“ I don’t see myself quitting competing ever. I just had to say enough was enough with slalom ’’
JC: We have asked a few sailors to ask you one question about your career so here goes…
Dave White: What values are most important to you?
BD: Family and real friendship are something I value pretty highly.
Antoine Albeau: What is the biggest sacrifice you made in your windsurfing career?
BD: The biggest sacrifice? Well that is all the travelling and the getting ready for races when there is no wind or light wind. I love windsurfing and I still do and I can do well in good winds. That is why it is called windsurfing! But competing in light wind, ‘crowd pleasing events’ has been my biggest sacrifice I am sure.
Peter Hart: Does one season stand out when your body, kit and mind were so in tune, you really thought nobody could get anywhere near you?
BD: In the nineties, pretty much I would go to a competition and I was only happy with first place. Obviously I was totally dedicated to winning all the way through the late eighties and nineties. That must have been the time when I was untouchable. At first it was all about winning. Later on it became winning by a margin and then winning by a bigger margin. That fire in me kept burning for a long time. It was all about preparing yourself, equipment wise, physically and mentally. I had the determination that whenever I was not competing, I went out and trained to be better. I was never happy staying at the same level.
Kai Katchadourian: Congratulations Bjorn on an amazing career. Does that mean we can get started on our new heavy metal band called the Terminator?
BD: Something like that, I would probably end up being the bouncer because I am not very talented with musical instruments.
Guy Cribb: If you were the director of the windsurfing industry with the control of its future right now, what changes would you make to improve the sport over the next decade?
BD: That’s a good one! Well obviously don’t forget your roots! Don’t forget what people actually do when they go windsurfing. This is basically going backwards and forwards. For this you need to make the equipment as easy as possible. Maybe not keep making so many changes so quickly. We need to make windsurfing a little bit more affordable for most people to get their hands on the decent equipment. I think long distance is a very good way of getting more people motivated to go windsurfing. You can see it every year, there are more and more of these type of competitions and get togethers because they are usually windsurfing festivals as well. The good windsurfing schools are helping a lot to get more people on the water. Obviously parents can help. If you are a windsurfer and you have kids, try to bring them to a good centre and get them windsurfing with kids the same age group as themselves. That’s how we can help push a new generation of sailors out there. For the industry, make some freeride equipment that is affordable and don’t try to change it every year because the chances are you won’t sell enough so you cannot keep the price down. You need the high end gear but equally you need the medium and low end to be affordable.
If you want to know more about Dunky’s exploits check out
facebook.com/Bjoern.Dunkerbeck