In Spring we were shooting for a TV Show: The A1 Surfsessions. Host Phillip Mück (The Wild Routine) discovers the Windsurfing/Surfing Szene in Austria. After meeting Marco Lang at Surfworldcup Neusiedl, enjoying some Waves at Multiplex Citywave Vienna he visited me at home. Straight after breakfast we went for an urban Windsurfing session in Vienna…
Check it here: https://www.a1now.tv/de-int/playerpage/71875
An awesome Springseason here in Austria comes to an end, I guess this was one of the best years I can remember. Podersdorf and the Bridge were delivering! You name it, we had it. 3.6 full power for days? YES! 4.4 perfect freestyle conditions and warm water?! Yes, 5.2 lonely Foiling yes!!!
One of my personal highlights: winning the Austrian Champonships again. So I can call myself at least for one more year Austrian Freestyle Champion #twoinarow. check my short insta360 edit below…
Changes: Boardwise, we started quite early with developing the Freestyle Board further. After Capetown (and almost 3 seasons without changes) I had some ideas and wishes to make the Freestyle compact better. I was testing a few boards and was really conviced that I need more control but wanna keep the Skateboardfeeling – as some of the productionboards were quite boring. We introduced a wider square nose and more parallel rails. Further more we changed the length fromn 207 to 211 to get a bit more control in gnarly conditions into the board, to achieve that also the bottom got a slightly work over. Well, it works pretty good. After testing some days and changing boards run per run, tuning the setup I am convinced that this is my weapon of choice.
Foil: Yes I am going Foiling a lot lately, as it increases my Windsurfdays on Lake Neusiedl to almost 100% if I am keen. As many of you keep asking me through instagram. The biggest sail I use is the Duotone Idol 5.2 My Board is a custom Flikka Foil Board with a length of 204 and 74 wide and has 105l. I would describe it as a easy freeride board, perfect for learning. I made some fast progress on and can really recommend you a pure foilboard. If I feel ready for more advanced freestyle (I already do 360, Duckjibes, Jumps, riding fullspeed back….) I think I gonna change to something different, a bit more agile – but for now this board is perfect for me.
I use a Fanatic Foil with the „smaller“ 900 Frontwing. This is enough for me to fly when there is almost no wind (15m kites not working on a waveboard). I found out with my weight this has more control than a bigger frontwing.
Future Plans:
I gonna travel to Mauritius soon, will try to boost my level one more. Let’s see. Beside that I will put a lot of effort in my Media Project „Visionstorm“. I also realized my first TV Show for A1 now this spring which includes also some portrait of me – will let you know as soon it’s watchable!
Max
In the newest issue of the Surf-Magazin is the last part of Andre’s and my Travelstory to Greece. Some magazines ago we had 8 pages with Kos, this time it’s the story of Rhodes. Rhodes is a very special island to me, as my windsurfroots start there. Feel Free to read the article online or printed and let me know how you like it! As all this stories would not be possible with the support of some amazing people, I would like to thank Chris Sammer (Duotone), Chiemsee, Surf & Action, Surfshop Upsidedown for supporting our Greecetrip.
In the first Issue of 2019 in the Surf-Magazin, one of my shots was printed on the „inside“ Cover, the first Page inside the Magazin. Not a Cover but pretty cool. The Photo was taken by Max Matissek in Mauritius last summer.
Time to make it official: SEEN 8, my new Video is here. This time you can find some crazy action from Vienna’s Citywindsurf Spot: „The Bridge“. But then…What is going on?! I crash straight into the 80s?! But hey Windsurfing was still there, the cars were sick aswell, the closes and sunglasses had a different style, but they had style, and the Windsurfequipment? Yes, different – but unexpected very good rideable and good fun. To say the truth riding the old Sunset Slalom with the more than 30year old North Sails was one of my best Crusing and Freeridedays I ve ever had – so much fun! But now go and check the Video.
Ah yes, and the Video takes part in the Windsurfers.de Video Competition. Check it out.
Wow. That has been the best Autumn in Austria, since I ve been Windsurfing! The bridge was going of, a lot of perfect south-east wind days, really awesome conditions I could share with some of my best friends. I think after travelling so much the last 1,5 years coming home and sail almost every single day at the spots where you grew up, is just as good as it gets! When the South Wind kicked in September me and my buddy Jo started working on a proper Windsurf Action Clip straight out of Vienna. It will take part in the Panasonic Windsurf Video Competion hosted by Windsurfers.de, it will be online pretty soon!
