Scaling New Heights

Alessio Stillrich (Fanatic / NorthSails) made his debut in 2009 but is still only 22-years-old and he has been on the radar for quite a few years as one of the most promising and exciting emerging talents on the wave world tour. For the last few years the young Spaniard has been steadily improving - 20th overall in 2014, 16th overall in 2015 and 12th overall in 2016 - so it would be fair to say he will have had high expectations coming into the new season ready to battle it out for a place in the overall top 10. However, things didn’t go to plan with Stillrich walking away from Pozo with a disheartening joint 17th place - not what he would’ve wanted in order to keep his momentum going. However, credit where credit is due as rather than getting caught up on the result he showed tremendous bouncebackability to put that disappointment behind him and quickly record his best result (in a double elimination) yet with several scintillating performances. 

When you think of Alessio Stillrich, you instantly think of his signature super tweaked pushloops, but there’s a whole lot more to his game now with double forwards, one-hand, one-foot backloops plus all the latest wave moves now part of his arsenal, which makes him an even bigger threat - proven by his 6th place in Tenerife. After his best performance yet we caught up with Alessio for an interview: 

After a disappointing start for you in Pozo - how good was it for you to bounce back and record your best ever result on the tour in Tenerife?

It was exactly what I needed after Pozo, I had a bad time after the 17th place at home and to do well in the next event was a big relief and self-confidence boost for me. 

After the disappointment of Pozo did you feel under any more pressure to perform in Tenerife or were you able to stay relatively calm and just put the disappointment behind you?

- The weeks after Pozo I felt a lot of pressure because I thought that the year and the chance to achieve a good overall ranking was already over unless I could do well in Tenerife. I also knew I can do way better heats than the ones I did in the first event, but I also saw that sometimes things don't come together as you want in this short 12 minutes. So, not knowing what was going to happen in Tenerife made me be quite tense before the event. Once the event started I somehow managed to transform this pressure to rage, motivation and to show everybody that I can do better. 

In Tenerife you took down some big names including quite possibly your biggest victory yet against Jaeger Stone - which heat do you think was your strongest of the contest? And does a victory like that give you more confidence going forwards?

I think the strongest heat was against Alex [Mussolini] in the single elimination. The conditions were on fire and I was quite happy with my sailing. Also, Jaeger’s heat was quite good because the conditions were super tricky and I still felt kind of comfortable. 

Yes definitely, I learned a lot in Tenerife this year. Before this event, in my heats, I was usually never 100% sure of myself and I always thought that I can pass the heats, but at the same time I thought it is also possible that I won’t pass. Tenerife made me see that everything is possible if you do things how you have to do them; to keep my head cool and to only think that it is possible to win.

After the first two events, you are currently joint 10th overall - what’s your aim for the rest of the season?

- Since a few years already my goal is to end up in the overall top 10 - so I’ll stick with that until I achieve it. I am getting to that goal progressively year by year and I hope that this year will be the one I manage to break it. Sylt will be crucial to get it and I am praying for wind already now! 

If you could steal one move off one sailor - what would it be and why?

- Probably Philip’s [Kôster] doubles or Musso’s 360s. They can perform these moves in any kind of conditions to perfection 99% of the time.

You’ve got a month before Sylt - what will you be up to between now and then?

- I am sailing a lot at home at the moment. Summer is slowly ending but it is still windy every day and last year I felt that Sylt, at least with small waves and light wind, is quite similar to Pozo so I think it is the best spot to train. I am also going to the smallest of the canary islands El Hierro with my girlfriend for a week to disconnect a bit after the long and intense summer. 

Is there anything specific that you’ll be trying to work on during that time?

No, nothing specific, I just try to mainly practice the moves that I will need in Sylt like backside 360, takas, doubles, onshore backside and frontside airs and turns.

Thanks, Alessio. Congrats on your best result yet and see you in Sylt.

You can stay up to date with all of Alessio Stillrich’s latest news and adventures via his Social Media Networks:

Facebook: @AlessioStillrich 

Instagram: @alessiostillrich 

Twitter: @AStillrich