Admittedly, I spend way too much time on FB and checking posts on Robert Master's Old School Windsurfers group. I enjoy some of the old school posts, scroll through the plastic fantastics being pulled out of the bin, and every once in awhile come across a doozy. The one this morning by an Italian whose read my book and should know better, posted a pic of Pete Cabrinha with the post title, GOAT. Now, I'm not Robby's PR guy or anything – heck, he never emails me back – and personally think the GOAT of wavesailing is Mark Angulo, but the GOAT of all-around windsurfing, the only household name in the blue pages, is Robby Naish. Sorry, Dunkerbeck. Sorry Antoine. A gazillion World Titles is not enough.
I can see the confusion, being one sail number off from 1111. But the colors? Pink, er, Fuscia? I don't see them. As it turns out, the joke is on me. FB translated a knowledgable fellow's post from Italian to Portuguese to English, and Pete's name was lost in translation. It turns out, Pete Cabrinha in Italian Portuguese, according to FB translator, is "Goat." Goat figure. I wonder what my name translates to in Italian Portuguese? No offers, Dan Wilson. But what is more confusing than that post, is how far down the ranks Pete is on my Top Ten Wavesailors poll. Though always in Robby's shadow (weren't we all), Pete was a solid #2. I was fortunate to have witnessed his performances at Diamond Head, the raw ones with the Gumby surfer moves that nobody was doing. The twisted table tops that threw out a hip just watching. Working as a shaper at the time for Town & Country surf, I ran back to shop to grab Warren Bolster, who was packing boards at the time. "Warren! You've got to pull yourself together! There's a guy at D Head going off. All the attention's on Robby, but I'm telling you, get some shots of this guy. You won't be packing boards anymore." Of course, Warren had fallen so far off the wagon at that time it was only in half jest to think he might get his act together. But sure enough, he did, and the photos he grabbed of Pete were spectacular. I took those photos to Surfer Magazine and talked them into starting Sailboarder. That's my photo at Hookipa, a couple of years later. Pete had tweaked himself a bit too much and gone under the knife with his knee. Remaining on Oahu didn't help his street cred. He was still good enough though... damn good... and didn't he win the wave world championship in 1985? So yeah, most of the time my pollsters get it right (and I haven't had more fun since Dave & Buster's playing whack-a-mole for nominees based purely on popularity, not meeting the criteria). As for Pete... he's polling at number 11 right behind a guy I never heard of but hey, I'm an old schooler. It could be that his journey to the dark side threw a shadow on his popularity. Then again, some need to bone up on their history. Go and read my book if you want some. Pistol Pete, pre-Angulo, was straight up second to only one. Fortunately, it's my HOF, so I get one vote in, and hey, I just realized it is top 15. Either way, Pete is going in. If you want to vote for your goat, go to my FB Group, Windsurfing Hall of Fame. Hurry, do it, before I get whacked by the big Billy.
