He’s won 18 world championships in 16 years. And he may be the biggest alrounder windsurfing has ever seen: Antoine has been the world’s best Slalom, Speed, Formula and Freestyle Windsurfer in various world championships. If you look at many younger windsurfers, you will find that they normally just compete in one discipline.

Besides this, Antoine is the fastest windsurfer ever: in 2008, Albeau broke the speed sailing record that had been held by Finian Maynard. His speed of 49,09 knots (90,91 km/h) made him the fastest man on the water, faster than any high-speed, expensive sailing boad. In September 2009, however, sailors won the crown back: Alain Thébault, also a Frenchman, sailed 51,36 knots fast with his trimaran „Hydroptère“.

But despite this, Albeau’s name can now be found inscribed into the wall of fame of the very British WSSRC (World Sailing Speed Record Council). This is a real achievement as only four windsurfers (Erik Beale, Pascal Maka, Thierry Bielak, Finian Maynard) had joined this very select club since 1972.

A real legend

18 world titles, the poshest sailing record, what else can he ask for? With such a list of titles, Antoine Albeau has become a legend of this sport, just like Robby Naish and Björn Dunkerbeck, the idols that he was cherishing when he was a teenager.

The world champion doesn't remember the first time he stepped on a windsurfing board. In his mind, he has always been windsurfing. In fact, this sport is forming part of his family life. His father, Jean-Marie, was one of the first windsurfers in France (competing at a good level) and created a windsurfing school on l'île de Ré. The likeness of Antoine Albeau and the other windsurfing legend Björn Dunkerbeck, whose parents also had a windsurfing school (Canary Islands), is outstanding.

At the age of 39, Antoine still dominates his sport. In the first 2011 contest, PWA slalom, Antoine became 2^nd. He has all the weapons to win: a flawless physique, self-confidence and an unwavering mental toughness plus the best equipment possible. The world champion is working with top brands, being sponsored by some of the market leaders in board sports: JP-Australia and Neil Pryde as well as Quiksilver (wetsuits and surfwear).

The Key to become a Champion

The world champion doesn't remember the first time he stepped on a windsurfing board. In his mind, he has always been windsurfing. In fact, this sport is forming part of his family life. His father, Jean-Marie, was one of the first windsurfers in France (competing at a good level) and created a windsurfing school on l'île de Ré. The likeness of Antoine Albeau and the other windsurfing legend Björn Dunkerbeck, whose parents also had a windsurfing school (Canary Islands), is outstanding.

Is this the secret to build a champion? Provided that passion is not killed... Along with his father, and since he was a teenager, Antoine was competing against the best French windsurfers on the national championships. Quickly, the “elders” knew that this young robust fellow would soon be one of the best, especially in rough conditions. At the age of 20, he was learning his trade in the world cup, observing the stars of these days, and collecting the experience that later he would need to get rid of these idols. But “even when he was in the top 20 of the world cup ranking, Antoine was coming back home and, sometimes, was passed by his father!”.

Windsurfing is not Formula 1

Professional tour and technical mechanic equipment, we could almost draw a parallel between windsurfing and Formula 1, except that Antoine Albeau's contracts are not comparable to those of someone like Lewis Hamilton. He makes it clear: “There isn't a lot of money in windsurfing; it's hard to secure the future. You have to give a lot to get a little, but that's the way it is. If I look at my past, I can see a lot of years spent on the pro tour, mainly good memories, that's what's important.”

Sorry, but a windsurfing champion is not a suntanned lazy beach boy. The real life of Antoine Albeau is a succession of plane trips (with a minimum of 500kg of equipment to check in) to go to the competitions, interrupted by some time spent in his beautiful house in l’île de Ré (off the coast of La Rochelle). “Too rare” according to his wife Sarah, a beautiful English that he met on the tour when she was working for the PWA (Professional Windsurfers Association, the world tour organizers). “Three or four months in Hawaii for training and equipment tuning, three months at home, and the rest travelling around the world”, that's the annual calendar of the champion and his wife, who's organizing most of his trips.

His Versatility makes him unique

The prize list of Antoine Albeau is one of the most complete in the history of windsurfing. 11 world titles and an innumerable collection of national titles, he's the most titled European windsurfer, along with Björn Dunkerbeck. But the most impressive characteristic of Antoine Albeau is his versatility, because most actual top windsurfers are specialized in only one discipline. Let's take the current windsurfing world champions in wave or freestyle, they cannot consider getting through the first heat of a slalom event, and in fact they won't even try to participate.

On the other hand, if the conditions are adapted to the size of Antoine Albeau, he would definitely be a pretender for a victory in the wave discipline. Albeau stacked up victories in a variety of racing disciplines (slalom, formula windsurfing, speed, supercross), but he also won a world title in the discipline of freestyle (in which most contestants are half his weight). And his favourite “hobby” is still to “play” in the waves. Barely recovered from his speed world record, he celebrated windsurfing the giant waves of Biarritz, before he came back home and immediately went out for a stand up paddle surfing session.