If you windsurf then we are sure you’ll appreciate this Ant Baker interview from back in 2013. Winner of successive British Slalom Association titles, he toured on the pro circuit for 8 years – and returned to the scene in 2014.
Ant Baker interview: Top 6 achievements
In case you don’t know who Ant Baker is, he’s the younger brother of British windsurfing world champion Nik Baker. He may not of hit the same heights as his sibling but he’s not had a bad set of results either:
- Vice-world champion
- European production board champion
- Top 10 in the world for 10 years on the PWA world tour in wave, slalom and freestyle
- 2011 British Slalom Champion
- 2012 British Speed Champion
- 2012 British Slalom Champion
Ant Baker interview
Questions by Tez Pavlieks
What’s your favourite windsurfing spot and why?
– Maui Hawaii, because you can sail at 3 different spots all with different conditions within 2 miles of each other 🙂 love Maui!
What are your favourite windsurfing conditions and why?
As I started windsurfing on the south coast of england which has a prevailing wind from the right (starboard) I prefer wave sailing this way, and I love to do big backloops – so nice double overhead waves with cross shore winds.
Where’s the one spot you still need to sail before you hang up your harness?
Hookipa on the north shore of Hawaii is the place to be if you are a windsurfer for sure
What’s your favourite piece of windsurfing kit (past or present) and why?
My favourite piece of kit currently is my new Fanatic Quad 101L, lovely fat boys wave board and it’s an awesome colour!
Who are your windsurfing hero’s and why?
I have 2 windsurfing heroes, the first is Jason Polakow as he revolutionised what we do in our sport and pushed the limits, and the second is my brother Nik as he is the best, most rounded windsurfer ever !
If you weren’t involved in watersports, what else would you be doing?
I have been doing martial arts for 30 years and love it, I currently have 4 black belts in various styles and have also fought professionally in the past so if I didnt windsurf i would be a pro fighter.
Why did you decide to knock pro windsurfing competition on the head?
I have had some serious accidents in my life and broken a lot of bones so had to stop at the highest level for a few years. But now I’m back racing European events and will be back on the world tour in 2014
Do you have a specific goal for 2013 – if so what is it?
I love my job so everyday is awesome, i will be going for all the British titles that I can and making heaps of videos
What’s more challenging – being a pro windsurfer or running The Baker Academy ?
Definitely harder working as a pro as you have to be on your game everyday you’re on the water, otherwise you dont eat; I find coaching more rewarding though 🙂
How do you see the windsurfing scene in 2013?
Windsurfing will always have a space on the water as equipment keeps improving and the top guys keep coming up with new tricks, love this sport!
What, in your opinion, is the key to making windsurfing mainstream again?
Windsurfing will never be like it was in the 80’s, 90’s but we will survive as sports like kitesurfing bring people to the water and because of this we will always have the opportunity to get new people on board.
What do you see as biggest growth area of windsurfing in the future?
Speed seems to be taking a huge step in windsurfing as everyone can strap on a GPS and record there own times and using websites like gpsspeedsurfing.com they can post there results and have real-time standings globally… its awesome fun!
Do you think we’ve seen everything there is in terms of performance levels in windsurfing?
I think windsurfing will always have good progression as new guys will always try to be bigger and better then the guys before.
Who’s your PWA tip for the top in 2013 for (all disciplines)?
– Antoine Albeau for Slalom
– Gollito Estredo for Freestyle
– Victor Fernandez for waves
Tea or coffee?
– Vanilla Latte
Bacon or sausage?
– Both
Blonde or brunette?
– Brunette, my beautiful partner Natalie is dark
Beer or wine?
– jagermeister
Fast or slow?
– i just do as im told 🙂
This Ant Baker interview was originally conducted in 2013 and for some reason has not been published. As it’s a fun read we thought it was well worth getting it back online. For more info check out his films on http://mpora.com/users/bakeracademy.