Beside ripping up the Danube we got some storm days on Lake Neusiedl aswell. Hell yeah, nothing beats the feeling of being totally overpowered in some pure flying water gusts, two days stayed in my mind: First we experienced a massive NW day in Podersdorf. Flying water everywhere, measured windgusts up to 120km/h, me totally stacked on my Idol LTD 3.6 and my small Flikka FS Board. WHAT AN AWESOME DAY! A few days with SE directly followed the big storm, and guess what it got even better.
THE DAY of the Year!
If you were following my stories on social media or here, this year Neusiedl was a bit of my Kryptonite, I just did not get warm with the spot during the EFPT Event there. Anyways a forecast popped up which predicted up to 45knots South Wind. Usually I would go to Weiden, but my friend Luki convinced me to give Neusiedl another try. Already on the way there, I heard on the Radio that’s up to 100km/h South Wind in Neusiedl. I was excited. After a few runs on my 4.0, I changed down to 3.6. And I was sailing until it got dark, as it was just THE DAY OF THE YEAR. I think for me it was also a gamechanger. As I finally realized I can land also the hardest moves in not ideal conditions when I pulled of my first planning shifty and some crazy Airfunnel Burners and Kabis in the mega chop. I think it has been at least one year that I ve been so stoked about Windsurfing! And for sure my personal highlight of 2018, which is crazy when you think back on what kind of dream spots I ve been, that I still find the biggest pleasure at the place where I grew up, where I learned to Windsurf and what I call my home!
What’s next? Right now I need to catch up with some projects I was working on the whole year to still push it out. There are three Windsurf Videos coming in the following weeks – so prepared! The plan is to squeeze in at least one or two Croatia trips now in December for some R&D Work on new Flikkaplans. I would love to hit the mountains aswell, as I ve a really cool new Cooperation coming up. Anyways latest in Jannuary it will be the time to kick Windsurfing 2019 of. I was thinking quite a lot how Windsurfing could be then. After all those years it is still my big Love. So there is only one way. Windsurf More. More Quality. Go Bigger and send it more!
Yours,
Max
25.11.2018
Hey Guys!
Last June I spent a couple of weeks in Greece. My friend Andre and me did some island hopping to produce a stories for the German Surf-Magazin. It’s the biggest Print Magazin in the Windsurfworld with around 25k issues sold every month. So if you are keen to jump on a cheap flight next summer (Vienna-Kos you can go for aroung 80!! €) Maybe this spotguide helps you. You can read it online on digital.surf-magazin.de
Yes, it’s true. I windsurf with music. It’s nothing new as I started already in 2014 with it – and I loved it from the very beginning. The question why I windsurf with music is not so easy to answer. Basically it is, because I ve more fun and simply sail better (when I listen to a good Song!). It’s something which helps me getting me focused on Windsurfing. I don’t know how you feel while surfing and what you think while Windsurfing, but for me (especially when I am not focused), I am drifting away with my thoughts. I am thinking about my life, my problems, what I had for lunch, what I will do tomorrow, what should I better do in this special moment, blablabla and much much more – but what I often not think about: About the next move, how could I duck my sail better, what did I do wrong on my last attempt…and guess what Yes with music I am in my zone…and whats even better with the right music it’s much easier to step out of my own comfortzone.
In my whole Windsurfing with music experience I tried a lot of products. Starting with a waterproofbag for my iPod Nano and some waterproof shit ION Headphones(killing that iPod soon), a few pairs of headphones later I switched to an iPod Shuffle in a pretty bad waterproofbag and again not such nice headphones from Amazon (can’t even remember the brand). iPod died again. From that moment I switch to a MP3 Player-Headphone Bundle from China, called smarttera. I had a couple of those in the last 3 years, I would say I had around 2 at least each year – but I was never satisfied qualitiy and the headphones fell out easily and were not so nice to wear – but it worked and I could sail with music.
Last year in Amsterdam JBL came with their new sports headphones- and hey the unofficial launchpaper already wowed me. Fully waterproof headphone with integrated mp3 player. YES. I was burning for this product already more than 8 months before its launch. And guess what when Eduard gave me the first sample and said I should try it and produce a sick video in Brazil- I was like: HELL YEAH, thats the product I was waiting for. I took it with me to brazil and was already in love with it- and it was just the first proto:
In the end the ENDURANCE DIVE, is everything I was searching for for years and until now it’s the only headphone/mp3 player bundle I can really recommend you for action watersports!
Whats better than on any other products I tried?
I used the headphone also during the Event in Neusiedl (was not the fault of the headphone I could not get a better result than 17th) and during the Austrian Championships- which I won (I could stay super focused with my music). Since I ve the endproduct I did not have many sessions without music and I am still convinced that this is the way a headphone for watersport should look like – well done JBL.
