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How could it possibly have happened so fast? It seems like only yesterday that the pages for the first issue were laid out. Now, as if overnight, we have reached this anniversary. Ten years.
Like the lines in the face of a well aged traveller, this magazine, through the eyes and camera lenses of the many people who have contributed to it, has seen much, touched by many and told many tales.
From the beginning those stories, through the many pictures and words, have been from a slightly different angle. Sometimes that angle was criticized for being too extreme. Other times it was revered. Through it all there were distinct ups and downs. The “ups” were many and even the downs had their ultimate upside.
Now that we’ve reached this milestone, a landmark in time, tradition would indicate we do a story about the magazine itself–our own brief history. Instead, we’ve decided to let you, our readers do it.
Through the letters you have written us over the years you tell our story as well as anyone can–as it happened, in “real time.” After all, it is our readers who are the ring-bearers, who keep the sport together and on a plane. Windsurfers have a common bond, a fellowship if you will, with the goal of spreading the freedom and expression that is the soul of the sport of windsurfing. As we carry on into our second decade, we hope that all windsurfers carry on with this mission, this bond, this Fellowship of the Wind.
WHERE NO MAGAZINE HAS GONE BEFORE: Within months of its publication date of August of 1993, American Windsurfer has seen and been seen by the world, including this high flying review by Scott Knell, a furloughed Delta Airlines Pilot, windsurfer and skydiver.
Have You Lost Your Mind?
Yo dude. Yes, you have finally succumbed to the numbing arctic winds which are about to surround you once again and totally decimate what is left (right?) of your grey matter. What, you’re bored? Is your head bored? With a 3/4 inch wood bit?
No matter; as usual, I’m with you. 100%. No, 1000%. I like it. I want to be part of it. Like the appendix. The colon. The prostate. I’m prostrated. No wait, I got it; the semi-colon! I’ll do your windsurfing porno video reviews.
So keep me posted. I have photos and writing ready to go. I’ll jus quickly retrieve them from the dumpster, brush off any stray Cheeze Whiz or mayonnaise, wrap them securely in toilet paper and ship them off to you. Have you lost your mind?
Don’t you want to retire? I’ll be your Gorge guy. I’m gorgeous. I’ll take 35,000 copies and distribute them to everyone in Lyle. Oops, forgot: they can’t read. Are there any pretty pictures? Too cool, gotta go
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Eric Sanford
White Salmon, Washington
Whoops!
Congratulations on the premier issue of American Windsurfer. It is elegant, interesting and informative. And, as your fine editorial “Forecast” states, you have tried, and succeeded, in interesting a readership of non-windsurfers as well as fanatics to the sport. Most of us at Waucoma Bookstore are B.W. (Before Windsurfing) Gorge residents, either natives or transplants lured here by the Columbia River Gorge’s beauty… and its people. We enjoy the magazine’s larger scope.
The communities of the Gorge are populated by friendly, kind, hardworking individuals. Most important to our business, they are also literate, a fact Eric Sanford, in his obnoxious letter to the editor, seems to have over-looked. Our store opened in Hood River in 1976, long before sails were darting back and forth across the Columbia, and tourists were filling up the sidewalks of the downtown. We have always been enthusiastically supported, both financially and emotionally, by residents from the local communities, including Lyle, Washington, where according to Mr. Sanford “they can’t read.” Since windsurfing arrived, we have added many delightful Gorge visitors to our clientele. We appreciate everyone’s business, and are fortunate there are so many book lovers in our area.
Mr. Sanford’s flippant remark does a disservice to everyone in the Gorge. We hope it’s not a pervasive attitude of other contributors to you magazine.
