Bjorn: The man who lost his Pryde

A falling out with Neil Pryde?: This is vehemently denied by Mr.Neil Pryde himself who simple says,

So what couldn’t they agree on? We think it has less to do with money and more to do with Bjorn’s obsession with the Speed record. He wanted time and effort to go into record breaking kit while Neil Pryde wanted to work more on kit that could be sold to their customers, like freeride and wave sails. But speed is making a comeback and of course it’s the Boards and More brands (F2, Fanatic, North...) that are leading it.

Jimmy Diaz?: No, not in that sort of way, although the rugged Spaniard is quite cute!

Jimmy left Neil Pryde a few months ago as it's Head Tester, and we speculate that Bjorn moving to North was well on the cards by then. Bjorn and Jimmy are good mates and they both want to work together and, more importantly, live on Gran Canaria, the home of their women (Daida Moreno & Mrs.Dunkerbeck). As Raoul Joa specifically says in his interview below, “It all became feasible when Jimmy came back (home) to North Sails”. The question is, did the North Test Centre in GC come before the Bjorn deal or was it part of the deal to get Bjorn to move?

However he does admit that Bjorn will be having his own personal colours. He wouldn’t say what, but he did remind us that Bjorn is sponsored by Red Bull. They’ll be red, yellow and blue then!




Women?: Please note, this is mainly the (female) Editor’s Theory.

Daida Moreno persuaded Jimmy Diaz to move to North from Neil Pryde and work in Gran Canaria, living with Daida. Bjorn and Jimmy are good friends. Bjorn’s wife liked the idea of Bjorn staying at home more to be with his family. They all convinced Bjorn that testing on GC with North was a good move rather than flying all the way to Maui for testing. As Jimmy says in his interview,

Editor: I’m right aren’t I? Women rule the world, end of story!

The current North testers?: Does Bjorn have a burning desire to work with Buzianis and Baker or does he know that he and Jimmy will be doing most of the work? Surely Micah Buzianis (the longest employee of North) will be a bit nervous, based out in Maui with his close rival Bjorn working on the race and freeride sails in the Canaries?

Not so say Raoul Joa:

What about Nik Baker, North’s golden boy, will he have to spend even more time away from his beautiful wife on the wind battered Canarian Island whist Bjorn gets to go home each night to his, yes, very beautiful wife. (How do these guys do it?!)

Over to Raoul again,

Ok, we agree with all that but surely the pot of team rider money has now diminished with Bjorn on board.

Works with Nik on the Wave, Freestyle & Super X range

Gives feedback mainly on all cambered sails, North’s longest “employee” of 16 years

Gives feedback on Wave and Freestyle sails covering lighter sailors' demands

Gives feedback on speed and slalom sails but also heavily involved on Freeride sails

Giving “Joe Blow” input since 7 years with his “normal” level of windsurfing