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Forecast

Editor’s Note: Issue 8.1

By John Chao

You will find some startling articles and news in this issue of American Windsurfer. Aside from the fact that we have a nude (it seems that we can’t seem to learn from the past) on the cover and some inside pages—this issue, only two months since our last—bears witness, as well as delivering a statement, about the circle of change.

Air Mail

Fire Readers Against the Grain

The only magazine I have chosen to renew is American Windsurfer. Your magazine continues to help me through the doldrums of everyday life. My soon-to-be four year old son thinks it’s pretty cool too!

WindMakers

Flow Seekers

Douglas Faulkner published two books this year, both by Xlibris Publishing Group. The first book, Of Manatees and Man, is about the lives of the manatees in Florida and man's impact upon their lives:

Makin’ Waves

The Times They Are Really Changing

NEW WORLD CHAMPION: American Kevin Pritchard takes over as the PWA Overall World Champion from Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Only two other people in the history of windsurfing have held the title.

Instructionals

The Boomerang

By Rafael Bach

The Boomerang Jibe is a new move, just born at the end of this summer in Lake Garda, Italy. I used to practice this maneuver in the first gusts of the Ora (the local south wind), when the water is flat and the wind constant—those are the ideal conditions.

WindTracks

Skimming the Shallows

By Dan Welch

Sailing alone and far from shore, beyond the reef surrounding Ilôt Brosse, in New Caledonia, all that blue got to me. When I fell for the third time, I leaped onto my board with an instant waterstart escaping the wide open hungry jaw of the deep blue sea. Without delay, I jibed and, seeking sanctuary, sailed towards the baby blue shallows.

WindTracks

Wind Suffering

At forty-three, this engaging windsurfer has the heart of a gypsy and a perspective on the world which Native Americans call “eagle vision”—an instinctive ability to see the big picture that comes from years of life experience.

Portfolio

Lifesource

By Diane Buccheri

The more I am near water, in water, the more water I desire, wanting to be submerged, feel its coolness bathing over my head, washing away whatever plagues me, soothing my entire being.

Featured Articles

Games Down Under

By Rory Ramsden

THE 2000 OLYMPICS WINDSURFING REGATTA was the best ever. The sport reached its pinnacle. Not only was it the best ever Olympic windsurfing event, it was alive with many "never befores".

WhirlWinds

Keeping the Spirit Alive

By Heather Riley

The confirmed selection of the 377 cm longboard ensures that athletes can sail in a wide range of conditions from zero to thirty-five knots, pushing their limits without being challenged by inevitable and unpredictable controlling and limiting wind factors imposed upon smaller boards.

Featured Articles

After the Gold Rush: The 17 Year Quest of Michael Gebhardt

By John Chao

Mike “Gebi” Gebhardt had a bad night. The day before, his 32 year old body began to shut down. Six grueling days of light-to-moderate winds took its toll on him and the rest of the fleet.

Equipment Tests

2001 Feedback Festival

By Martin D. Trees

The sun shone, the tropical rains stayed away (mostly) and the wind blew—boy did it ever blow. The American Windsurfer 2000+1 Equipment Test held in Maui throughout the month of October was itself like a tropical clearing wind.

Screamers

What I Learned on Maui

By Laurie Nadel

MARDI GRAS OF THE PACIFIC is what Halloween in Lahaina has become. An estimated twenty thousand expressions gather on the street of the sleepy town including the staff of American Windsurfer and practically the entire population of windsurfers on the island.

Workshop

Skimbat 101

By Carl-Magnus Fogelholm

SKIMBAT is a "flying rig", resembling a small hang glider. In fact, because of the flying properties of the sail, the concept and design parameters of the wingsurfer can be described as a hybrid comprising a traditional windsurfer sail and a hang glider