Sally LaVenture, Peggy Dills Kelter, Rosalie Kelly
Waucoma Bookstore Hood River, OR
We certainly apologize to the good people of Lyle, Washington, and take responsibility for the insensitivity. Mr. Sanford has a writing style that pokes fun at everyone and I might add, especially, himself. The letter Mr. Sanford wrote was addressed to us when American Windsurfer was just a dream. The thought that it might appear in print was never considered nor approved by Mr. Sanford. We thought it was funny, and the fact that he made fun of all of us, especially the Block Head Publisher who started this magazine, made it seem OK. Our inexperience assumed that humor justifies. We do appreciate the need for greater sensitivity. ED
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NEIL PRYDE is the name of a real person. Like thousands of sailors around the world, I remember my surprise when I heard some ten years ago that Neil Pryde is a real person. Recently before my departure to japan, a letter arrived from Hong Kong with the familiar circular bull’s eye logo. The letter congratulated American Windsurfer for its birth and was signed Neil Frederick Pryde, Managing Director, Neil Pryde Limited. A phone call and a few faxes quickly re-arranged my travels to include Honh Kong, China and the opportunity to spend two days with the man who became . . . Taipan Sailmaker
A Magazine Scam!
What the $%#@& are you thinking? Another windsurfing magazine? I get it… you need more to do. Yeah, that’s it. Running a business, writing articles, shooting pictures, sailing races, and all that stuff with UPSAMORE $$ or whatever that organization is now called, can’t be enough to keep you off the streets.
Nooo, you have to go publish a windsurfing magazine. And it’s big! I mean, who cares if it’s good or anything, it’s so damn big. You’re bound to put two or three of those other (windsurfing) rags under… no one will ever see ‘em. Cool! Of course, the articles were fresh and engrossing, and the photos gorgeous. My artist girlfriend did rave about the layout. OK, it’s great.
So maybe the sport CAN use a magazine not on the take from “Europlastic Inc.” A magazine that says, “windsurfing is fun,” not “windsurfing is dangerous and expensive,” a magazine about people, with articles so well written even non-boardheads will read them. Is that your plan?
No, no, I’ve got it… you just want your resume to be even longer than Eric Sanford’s… A-ha!
I was back home in NH last fall, and stopped by Ellacoya Beach, but didn’t see you—I hope you still have time to sail. You know, if it wasn’t for your advice and inspiration back then, I would have quit windsurfing before I got good. I’d still have a high paying job, a nice car, and a big house. I wouldn’t be living in poverty down on this pile of sand (Outer Banks) waiting for the wind to blow my shack over (3.1 times). Thanks!So that’s IT!
Now I’m onto your scheme… this magazine is a scam to turn more helpless kooks into shred-zombies. Oh sure, ruining my life wasn’t enough, now you’re going after normal people. Well I’m blowing the lid off this one! I’d have called “Sixty Minutes” already if the phone hadn’t been disconnected eight weeks ago. But now I have to get back out on (highway) NC-12 with my “will work for sails” sign.
Brett Landry
Duck, NC
To Neil Pryde
I’m writing in response to the interview with Neil Pryde in the Winter/Spring issue. It is clear that he is a very driven businessman but I was surprised by his views on the sport. He is very opinionated, but I feel he is completely out of touch with what’s going on in the world. I can now tell where the direction of the industry towards short boards and small sails comes from. His opinions that: 1. “Now the sport is high wind sailing… I don’t think it will ever go back” 2. “the sport is zooming fast at 15 or 20 knots” or 3. “we’re wasting our time trying to teach 25, 35 and 40 year old guys how to windsurf” have led our sport down a path that focuses on sailors and conditions that exclude the majority of the American public.
Like Neil, I have been racing sailboats very competitively for 20 years. I have been windsurfing for 15 and own three boards. I don’t race boards because to me the sport is purely recreational. An excuse to get out on the water here in town or travel and meet new people. It is the purest form of sailing ever created and can be enjoyed in 6 or 36 knots of wind. But there is currently an imbalance with respect to quality sailing gear. Out of three windsurfing shops in my city ( I live in San Diego) where the winds are most suitable for longboards, there are currently no (zero, zilch) new boards available over 200 liters. They don’t exist in the industry (yes, there are a few manufacturers that offer 250 or 260 liter race boards at $1,900). It has created a situation that makes it very difficult for anyone, regardless of age, to get involved.
