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MARINO GIL: MIGHTY MARINO

Marino Gil Gherardi, E-959, graduated onto the world stage in style this year at the PWA wave event in Pozo, finishing second at just 20 years old, in a super tight final against teammate Marcilio Browne. Long tipped as one to watch, Marino tell us more about his windsurfing.

WORDS – Marino Gil Gherardi // PHOTOS – John Carter / pwaworldtour.com

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I am twenty years old and from Agüimes in Gran Canaria which is about fifteen minutes from Pozo. My dad is from Argentina and was a footballer when he was younger, and also used to windsurf a little bit. When he moved to the Canary Islands he started windsurfing again. He got me into it of course. I was always at the beach with him when I was young. I learned in a flat water beach, but by the time I was eleven I was sailing at Pozo. I think I was on a 2.8m sail and a 50-litre board. It was quite a fun experience as a youngster to learn to wave sail in Pozo. It is the place in Gran Canaria where all the good guys sail and everybody knows this spot because of the PWA. It is the training ground for the top sailors and I think it is one of the best places for windsurfing in the world. It is always windy, there are usually waves, and the standard is next level. It is a fun place to start sailing and you learn a lot really fast!

Help

When I started sailing, the local shop, ‘Cutre’, were the first to start helping me with equipment. Once I was into competing, Brawzinho, Ricardo Campello and Robby Swift all gave me a lot of advice and tips. Ricardo actually gave me a few sails and a board. After that Brawzinho helped me get a deal with Goya and here I am with Goya after quite a few years on the team. Every year the PWA guys would all come to Pozo to train early and we would all learn so much from them. When I was smaller they were always helping me, but now I am grown up I think I have to work out things more for myself as I am competing against them. I have a higher level now, so they keep helping me, but not giving me all the secrets!

Idol

When I was young my windsurfing idol I would say was Ricardo Campello. He was the only one that was really taking care of me and helping me. He would take me to the beach and advise me on how to improve. He has a good heart and helps a lot of the kids. Also he is such an inspiration to watch and train with. He is the only one still giving me tips now I have got a lot better. When he came to Pozo in the summer of 2021, I picked him up and was driving him everywhere. We had a lot of fun and sailing with him taught me so much. It was great to sail with him again after nearly two years due to Covid.

Pozo

Pozo is quite an easy place to sail once you are used to the strong wind. Not everyone is used to winds blowing over 35 knots. It is not as hard to sail as Ho’okipa, where you need to know the wave and have your timing down. At Pozo you just need to know how to sail fast using a small sail.

In Pozo I was always impressed by Ricardo’s jumping. Brawzinho is always consistent in everything and Philip Köster of course is always innovating. I don’t just have one inspiration that I can say I want to be like. I feel I need to take something from all of these guys and get my own style. I am always looking to the other sailors and learning new things from them. Nowadays the level in Pozo is out of control. To stand out you need to make a name for yourself by going bigger and landing huge moves. You need to create your own style, push the level and try to be innovative.

Going big

I think the reason I go so high is the fact I sail with a lot of speed. Going fast helps you a lot when you hit a ramp and want to fly. I love flying out towards the ramps at full speed. I am actually afraid of heights. In the water, luckily I do not feel it that bad. There I go high as I can. When I am high up in a back loop I am looking to make sure that I control my landing. This is one of the most important things, otherwise you can land pretty hard. I try not to handle the equipment so aggressively when I am in the air. I try to keep my focus, kind of relax in the air and make sure I land clean.

Travel

It is super hard for me when I go to a different location to Pozo. The first time I sailed a place with light winds and bigger equipment was crazy. When I was in Ho’okipa for the first time I was on a 4.5m sail just floating in mast-high waves. Obviously you get used to it and I started to really enjoy these conditions. Now I feel I need to change up my sailing and try to improve in different conditions on both tacks. I love to sail in Pozo because it is super fun for me just flying in onshore conditions, but I will never be world champion by just being good there. We have a few spots in Gran Canaria and the other Canary Islands where you can train different conditions without too much travelling. The problem is that the other spots in Gran Canaria do not work so often, so I need to move around as much as possible. I have sailed in Tenerife and Fuerteventura, Denmark, Sylt, spots around Spain, Chile and Hawaii. I am trying to give it my all with windsurfing, so my plan is to travel and try and improve as much as possible.

