Riccardo “Riki” Marca (ITA-988), who recently made it into the international team of Fanatic/NorthSails, released a new video with great action from his trip to Brazil at the end of the year. The 19 year-old freestyle windsurfer is training hard to climb up the ranking in 2017. In addition to the video we hooked up with Riccardo to speak about his trip to Brazil. You can read the interview below the video.
Riccardo “Riki” Marca: Yes! Freestyle is getting more and more radical. I think that the double Air Culo is the most trendy move at the moment as not so many guys managed to land it.
Italian freestyle windsurfer Riccardo Marca with great action from Brazil, autumn – winter 2016
Riccardo “Riki” Marca about his time in Brazil
Continentseven: How long did you stay in Brazil?
Riki: I flew to Brazil in the beginning of November and I flew back home on the 16th of December, so I spent there 1 month and a half.
Continentseven: Which moves did you learn?
Riki: I’ve been training some moves on both tacks the first few weeks, and then I tried to step it up with some new school moves. I spent quite some time on the double air culo, I didn’t manage to land it yet but feeling more and more confident with it.
Continentseven: Which gear did you mostly use?
Riki:I brought just my freestyle gear, so the board I mostly used is the 93l Fanatic Skate and my 4.4 or 4.0 North Sails Idol.
Continentseven: What’s special about Brazil?
Riki: I will definitely return to Brazil. What’s making this place really special is the wind, I think it’s one of the only places on earth where you can go on the water every day during the right season.
Continentseven: Who were your windsurfing buddies?
Riki: I spent my time in Brazil with Loick Spicher and Francesco Tedeschi, so I’ve been sailing with them most of the times.
Continentseven: What are the most trendy moves at the moment out of your view?
Riki: Freestyle is getting more and more radical. I think that the double Air Culo is the most trendy move at the moment as not so many guys managed to land it. I also really like the Shifty, it’s a mixture of two of my favorites moves, the Shaka and the Push loop.
Continentseven: Where are you right now?
Riki: I arrived in South Africa on the 1st of January, a nice way to start the year. I’ll stay here for some more training till the end of February.
Continentseven: Your career goes well at the moment. 2016 was an excellent season, you made it into the international teams of Fanatic/NorthSails, you had a lot of coverage, you made podiums, etc.? What comes next?
Riki: 2016 has been the first year on the tour for me, and I can be stoked about it. I got some good results, I managed to finish in the top 10 of the first single in Sylt during the last PWA event and I finished 6th on the European tour.
I’m also pretty happy about the work I did on magazines: I got some good articles and my first two covers, one on the Italian magazine “4Windsurf” and the other one on the German magazine “SURF”. And yes, I also got a podium during the Italian championship in Garda lake, I’m really happy about it.
But getting in the international team of Fanatic/ North Sails is the biggest goal I achieved this year. I’ve been dreaming about it in the last years, and I finally made it. I’m really looking forward to start the upcoming season with them. I’ll be still following the PWA and EFPT tour.
Continentseven: What are your personal goals in 2017?
Riki: I’ll try to do my best in the PWA and EFPT tour. My goal is to finish in the Top 15 in the PWA and in the top 5 in the EFPT. The level is really high at the moment and everyone is pushing to get there, but I’m doing my best to achieve my goals.
©continentseven 2017