What Neil Pryde has to realize is that the sport of windsurfing has now come full circle, and that there are many (or more) people who sail in 8-15 knots of wind than sail in 20-30. They do it because it is a great way unwind, relax and enjoy the world. But these people are having to do it on equipment that was built 5-10 years ago. Used gear is the hottest commodity in town! The industry leaders, looking for the quick buck in the 80’s, defined the image of windsurfing as a youthful, high wind activity and now we’re stuck with that. There have been little or no advances in the recreational longboard since 1984.
I am inspired by your magazines’ fresh look at windsurfing. I feel you’re making an effort to look at all aspects of the sport and present a well rounded picture of what’s going on in the world. I only wish that the Neil Prydes of the world would wake up and smell the roses before they make the windsurfer a dying breed. I guess all I can do as a consumer is to choose not to buy his sails, promote your magazine and keep sailing.
Tom Fisher
San Diego, CA
We Love It Too
To quote Neil Pryde in yourWinter/Spring issue: “…This guy gets a girlfriend or gets married, and fifty-fifty he’s going to lose . . . because his wife or girlfriend doesn’t like it. I mean she’s sitting on the beach cold and bloody wet . . . if we have the social structure, then the wives and girlfriends get together and they have a good time while the guys sail.” Wow! No wonder Pryde has such a bleak view of windsurfing’s future in the U.S. In his “Good Old Boys Club” scenario, half the population isn’t even encouraged to try the sport.
Hello and welcome to the 20th century, Mr. Pryde. Women have two arms, two legs and the ability to learn and love windsurfing every bit as much as men. In fact, women are a growing part of the windsurfing scene in Madison and everywhere else I’ve traveled to sail. A lot of them probably even have to leave their husbands and boyfriends behind on the beach.
Tina Lassen
Madison, WI
Letter from Neil Pryde
Thank you for your fax with copies of the letters addressed to the Editor.
I don’t think I will respond to Tom Fisher, at least not immediately. I actually sympathize with his point of view and can understand his frustration about the lack of suitable new boards for an area like San Diego with its light wind, but the problem is that to make such a board is not a viable business proposition considering the weight they need to be and the limited commercial demand worldwide.
Custom board builders are either not interested to make large boards or they are so expensive that nobody would buy them, and if a mass producer were to look at is, he would not be able to justify the very high up front tooling and design costs. The market price at which these boards can be sold and the relatively low volume would make it impossible to be profitable.
Regarding the letter from Tina Lassen, I must say I also agree with her but the reality is that in spite of trying very hard, the boardsailing industry has not been able to attract large numbers of girls to the sport.
I guess one of the risks of doing a free wheeling interview such as we did is that you cannot always be politically correct in what you say.
Neil Pryde
Neil Pryde Limited
Hong Kong.
Michael Plank the charismatic president of North Sails Windsurfing GMBH has helped American Windsurfer make quite a splash. You might think the cover would have made him a household celebrity both here and abroad. Ten thousand copies were distributed in Europe and Asia, but there is one problem: nobody recognizes Plank with his clothes on. PLANK: “Hey you know me, I’m that guy on the cover!” STRANGER: “No you’re not! That was Laird Hamilton.” We have gotten many calls from women, and a few, uh, men, requesting copies for framing. Last we heard, Plank sold his North Sails Company to Mistral M-1 , and is spending his time lounging on the Riviera with the fat cats (eau natural, of course!). He is also considering a future career in modeling.
