Straight
to the point with….
Josh Stone
The Editor caught up with Josh at
Poole Windfest.
Q: What are you up to these
days?
I
call it my pension plan. My
sponsors basically pay me to
play, go to promo events and
I help out with R & D.
I’m basically doing what I was
doing at 16 years old; wave sailing
every day but getting paid to do it.
My contracts are golden, I’m
a lucky guy.
Josh ripping it up in Poole Harbour!
Q: What’s your secret?
I
think it’s because I liked
doing promotion. I liked the attention.
It was never work; it was who I was,
and my sponsors loved it and in return
have supported me and still do.
I worked out that every athlete is
a product, and it comes down to how
marketable that product is. Some sailors,
although professional, don’t
understand that a huge part of it is
how the public perceive you.
If you’re too cool for school,
the public won’t like you and
you’re not going to get anywhere.
Unless of course you’re Dunky
and you’ve won 12 times straight
and there is no denying you’re
the best windsurfer on the planet!
Lou, Josh and mini-Josh
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Q: Do
you miss competing?
Not
really. I achieved my goals.
I wanted to be world champion
and I got it, twice. Freestyle
was super fun and I loved it,
but I am a surfer at heart
and have always loved wave
sailing. Freestyle got to such
a level that you almost had
to give up wave sailing and
go and live in Margarita; and
I just couldn’t do
that.
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However, any sick wave event, I will
do. But I refuse to go back to Gran
Canaria or Sylt. I can’t get
myself to do it any longer. I think
Jason Polakow and Francisco Goya are
in the same boat as me: we just want
to wave sail.
Q: What moves did you do
to win your first World Freestyle
Championships?
One handed
spocks and spock 540s were my big
moves, plus one handed planing forwards.
Q: Freestyle
.v. Super X
We created
freestyle in order to reach
a larger public and bring younger
people into the sport, and
as you can see, it was beyond
successful. But what has happened
is that the level has got so
high that people can’t
comprehend it.
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Josh teaching sailors how to kneel on the beach and still look cool. |
In high winds it is still unbelievable,
but I think Super X is now the new
thing for the general public. There
is a definitive winner, it’s
not subjective and everybody can do
it, just like freestyle was in the
beginning. But you got to remember
freestyle is just free sailing, it’s
an expression of what you do, whether
it’s a one handed gybe or a spock.
Don’t diss it, it has revived
the sport.
Q: Super X: tempted?
I
would rather get back into freestyle
than Super X. I’m just not into
going fast. But really my goal right
know in life is just to be on the water
doing what I want to do, not having
people telling me what to do or where
to go.
Q: Do you fancy setting up
your own brand, like Francisco Goya?
No.
To me, wealth is time. How much time
you have for yourself and your family
and to do what you love to do is
so important. I look at Fran (Goya)
and I see how hard he is working on
his new project and I think, I just
couldn’t do that. I’m kind
of a lazy guy!
Q: Who’s the next Dunkerbeck?
I’ll say it’s
between Kauli Seadi and Alex Mussolini
for the best all round young guys at
the moment.
Ricardo Campello is definately a contender.
His jumping is awesome, but his wave
riding will take time to improve.
What I can say is that all these guys
train super hard. They never party,
they are real straight arrows! But
hey, that’s what you have to
do these days and good luck to them.
Q: The Future of windsurfing?
I
really focused on bringing younger
people into the sport, and I suppose
I was the poster boy for youth and
freestyle. I look out now at the kids
going for vulcans and I think hey,
that’s cool. It takes a while
for this new youth to come through
the sport and make a difference. You
watch, in three years time, windsurfing
is going to have its day, again. 2004
was the industry’s first ‘up’ year
in 8 years, which was killer. We increased
the number of boards and sails sold.
The backbone of the sport will always
be the forty something because they
are buying all the new kit with their
disposable income. But the mainstream
attention will focus on youth, and
once that happens the sport will boom.
Q: Where do you go now?
Off
to Ireland for some more promo, then
I’m done for the year. I
think all I have to do is go back to
Maui, sail and get paid to play! Someone
has to do it!
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