Kevin Pritchard about windsurfing – Interview

Kevin Pritchard at Pistol River in 2015 (Pic: Lucky Beanz)

Continentseven: Windsurfing still means everything to you? What’s the driving force after so many years?      
Kevin Pritchard: Yeah! I am so stoked on Windsurfing right now it kills me. I don’t know what the driving force is, I guess it is just something that is deep inside. I go crazy when I don’t get on the water somehow but windsurfing is just something I can’t live without.

Continentseven: You were one of the first pros filming and editing professional videos? Got that more than a passion for you throughout the years?  
Kevin Pritchard:  I have to say my passion for film making has died off a bit in the last couple of seasons. I love it, but I just want to be in the water more than anything. I do love a good film and I am still working on videos and things but they take so much time it is crazy and I need to push myself a bit more in that area. I just do the things I know how to do and not really getting any better or worse. They just seem to be the same thing. For instance the AWT videos are all the same. Little talking, little action, little scenics, usually lots of birds, cause I love filming birds for some reason but they haven’t progressed. I would like to see them progress, to me they seem good for what they are, and it is quite easy for me to make them, but I don’t know, I just want my video skills to improve, but I don’t really know how. I guess I just have to take some classes or something. 

Every photographer would love to get such a shot (Pic: Fish Bowl Diaries)

Continentseven: What’s a good video for you?
Kevin Pritchard:  I love videos with story. I love the talking, but not just the same old talking, I love videos with heart and soul and feelings. I am a hopeless romantic so I love clips that have feeling. Some of my likes on Vimeo are https://vimeo.com/133160791 I love good shots. These kind of clips inspire me. https://vimeo.com/124050660 I love the sound design and feeling of this clip from John John. https://vimeo.com/135000529

Continentseven: Your actual video called “Not wiser” shows a lot of incredible turns, cutbacks and off the lip moves. Shows the video the best KP ever?
Kevin Pritchard:  Hmmm. Well that would be good. Most of the clips are just from the last year so hopefully I am improving and keeping up with the level of windsurfing. Sometimes I get frustrated that I am just working on my turns all the time but in reality “the Turn” is one of the hardest things to get. I want to keep progressing, keep learning and keep having fun. I have been working on my sails and boards which just gives a different look to my sailing. I wouldn’t say better or worse just different. I have been sailing a bunch with Brawzinio and Robby Swift and they are great to sail with. Also filming with Graham really helps me to watch what he is doing. He has such a progressive style and he is not afraid to push the limits on the wave riding. He thinks outside the box a lot and that is cool for windsurfing. 

Continentseven: What’s your main message with your actual video?
Kevin Pritchard:  Just to show off. I love social media these days. It’s fun and  you can have no message whatsoever. Just a video with clips in it, it is fun. This is not my favorite video of myself but hey, its got cool clips in it and so might as well show the world. 

Continentseven: You most of the time produce the videos about Kevin Pritchard by yourself, together with Johannes Neumann. Wouldn’t you be interested to see video produced by anybody else about you or are you scared it wouldn’t fulfill your expectations?
Kevin Pritchard:  It is funny that you asked that because it has really been on my mind a lot. I have been thinking about writing Mountain Dew Films and seeing if I could get them to film a windsurfing movie. We have so much cool stuff happening right now, double loops, triple loops, the wave riding is insane, what the kids are doing is just incredible and the sport is left behind as far as a mainstream sport. Kai Lenny is helping things cause he is so hot in the social media world, just posting his windsurfing shots helps get the interest. The stuff Philip, Graham, Brawz, Swift are doing is just incredible. It is so technical no one can fathom it. Would be awesome to have someone with a budget who can get into the story of windsurfing and make it happen. I mean, I am just a windsurfer with a camera. I don’t know shit about filming or videoing or any that stuff. I know what I see and what I like to see and that is about it. The rest of the stuff I am faking it. I would love to see someone creative make a cool clip.

Continentseven: You constantly change your style, pick up new moves and try to follow the latest wave sailing trends? How would you describe your personal style? Is it unique?
Kevin Pritchard: I try to  keep up but I keep coming back to what I like to do and that is a big fat power turn. I am not in love with my style but style is very hard to change. It is what it is. I am constantly working on it and trying to make it better and different. I want to go and blast lips so hard and do an huge hack. That feels so good to me, all that speed and power coming to an end driving into the lip of a wave. 

A cutback with big spray (Pic: Fish Bowl Diaries)

Continentseven: Wine gets older and in many cases better. Same in windsurfing. Does style grow over the years or is it something you have or you have not?

Kevin Pritchard: I don’t know. I know I love to push my sailing. This year I had one day in Cabo Verde that I am pretty sure I have never been higher. I had an Aerial that might have been higher than any jump I have ever done going in or out. This year in Pistol, one of my early heats, I had one of my best heats ever. I feel like I have been sailing better and better this entire season and it has been fun.

Continentseven: Does a stylish rider look well in all kind of waves or helps a „good“ wave to look better?
Kevin Pritchard: The better the waves the better it looks. For instance you never really see Jason Polakow out on a bad day and then when it is firing he is out there. So you never see him when it is crappy conditions so maybe the opinion of him stays higher. I am always out even in the bad conditions but that is just because I love it. I love riding any conditions but of course I love the best conditions.

Continentseven: Where did you ride the best waves this season?
Kevin Pritchard: I think in Cabo Verde the first day I got there was pretty amazing. Check out this photo. It looks photoshopped! 

A huge Aerial on Cabo Verde (Pic: Gabriele Rumbolo)

Continentseven: Are you riding on customs only or are you using production boards, too?
Kevin Pritchard: I have all sorts of boards. Last year before the Aloha Classic I went to Thailand and worked with Starboard on some shapes. I got a bunch of really fun boards that I have been riding all year. I also have been trying out the quads as well and that is fun.

Continentseven: What boards and sails are always in you quiver bag, when you go for a trip?
Kevin Pritchard: I used to have my big Starboard Kode Wave 93 that I would always have ready for a travel story. I have just switched down to a 89 Quad as my big board. Depending on where I am going you got to bring a 5.3 4.7 and 4.1 Ezzy Taka 2. I think that is one of the biggest improvements once again is the sails. They have so much range in them that you don’t need every size. It is nice to have them but you definitely don’t need them to be relaxed in the waves. 

Aerial action at Ho’okipa (Pic: JC/Starboard)

Continentseven: Who are the riders, who inspire you the most at the moment?
Kevin Pritchard:  I think Brawz (editores note: Marcilio Browne) and Graham (e.n: Graham Ezzy) are the most inspiring. Brawz is amazing because he is so good on both tacks, jumping and wave riding. Graham is amazing with his different view of every wave. I am filming him and I am like where is he going. His lines are different which is cool to see. 

Photos by Gabriele Rumbolo, by Fish Bowl Diaries and JC/Starboard