Homophobia
I sat down tonight to relax with Volume 2, Issue 5 (with the America3 cover), and I got as far as page 14 and the caption under the picture in the center of the page. In discussing the response to your previous cover of a naked Michael Plank, you stated, “We’ve gotten many calls from women, and a few, uh, men, requesting copies for framing.” Folks, please be aware that there is a name for this type of aside and the usual smirks that accompany it, and the name is homophobia. This is a fear and loathing of gay people, and you can file it under racism, misogyny, and the like. It may be tolerated by people with a high school jock mentality, but certainly should not appear in the pages of a magazine that would like to appeal to educated adults. I will spare you the remainder of the tirade which homophobia provokes in me, but please be aware of how you think about us and act toward us. As a member of the gay and lesbian windsurfing club of the Bay Area, I invite you to our paradise to sail and enjoy the personal freedoms which San Francisco offers the world. As a gay man, I have it all here… Crissy, Coyote, Berkeley, the Delta…and civil rights too.
David Rea
San Francisco, CA
Explain This To My Mom
Last month I subscribed to AW. Now, my mother does not understand windsurfing. Never has. In a last ditch effort to impart some enlightenment on her, I also ordered her a gift subscription, as my “non-windsurfing friend.” So – her first glimpse of AW will be a naked Michael Plank?!? How do I explain this to my mother?
Pete Lyons (Air Mail) makes a very salient point. To take his thoughts one step further—take a look around your local sailing spot. There are always people out with obviously poorly rigged sails, usually rather dated. These beginners & intermediates probably will never approach you with your perfect race-numbered monofilm sails, perhaps out of intimidation (“We’re not worth, we’re not worthy…”).
How can I impart on this scribbled page the warmth that an expert sailor creates on the beach by taking a moment to show a beginner what a little more down-haul here, a little more batten tension here, mast track there…
Suddenly, that old bag feels like a World Cup sail, in the hands of your pupil anyway, and you’ve made a friend and promoted the sport in the process. We should all ask ourselves each night—”Did I help someone sail better today?”
Having a “Holier than Thou” attitude on the beach is just as bad as having a “Holier than Thou” attitude in church. Remember Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees.
Your magazine continues to be a refreshing view of our sport. You sure have the right idea – People and Experiences—not Equipment and $. I don’t have to tell you never to do an equipment review.
Don’t let Pat Carson get you down. Have you ever read the British Windsurf Magazine? They have so many typos and misspellings that their mistakes have become one of the magazine’s trademarks! Pray for Wind…and, oh yeah – Hi Mom!
Chris Zeitvogel
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Gross Cover
It’s just my point of view but I think Vol.2 Issue 4’s cover was gross. Come to think about, so was Neil Pryde’s Wetsuit ad. Now, the picture of Pete Cabrinha, on page 31, would have made a great cover! Aloha!
John Twelker
Makawao, HI
Whirling Senses
Wow-I have yet to catch my breath after viewing your recent issue. I’m not sure whether it was the articles, the graphics and layout, or the advertisements that sent my senses whirling into a stimulus overdrive! Peter Cabrinha, Windsurf Palace, Michael Plank, Body Glove, Neil Pryde—eek-Someone save me from this most magnificent magazine ever!
Elizabeth Hall
Woodville, TN
9 Out of 10 Women Prefer…
Splendiferous! My reaction upon receiving the latest copy of your publication. If you were after impact, well, I think you got it and we are very pleased to play our part in it. It seems that nine out of ten women prefer the man in our wetsuit ad to Micky Plank (only joking!). The issue is excellent and you are to be congratulated. I would very much appreciate if you could send us three more copies of this issue. I would like to give one to our advertising agency, etc… Many Thanks & Best Regards.
James Mcally
Neil Pryde, Hong Kong
In-Your-Face
I know I speak for a lot of people. The last issue (Vol. 3 Issue 1) took a record 13 minutes to read. In this issue you had: 3 pictures of people sitting down, 5 pictures of people standing on the beach, 30 pictures having nothing to do with windsurfing, 0 decent color pictures of windsurfing that weren’t paid for by advertisers. Also the 40 pages devoted to senior sailors went way overboard, period. When are you guys going to quit pretending you’re a windsurfing magazine and be one? I subscribed to this magazine because I wanted great in-your-face windsurfing photography. Now where the hell is it, damn it!???
