FM – Windsurf board construction has been relatively unchanged in recent years, do you see or are you looking for any new technology to change the manufacture process.
CG – On the outside yes, not a major difference the last few years but there´s quite a bit more going on under the surface with our exclusive Carbon Innegra Biax material for example, or our LTD Freeride series offering stiffness and light weight at a reasonable price – so I think it´s not massive steps we are looking at, rather making progressive gains so when a customer buys a new product every 3-5 years, he can see the difference in optics, shape and materials.
FM – Your high end products have a great reputation, how do you transfer these designs to the average user.
CG – With such a small and compact R&D team of Sebastian, Klaas, Daniel, myself and various riders, no input gets lost or wasted. So it was easy for us to use Klaas´s experiences with the Stubby project to transfer right over to the FreeWave or Blast concepts. Similarly our Falcon boards often give insights for our Gecko range etc. So as long as the information remains in a fairly compact group and is regularly shared, then it can be put to good use. We might enjoy wavesailing / slalom sailing ourselves, but we have been developing Freeride / beginner gear, in co-operation with ION Club and regular average Joe testers, for more than 20 years, so feel confident that we know what our average customer needs.
FM – Where is the market at right now?
CG – The market is pretty similar to what it has been. Slalom has made a nice comeback, which is positive. Our range sells actually very well across the board, which is a nice compliment to our design and shaping team, showing competency and consistency. The biggest markets are still Germany and France, followed by similar market sizes in UK, Italy, Benelux, USA etc.; we are seeing some of the smaller markets making a nice comeback too.
FM – You juggle a lot of roles – father, manager, tester, and windsurfer – what are your time management tips.
CG – Well, when I´m in Germany, we do start fairly early at 730 am, which is quite a good time to get a lot of the mails and other stuff done, before the B&M office gets too crazy. I try to replicate that on the many trips I do too, so that part of the job is already at least under control for a few hours. And I´m quite flexible with holidays/working trips, generally I´ll only not answer mails over a few days at Xmas. The rest of the year including weekends and evenings, I’m online and answering ASAP. This is the most efficient way for me to work, to avoid reminders or missing opportunities. On test trips or photoshoots we just try to work continuously, if there´s any breaks then it’s straight to the computer or taking care of other business. Holidays are quite good for us as everyone in the family windsurfs, so many test trips can also be combined as holidays, my kids are even in our photoshoots! Time management tips, phew, rather do it now than later, but set priorities obviously and delegate / share the responsibilities within the team, according to their individual strengths and skill sets. I´m really lucky in that I do not need to spend a lot of time managing my team, they all know exactly what they need to do and I simply assist in each department and of course focus too on sales / brand management.
FM – For many a job in windsurfing would seem like a dream come true, what is the reality?
CG – Indeed, but there is plenty of office time, trips which are less fun than you can imagine or time away from family which is not always that great. But in general I´m very happy with my lifestyle and cannot complain, if anything would be nice to spend a bit less time in Germany in winter and more in Cape Town, my home.