20PROFILEWYATT MILLER
Talk to us about the windsurfing
conditions you find in your ‘hood – what’s
great and what’s not so great.
Hood River is WINDY! I pretty much only use my 4.0 and 4.4
and often wish I had something smaller. The water is warm,
18C and getting warmer by the day. There are about 15 spots
to sail along 70 miles of river. We have some flat water spots,
but usually we are looking to the overhead to logo high swells
produced by the opposing current and wind direction. The
fact that the river is always moving upwind means you never
have to try and beat upwind, in fact if the wind dies you can
get stuck upwind. You have good jumping on both tacks and
no large predators. There is not really anything not to like
about it, it can be gusty but gusty 4.0 is not so bad.
Do you travel to windsurf much? If so,
where do you normally head?
I’ve spent time in Maui, Dominican Republic, Colombia,
Margarita, Bonaire and other windsurf hot spots. I went to
Dominican Republic, Cuba and Colombia the last couple
years as part of my non-profit, ‘Beyond Boardshorts’
(http://beyondboardshorts.com/) that focuses on getting
windsurf gear to low income windsurf kids in the Caribbean.
I usually do at least one trip in the spring (this year it was to
compete in the Defi Wind, France). I drive from Hood River
down to my windsurf resort in La Ventana and back every
year and the surfing and sailing locations up and down the
Baja Peninsula are some of my favourites in the world. And
of course, I always make time to sail in San Francisco when
I’m back home.
Where’s your fave windsurf spot, home
or away?
My favourite windsurf spot in Hood River is called The Wall.
It’s a narrow section of the river just below a massive dam.
The water is moving really fast which builds huge swells and
for some reason it is really smooth in between the rollers.
It’s such a good place for big jumping and epic swell riding
with overhead waves in the river.
In Baja there is the legendary wave sailing spot called Punta
San Carlos. I do clinics there every October on my way down
to open my resort. With a good south swell you can have a
mile long wave with multiple sections to hit and perfect
side-offshore winds. It’s like a skatepark for windsurfers.
When did you first come across foiling
and what made you want to get involved?
I have been foiling for about three or four seasons. At first,
my buddy Tyson Poor got a kite foil and we just put bolts all
the way through an old beat up board. It worked but it was
not easy, the foil just wasn't in the correct location. Then I
saw the designer for Slingshot, Tony Logosz, ripping our
home spot in The Gorge, Oregon. He looked like he had it
totally dialed and was jibing easy. He hooked me up with
one of his boards and foils and that’s when it really started
to take off for me.
uk
WIND
SURFING
I drive from Hood
River down to my
windsurf resort in
La Ventana and
back every year
and the surfing
and sailing
locations up and
down the Baja
Peninsula are
some of my
favourites in the
world