Bruce Nason
Vero Beach, FL
What does the America3 sailboat have to do with windsurfing? Our previous issue puzzled and enraged some windsurfers who felt deprived by the coverage given to Bill Koch and his all-woman team. To our delight however, this issue has received the broadest outreach ever achieved by a windsurfing magazine. Five hundred copies dissapperared in 30 minutes at the winter ISPO show in Germany and 2,000 copies were gobbled up in one day at the Atlantic City sail Expo. Newstand sales tripled because of the timely subject. The marketing of windsurfing to consumers in the sailing world was greatly assisted by Bill Koch’s interview. When he described his love affair with windsurfing and how he plans to devote more time developing his skills in our sport, people listened.
Free Wind Free People
I was more dismayed by your recent cover of America3, than your last cover of a grinning nude. What does a snobby millionaire boys’ sport have to do with windsurfing? Why don’t you throw Don Johnson on the cover nude with his Cigarette boat? And women challenging men—I think that idea caught my attention when Joan of Arc was running for office.
So, you understand, I was rather perturbed with I found myself sitting in my daughter’s kindergym, and having ran out of true windsurfing articles to read, I was forced to read about the ladies on the boat.
By the way glorious picture of the faux bosoms. I dwelled on that page long enough to make sure all the other mothers sitting around me could glimpse that cheery centerfold. I began reading along, finding myself completely wowed by the quality and accomplishments of each of these women and the fact that many of them windsurfed, obviously better than myself; and about Bill Koch, definitely a man of vision, actually quite inspiring, with his caring ways for the environment and non-polluting production of energy. He certainly is a man who feels the earth and knows the elements.
I was reading somewhere in the article about Anne Gardner Nelson and was completely understanding of her dilemma-to ride the wind or be a parent. I have seen the fear creep into my family as we are planning a family outing, and they catch me calling the windtalker. Anyway, I looked up at my four-year-old daughter, past your pages and past my forearms with the peeling skin from last week’s eight-day, nonstop Arenal blow-out (Rock River Lodge and Tilawa-two places that know the wind riding spirit).
My daughter was struggling, beginning to grasp the concepts of the forward roll, and I thought, “You ladies had better win, damn it.” And like the wind which appears from nothing on a still day, my tear ducts began to contract as I was filled with hope for this team, and my daughter and her future. Like having to fight off a monster gust, these little drops of saline were shoving on my lower lids, trying to get me to blubber in front of these mothers who I had just flashed the plastic hooters for.
Somehow I managed not to get launched. I was really toughed by Koch’s gesture, which is not simply a movement in air, but a fact, a certainty that this group of women is in a way going to help that little girl in front of me who is just beginning to grasp how things turn.
From the very moment after this team successfully defends the Cup, and their feat is heralded from sea to sea, men, the macho ones, the muscley ones, the power ones, are going to look at their secretaries, their coworkers, wives, and female passerbys, and they will know what these defenders did, and for some that look will have changed. That look will know that these beautiful creatures are our equals, and in many things, on many days our superiors; and maybe, that equal rights stuff will have some meaning because it’s not laws that make us equal; it’s us and the way we view and treat each other.
I think your cover for this issue is the greatest cover I’ve seen on a windsurfing magazine.
You people know the wind and the spirit of the people who love the wind. That is what makes this sport fun, and is the only thing that will make this sport grow. That spirit has been with us for several millennia and is not unique to the technological aberration that has recently found that spirit.
