The windsurfing magazines are always reviewing equipment for us, so I thought I'd turn the tables and review the magazines. I happened to get copies of six different magazines all issued at roughly the same time, namely Windsurfing, American Windsurfer, surf (Germany), Boards (U.K.), Windsurf (U.K.), and Windsport (Canada). Comparisons and opinions below are based on the June, 2000 issue of these magazines or thereabouts. Magazines in hand, I next flew to Hawaii, where for the next two weeks I assiduously read and compared windsurfing magazines. A tough assignment, you'll agree.

It's no doubt unfair to characterize magazines on the basis of one issue. I won't pretend to be scientific and objective about this. There are things that I came to like and dislike as I examined the magazines. For each magazine I give some indication of the content and the look and feel.

Your typical windsurfing magazine covers a rather narrow range of topics. The usual categories are equipment testing, how-to and technique, spot descriptions, personalities, equipment guides (not the same as testing), events, and "other." Some mags give you more eye candy or "hot shots" than others. Some attempt humor, but real windsurfing humor is a rarity.

1. American Windsurfer offered no equipment tests in this issue; instead, there was long article on how tests are done. More than the other magazines, American Windsurfer tries to bring in aspects of sports other than windsurfing. So, for example, there is a feature story on a downhill racer who users windsurfing for crosstraining (and who happens to be very photogenic). The photography-there is a strong affinity between windsurfing and photography-is some of the best. American Windsurfer ran a story on wingsurfing with a parallel feature on how to do it. This magazine is also big on windsurfing history and features quality photographs from the past. American Windsurfer likes to interview international figures (Neil Pryde) and is more interested in business and image of the sport than are the other mags.

American Windsurfer is easily the most glamorous of the windsurfing magazines. The editor devotes a lot of attention to layout and design. The images generally are larger and there are many two-page spreads. The serifed type gives the magazine a classier, more established look--think Esquire--than the more casual competitors. American Windsurfer is a class act, but occasionally it indulges in self promotion. Although this magazine has a glued binding, it does lie flat on a table. Even the classified section was more pleasant to look at than those in the other magazines.

2. Windsurfing, the other U.S. rag--most countries seem to have at least two windsurfing magazines--offered several very brief articles on technique. (And brief may be the best way to go.) The longest article was a 24-page multi-authored feature on the Gorge scene, past and present. This was similar to the 12-page article in American Windsurfer on Hatteras, which was mostly photographs. (The Gorge and Hatteras get worked to death in the American mags.) Note that such articles are unabashed lifestyle and boosterism. Ever seen a Hatteras story called "Trouble on the Island"? Investigative reporting remains a relative rarity in windsurfing.

Windsurfing does not lie flat when opened and it won't even stay open unless you take out all the annoying inserts. It has a fresh, non-stodgy appearance. The magazine consistently uses sans serif type which is fairly easy on the eye, prints mostly on white background, and gives some breathing space on the page (that is, not every square inch is covered). The tables of contents used in recent issues of Windsurfing are nearly useless. "Smack" may say something to the hip-hop crowd, but not to me. All the magazines put their (cheaper?) b/w ads in the back of the magazine and Windsurfing is no exception.

3. Some say that German surf sets the standard for windsuring magazines. Indeed, surf's own cover once boasted that it was the "world's greatest windsurfing magazine." This is not the German you studied in college and it takes a while to learn to read surf. It featured an article on spot-hopping through Europe. You start in Hamburg, say, and hit one launch site after another until you arrive in Greece. This is a good example of "national-level" content: useful for Germans, but interesting especially interesting for anyone else. surf really excels at windsurfing instruction. This issue provided a 34-page pull-out section on jumping, which was quite well done. The sequenced still shots show the arc and trajectory of the jumps. The photos tend to be somewhat dark for my taste with little contrast between water and sky They have an artificial quality--doctored in the darkroom?--but you can see what the feet are doing. The July surf had a similar pull-out booklet aime

surf reported on the 2000 World Speed Championship in Leucate, France, a premier windsurfing site. The winner was once again Finian Maynard of the BVI at 37.46 knots. The quality of event reporting is unprofessional in most of the magazines. Often you can't tell when the event was held or why you should care. Typically they focus on the performance of their own nationals.

German surf is published by a long-established sports publisher, Delius Klasing. Its production values are the highest of the six reviewed. The table of contents was a model of clarity. Of the six magazines, surf has the most traditional black on white text, although here you also find some black on pastels. surf has more blank white space on the pages. An interesting feature of surf is the large number of classified ads found in it, including personals (with some gear-based double-entendres). The board review featured precise matrix charts showing how each board performed in four categories. surf also has many two page spreads. Only surf had ads from car manufacturers and even an aftershave!

