English version follows
He started his career in windsurfing in 2001 with the Freestyle World Championship. From 2004 he was the undisputed World Slalom Champion for 15 years. In 2006 became World Champion in the Super-X discipline and added several IFCA titles. From 2008 holds the World Speed Record with windsurfing on 500m.
After 30 years of competition with 25 World titles between Slalom, Freestyle e Super-X, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde, Garmin, Quiksilver, Man NegoLoc, PNJ Cam.com, Chris Benz, Orange, Neilpryde Foils, Yamaha WaveRunners, Sellsy), at the end of the Tour leg held in Japan in November, has decided to retire from World Cup races!
However, After 26 years with the same brand as Vele, will continue to be NeilPryde's ambassador competing in special events and working on his own projects.
“I leave with the satisfaction of having achieved everything, and to have given everything in every competition, always mine 100% to always finish on the top step of the podium, I did it for myself, for my sponsors, for each of my fans who love windsurfing as much as I do and for my beautiful family. I worked tirelessly for each title. I leave without regretting anything. My career as a windsurfer has given me everything I have and has also given me friends for life all over the world.. Have passed 30 years (1992/2022) and 25 incredible World Titles.”
RIWmag reached him to take stock of the situation.
RIWmag : Bye Antoine. Thank you for accepting the invitation to our interview. We left you alone to finish your last PWA race.
From Covid onwards the PWA slalom calendars end with few races. Many athletes are frustrated by this situation that does not allow them to express themselves at their best and that does not allow margins for error. How did this situation affect your decision not to compete anymore’ in the PWA ?
Antoine Albeau : It is true that it is super difficult that it is not possible to show your level to the world of windsurfing, The worst is when you have no scraps at the end of the year, But I've had years like this in my career and you can't’ do nothing about it, You have to be the best in any condition.
RIW : What other factors influenced this decision ? Why’ now and not before or maybe more’ late ?
A2 : Nothing leads me to stop the PWA, I just wanted to do something else, I already have a lot to do besides the races that I was thinking maybe to stop with the PWA slalom tour but continue at full speed with what I do, with the Zephir project and the Worlds Speed Tour plus the whole Défi Wind, So I really thought that the 2022 was the right year to do it.
RIW : You are a father of two. How have you reconciled your family and professional life so far and how do you think it will change’ This balance from now on ?
A2 : The balance will be the same because I will continue to compete in different competitions, So there will be a lot of trips and the whole family will take part in it, But it has been like this all my life.
RIW : How did you deal with this last event in Japan?
A2 : The event was great for everyone, the foil is now very good for events like Japan with very little wind, We did a lot of slalom scoreboards, I only had problems in the first and last board because there was also the wind too light for me and I could not glide but this is part of the game, I also did some good races.
RIW : In the slalom on fin you kept your results at a very good level while on the foil it seemed that you did more’ fatigue, especially in jibe. How can you explain your latest performance ?
A2 : It is simply because of the training, I'm one of the fastest foil riders on the tour but it's true that I need to train more to do better jibes, but I will and improve my jibes, jibes are very important in foil slalom as you can gain many meters at the end of the course.
RIW : What do you think of the PWA slalom formula that includes both foil and fin races in a single title compared to the new IFCA format that separates them again into two distinct titles ?
A2 : I didn't stop the PWA to go to IFCA, I have done a lot of IFCA in the past, You never know, if the location looks good why not, but my priorities will be Project Zephir and long distance events.
RIW : What are your plans and goals for the coming months ?
A2 : As I have already told you, the Defi Wind, the Zephir Project, I will organize a long distance event in my island, the Antoine Albeau Series and the World Speed Championships.
RIW : 30 years, 25 titles. What’ The best person you've met ?
A2 : The most beautiful person I met is Paola, My wife, that gave me 2 beautiful children!
RIW : 30 years, 25 titles. What’ was the best time and which was the worst ?
A2 : I will say that the best moments are the titles I got very easily how to win before the last event of the tour, What you only get in the last event, The last slalom, And the worst moments are the ones when you miss it from 0,1 or 0,3 points, it happened to me 2 times, once in Sylt against Kevin Pritchard and once in Brazil against Wojtek (Brzozowski).
RIW : Thank you for all the emotions you have given us in all these years and with all these titles. We hope to meet again !
A2 : Fantastic, Thank you for following this beautiful sport and we will definitely see you again on the beach or in the water!