You people also know another great thing-that the wind is free, and at times, so are the people that ride it. See you in the next millennia-
Brian Thompson
Toluca Lake, CA
Deprived
Who’s bright idea was it to take up 2/3’s of your magazine with America’s Cup. Fascination, but not why I subscribe. To be denied windsurfing articles and stuff dreams are made of in the coldest month in the US (just about everywhere) is a crime. I feel so deprived! We buy your magazine to survive the long wait to windsurfing season.
If we wanted to read about yachting, we would buy one of those dozens of magazines out there already with an abundance of America’s Cup stories. OK, we-are-so-proud of you, you wonderful sailing women. RA-RA. We really ARE.
There are not enough windsurfing magazines, so please don’t deny us our due.
Please re-read your printed goal on your subscription mailer. And practice what you preach. Sincerely, A Hardcore Nine-Year Veteran Windsurfer.
Jeremy Myers
Toluca Lake, CA
Mike Zajicek’s spirit soared with the cover of Volume 3 Issue 4, but our mail room floor sank with the weight of letters about our interview with ANNABELLA HOFMANN entitled “The Sailing Game.” Sigi Hofmann was a former World Champion windsurfer. At the age of 43 Hofmann changed from Sigi to Annabella and began a six year struggle as a social and windsurfing outcast. Her story of survival within the indignities of our social norm was the source of heavy commentary to American Windsurfer.
Attitude Adjustment
After reading the interview with Annabella Hofman, (Issue 3.4) I felt it necessary to write and respond to the absolute courage and dignity of this wonderful person.
The problem with this sport is that our prejudices and racist views go out on the water with us; the issue here should not be sexual orientation, gender, or preference; the issue is just the wind and the waves. I have read a lot of articles in each issue of AW, and it seems to me that if these windsurfers with so much spirituality and heightened consciousness still blackball individuals involved in this sport due to their gender identity, then they really aren’t so spiritually “lifted” as they appear to be.
The reasons that we windsurf are all different; however, we all share the experience of the waves and the wind and nowhere “out there” in the oceans, lakes or rivers on which we express ourselves should there be the issue of sexuality, gender, or sexual orientation. It certainly is a pity when someone as talented as Annabella Hofmann is boycotted to the point of being forced to close a windsurfing school…does her gender identity change the way windsurfing is taught? I DON’T THINK SO!!!
This sport needs as many enthusiastic teachers and innovators as it can get, and it also needs an attitude adjustment on some of these male-oriented shop-owners and guy sailors whose only thoughts are narrow-minded and Neanderthal.
Bravo, Annabella, for having the courage to be the person you are. And shame on you all that can’t see beyond your own personal issues, fears and cruel ridiculing of others. It’s time that the windsurfing industry takes a look and sees itself for what it has become. It needs to try to promote a more positive image, and to right the wrongs it has incurred—namely, making an issue of gender and sexual orientation when the issue really is how we can all spend more time on the water, and support not only the love of the sport, but the love of the sport for EVERYONE.
Beth Morris
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Eagerly Disgusted
I received my free copy of American Windsurfer due to joining the USWA-it was going to be an automatic subscription. However, after climbing into bed with my glass of wine eager to enjoy your magazine, I was disgusted with the 20 pages you devoted to the transsexual, transvestite or whatever it was. Obviously you are committed to failure. If I want that garbage it is on the talk shows everyday. What looked like a classy magazine based on it’s cover turned into a disgusting turn-off! No Thanks!!
John Carnie
No address given
Story with Teeth
As co-editors of the only women’s windsurfing newsletter that I know of, we are constantly facing questions about “differences.” Those questions are always given the homogenous nature of participants in the sport of windsurfing. Your interview with Annabella Hoffman was inspiring from both a journalistic and humanistic point of view. I was moved by Annabella’s courage, integrity, and resistance. I was inspired by your willingness to give us a story with some teeth. We’ve put you both on our subscriber list in solidarity with your visions.
Gail Hromadko
Co-Editor “Shreddin’ Bettys”
San Rafael, CA
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