A LEGEND RETIRES

The end of an era as most decorated sailor in windsurfing history - Björn Dunkerbeck - announces retirement from PWA

During the DAVIDOFF Cool Water Sylt PWA Super Grand Slam - Björn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Chris Benz / Dunkerbeck Eyewear) - announced that he will be retiring from the PWA, bringing down the curtain on a long and illustrious career. With an incredible 41 world titles, the Terminator, has ensured himself legendary status within the windsurfing world and his feat is one that we may never see again, such was the scale of his success. Dunkerbeck won his first world title in 1988, before claiming his final world crown in 2011 such was his longevity and dominance of the sport. Dunkerbeck’s retirement from the PWA marks the end of an incredible era, so we simply had to catch up with the man himself for an interview, which you can read below:

PWA: During the DAVIDOFF Cool Water Sylt PWA Super Grand Slam you announced your retirement, was it a tough decision and what was the deciding factor in your decision to retire now?

BD: “Well, first of all I’d just like to clarify that I am only retiring from PWA Slalom, I will be continuing to windsurf.”

“Over the last couple of years my absolute biggest rival has been this low wind limit, which as my mother said: “Now that they’ve finally dropped the wind limit so far, you have no chance anymore.” (Laughing). I feel like I must repeat that every time because that’s really the way it is. In the medium and strong winds I usually still make the finals without a problem. But in the light winds when you have an 85kg person on 9.5m and 130l board, it just doesn’t work for me when I’m on my biggest equipment too. During the racing in Sylt I led one of my heats into the first mark by 10m, and then out of the gybe all seven people overtook me. So that was the last slalom I will do here in Sylt, the wind limit is just too low!”

PWA: Has that made it tough for to compete on the tour for the last couple of years?

BD: “It’s made it impossible to be challenging for the top basically!”

PWA: There’s still two PWA Slalom events to go in 2014 - La Torche and New Caledonia - will you be attending those?

BD: “Yes. My equipment is already on it’s way to La Torche as we speak.”

PWA: What do you think you will miss most about competing on the PWA?

BD: “I don’t know right now, I will have to wait and see after the last two competitions this year.”

PWA: How about what you will miss the least?

BD: “Waiting for wind, which is something you don’t miss ever. But obviously windsurfing is a sport with nature and the wind is always going to be unpredictable. Unfortunately that’s just a downside that we have to live with.”

PWA: Over the years you have had many different rivals… who do you think has been your biggest rival?

BD: “Probably Robby Naish (Naish) and Anders Bringdal (NeilPryde), in the late 80s and ‘90s. And then in the 2000s, definitely Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde).”

PWA: Out of your 41 world titles, are there any that standout more than others? And if so, which and why?

BD: “I’d have to say the first one probably, then the fifth one and the overall for example, equalling Robby Naish. Then the next big one for me was winning the overall for the tenth time. Also the seventh time in wave stands out in 2001. And finally I’d probably have to say the final world title I won in 2011 - when I changed sponsors again to Starboard and Severne. Over a three year plan I managed to improve each year from 3rd to 2nd and finally 1st. That was 25 years on after winning my first world title, so winning after a quarter of a century again was definitely a memorable one.”

PWA: Over the years where have been your favourite locations to compete?

BD: “Definitely the Canary Islands, Hawaii, Japan, Sylt and the Caribbean. They all had something special about them and I always provided the windy ones. There was always plenty of variation in conditions, which made for interesting competition sailing. I think I’ve probably competed in over 40 different locations over my career. I even remember going to Fiji a long time ago and Baja, California, for waves. So I’d actually be curious to know how many destinations the world cup has visited.”

PWA: When you first started competing did you ever envisage be able to win 41 world titles?

BD: “No. Not me and nor did anybody else.”

PWA: What’s next for Björn Dunkerbeck?

BD: “I will continue with speed sailing, record hunts, trying to beat 100km/h top speed and the 2 second GPS peak speed. I’d also like to break the 100m and possibly 250m and 500m records too, if everything goes well.”

“Apart from that I will participate in some of the biggest long distance races around the globe. In January, I’m 99% sure that I will be competing in Australia for the Lancelin Open Ocean Classic, followed by the St Barth Fun Cup in February and the Defi Wind, which I haven’t be able to do for the last couple of years due to clashes with PWA Slalom World Cup competitions - either Costa Brava or South Korea - which sees roughly a 1000 sailors taking part. So there’s going to be some very interesting long distance racing. I’ll also try to make a few more competitions throughout the year, just to try and motivate more and more to go on the water.”

“I’ll also be continuing with the Dunkerbeck Speed Challenge, which saw the first event take place last June, where my son - Liam - was the youngest competitor at 10 years old and recorded speeds of over 40km/h over 250m. My father was the oldest at 70 years old and he managed 36 knots, so about 65km/h.”

“My plan for the Dunkerbeck Speed Challenge will be to have 3 stops next year and then one on every continent the year after. The locations of which shall remain top secret for the moment. Fuerteventura is the only one to have a date right now.”

“I’m planning on spending more time with my family, whilst trying to develop the surf school again - surfing, SUP, bodyboarding and windsurfing - more info can be found at surfbd.com as well as on Facebook. I also have a shop in Siam Park and have future plans of creating a school aimed at kids for SUP, surfing and windsurfing after hours in the pool. Like this I believe we can get very young kids involved in a very secure environment. I am building a new Siam Park in Gran Canaria, which should be complete in 2 years time and is a €65 million project. I am in charge, together with the owner’s and the inventor of the wave, to create an even bigger wave. The aim will be to create a 3m wave in the peak zone.”

PWA: Thanks, Björn, good luck in your last two events and for everything else in the future.

To stay up to date with all of Björn Dunkerbeck’s latest challenges and adventures be sure to follow his Facebook Fan page here.