Windsurfing is a sport invented and still driven by a small number of outstanding men. One of them is Robby Naish. Truly a great athlete, he also proved business skills with founding Naishsails back in 1999. These days the Hawaiian based brand is on the forefront of Kitesurfing, Stand Up Paddling and, of course, windsurfing. The EFPT got together with Naish´s right-hand Michi Schweiger and Israel´s Adam Gavriel to have a doubleinterview about the gear 2011. EFPT: While the Average-Joe still wants to see a big gap between Windsurfing, Kitesurfing and SUP Naish lives the idea of combining these watersports. Where does this all-in-one approach come from? Michi Schweiger: We are simply a company where we are all part of the sports. Within the company structure we do have different departments though. So in fact there is a separation when it comes to development and to how the divisions are run. We are structured in the 3 different divisions of Windsurfing, Kiting and Stand up paddling/ surfing. Robby is the key person that ties all the sports together. It is his passion for all 3 areas and his urge on the be on the water with the right tools that drives the product development forward. In addition to that every department includes people that live the sports on the water on a daily bases. EFPT: Let´s talk about the Windsurf boards for 2011. The most striking new feature is the 3D lamination. What is it about? MS: The 3D construction allows for a stiffer more durable structure of the board without having to sacrifice light weight. In addition it ads ergonomic areas which make it more comfortable to stand on the board. In between front and back footstrap the 3D edge helps to give you a better foot position when not in both straps. Construction wise the areas create I - beams which increase the stiffness of the board. The lower areas are supported with wood veneer patches to increase the durability. EFPT: Hi Adam, are you in Israel? How does your new Freestyle board feel on the water? Adam Gavriel: Hi Dominique, I am in Eilat at the moment, waiting for some wind and having a good time with my friends. My new board is super good. Very fast, it has a good pop and spins just great. It's light and very stable on the water. I really like it. EFPT: The Naish sail line-up features three freestyle-able wave sails, a freeride sail, two slalom sails, a school rig and the maybe most high-end junior sail on the market. Who is responsible for the slightly angular looking sails of 2011, and what is the philosophy behind? MS: Our sail designer Nils Rosenblad designs all of our sail lines. The outlines of sails are in fact not as important as the actual shaping that is put into the sail. The outline focuses on having a reasonable balance of area below and above the boom in relation to the luff/ boom ratio of the sail. In the area below the boom the attention goes towards having enough freedom of movement for the particular style of sail. In terms of the sails characteristics we kept the Session, Force and Boxer (which are the sails that would apply for freestyle use next to being wave sails) very similar to the previous year. Our main focus was to keep the performance of the sails but decrease the overall weight without sacrificing durability. With the use of X-166 film we managed to bring the sail weights down which in return creates less swing weight which is essential for both wave sailing and freestyle as it creates a more maneuverable sail unit (especially if used with light weight rigparts). The sails are tested by all of us with Kai Lenny bringing in a lot of feedback into the Boxer while Robby is focussing on the Force. Nevertheless we all cross check within the test team. We also got a full time tester (Dave Wissink) who is my main test partner when it comes to comparison testing. EFPT: What sail is your first choice? Why? AG: I use the Session. The sail has good power and light feeling. It's very comfortable for freestyling. MS: Personally use the Session for wave sailing and the Grand Prix for Slalom sailing. With the Session I have a light weight front hand oriented wave sail that makes it easy to depower it on a wave when needed. If I ever feel like digging into my freestyle roots then the sail handles equally well for whatever moves I still got in my repertoire (which is pretty old school by today’s standards). With the Grand Prix I have a 3 cam slalom sail with a medium size mast sleeve that makes blasting around as well as match racing a blast. Coming from freestyle and wavesailing it is important to me to also have decent handling in a slalom sail. EFPT: The Naish team features some of the best surfers in the world, if not in titles than in renown. What does a Naish-rider have to bring along? MS: Not only skill but also a lot of character and charisma. We relate to riders who live the sport and have fun with it. We are not a company that would buy world champions but watching our history you will see that a lot of riders who started on Naish grew to be world champions. EFPT: How were you approached by Naish? AG: in 2008 I made a trip to Maui where I showed my video to a guy who works at Naish. I told him that I would like to ride on Naish. He liked my style and after a few days he told me that I can be a national teamrider. From that day on Im` riding Naish - supported by Surfhouse in Israel. EFPT: Robby Naish? MS: Best person to be on the water with AG: Amazing Rider EFPT: Freestyle? MS: Incredible high level of tricks that take a while to understand AG: Style EFPT: Maui? MS: still the Mekka of windsurfing AG: Can´t wait to go back EFPT: Eilat? MS: never been AG: Home EFPT: Thanks for this insight into Naish.