shoodbegood said.. Nice xoff, Is Bjorn the second best windsurfer of all time? He has been at it for ever, obviously still a super competitor?
Second to who? He is the most successful athlete of all time in any sport with 42 world tittles! World tittles in Freestyle ,Wave ,Racing ,Slalom and Speed.
Sadly he is retiring from competition at the end of this season.
I think that undisputedly Naish and Dunkerbeck have been the brightest "stars" of this sport. But my admiration goes to the total commitment of Phil McGain, the true sportsman attitude of Anders Bringdal, the sheer power and competence of Finian Maynard and the joyful talent of Taty Frans.
shoodbegood said.. Nice xoff, Is Bjorn the second best windsurfer of all time? He has been at it for ever, obviously still a super competitor?
Second to who? He is the most successful athlete of all time in any sport with 42 world tittles! World tittles in Freestyle ,Wave ,Racing ,Slalom and Speed.
Sadly he is retiring from competition at the end of this season.
But we can't really count athletes by the number of world titles, because that depends on the structure of the sport as well as the brilliance of the athlete; many sports only have one world title per year.
He's a fantastic sailor, though. IMHO Robby still reigns as number one because of his greater versatility but that's just IMHO.
What worries me is that Dunkie's retiring for the second time and I still remember sailing with him when he was a kid......now that makes me feel old!
shoodbegood said.. Nice xoff, Is Bjorn the second best windsurfer of all time? He has been at it for ever, obviously still a super competitor?
Second to who? He is the most successful athlete of all time in any sport with 42 world tittles! World tittles in Freestyle ,Wave ,Racing ,Slalom and Speed.
Sadly he is retiring from competition at the end of this season.
I think he was talking about me... can't see anyone else.
Hey Guys, Don't get me wrong, Bjorn is a windsurfing machine ! I didn't really know he had so many world titles, who counts after 11 ? He has been instrumental in pushing the sport forward, without question. But.... If you asked the average surfer Joe to name 1 guy, who would they say? Maybe not jusavina !! Haha,
Thanks for sharing. 3min of video is hardly doing Dunkerbeck's accomplishments justice but it certainly was done nicely.
I started windsurfing in the very early 80s and if you take into consideration the state of technology and ability Robby is still the all-time king of the sport. However there have been so many pioneers that pushed the envelope for decades and all have to be commended for raising the bar one new maneuver at a time!
Thanks xoff for that great video. I met Bjorn in WA 2 years ago, and whilst getting an autograph and talking to him(and looking up at him!!)one would not guess that he has so much success behind him, he strikes you as a real gentleman who is still passionate about his craft. Unfortunately there is not enough Bjorn's and Robby's (and Jusavinas ha ha!)throughout other sports.
Thankyou to everyone who posted. You are welcome. Yep, just green thumbed the whole thread. Yeah Bjorn... LEGEND. Aquadesiac you actually met him, yyeessss awesome
Awesome sailor but what is scary is that 25 years after he started competing at the top level......he still is.
Credit to Bjorn but that is a big indication of how few people have taken up the sport to challenge hIm and the other old fella's in recent times and how it is in decline, no more so than in Australia.
Its still my favourite sport but some younger people I talk to these days don't even know its name. Maybe time to stop patting ourself on the back for past success and ensure more juniors get into it.
whippingboy said.. 25 years ? Try 30 years I met him when he was a skinny blonde kid at Jan Juc, 1985 (Rip Curl Comp). He was super professional even then
I first met him earlier that year when F2's sailing manager paired us up when we were training for the funboard worlds at Lake Garda - and he kicked my ass (which isn't that hard). Even then he was anointed by Robby himself as The Next Big Thing.
It's strange when people refer to him as this 8' high Uberlord when to some of us our image is still of him as a scrawny, friendly little kid!
Specifically it is now announced that there are plans to make at least one speed canal on the Dutch outer islands and run the Dunkerback speed challenge there while Dunky tries for the world windsurfing speed record.
There is very regular and strong winds there straight off the North Sea. It has the potential to have much more steady, laminar winds than Luderitz. I am really looking forward to this if they pull it off. I can see a trip to the Netherlands coming up in my future.
I met him when he was a skinny blonde kid at Jan Juc, 1985 (Rip Curl Comp). He was super professional even then