4. Windsport (Canada) claims to be "North America's windsurfing magazine." Windsport reported on four world-class events, including a well-written and detailed story about the PWA Grand Slam at Sylt. (Sylt is an island off northern Germany known mainly for its nudist beaches.) Surely this event--attended by 100,000 German fans--deserved a story since it determined the overall race rankings for 1999. Windsurfing, by contrast, did not see fit to report on Leucate or on Sylt. They did report on the Gaastra Midwinters held in Central Florida. This is one of the oldest, and biggest of the American windsurfing events, but it lacks the significance of a grand slam. Windsport had a really well-organized guide to sails, with luff, boom, mast lengths given for each size.

Windsport's content is better than its layout and design. Lack of contrast on the contents page (green on blue) made it almost impossible to read and there was lots of dizzying white print on black pages. The editors add an annoying round-edge frame to many of their photographs. Some photographs in this issue were dull, washed-out, fuzzy, giving the magazine a somewhat amateurish appearance. It does lie flat, so you can read and eat at the same time.

5. British Boards came with a 40-page supplement of the everything-you-need-to-know variety aimed at beginners. Boards coverage of the international scene was better than that offered by Windsurfing. The British rag strikes me as somewhat quirky. A potentially interesting feature story on the hands and feet of several famous windsurfers needed better photographs. Robby's feet were described by a chiropodist as "gnarly" and looking more like a pair of hands than feet. Yes, they are truly amazing!

Too many windsurfing magazines print tiny text over colorful graphics. It's cool, but it's damned hard to read (and sometimes not worth the effort). Most of Boards' text is printed over images. Although this is a glossy magazine, layout suffered from lack of imagination sometimes. Generally, this magazine feels too busy: texts are crowded together and every available space has something on it. It's too vertical ("high aspect ratio") and the lack of two-page spreads only emphasizes the problem.. The long classified section is unrelieved by any hint of color.

6. British Windsurf struck me as the better of the two U.K. magazines. I liked the article that reviewed 19 sails (!) in the 8.0+ range. The June issue featured an article on three advanced tricks (because of careless editing, two of them weren't named). With another article on the bottom turn, this issue of Windsurf had a pronounced wavesailing focus. For national-level content there was a feature on British top racer Jamie Hawkins who's moving from AHD to Exocet sponsorship.

Windsurf has a fresh, uncluttered look, much like surf. Occasionally Windsurf gets carried away with the number of fonts on a page, but generally production values are high. There are many two-page spreads and the magazine lies flat when opened so you get the best effect of the large photographs. Photographs and text work well together. This is the only magazine that offers free classified ads to individuals (but not to shops).

Magazine	Total Pages	# pp. = ads	% = ads	# issues/yr.	cover price	# advertisers
surf	150	47	31.3%	10	DM 7	101
Windsurfing	122	58.66	48%	8	$3.95	78
American Windsurfer	128	35.83	27.9%	5	$4.95	no index
Boards	112	47	41.9%	9	L2.80	no index
Windsport	110	30.66	27.8%	6	$3.75	no index
Windsurf Magazine	112	47.5	42.4%	10	L3.00	43
Windsurf Magazyn Polski	86	16.5	19%	est. 6	[$2.20]	no index

After spending literally hours of perusing these magazines, I'm struck by how similar they are, ultimately. Even the prices don't vary all that much. What do you get for your money? At 150 pp. surf is the fattest windsurfing magazine. Take a look at Der Spiegel or auto motor und sport. They are all larger than their American equivalents (and hands-down better).

Windsurfing has far and away the highest percentage of advertising. Half your pages in Windsurfing are advertising. Actually, more, since some of the articles in all the magazines are notices of new products. With 48% ads, they could probably just give the magazine away and still make a profit. (That would be better than calling me at dinner time to solicit a subscription renewal.) The two British magazine have slightly lower percentages of advertising.

Advertising is sometimes the best part of the magazine, visually at least. It might make more sense to acknowledge that advertising is a central feature of the magazines. American Windsurfer has the lowest percentage of ads, but one has to wonder why some of the major board manufacturers do not choose to advertise in American Windsurfer. Every windsurfing magazine should list the advertisers in each issue.

Poland's windsurfing star seems to be rising. Poles took first, second, and third place at the Lake Garda Cup in May, 2000. Poland's older windsurfing magazine, Deska ("boards"), now has a strong competitor. The first issue Windsurfing Magazyn Polski appeared this Spring. My Polish connection tells me that its producers have connections with British Boards. Graphically it struck me as a bit more sophisticated than Boards, and of course it has the international look and feel. Although the first issue is somewhat shorter than the others in this review, only 19% of it is advertising copy. (This figure could be off a bit since I had trouble distinguishing some ads from stories.) WMP has the standard features: interview with Björn and Bruce Peterson, travel stories, sail tests, and events reportage. The obligatory story on kite surfing offers the "10 commandments" of kite surfing. At 9.90 zlotys (about $2.20) it's a bargain--if you can read Polish.

I've failed to mention the two French-language windsurfing magazines, Planchemag and Wind. If anyone has a copy ....

revised: September 3, 2000