather. I just thought of my plan for the heat, about what kind of moves I know how to do, then pulling the radical moves when it’s the right moment. I mean: how many backloops have I done in my life? How many pushloops? How many stalled forwards? You do the moves you are confident about and then you start to get serious. And that’s what I did.’

You were up against Klaas, who fought his way up the ladder through eight heats before reaching the final.
‘Yeah, after watching the whole day on the beach I knew that Klaas was going to be the one sailing against me, he was sailing good and with intelligence, the true art of competing. The final was crazy, the wind was strong with some wind holes, I was expecting something else. Probably the worst part of the conditions was the way the waves were breaking: from very flat to very steep, making it impossible to wave ride like I wanted. I was trying to make the hardest highest scoring moves, but also I didn’t want to lose my gear and have to sail again on those conditions. I could hear Dany, Ross Williams, Mike Clancy and my sail designer Dan Kaseler scream when I got close to the shore, some extra motivation which was nice. When the heat was over, they told me it was over and the battle was mine, so when they announced my name I kind of knew it was for me, but I still got the same adrenaline like I got when they announced my name in the single elimination. Magic!’

All pics © John Carter/PWA & umi 2009