The Fanatic “Winter Tales” episodes feature our  team rider’s adventures during the winter months, so you know what our boys and girls are up to before the season starts again next spring.

We start with our Italian newcomer Riccardo Marca, who was just promoted into our International Freestyle Team from 2017! Have fun reading – some quite interesting stuff in there. Stay tuned for more!

Fanatic: What are you up to this winter?RM: It has been the first season on the PWA tour, so I’m really motivated to train hard for the upcoming year. That´s why I chose Brazil and South Africa for my winter’s destinations. Brazil almost comes to an end – I am here since beginning of November and will fly back home in a few days. End of the month I fly to Cape Town to train there in January and February. I thought about those two spots because they offer perfect training conditions. You can train starboard tack jumps and tricks in Brazil and porttack in South Africa. Besides training, I’ll work on some movies/episodies. I’ll soon launch a movie from Brazil and plan to work on short episodes in Cape Town then.

Fanatic: Which destinations will you be visiting?RM: As I mentioned before I spent November (and part of December in Brazil and I’ll be in Cape Town in January/February. After Cape Town I’ll have pretty much one month before the first PWA stop in Austria, so I think I’ll spend some time at Garda Lake, it’s not so far from my home place and always windy. I’ll also follow all the European tour and PWA Freestyle stops.

Fanatic: What are you goals?RM: I’ll train as hard as possible for the PWA World Tour, so my main goal is to get a good result there. The first year has been pretty tough, however still managed to finish in the Top 10 in one of the Single Eliminations in Sylt. My goal for the upcoming year is to finish in the Top 15. This is what I would define my short-term goal. My goal for the future is to keep on competing for the next few years and finding a job in the windsurfing industry. I really like the people behind Fanatic, my dream is to build a future with them.

Fanatic: What keeps you motivated throughout the winter?RM: Sometimes it’s not easy to keep the motivation, but as soon as I loose the focus I think about the upcoming year, and this is what mainly gives me the motivation back. During the year there are many other things to do, and I consider them part of my job. I keep my social medias updated, produce medias/movies content, get magazine coverage.  There are many things to do, and they’re all keeping me motivated.

Fanatic: What is your main move(s) you want to improve over the winter?RM: Double Pops are up on the list, as I really want to get them consistently. Freestyle became a mixture of jumps and pure Freestyle tricks, so I realised that jumping is essential. Injury is something that scares me. Trying new Freestyle moves can be really dangerous, and getting injured at this moment of the year would change everything.

Fanatic: What other sports do you do?RM: Enea Monaco is my personal trainer, he is following me during the all year, so I’m always training besides windsurfing. Normally during windsurfing trips where it’s windy every day I’m mostly windsurfing and following a postural stretching program. When I’m at home and during the rest of the year I’m training mostly with TRX or Kettlebells.

Fanatic: Do these sports help your riding and translate into Windsurfing?RM: I think that the biggest help is to avoid injuries, this is why it’s really important to train. One more benefit I get out of the training is the explosivity. What I find really hard is to find the right things to do sometimes as there as no specifics trainings or programs finalized to this sport. Being a professional windsurfer means taking care of all this aspects as well.

Fanatic: Can you tell us a bit about your fitness and nutrition programme?RM: Following a specific nutrition programme it’s quite hard, as I’m travelling most of the year, and in some situations I cannot choose what to eat or I don’t have the possibility to cook. This is why I’m always trying to eat healthy food without following a specific nutrition programme. I read quite a lot of stuff on books and on the web, and even though there are many different theories I always know what to eat or what to do not eat. This is one more reason why I like to have an apartment with a kitchen when possible. I really like to organize my daily nutrition, I don’t find cooking boring at all.

Fanatic: Does it change over the winter?RM: It’s almost impossible to have a stable program, as I don’t have a base for most of the year. The guide I’m always trying to follow is to understand what is good or bad for my body, so when I cannot follow my usual programme I’m still trying to find alternative ways.

Fanatic: What gear are you riding?RM: My favorite set up is the Fanatic Skate 93 with the 4.4 NorthSails Idol LTD. I’m using all the sails of the range, from the 4.0 to the 5.6 and the 93 l and 100 l Fanatic Skate. I really like the 100 l Skate for light wind conditions, normally I use it with the 4.8, 5.2 or 5.6. When the wind gets stronger and water more choppy the 93 l fits perfectly with smaller sails sizes, from the 4.0 to 5.2. Regarding the wave material I use the Fanatic Quad 81 l and the NorthSails Hero.

Fanatic: How does your chosen gear suit your style?RM: The Skate and the Idol Ltd are amazingly suiting my style, I think the speed is one of the most important things in Freestyle, and with the new shape it’s definitely one of the fastest board in the market. The sail is the lightest on the market and it is working perfectly with light and strong wind. What I really love about the Skates model this year is that doesn’t matter the condition, the board always fits the condition. The 93 is greatly performing in choppy conditions, and thanks to the new shape you always manage to keep the speed in light wind conditions.

Fanatic: What would Fanatic customers like about your favourite board?RM: Fanatic has always been my favourite brand because the boards are easy to get used to. I think that this is most important  as even though it’s the first time – you step on the board it feels you’ve always been riding with it. One more thing I’m sure everyone would like is the acceleration and the comfort you have when you’re just planning. Also important is the graphic, as I personally love the colors of each model.

Fanatic: Are you linking up with any of your Fanatic team mates this winter?RM: I’m in a good relation with all the team riders, and I’ll see most of them in Cape Town this winter – I’m really looking forward to it. It feels like being in a big family – an incredible feeling.

Fanatic: What has been your highlight of 2016?RM: I guess my highlight of the 2016 season has been my 9th place in the first Single Eliminations during the last PWA World Cup on Sylt. I also have some good results in the European tour, finishing 6th place in the final ranking.

Thxs a lot Riccardo and enjoy the rest of your winter training!

More about Riki here: https://www.fanatic.com/team/riccardo-marca/