Results

On the PWA I have had a few good results. I was world youth champion two times, which was sick for me and super fun to win against all the young guys. When you beat some of the top guys at the events it kind of puts you on the map, so that is important too. Hopefully now my level is improving and I can show what I can do when we have more competitions again. To win a big heat at an event just says, I am here, I am learning and I am going for it! That makes me happy.

Covid

Pozo in the summer of 2021, after Covid restrictions were lifted, was very busy and was actually super dangerous. It was full of people at certain times and got pretty crazy. There were maybe 50 people sailing down by the bunker. There are a few locals that always get a bit mad with the crowds but that can happen anywhere. The pandemic situation was not that bad on the Canary Islands to be honest. I like being at home so that was not a problem. When we were in lockdown I was training in my garage where I have my own gym set up. I played on my PS4, chilled at home with my friends and life was not that bad aside from the fact we were not allowed on the water. Once I could windsurf, I was on the water every day it was windy.

Goya

It has been amazing riding for Goya. They are really nice guys. While I was in Denmark for the PWA youth event I was talking to Francisco Goya every day. He was chatting with me about the competition and helping me a lot with tips on competing and rigging. He takes care of me as if I was his son! They have been a sick sponsor and I love riding for them. I love my 4.0m Banzai and also the 3.7m. The 74-litre wave board is also incredible, I love it. It is very radical, yet easy to sail at the same time. It planes really early and is a fast board which suits me. The sails have a lot of power and the combination together is perfect. I also love the 3.4m, but that one is just for the really windy days. You arrive to the beach in the morning on the really windy days and you know it is going to be a good day. The big full power days are the days to prove yourself and try new things or go bigger on the moves you already know.

Escape

I love the freedom when you are in the water alone with your gear, flying with the wind. I don’t even mind getting smashed by the waves now. I just love being in the water and pushing my level. It is a place you can escape from everything else and you are in the moment with the wind and waves. When I am sailing I am in my own world just chilling and thinking, I love it.

Best

I have done a lot of things with windsurfing, so there is no single best moment. I have travelled a lot, met new people and shared many experiences. Windsurfing has given me everything that I have now, so I am really grateful for it. Travelling to Maui was my dream since I started windsurfing, so that was one of the best experiences for me.

Season

This year I started my season in Chile, and I’ll be doing the PWA events in Sylt and Maui too. I would have loved to go to Fiji and Japan, but it was too expensive. So I chose the ones I thought I could have the best results in at the end of the year! I’m in Fuerteventura right now for the freestyle event, I signed up to it for fun! Then I will keep training, maybe go to Morocco and Tenerife and then head north for some colder sailing and preparation for the event in Sylt. Then I’ll head to Maui and stay there for at least two months and see how it all works out!

Home event

I wasn’t confident at all going into my home event in Gran Canaria, but I was happy with my sailing and how everything was coming together for the event! I was super stoked with how it went and for sure being from there and always sailing there gives me an extra advantage. Taking down big names like Robby Swift and Ricardo Campello is not easy as they are such amazing sailors! Robby was sailing super good during the whole event and Ricardo too, so I was stoked I could make it past them. Also defending my second place against Marc Paré in the double was really good! Competing against Brawzinho in the finals was amazing for me! It felt super special! Coming so close to first place was sick! I felt a little bit disappointed because I know I could have made the win happen, but I still have a lot of time to do it! Next year I’ll try again! I did win though the Red Bull rockets with an 11.6 metre stalled double! Last year I lost by 0.1 of a point, so I was stoked. I love going high and I love to boost massive push forwards and doubles, so it was just sick to win! After the event, the reaction at home and on social media was super good I did a lot of interviews and had a lot of fun with it! I got treated really well!