When it comes to Brazil, people think about beaches, carnival, and soccer! The Brazilian people are very involved in sports, and it is said that in Brazil, every city has a church, a square and a soccer field. Actually, soccer can be considered a cultural phenomenon, and the Brazilian soccer team is immensely popular, featuring many worldwide famous players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Kaká...

Brazilian beach culture
Another very important cultural aspect of Brazil is the beach life. Most major cities of the county are located at the shores. And so almost every city has a surf break. Surfing is a very popular recreational sport among Brazilians, which is not a surprise in a country with ca. 7000 km of coastline. Brazil offers a huge amount of different waves, and several professional Brazilian surfers compete in the men's and women's Professional Surfer World Tour (ASP).

Although Windsurfing is still a minor sport in Brazil – in comparison to soccer and surfing-, this country is getting more and more important for all the windsurf lovers because of its two dream windsurfing areas – Ibiraquera and Jericoacoara - and its two young windsurfing world champions – Kauli Seadi and Marcilio “Brawzinho” Browne.

Dream spot number 1: Ibiraquera

The Brazilian coast is huge. In the North you get constant trade winds and warm waters, while in the South the winds are not as constant, because they are the results of low pressure, but the waves are better.

Let's start with the South, Ibiraquera (State of Santa Catarina) is home of the current PWA Wave Champion Kauli Seadi. This beach was put in the spotlight in 2007 when a PWA wave event was held there. The wind is generated by low-pressure systems off the South of Argentina, though the best time for windsurfing is from July to November (winter / spring). The winter is best for waves, the summer is best for winds, just like in Hawaii. The sandy beach is long and beautiful, the waves are fun to ride, and there are several lagoons close by the beach for beginners and freestylers. A windsurfer's paradise!

World champion Kauli Seadi

Coming from Ibiraquera, Kauli Seadi is undoubtedly the best waverider of the moment (as a matter of fact, he was the PWA wave world champion in 2007). Kauli is a very determined athlete, and he has been training a lot in the modalities of wave and freestyle, always trying and testing new manoeuvres, and developing his own style, mixing freestyle moves with powerful curves on the face of the wave. Kauli can be considered as the pioneer of the newschool waveriding style. He was also the first to do a new impossible jump – really few pro windsurfers can do it – : the “pushloop into forward” (a very difficult combination of two rotation jumps one backward and the other forward).

Kauli is not only inventing new windsurfing moves, he's also creating new windsurfing trends. For example, he's using windsurf boards with two fins, called “twinzer”. This concept was used more than 10 years ago but almost disappeared. Since Kauli won the 2007 world title with one of these boards, a lot of pro windsurfer are sailing with a twinzer board, and most of the windsurfing brands are releasing a special “twinzer” model. Kauli Seadi is truly a champion, not only giving the sport a smiling Brazilian face but really pushing his sport forward.

Dream spot number 2: Jericoacoara

Another windsurfer's paradise, and already a classic destination for windsurfing holidays, is Jericoacoara – Jeri -, a small fishing village hidden behind the dunes of the west coast of Ceará in the north-eastern part of the country, 300 km West of Fortaleza (home of the current PWA freestyle champion  Marcilio “Brawzinho” Browne). Jeri's beach was elected by the Washington Post as one of the Top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. Concerning the windsurfing conditions, the waves are smaller than in Ibiraquera, but it is windy every day from June until December (both trades and thermal winds). There is a couple of windsurf schools on the beach, both for hiring and lessons - from beginners to freestyle and wave. In the village of Jericoacoara, life takes on a much slower pace. No cement streets, no traffic, no stress, but all the comfort and luxury required for some dream holidays. Jeri is definitely one of the world's best places for windsurfing!