NEW DIRECTION
Kevin and his brother Matt Pritchard have been two of the biggest names in professional windsurfing over the past 20 years. The multi-talented Californian kids burst onto the World Tour back in the 90s, both sweeping up titles in waves, racing, freestyle, Super-X and even the Overall Title back in 2000. After dragging equipment all over the word for nearly two decades, Matt was first to quit the tour back in 2009, opting to try out the business side of the sport as well as teaching in Maui and on the mainland U.S.A. For Kevin, the younger of the two, the decision to leave the tour was one of the toughest of his life. Thankfully he’s been around long enough to have been one of the bigger bread winners on the tour and 20 years at the top were enough to buy him a stunning house in Haiku, Maui, giving him something to fall back on if the move didn’t work out.
KP “It was definitely a huge decision to quit the tour. I was so entrenched in that situation of competing year in, year out. That was all I knew – life on the P.W.A.! Making that decision took a lot of thought. My brother Matt went through the same process. I saw what he was up to and the changes in his life. I’m not quite sure why I chose to quit. It wasn’t a hard-and-fast call. Ezzy don’t even make race sails, so once I’d made the choice there was no going back to that side of the tour, at least in the short term. I didn’t have a problem with Gaastra or anything, they were supporting me well and I had the option to continue. I just started talking with Ezzy and everything seemed to click into place. I guess I was a little bit burned out on the tour. I’d been competing so long in the same places and sometimes racing in really crappy conditions. I guess I decided I’d had enough. 20 years of doing that was a long time, a big part of my life, but it paid the bills. I can’t believe Dunkerbeck and Albeau. They’ve been doing it 10 years longer than I have. I don’t know how they do it. It’s pretty awesome that they still have that drive to travel to all those events.
I STILL FEEL THE URGE TO GO OUT THERE AND SAIL EVERY DAY
