A talk with Kauli Seadi about his Euro Tour

Kauli Seadi has been traveling through Europe since the middle of March. Together with his wife Maria he travels to European spots and enjoys the European waves. We wanted to know more about Kauli’s travel plans and hooked up with the three times Wave World Champion. Read our interview below and check out the latest photos.

“We just go with the wind.” Kauli Seadi

Kauli Seadi rides Capo Mannu (Pic: Alex Tocco)

Continentseven: Kauli, you are tripping around Europe at the moment. Why?
Kauli Seadi: The idea was to have a new experience and visit new places with a completely different atmosphere. We wanted to visit the core, the heart of windsurfing, where all started, where we see a lot of windsurfers and where everybody shares the same passion. I was always wondering why Europe has so many windsurfers, although the conditions are not so good. So far we scored pretty good conditions all over the Canary islands, now we are on Sardinia at Capo Mannu and we scored side off down the line conditions, really like Ho’okipa and we were maybe 10 guys on the water. It was amazing and there are for sure a lot of places to explore. You just go on the right forecast and you get amazing conditions.

Continentseven: And it was about time to show your wife the most active windsurfing countries. Correct?
Kauli Seadi: Yes, for sure. Europe is the heart of windsurfing. In Paris for example at the „Indoor de France“ event you get 8000-10000 people each day watching windsurfing in the middle of a town. This is sick and it only happens in places like these. The same happens in Italy. Capo Mannu is a tiny village and you think there is nobody, but as soon as the wind arrives a lot of people show up in the water. Everybody is super addicted and it’s nice to see that there is so much passion because of windsurfing over here.

Continentseven: Where are you at the moment?
Kauli Seadi: We are at the moment on the west coast of Sardinia and are exploring some wave spots. Cesare was one of the first windsurfers around this area and together we are exploring the spots. And at the same time we are doing the photo shoot for the 99NoveNove boards. We want to change a bit and not go to Hawaii to produce the pictures. We wanted to do something unique!

Kauli and his crew are checking the conditions at Capo Mannu (Pic: 99NoveNove)

Continentseven: What does Maria like best in Europe?
Kauli: She loves the food and we did some pretty cool dives in beautiful water colors. For her Europe is a different reality because she never saw this kind of windsurfing and the atmosphere. We also went to Carro, South of France. When we arrived, it was cloudy and cold and Maria looked on the water and there were 50 windsurfers on the water in tiny, little waves. This all is new for her and it’s nice for her to experience this. On the next day was no wind and we watched 30 little kids learning to windsurf and 20 kids on optimists sailing boats.

Continentseven: And what do you like in Europe, compared to Brazil?
Kauli Seadi: The windsurfing culture is different, but it is still windsurfing. Europe has a lot of culture and and it’s beautiful to see so much history. Everywhere you go you see history.

Continentseven: When and where did you start the trip?
Kauli Seadi: We started the trip on the Canary islands and were there for 3 weeks. Then we travelled to Paris for the indoor event, then we went to South of France. After France we drove to Prato (near Florence) in Italy, where the 99NoveNove factory is. Finally I am able to spend some time with Gianni Valdambrini (shaper of 99NoveNove) and see how much technology they have in this factory. I think no other windsurfing brand has as much technology as they have. They have 3 different CNC machines, very accurate, all automatic, they even shape the rail, switching the sides. You really can make one board the same as the other one or just improve little things. This motivates me even more to work on my boards in the upcoming years, because I know, I can improve each part of the board. A lot of times you try to make the same board again, but you can’t make the same with the technology other brands have, because it is not so accurate. When a board is done by hand it’s always different, a machine is a machine and you get the same board. Gianni is really good in computer shaping and they have amazing technology for the lamination, scoop, rocker. Everything is done perfectly. This partnership now is the perfect match with my passion of board design.

Kauli in the shape room at Prato together with Gianni (Pic: 99NoveNove)

Continentseven: Just a week ago you competed in the “Indoor de France” event in Paris. How was the event?
Kauli Seadi: It was very nice and I had the chance to bring my parents to see me for the first time competing outside of Brazil. This was actually a different feeling having my family there watching, but it was quite motivating. And my parents saw how many other people were watching windsurfing, because in Brazil the events are smaller and they finally could see how popular windsurfing is. I am happy as I did all the finals and got overall the 1st place. There were a lot of young windsurfers pushing. Events like these make it into general media, too and we can show how alive windsurfing is.

Kauli at the indoor in Paris (Pic: Giovanni Squitieri)

Continentseven: Which countries are on your list and for how long will you stay in Europe?
Kauli Seadi: We have three months to cruise around. Depending on the forecast we will maybe go to Corsica, Sicily and then drive back to the north of Italy, maybe stop at a spot near Rome, then maybe stop one more time in Prato in the factory, then maybe lake Garda, then we might drive to South of France to Defi Wind. Then from Defi Wind we will visit Leucate and then we drive to Galicia, then we might drive up the coast of France again, then Brittany, then Cornwall in England and then Scotland. It all depends on the conditions. We just go with the wind.

Kauli is happy about a good day at Capo Mannu (Pic: Alex Tocco)

Continentseven: Does Europe offer enough waves for the three times World Champion Kauli Seadi?
Kauli Seadi: Yes, so far, we are very surprised. In these 4 weeks of traveling we scored already a lot of sick conditions. In Polynesia or Hawaii you can wait for one month or you maybe get conditions more often, but here in Europe we got better conditions, a lot of very good stuff. I am amazed how good it can be. Especially on the Canaries, we used to always go when it’s flat and windy and now we got a lot of big days, like 12 foot waves, huge surf and good wave rides. The other day we got port tack down the line, glassy conditions with 4,0m. Conditions you don’t find anywhere else.

Continentseven: Thanks for the interview and enjoy Europe.