"Mistral and I have been in touch re a team move for five years now as we shared similar views and aims for our sport's development. Both of us have fulfilled our goals in this period, proving to each other we're on the right track for a future together, with Mistral totally revamping their brand with a new boss and new boards for 2008 that are all highly developed in terms of shapes and construction (not to mention their radical new line of Mistral Twinser wave boards due to be released soon!) And I've managed to produce a highly acclaimed windsurfing technique DVD, proving that windsurfers want the detailed but clear coaching INtuition is renowned to deliver.

So I am very keen on their future, they're right at the start of an era of ground breaking boards, combined with the business prowess needed to progress in this industry. And they're very keen on INtuition and my knowledge of what actual windsurfers need from the manufacturers. So we've got together for a long term agreement to improve freeride windsurfing generally. Did I mention those wave Twinsers? I can't wait to use them!"

"Mistral's research and development team is the world's strongest- you'll find most of the world's best windsurfers actually ride, or have ridden, Mark Nelsons' shapes (Mistral's designer.) Their production and management has all changed recently and the 2008 boards are an enormous improvement to their boards of the passed five years. They're using only the lightest stiffest construction in their RD range. So the way I see it is they have the right shapes, the right team in all fields of the sport from management to riders (bytheway they're already the freestyle world champions) and over the next years we'll see that this professionalism will help Mistral grow tremendously, and I'd like to be part of that growth with them. It is genuinely an exciting time for Mistral, they are still the brand name that most windsurfers remember, yet for the last ten years have not had the best kit or infrastructure to actually be the best brand. But now that they have, it's a great time to join them, right at the beginning of a whole new era. I'll put my money where my mouth is, within a few years, everyone will aspire to own a Mistral board.

The launch of the Mistral Twinser, which other brands have found reputably hard to engineer, if not impossible, goes to show how far ahead they are in development, with Nik Baker working his unprecedented wave knowledge into boards with Mark Nelson. To quote the PWA's head judge "when I got on Nik's kit, I sailed like Nik" this is what we need from manufacturers for their top of the range kit- the actual boards the pro's use. Mistral's Twinsers are the very boards Nik rides, and Mistral's Joker is the exact board Marcillo won the world title on. So if you're into waves or freestyle, these boards are pretty much unbeatable.

I want to ensure Mistral's freeride boards are also exactly what the market needs- and if anyone has sailed the new 2008 Screamers or Synchro's, both massive test winners around the world, they'll know that Mistral are making awesome easy to use kit again, that is way earlier planning and much lighter than they used to be.

Once these boards have improved their graphics and marketing, which you'll see has already significantly changed for 2008, Mistral will be back to the top of their game both in product and market perception.

Not many riders out there would choose to leave JP at their peak, what are you leaving behind?

Well JP are undoubtedly an awesome brand with some amazing kit and we've had a great time together. Despite their image of being young and radical, with former world champions Jason Polakow and Ricardo Campello, the irony is it was their freeride boards that were very good. Whereas Mistral's marketing has focussed more on freeriding, yet it's been their wave boards that have been so awesome! So really, Mistral is the more radical!

JP is very well organised with arguably the best marketing and successful brand manager out there (Martin Brandner.) I think they've been very good with their continuity and focus in their advertising which has made them so successful to have reached the peak they're at. They have a huge market share in the UK, the largest of any of their countries, so in some ways I think my job is done with them and it's time to jump ship. This feeling was further strengthened when Gordon Way, my long term sponsor and friend stopped distributing Neil Pryde and JP and I thought they'd go to an agent, but they've gone to another distributor, which I don't think is the right direction to help end user costs or our shops. Whereas Mistral and North have moved to an agent in the UK to keep their business plan tight and their prices realistic. This is a much more futuristic company decision that I'm keener to be involved with.