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TAKUMA SUGI: TAKUMA TIME 

At only twenty years old Takuma Sugi has won two PWA wave junior world titles (U-17 and U-20) and is already troubling his peers in the senior rankings. Widely tipped as a sailor to watch, the Japanese ripper tells us more about his windsurfing and life.

WORDS – TAKUMA SUGI // PHOTOS – John Carter / pwaworldtour.com

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BACKGROUND

I live about one hour from Tokyo in Japan and I am twenty years old. I started windsurfing when I was six years old and my father taught me how to windsurf. I mostly sail at home in freestyle conditions as there is not too much wind and waves at home. Zushi City is my home spot about 30 minutes from Tokyo. I am mostly sailing in Zushi or Omaezaki. My dad is a windsurfing instructor and works in Zushi.

When I was nine years old, I went with my dad to Maui just for training and no competition. We stayed for one month and I was mostly sailing down the coast away from Ho’okipa. I got into the waves when I was ten years old.

I have competed in the Freestyle in Fuerteventura two times but I also like to compete in the waves and have done events in Pozo, Tenerife, Sylt, Denmark, Maui and Cabo Verde.

TACKS

I love training and landing new moves, that makes me so excited. It is very satisfying to push my level on both tacks. I think I am a little better on port tack in the jumps and a little better at wave riding on starboard tack. Omaezaki at home is starboard tack, so I have sailed a lot there. For port tack I have mostly improved by going to Gran Canaria for two or three months every year. I like sailing in the high winds of Pozo.

INSPIRATION

Philip Köster is the best for me. His jumps are so cool. The landings he does are always super clean and his doubles are usually perfect. I sail with him a lot in Pozo and he gave me some tips on how to improve my doubles. He says they are easy, which is so funny! I also like Thomas Traversa because he is the top rider of the GA / Tabou team. He is so good at wave riding it is unreal. It is very exciting to see his projects and watch the way he attacks giant waves. Obviously Brawzinho is amazing too, he rips!

GA /TABOU

Three years ago, when I was seventeen, I made it to the international team for GA and Tabou. I won the youth section of the Aloha Classic in Maui in 2019 and after that they contacted me and invited me to the main team. It was so sick for me to win that event. The forecast was for huge waves and I was scared to sail in those conditions at Ho’okipa in the main event. When that was finished, they did the juniors which worked out perfect for me. I love my equipment and I feel it is enriching my windsurfing life!

AMBITION

My dream is to be the world champion of waves and also freestyle. I am twenty and am windsurfing full time now, so I hope I can achieve my dreams. There are quite a few companies in Japan that are interested in windsurfing so I have been lucky to secure a few sponsors.

WORLD CHAMP

I cam to Denmark in 2021 for the PWA junior event as it is the last time I could compete in the juniors due to my age. I wanted to battle with Liam Dunkerbeck and Marino Gil Gherardi. It was difficult and tricky conditions, but in the end we had quite a lot of wind and I managed to win, which gave me the PWA under-20 wave mens world title. I actually sailed a lot during the event. The forecast was not looking good at the beginning of the week, but we had wind and waves nearly every day. I like windsurfing so I was happy to sail all day when I could. I usually sail around six hours a day. The double elimination was so fun when the wind turned cross-offshore. It was the same wind direction as Maui with super clean waves, just colder. I was a little bit nervous but I enjoyed it. I like competitions, they are so fun every time.

CABO VERDE

This year was my first time in Cabo Verde and I loved it. It took two days to get there from Japan, but it was worth it in the end. I was so scared to ride the waves on the day of the single elimination. It was breaking so close to the rocks and the waves were really powerful. It felt great when I got on a set wave though. I made 8th place in the event, so I was happy with that. One of my goals for this year is to be in the top 10. I guess I’m a little frustrated, because I was so close to making the finals in the single elimination.

MOVES

My favourite move is the double forward for sure. I can do them on both tacks. I learned them on port tack in Gran Canaria and on starboard tack in Omaezaki at home. I also like the single forward, it is simple but I love the feeling. I can do tweaked tabletop push loops also which I enjoy as well as trying the push loop forwards. I am not so consistent at the push forward but I started landing them last year in Pozo. I was so excited! Marino saw me do it and was screaming!

HAPPY

Windsurfing is my treasure! It always makes me happy because I think the experiences I’ve had from windsurfing are better than anything else. I love the friends and life I have made through windsurfing. My best windsurfing spot is Pozo in Gran Canaria. It is so windy there so I can sail every day. My motivation is to simply get in the ocean every day, not just for windsurfing!

FAVOURITES

Favourite film: Chasing Mavericks.

Favourite Book: Your Life is 90% Determined by the Way You Speak (Japanese book).

Favourite meal: Sushi.

Favourite song: KYGO – Firestone.

Favourite conditions: Onshore.

Favourite board: Tabou 72 litre.

Favourite instagram: Kanoa Igarashi.

Favourite sport outside windsurfing: Football.

Favourite person in sport: Neymar!

Favourite windsurf spot: Zushi, Japan.