34 JULY 2019
BALZ MÜLLER
WORKING
I am a full time landscaper in Switzerland. I am paid by the hour and for the last
six years I have been working at the same place. My boss is really supportive of
my windsurfing and all I do. In the winter months we can’t work because of the
snow. He is happy to give me those three winter months off and for me to go to a
few competitions. It’s a good setup, I earn my own money so I am not dependent
on sponsors. For me windsurfing and landscaping are both my passions! The
landscaping pays for my windsurfing so I am living the dream!
DEVELOPING
I cover most of my windsurfing costs. The project with MB boards I don’t really
earn money out of at the moment. But it is nice to ride your own boards that you
are developing. That was always a dream of mine and I think with big brands at
the moment they would not be interested in the radical boards we make. We are
not professional shapers, but we love to do it. It’s really interesting to see what
is coming out of it. Every time we make a new board we are stoked to try it out.
Nobody knows if it will work. We don’t expect anything from it and are happy
if it works in the end.
FOILING
The Pegasus board is very different to a conventional windsurfing board. It is
much, much shorter, 172 cm. That is a really short windsurf board. You need to
realize with these boards that once you stand in the straps you are just hovering
over the water. Once you are up it does not matter what kind of board you have.
All that matters is where you have your mastfoot position, your footstraps and
the foil box. I could have cut this board straight after the mastfoot! I rode a foil
board which was 120 cm! Once you are in the air it does not matter what you are
riding, you just need to have a comfortable stance. Some people think foiling is
only possible on 70 cm or wider boards. My boards are never as wide as a freerace
or freeride board. I enjoy foiling much more on narrow boards. I have a centre
strap which gives me more of a surf or freeride foil feeling than a racing setup.
Race foiling is vastly different to the foiling I do. The race guys have small
foils which are great to go upwind and downwind super fast on, but you can’t
actually use them for light wind foil cruising. Most of the guys that buy a foil
are just going straight and gybing. They just want to enjoy cruising on a foil.
The race foils are too sporty and too crazy. You can’t enjoy them! I am using
a freeride foil, which I can almost use to freestyle and do wave stuff with! I am
doing pretty much all my moves which I do in normal windsurfing on the foil.
We had a discussion if I should be allowed to use the foil in freestyle competition,
but the other guys did not agree from what I understand. It is not another sport,
it is just another way of doing the tricks. Right now I am the only one doing it,
so I guess they don’t want a maverick in the fleet. My brother actually can kick
my ass at foiling. He sticks the moves better than me! We are foiling every day
at home in Switzerland in the summer! We push each other. At home this year I
never sailed as much before because of the foil. That is the craziest part. I was on
the water almost every day. There was nearly always the possibility to score a few
gusts with the foil. That is a big game changer for windsurfing in Switzerland. It
is 50-70% more actual time on the water. In the end that is what counts. With
foil or without foil I don’t care. If you want to complain about foiling that is fine,
but for me it has changed my windsurfing outlook completely. It now makes
sense for me to stay home in Switzerland and sail at home. I agree in windy places
you will probably never get into foiling, but for me it is just amazing to fly over
the water, even doing no moves. I have a custom Severne 4.8m which I use most
of the time and is really powerful. I am using that on my 85 litre foil board in
8-12 knots. In 8 knots I am hovering on a 4.8, but in 12 knots I am fully flying
around. You don’t need a 9m race sail to go foiling. The big sails are so heavy
that in the end you don’t fly as early as with a super small freeride setup. That is
what I like about foiling. I don’t need to get my big gear anymore, I can stay on
my freestyle rig and enjoy days when you would normally never get on the water.
That is the best part about foiling.
FREESTYLING
A lot of people think I am crazy trying to shifty or push loop on the foil. They need
to realize that I dream about these moves all night long. It is not that I am going
out there and trying moves just by chance or luck. In my head I am always thinking
about where my foil will be on the landing and what could happen. For sure one
wrong crash and you could die though! The other day I was on the water and was
actually quite scared. I was not in control on the foil, I had too much sail power.
Don’t try this at home on your foil.