52 INTERVIEWCOOKIE
better if the glass had something in it. Honestly I don’t know
what I was thinking as I went to dunk the glass in the water
at 20 knots and of course the glass just got ripped out of my
hand. So in the photo I looked more like a random guy in a
suit than James Bond. Actually, if you look closely you might
see that my tie is made from a cut-up Severne sail bag!
Future stunts?
I wanna get someone on my shoulders - one of the smaller
female members of the beach team to see if that would
work. It’s gonna be hard to hold on – she’s gonna need
some abs and to hook her feet under my armpits…
That would be amazing. It’s almost like going back to
the days when people were rail riding, doing the splits
and smashing out body rolls inside the boom. But that
was at slower speeds. Putting the fun back into it is
what I can see happening here.
Absolutely. I can do a lot of carving stuff in windsurfing so I
thought about how I can make it entertaining for me and
break the cycle of just doing the same gybe over and over.
This was my way of making it fun, making it silly.
uk
WIND
SURFING
Is that the secret to keep people engaged with
windsurfing so they’re not going off and finding other
things to do…just keep pushing?
Yeah. It doesn’t need to be specifically pushing the limits
though, rather doing different things. I teach skiing a lot in
the winter and it’s the same thing – how can you break the
cycle of doing the same old routine? How can you make it
fun? Let’s do something a little bit different. I’m not taking
about windsurfing in a 3.0m storm or skiing off a cliff but just
breaking the habit, breaking the cycle. I get my team to think
about how they can keep their seasons fun and interesting.
Maybe they can start getting into biking, fitness, something
different so it’s not the exact same thing over and over again.
And that keeps the connection to the sport I guess,
helping us to stay focused…
…and fresh and new and interesting, not getting stale doing
the same thing.
I like that. Last question. In just one word, what’s the
secret for longevity in the windsurfing business?
(a pause, a smile) Variety.