No he's not the best and hasn't been for a long while. I think the point a couple of people are missing is that he is a legend of the sport.
There's a lot of sick sailors that are the cream of the crop today but will never realise the stature of legend. Big difference between the two.
I think winddude had a good summary, but I'd ask if Robby made windsurfing or did Windsurfing make Robby.. The sport was always going to find a 'legend', the best sailor at the time with the most likable personality.. How much competition was there back then?
It's also weird that I somehow must be a better sailor than Robby to even dare question how good his forwards were (he might not do many any more).. Olympic Diving judges cannot dive as good as the competitors, yet they still judge. Blokes in pubs argue how rubbish Nathan Buckley was, yet they never claim to be better...What's the difference? Either way interesting reading, even if it's at my expense!
Barn, there's a saying about holes and when to stop digging.
Until then, watch this short 20 year old clip where he's riding a crappy flat slalom board off Hookipa:
And yeah Bono, I know the saying.. I also dug pretty deep last time Robby had a thread. I even made a fan video starring Robby's wild forwards with commentary by Lars Petersen, I'll link it if anybody wants
That video was good. Wasn't that about the time windsurfing died in the arse? How much responsibility do the elite windsurfers of the time have for sending the sport in the wrong direction?
Ahh, I remember when I was young dumb and full of c&m. It's no fault, just the way it is.
I guess the thing is we all relate to our peers and every person will have their views on who was who in the zoo.
Does not mean we have to bag people out for what they had achieved or did not do well. I guess thats a bit about learning respect. Unfortunately the news shows us the sad part of that after every Friday night.
The younger generation will always do things the older generation can only dream about. It's evolution and the natural progression of time.
Innovation is only driven by passing the boundaries of the last generation. Not better just different for the time. It happens in all sports and thats what makes sport soo great.
It's all about enjoying the moment and then continuing to enjoy what life has to offer
Simple rule to life. Treat others how you would like to be treated yourself and you can't go wrong. Now lets stop bashing anyone.
here is another Robby vid, 1981 Mistral Promo, Check out the jumps with no harness
3 threads, all agro.....kiters/windsurfers........robby fans/not robby fans..........wave sailers/kite surfers!
**** people. We all enjoy different things. Hitler did not win the war. Everyone likes different stuff.
The fact you guys are so opnionated on the net is sad (especially about crap). You'd probably piss your pants if confronted by the person your sledging. It's called cyber bullying. Real legend status stuff. Now I know where kids at schools learn it from.......their parents.
Keep it happy, lifes too short for crap like this
He is the Che Guvara of windsurfing, the face of the revolution!!!!! It was Mistral that overthrew Windsurfing Internationals patent.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION.......
His fkn good,,,he must be,all his hair has grown back,,,,,,,,,,,Ya cant really knock the bloke his been arround as long as Wind surf and sail board
It seems we have an example of one of the fundamental cruelties of human nature.
Kids piss on the older generation without really understanding what they are pissing on. They make a lot of noise to assert themselves and spray their wee wee hither and yon. Then they grow up and realize that the old guys were always very little different from young guys like themselves, just packaged differently and with an outlook ameliorated by time and a different experience. Then they get old and get pissed on in their turn.
Didn't James Dean star in a movie about that? He was cool once. You wouldn't piss on him or would you? He died young, left a good looking corpse and an evocation of youth and boundless possibility. He stormed around spraying piss in the general direction of the comfortable and demanding attention, but he was of the past. He would have respected Robby had he lived, like the rest of us who followed Robby through his rock star years. Robby left an indelible impression of athletic skill, and style, and charm. He was a node in the heady milieu of the times. Yeah he was a star when windsurfing stars were a cultural phenomenon.
Piss on it if you like Barn but had you been there you would know how truly futile and ineffectual your pissant histrionics are. But you weren't there were you, so how could you know. Even if you were better than Robby could never be as good as Robby.
With any luck you will get old and there is nothing you can do about that. However it's not all bad. You're no dummy. With the wisdom of age you will learn to check which way the wind blows before you piss, and we hope, acquire the knowledge of when to wear a raincoat.
^^^ Hey NotWal...can you please write my eulogy? Great collection of words & a very descriptive read.
Great collection of piss words & a very descriptive read.
I'm not sure why you're all rising to the bait, Barn is just one of those irritating trolls that seem to permeate most internet forums these days. If you all started denigrating Robbie Naish he would be jumping up and down saying how good he is etc etc It's what the common household troll does. Ignore him, he'll get bored, disappear and find another forum.
I think you are outnumbered Barn though I will defend your right to bag out the old fart.