English version
He started his windsurfing career in 2001 with the Freestyle World Championship. Since 2004 he has been the undisputed World Champion in Slalom for 15 years. In 2006 he became World Champion in the Super-X discipline and added several IFCA titles. Since 2008 he has held the World Windsurfing Speed Record of 500m.
After 30 years of competitions with 25 world titles between Slalom, Freestyle and Super-X, Antoine Albeau (JP, NeilPryde, Garmin, Quiksilver, Man NegoLoc, PNJ Cam.com, Chris Benz, Orange, Neilpryde Foils, Yamaha WaveRunners, Sellsy) , at the end of the PWA season, in Japan in November, has decided to withdraw from the World Cup races!
However, after 26 years with the same sail brand, he will continue to be NeilPryde’s ambassador competing in special events and working on his own projects.
“I leave with the satisfaction of having achieved everything, and having given everything in each competition, always my 100% to finish at the top of the podium over and over again, I did it for myself, for my sponsors, for each of my fans who love Windsurfing as much as I do and for my beautiful family. I worked tirelessly for each title. I leave without regretting anything. My career as a windsurfer gave me everything I have and also gave me friends for life all over the planet. It’s been 30 years and 25 incredible World Titles.”
RIWmag has joined him to make his point of the situation.
RIWmag : Hello Antoine. Thank you for accepting the invitation to our interview. We’ve left you alone to wrap up your latest PWA race.
From Covid onwards the PWA slalom calendars end with a few races. Many athletes are frustrated by this situation which does not allow them to express themselves at their best and which allows no room for error. How did this situation affect your decision not to compete in the PWA anymore?
Antoine Albeau : It is true that it is super difficult that it’s not possible to show your level to the windsurfing world, the worst is when you don’t have discards at the end of the year, but I had years like this in my career and you can’t do nothing about it, you need to be the best in whatever condition.
RIW : What other factors have influenced this decision? Why now and not sooner or maybe later?
A2 : Nothing brings to me to stop the PWA, I just wanted to do something else, I have a lot to do already on the side that I was thinking maybe to stop the PWA slalom tour but continue all the speed I do, with Zephir and the Worlds Speed Tour plus all the Défi Wind, so I really was thinking that 2022 was the good year to do it.
RIW : You are the father of two children. How have you reconciled your family life with your professional life so far and how do you think this balance will change from now on?
A2 : The balance will be the same because I will still competing on different competitions, so it is going to be a lot of travelling, so all the family is taking part of that, but is was like this all my life.
RIW : How did you deal with this latest event in Japan?
A2 : The event was amazing for every one, with the foil now it is super good for events like Japan with very little wind, we did a lot of slalom eliminations, I just had problem in the first one and the last one as the wind was too light for me and I couldn’t plane but this is the part of the game, I did some good races as well.
RIW : In slalom on fin you have maintained your results at an excellent level while on the foil it seemed that you did more effort, especially in gybe. How can you explain your latest performance?
A2 : It is simply because of training, I am part of the fastest foil riders on tour but it is true that I need to train more to make better jibes but I will do it and I will improve my jibes, jibes are super important in the foil slalom as you can gain a lot of meters at the end of the course.
RIW : What do you think of the PWA slalom formula that includes both foil and fin races in one title in comparison to the new IFCA format that separates them again into two separate titles?
A2 : I didn’t stop PWA to go on the IFCA, I did a lot of IFCA in the past, we never know, if the location is looking good why not, but my priority will be the Project Zephir and the long Distance events.
RIW : What are your plans and goals for the coming months?
A2 : As I told you already, Defi Wind, Zephir Project, I will organise a long distance event in my island the « Antoine Albeau Series » and the speed Worlds.
RIW : 30 years, 25 titles. Who’s the best person you’ve met?
A2 : The best person I met is Paola, my wife who gives me 2 beautiful children !
RIW : 30 years, 25 titles. What was the best moment and what was the worst?
A2 : I will say that the best ones are the titles I got super easy like winning before the last event of the tour, the one you get just on the last event the last slalom and the worst are the one you miss from 0.1 or 0.3 points, it happened 2 times, one time in Sylt against Kevin Pritchard and one time in Brazil against Wojtek (Brzozowski).
RIW : Thanks for all the emotions you’ve given us in all these years and with all these titles. We hope to meet again!
A2 : Cool, thanks for following this beautiful sport and we will meet again on beach or water for sure!
interview: www.RIWmag.com
photo: JC(c)PWA