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To celebrate my 50 years of windsurfing and having spent a great deal of time as a photographer/author documenting the sport, I decided to create my own Windsurfing Hall of Fame. Of course, this is Weston's Windsurfing Hall of Fame, and you can have your own. I've been accused of being USA and Maui Centric, but these were the places where the sport of windsurfing was born, where it became the Mecca, where everyone in the formative years had to show their face to be somebody well known. That is, after all, the definition of fame. That said, I have a FB page, Windsurfing Hall of Fame, which I created to run polls on. I used these polls to cull a list of candidates to present to a more official Windsurfing Hall of Fame Voting Body. Here is a list of some of the current candidates. (Weston’s) Windsurfing Hall of Fame
Top Ten Windsurfers (Original Windsurfer) Criteria: Who made their mark on the Original Windsurfer MALE Robby Naish Matt Schweitzer Hoyle Schweitzer Ken Winner Mike Waltze Larry Stanley Bruce Wylie Bruce Matlack Greg Johns FEMALE Rhonda Smith Kelby Anno Annie Gardner Diane Schweitzer Andrea Livingston Susie Swatek Carol-Anne Alie Nalanie Heen Nancy Johnson Bep Thijs Top European Funboard Cup Sailors Criteria: 1. Years 1983-2003. MALE Eric Thieme Cesare Cantagalli Ralf Bachschuster Robby Seeger Klaus Simmer FEMALE Nathalie Lelievre Britt Dunkerbeck Natalie Siebel Top Three Sailmakers Barry Spanier Monty Spindler Malte Simmer Barbara Ockel (top female sailmaker) Top Three Board Shapers Peter Thommen Jimmy Lewis Ed Angulo Harold Ige (inductee vote-in) Top Three Board Shapers who Ripped Mark Angulo Shawn Ordonez Craig Maisonville Keith Teboul (inductee vote-in) WSMA, WBA, PBA and PWA: The Professional Windsurfing World Tours | List of World ChampionsWave 1983: Robby Naish 1984: Robby Naish | Jil Boyer, Julie de Werd 1985: Pete Cabrinha | Shawne O'Neill 1986: Robby Naish | Dana Dawes, Natalie Siebel 1987: Robby Naish | Dana Dawes 1988: Robby Naish | Natalie Siebel 1989: Robby Naish | Angela Cocheran 1990: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Natalie Siebel 1991: Robby Naish | Angela Cocheran 1992: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Natalie Siebel 1993: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Jessica Crisp 1994: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Natalie Siebel 1995: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1996: Patrice Belbeoch | Jutta Muller, Nathalie Le Lievre 1997: Jason Polakow | Nathalie Le Lievre 1998: Jason Polakow | Karin Jaggi 1999: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2000: Fracisco Goya | Daida Ruano Moreno 2001: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Daida Ruano Moreno 2002: Kevin Pritchard | Daida Ruano Moreno 2003: Josh Angulo | Daida Ruano Moreno 2004: Scott McKercher | Daida Ruano Moreno 2005: Kauli Seadi | Daida Ruano Moreno 2006: Kevin Pritchard | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2007: Kauli Seadi | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2008: Kauli Seadi | Daida Ruano Moreno 2009: Josh Angulo | Daida Ruano Moreno 2010: Víctor Fernández López | Daida Ruano Moreno 2011: Philip Koster | Daida Ruano Moreno 2012: Philip Koster | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2013: Marcillio Browne | Daida Ruano Moreno 2014: Thomas Traversa | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2015: Philip Koster | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2016: Víctor Fernández López | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2017: Philip Koster | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2018: Victor Fernandez | Iballa Ruano Moreno 2019: Philip Koster | Sarah-Quita Offringa Slalom 1983: Robby Naish 1984: Robby Naish | Julie de Werd 1985: Robby Naish | Nathalie Le Lievre 1986: Robby Naish | Dana Dawes 1987: Anders Bringdal | Anick Graveline 1988: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1989: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1990: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1991: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1992: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1993: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Jutta Muller 1994: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Jutta Muller 1995: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1996: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1997: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Nathalie Le Lievre 1998: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Karin Jaggi 