Street windsurfing is coming back to the scene and UrbanBreez is playing a part. I can not tell you how much that makes me proud.
Now let me tell you the story behind the UrbanBreez Street Windsurfing board:
I loved windsurfing when I was a kid, but my parents were not into it and there wasn’t any good opportunity to learn. So it had to wait till I could do it on my own. When I was about 19 some of my high school and university buddies got excited about it and started to windsurf. I was happy to “come along”.
So I bought my first Windsurfing board and a 5.7 m2 rigg. That was back in 1995. Didn’t have much money to spend on my first windsurfing gear so you can imagine it was an old board that was really just for beginners. As soon as I could snap my feet into the straps and hook on that harness the board was all over the place. Spinning out all the time because the fin was “shaky”.
Had to buy me some new windsurfing gear that would fit with my level I was at.
But I was also facing another problem. We did not live by the sea. So the only time I could windsurf was in summer for about 2 weeks. Maybe 3. And it had to be a proper windsurfing spot. Since I live in Slovenia and we usually spend summer holidays in the beautiful Croatia, it was either Bol on the Brač island or Pelješac.
Both fantastic spots. Even the PWA (Professional Windsurfers Association) Tour visits Bol.
I was having the time of my life with windsurfing.
But it was over too soon.
Sure we went for a one day windsurf every now and then, to a local lake or something. If the wind was good of course. But that was simply not enough.
Now I didn’t have plans to become a pro rider or anything like that. I just wanted to do more windsurfing, because it was so much fun. The joy that I felt when “nature was pushing” into my sail,… It was amazing, unique, exciting, overwhelming. I was in love.
Then it happened.
One day on a platform near the city center I saw someone windsurfing on a skateboard. It was a fantastic solution to,.. well do more windsurfing.
But I didn’t like that the guy just had an ordinary skateboard. Not really much room to enjoy the windsurfing.
So I decided that I’ll make a “proper” street windsurfing board for me. And I did. There was no YouTube or any DIY stuff on the internet back then,… so I had no idea what was even out there. I just had to come up with my version of what I thought would be a “proper” Street Windsurfing board all by myself.
That was about 25 years ago. The first version, my own version of what I branded now as UrbanBreez Street Windsurfing Board was born.
It was a lot of fun.
Then I started to work, started a family and ran out of time to do any windsurfing in the coming years.
Last year I was talking with my friend Tomaz who also loves to windsurf. Told him what I made 25 years ago and how I still have that same Streetsailing board in my parents basement somewhere. He wanted to see it, try it. And he wouldn’t let it go. So after about 3 months I said “what the heck,… let’s bring this out of the basement and let’s try it”.
After 1 minute, Tomaz was super excited.
I gave it some thought,… and decided to bring this back to life in a bigger way. Maybe it was time to share my design with the world.
I always felt street windsurfing should have a place in windsurfing. It was quite “alive” back in the 1970s and 1980s.
Even land windsurfing marathons have been undertaken across the Sahara in 1979 by Arnaud de Rosnay and Nullarbor Plain in 1985 by Gavin Le Sueur.
But then it all kinda went to sleep.
So I redesigned the street windsurfing board that I originally created all those years ago and the UrbanBreez was born.
I decided to bring my design to Kickstarter to see if there was any interest.
The interest and the excitement people showed was amazing. We had a very successful crowdfunding campaign and a lot of new friends.
I am very proud to say that right now we are about to finish our first manufacturing batch of UrbanBreez boards and start shipping.
I feel that street windsurfing is being reborn. It’s something that every windsurfing store in the world should offer and I’d like to make that possible.
I feel that this part of windsurfing offers so much.
For example, to go windsurfing it usually takes a whole day. Well going to a local parking lot for an hour of street windsurfing will probably take no more than 2 hours. It’s like going to a gym. One hour workout will be great for you. And you can squeeze that into your daily routine just about any day. Right?
You will not be super tired like after a whole day of windsurfing. And you will still be practising those jibes and tacks.
You will be training windsurfing and you will have fun.
I think it’s something every windsurfer should have in his windsurfing gear arsenal.
