Kitesurf, surf and windsurf are extreme sports. The undisputed protagonist of these kind of disciplines is adrenaline. These three water sports may be seen as similar but actually they have different characteristics. Kitesurf is practiced with a board and a kite by exploiting the wind and its power; to surf you surely need a board and a pinch of craziness; while the best teammate for a windsurfer is surely the wind and all the directions it blows.
KITESURFING
Matteo Dorotini is a young athlete from Venice who practices kitesurf, he says that the most difficult thing is to coordinate the physical movements and the kite ones, but once an athlete learn to do that, he can do incredible things.
“I felt that wind was no more an enemy to subdue but a friend to play with”
How was your passion for kitesurfing born?
I was about 10 years, I lived in the Venice Lido near the beach and I used to admire an unleashed group of people who got into the water with colorful kites… when the weather was bad, everybody run away from the beach while they rush in it enthusiastic. I saw them as superheroes. I wanted to do the same thing as them but nobody wanted to take the responsibility to teach me that kind of sport. At the beginning my parents did not agree with my request because they said that kitesurf was an extreme sport unsuitable for children. However I strongly wanted to begin to practice this sport and I asked everyone to teach me, so Marco Maschietto a trainer from Venice and a a friend of mine, started to train me at the Lake Garda. Since I have learned the fundamentals and tasted the feeling of freedom, continuing with trainings I felt that wind was no more an enemy to
subdue but a friend to play with.
I think concentration and attention are really important in an extreme sport
as kitesurf. How do you prepare yourself, also psychologically, for the
competitions?
I’m lucky because I trained as sailor, sailing is my first big love. I have practiced Optimist and made competitions from six to thirteen years, I learnt the fundamentals, the precedences, the stress management during competitions. I have to say that knowing how to manage the stress is really important for anyone who goes in the water. During a competition I try to have a good time, you can win or lose a competition during practice but when it’s time for the real one I try to free my mind and enjoy it.
“I have to say that knowing how to manage the stress is really important for anyone who goes in the water”
What are the difficulties that you can meet in a sport as kitesurf?
I think that the biggest struggling in kitesurfing is to coordinate physical and kite
movements. Kite does not guide the athlete, but the athlete has to guide the kite. Once you learn that, you can do unbelievable things.
How was the most important competition for you, that you remember with
pleasure? What is the biggest satisfaction that you reached so far?
The competition that I will never forget is my debut on the professional world: the World Cup in Cumbuco, Brazil, last winter. My idols who I followed on social networks, were in the eliminatory with me. I played it, I had a very good time and I placed myself ninth in the ranking.
SURFING
Surf is one of the extreme sports practiced into the water, it consists of riding the wave using a board. This sport was born many years ago: the first witness of it dates back to the 1778 when James Cook the discoverer of the Hawaii, saw the inhabitants ride the wave with wood boards.
Noah Capps is a young surfer from England, he describes surfing as an exciting sport that makes him happy and satisfied.
Tell me something about you. How was born your passion for surfing?
My father is a very passionate surfer so he took me down to the beach from a very young age. I really started taking surfing seriously at around 8 years old.
“You are not in control of when the waves come and the flat spells”
I think surf is a sport where adrenaline is the “main character”. How do you
keep control of your emotions when you are over the surfboard?
Surfing is a crazy sport in the way that during one session you can have moments of extreme adrenaline and moments of complete stillness.
In your opinion, what are the main difficulties in a sport like surfing? They
can be both physical and psychological?
Surfing is a very physically demanding sport especially on the upper body but I do believe that surfing is tougher physiologically as you are not in control of when the waves come and the flat spells, in the same time this is what makes it such an exciting sport!
“You can have moments of extreme adrenaline and moments of complete stillness”
Where do you train when you prepare a competition?
So I tend to train here in England as much as I can whether it be surfing or in the gym but I am always searching for the next surf trip to push myself!
What is the biggest satisfaction you reach so far?
The biggest satisfaction from surfing for me is the happiness it gives me. No matter what type of day I had surfing almost always makes me smile.
WINDSURFING
Francesco Scagliola is a young Italian windsurfer. Windsurf is his passion since he was a child, a passion that continues “to fill” the athlete with the most beautiful feelings and with ambitious and nice dreams to make come true, as become a world champion.
Why do you practice windsurf? How did you get close to this sport?
I have been practicing windsurf since I’m eight years old. I started to the clubhouse of windsurf of the Strait of Messina. The clubhouse was born from an idea of two windsurfers, Roberto and Carmelo, who founded it 15 years ago. I got close to this sport because of my big passion for the sea and for the extreme sports, such as snowboarding, skiing or surfing, that I have always liked. I remember that one day I was walking with my dad and we saw these sails on the sea so we went to the clubhouse and we asked to give it a try. From that moment I continued to practice and after half a year I competed for the first time.
“The feeling of freedom is really unique”
What are the feelings, sensations or even fears that you feel when you are
over the board?
The most beautiful feeling, that I wish everyone to try, is to glide over the water pushed only by the wind, free of noises and pollution: the feeling of freedom is really unique. Another thing that I like about this sport is that every time is different from the previous and the next one: there are many factors that can change your performance. The sea, the wind and also the weather can change the colors of the sea, of the view, and this makes this sport unique of its kind, it is not as many other sports that are practiced always on the same fields.
I think the biggest fear is to break a piece of equipment during the training and you are seaward: head back to the land would become really difficult. Moreover when you are on the ocean you can broke something or maybe fall down from the board, you can have close encounters with animals such as sharks. Another fear is to hit something with the fin, which is a component of the equipment, you will fall in a very violent way.
I think windsurf is a sport that allows you to travel a lot. Do you have a
place that remained in your heart?
A place that surely remained in my heart is New Caledonia which is an isle quite big near Australia. It is a paradise on earth, an unique place especially for surfing and for the beauty of the ocean.
“Another thing that I like about this sport is that every time is different from the previous and the next one”
What is the biggest satisfaction you have reached so far? What is an aim
that you hope to reach in the future?
The biggest satisfaction I reached so far, besides different championships for categories that I obtained over the years, is surely had entered to my first semi-final on the professional circuit last year. That was a very beautiful satisfaction because the level was very high, I competed with professionals. An aim that I hope to reach in the future is to become the world champion, at least to win a high level league, so to take part to the professional circuit.
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