Lena Erdil has released a brilliant new video – the windsurfing game – following her training in South Africa and reflecting on her life chasing the wind. The PWA recently interviewed her to find out more.

“What makes Cape Town such a special place for you that you keep going back?

I think Cape Town just has it all city life, nature, wind, waves and sunshine. I think especially during the European winter it is one of the most consistently windy and wavy places in the world.

During the winter you often go away and leave the slalom equipment behind for a month or two – do you think that helps you refresh with regard to your slalom training?

Yes, actually I think it’s good for me to have a break from slalom sailing, especially as when I get back I still have 3 months to restart from scratch with all the new equipment. Wave sailing is more dynamic than slalom sailing and I also do a lot of SUP-ing, so I think my winter training is actually pretty solid the way it is. I’ve been doing it this way for a few winters now and I think what’s also particularly good is that by the time I start slalom training again I am usually super amped to get back into it.

What is it that you love about slalom sailing?

The thing I love most is the actual racing with the girls! We have a great level on the tour and it’s just so fun to properly fight it out with the best women in the world! Of course, preparation is a big part of that and I also enjoy the training a lot – here I would say that tuning is my least favourite and that the race simulation again is the best 😀

And then in comparison what is it that you love about wave sailing?

Wave sailing allows me to really push myself out of my comfort zone in pretty much every single session! I love feeling the power of the waves and I love getting humbled by the forces of nature. It’s a rush of adrenaline that is totally different to slalom sailing for me.

You started the year off with an excellent second place in Korea – are you feeling happy with your speed and setup?

Yes, the two races I got to sail I felt really happy with my speed and super comfortable on my Starboard’s and Point7’s. Of course, it is hard to say more after just two races, but yeah I am happy and excited for more racing!

I think in general at the moment all the sailors here are so hungry for racing, after a long winter of preparation, that it’s quite a strange atmosphere now, excitement mixed with frustration about the waiting… But like in the movie I can only say that that’s windsurfing for you, conditions are never in our hands and all we can ever do is try and adapt as well as we possibly can to whatever the conditions through at us…

Coming back to the event here – this is the first event in Japan for 24 years – have you ever been to Japan before and what do you think of it so far?

I love Japan!!! I’m excited to have the World Cup here. We received such a warm welcome by the organisers and sailors, and the Japanese people, in general, are so polite and always trying to help, it feels good to be here.

On the beach people are asking for autographs and pictures – it really looks like the windsurfing community in Japan is doing super well. The beach set up looks great and the only thing missing to make this a truly epic event is the wind!

I’ve been to Japan once before for 3 days in Tokyo, while on the way to New Caledonia, already then I was fascinated by the culture and especially the way in which high-technology is so effortlessly integrated into people’s everyday life.

After the conclusion of the event here you’ll then have a break until September – how will you be spending the summer months?

I’m going to be in Turkey for the summer at Lena Erdil Windsurf Centre in Bodrum, I am planning to run a few advanced windsurf clinics there and generally take this chance of not having many races this summer to be more involved at the centre. I think it’s possible that I’ll add some more last minute trips to my agenda, but for now, nothing is sure, to stay up to date you can follow my social media pages 😉

Instagram: @lenaerdil  Facebook: @lenaerdilwindsurf  Twitter: @LenaErdil”

Many thanks to the PWA for the interview.