Alex Mussolini (E-30), the mastermind of waveriding

Alex Mussolini - Pic: PWA/John Carter


Alex Mussolini (26) is one of the few wavesailors, who could win a PWA waveevent in the past years. In 2009 he celebrated the incredible victory at Sylt sailing on the young sailbrand of Vandal Sails. And he was able to improve the ranking over the years: 15th in 2008, 9th in 2009 and 7th in 2010. While the 2010 season he changed to Gaastra and is now an international team member for the sailbrand. Alex, who was born in Barcelona moved to the Canary island of Tenerife. Soon a PWA waveevent will start at one of his homespots,  El Cabezo. We hooked up with him to find out more about this amazing wavesailor, who actually finished the first PWA wave tourstop 2011 at Pozo Izquierdo in an excellent 7th position.

 

“Alex is a waverider, who can win heats just through his extremely high points on the waveriding. He often had a jump less than his opponent and he still won the heat!” (Duncan Coombs, PWA race director after the 2011 Pozo event)
Here is short clip with actual footage we got in Pozo, which shows the nice waveriding style of Alex.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/c7media/bigvids2/events2011/mussoliniclip_pozo2011.mp4

Alex rides a big wave at one of his homespots.

 

C7: How are you, where are you around right now?

Alex Mussolini: I am back home in Tenerife again after the Pozo event, nice weather and plenty of wind and waves here!!

 

C7: What does it mean to you to have a worldcup at El Medano, El Cabezo on the island of Tenerife?

Alex Mussolini: It´s great to have an event in your home spot, as I have been living here the last 3 years that gives me an extra motivation to perform well and the conditions suit me perfect for my style! I want to thank Dany Bruch for making this possible!

 

C7: How would you desccribe the conditions and what are the most used gear?

Alex Mussolini: We are used to having more cross shore winds and the waves can get really powerful on the right tide! We are used to sail from 4.0 up to 5.2, but of course the more wind we have better it is for wave tricks and for jumping.

 

C7: You changed to Gaastrasails before the Cabe Verde event? Why did you finish with Vandal Sails, although you were the top rider winning a PWA event last year in Sylt?

Alex Mussolini: It was a difficult thing for me as you say I was the top rider in the Vandal Sails team, but I also think that it is a great chance for me to make myself a name in one of the biggest brands in the world of windsurfing like Gaatra. For me being part of Gaastra is an honor because is a brand with such a big history and I want to become part of that.

 

Alex with a new sailsponor at Cabo Verde at the Cabo Verde PWA event in 2010 (Pic: PWA/Carter 2011).

C7: Which model of the Gaastra range are you using right now?

Alex Mussolini: I am using the IQ Thomas Traversa pro model, its also an honor to share a great sail with one of my best friends. He rips!!

 

Alex and Thomas Traversa, teammates and friends (Pic: PWA/Carter 2010).

 

C7: Is the Tabou/Gaastra combo the perfect one for you and why?

Alex Mussolini: It is great! The way the sail works is perfect for my style and the boards that Fabien Vollenweider shapes are the best for me. This 2 combinations suit me perfect!

 

C7: Are you using production sails and production boards or are you using custom shapes like most of the top pros do in the waves (shapes of Vollenweider, Quatro..)

Alex Mussolini: I use production boards and sails, but most part of the year together with Thomas we are testing protos for the upcoming year. The same happens with the sails, but as I was new in the Gaastra team I  did not test too many protos in the beginning.

 

C7: Did you test prototypes of Tabou in the meanwhile for the 2012 production?

Alex Mussolini: Yes, we have been trying some nice boards already and I had made some changes for 2012. Now the boards are nicer and easier to ride than last year, but of course I will still have my 2011 boards at the beach. Just in case.

Alex rotates through a one foot Backloop.

 

C7: And will you ride on protos or production boards in the upcoming PWA events or at other local events on the Canarian wave tour?

Alex Mussolini: I will be using both. I have been for the whole year with production and protos, so I might be using both, because both work perfectly for me.

 

C7: You had 2010 your best overall result on the PWA tour finishing in 7th , after a 9th in 2009 and 2005? Can you make it on top if there are only Euro wave comps or would you wish to get added some real wavespots to the tourplan?

Alex Mussolini: Well of course, I have many chances of being on the top with Euro conditions. Here in Tenerife I have the best training ground, but I think having some sick waves could help me to have a better overall result. Lately people do not care so much on training on good waves or even starboard tack as all the wave events happen in port tack onshore to sideonshore conditions.

 

Alex rides waves extremely nice in onshore conditions (Pic: PWA/Carter 2011).

C7: Who ar the top sailors out of your view? And who would be on top, if there would be a tour with different conditions (winddirection, reefbreak, beachbreaks)?

Alex Mussolini: mmmm… I can´t say 1, 2 ,3 etc… but I can tell you that the overall will not be like it has been on the past years. For sure Kauli will be there, because out of  my view he is still the best. He has been unlucky because of the PWA wave tour stops, but he still shows us how it´s done in not so perfect conditions. I could name other guys, but Kauli Seadi can be the best in any kind of conditions.

 

C7: How do you work on improving your skills, just sailing as much as possible, watching videos, getting filmed yourself and analysing, other sport)?

Alex Mussolini: I like to sail a lot, this way I improve a lot of course, but I like to do other sports so my mind does not get saturated from so much sailing…

 

C7: Are there any elements in wavesailing you totally like and are there any aspects you don´t like at all?

Alex Mussolini: I like everything about wavesailing. The only thing I don´t like sometimes is the fact,  that you always need the wind and the waves. And it is always hard to have them both. Sometimes it is such a frustrating sport…

 

C7: Are there any moves you had a hard time to learn?

Alex Mussolini: For me the hardest have been the waterstart and the forward because its very scary!

 

Alex just before the big forward rotation at the Pozo Worldcup 2011 (Pic: PWA/Carter 2011).


C7: Are you still working as a pilot?

Alex Mussolini: Not anymore. I have not flown for a while now, but if windsurfing is done, I have something to do, which gives me a lot of adrenaline and a job.

 

C7: How would the dream wavesailing tour look out of your view? Which spots should be added?

Alex Mussolini: I would love to have 10 events overall, 5 porttack sideshore, offshore and onshore, the same for starboard tack. I would not care what spots, but if I could choose I would decide for following locations:  Gran Canaria/POZO, REUNION, FIJI, IRELAND, MADAGASCAR, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MAUI, JAPAN, PORTUGAL, CAPE VERDE. But of course I missed to name many other sick spots around the globe. Sorry, if I do not mention them here!

 

C7: You once mentioned, that Easky in North West Irland and an outside reef in New Caledonia are you favourite wave sailing spots? Is this still your opininon or would you add some?

Alex Mussolini: I would add so many!!! Yeah, they are for now still my favorite spots, but I have been to many others like Morocco, which has an incredible potential. I mentioned before, I know I missed to mention many other spots, sorry for that!


© continentseven 2011

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