Windsurf Champion Visits Porsche Museum

After it was opened in January, the Porsche museum did not receive the visit of many important personalities, maybe the only notable appearance being several German politicians at the official opening.

However, the new Museum of Dr. Ing. F. Porsche AG in Stuttgart and Weissach recently welcomed the 24-time windsurfing world champion, Robby Naish.

During his visit, Robby was shown the ‘No. 1’ Porsche 356 and was told the story of the German sports car manufacturer. He even drove the latest series of Porsche, the Panamera, to the research and development center in Weissach.

Testing the current models, including the newly launched luxury sports sedan and the new Porsche 911 GT3, Robby made a few swift rounds, of course not without being accompanied by Porsche engineers. At the development center, Robby discussed about windsurfing and aerodynamics, including the possibilities of improving surfboards and sails by means of trials in the wind tunnel.

Robby Naish is considered to be a windsurfing legend. He won his first overall World Championship title when he was only 13 years old, beating many adult competitors. He then competed as an amateur, winning successive World Championship titles from 1977 to 1979.

Several other successes came for Naish, as he later won the Overall World Champion title from 1983 to 1987, and the Wave World Champion title in 1988, 1989, and 1991. He was renowned for his 'Table Top' and 'Forward Loop' moves. However, the most impressive was his 'Longboard Loop', where he forward looped the 3.72m long Mistral Equipe.

Going for a change, Naish later switched to kitesurfing, winning the slalom world title in 1998. Today, at the age of 46, he continues to compete. Living in Hawaii, he currently owns a company that manufactures and distributes surfing equipment. Who knows, maybe sometimes in the future, a new surfboard will be born from a partnership between Robby and Porsche.