1999: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Karin Jaggi 2000: Kevin Pritchard | Lucienne Ernst 2001: - 2002: Steve Allen | Dorota Staszewska 2003: Micah Buzianis | Dorota Staszewska 2004: Antoine Albeau | Allison Shreeve 2005: Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Micah Buzianis | Karin Jaggi 2006: Antoine Albeau | Karin Jaggi 2007: Antoine Albeau | Karin Jaggi 2008: Antoine Albeau | Karin Jaggi 2009: Antoine Albeau | Valérie Arrighetti Ghibaudo 2010: Antoine Albeau | Karin Jaggi 2011: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2012: Antoine Albeau | Valérie Arrighetti Ghibaudo 2013: Antoine Albeau | Delphine Cousin 2014: Antoine Albeau | Delphine Cousin 2015: Antoine Albeau | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2016: Matteo Iachino | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2017: Antoine Albeau | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2018: Antoine Albeau | Delphine Cousin Questel 2019: Pierre Mortefon | Delphine Cousin Questel Freestyle 1998: Bjorn Dunkerbeck 1999: Josh Stone | Karin Jaggi 2000: Josh Stone | Toni Frey, Karin Jaggi 2001: Antoine Albeau | Colette Gudagnino 2002: Matt Pritchard | Karin Jaggi 2003: Ricardo Campello | Daida Ruano Moreno 2004: Ricardo Campello | Daida Ruano Moreno 2005: Ricardo Campello | Daida Ruano Moreno 2006: Gollito Estredo | Daida Ruano Moreno 2007: Marcillio Browne | 2008: Gollito Estredo | Daida Ruano Moreno 2009: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2010: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2011: Steven van Broeckhoven | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2012: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2013: Kiri Thode | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2014: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2015: Dieter van der Eyken | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2016: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2017: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2018: Gollito Estredo | Sarah-Quita Offringa 2019: Yentel Caers | Sarah-Quita Offringa Foil 2018: Gonzalo Costa Hoevel 2019: Nicolas Goyard | Delphine Cousin Questel Course Racing 1983: Robby Naish 1984: Robby Naish | Nathalie Le Lievre 1985: Tim Aagesen | Nathalie Le Lievre 1986: Stephan van den Berg | Anick Graveline 1987: Stephan van den Berg | Britt Dunkerbeck 1988: Anders Bringdal | Nathalie Le Lievre 1989: Phil McGain | Nathalie Le Lievre 1990: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1991: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Jutta Muller 1992: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1993: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Britt Dunkerbeck 1994: Bjorn Dunkerbeck | Alessandra Sensini Olympic Medalists Los Angeles 1984 (Windglider) Men Gold: Stephan van den Berg (NED) Silver: Scott Steele (USA) Bronze: Bruce Kendall (NZL) Seoul 1988 (Lechner Division II) Men Gold: Bruce Kendall (NZL) Silver: Jan Boersma (AHO) Bronze: Mike Gebhardt (USA) Barcelona 1992 (Lechner) Men Gold: Franck David (FRA) Silver: Mike Gebhardt (USA) Bronze: Lars Kleppich (AUS) Women Gold: Barbara Kendall (NZL) Silver: Zhang Xiaodong (CHN) Bronze: Dorien de Vries (NED) Atlanta 1996 (Mistral One Design) Men Gold: Nikolaos Kaklamanakis (GRE) Silver: Carlos Espinola (ARG) Bronze: Gal Fridman (ISR) Women Gold: Lee Lai Shan (HKG) Silver: Barbara Kendall (NZL) Bronze: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) Sydney 2000 (Mistral One Design) Men Gold: Christoph Sieber (AUT) Silver: Carlos Espinola (ARG) Bronze: Aaron McIntosh (NZL) Women Gold: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) Silver: Amelie Lux (GER) Bronze: Barbara Kendall (NZL) Athens 2004 (Mistral One Design) Men Gold: Gal Fridman (ISR) Silver: Nikolaos Kaklamanakis (GRE) Bronze: Nick Dempsey (GBR) Women Gold: Faustine Merret (FRA) Silver: Yin Jian (CHN) Bronze: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) Beijing 2008 (RS:X) Men Gold: Tom Ashley (NZL) Silver: Julien Bontemps (FRA) Bronze: Shahar Tzuberi (ISR) Women Gold: Yin Jian (CHN) Silver: Alessandra Sensini (ITA) Bronze: Bryony Shaw (GBR) London 2012 (RS:X) Men Gold: Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) Silver: Nick Dempsey (GBR) Bronze: Przemyslaw Miarczynski (POL) Women Gold: Marina Alabau (ESP) Silver: Tuuli Petäjä (FIN) Bronze: Zofia Klepacka (POL) Rio 2016 (RS:X) Men Gold: Dorian van Rijsselberghe (NED) Silver: Nick Dempsey (GBR) Bronze: Pierre Le Coq (FRA) Women Gold: Charline Picon (FRA) Silver: Chen Peina (CHN) Bronze: Stefania Elfutina (RUS) |
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