HARRY NASS: 25 YEARS AND COUNTINGHARRY NASS: 25 YEARS AND COUNTINGJohn Carter tracked down Harry Nass who has been running world class windsurfing centres in Dahab, Egypt since 1999, and more recently Hurghada, to find out how it all started, what makes his centres so special and how he stays passionate after 25 years in the game.Words: Harry Nass // Photos: Courtesy of Harry NassBACKGROUNDI am from the city of Dortmund in Germany and started windsurfing in the Netherlands on a small island called Texel when I was fifteen. I was addicted straightaway and had many problems in school as I mostly read German SURF Magazine all day. After school I worked as a banker for three years and then escaped to Italy where I started my first year at Michi Bouwmeester Centre at Lake Garda and spent three seasons.SAILING HISTORYWhile working at Lake Garda I learned a great deal from seasoned racers such as Ralf Bachschuster and Cesare Cantagalli, the man who invented the cheese roll. So, shortly afterwards I started competing on the German Tour called the Euro Funboard Cup, in 1986. During the off season we would spend our winters training in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, and in 1995 I bumped into the British Funboard Cup, who were there with about 50 sailors to hold their competitions in Racing, Slalom and Waves.At the time, I lived in my bus in Famara, and they held their wave competition right next to where I was parked, which gave me the opportunity to join in and compete against some of the now, old local heroes, such as Mark Woods and Duncan Coombs. I was stoked as I even made it to the quarterfinals!WINDSURF LICENSEIn 1983 I did my VDWS Instructor Course and started to teach one year later in Lake Garda.FIRST CENTRESIt all happened without planning. First of all I was only addicted to windsurfing, and once I became an instructor I met plenty of other racers at Lake Garda and also naturally progressed into racing. When I hit 30, I thought to myself I cant continue racing forever, so I decided to open my own centre. So in 1990, together with a local partner we opened a centre in Lanzarote. Unfortunately, partnerships arent always successful and eventually I had no choice but to leave.After that I became a centre manager in Kos, Greece, for a large German agency called Sport Scheck, which is the equivalent of Neilson or Sunsail in the UK. After two years (1994) I decided it was time to open my own centre again, this time in Alaati, Turkey, which I did successfully until 19999. While I was in Turkey I continued to race a bit and I became the International Turkish champion from 1996-98, while I also won the North One Hour in 1998, which had 150 competitors.WHY DAHAB?Dahab was a destiny as I wanted to go on holiday in January 1996 to El Yaque, Venezuela, but all the flights were fully booked, so I checked other possibilities and ended up in Dahab at the centre of Viktor Westenberg and his wife. I stayed there for four weeks and loved it and I also saw the potential of the place.OPPORTUNITYTwo years later I received the info that Viktor wanted to sell the centre as their family was part of a hotel management business and they had asked him to run a hotel back in the Netherlands. So I took my chance and bought the centre and moved from Alaati to Dahab. I still ran the the Alacati Centre for another two years, but then I sold it to concentrate my focus solely on Dahab.EASY HANDOVERAs I took over from Victor it was quite easy to get started as I already had all the travel agency contacts from them, so all I needed to do was to contact the agency to inform them that I had taken over and give them my new bank account details for payments. Shortly after I also met Mark Kasprowicz for the first time, who visited almost every year to carry out testing for Windsurf Magazine and he became a close friend of mine.How and when did you meet Elke and tell us about your working relationship?MEETING ELKE AND TAKING BUSINESS TO THE NEXT LEVELElke visited for the first in 2000 as a guest and we fell in love just two months later she quit her job as a fashion designer in Germany and came to live in Dahab. With her organisational talent we really boosted our business and opened Centres 2, 3 and 4 over the next few years.Centre 2 is at Jaz Dahabeya, which we opened in 2003, followed by Centre 3 at the Swiss Inn Hotel, and then we have Centre 4 at Bay View. which was a pure kite centre.In 2015, we opened our centre in Hurghada, as due to political reasons lots of tourists were scared to travel to Dahab, while some governments didnt even allow travel there, but Dahab has always been safe (except for the bomb in April 2006), but before and after that nothing has ever happened.BEGINNING VS NOWIn the first five years we had almost no holidays, maybe we get to spend two weeks in Mauritius if we were lucky before coming back, but over the last ten years we tend to spend about seven months in Egypt and five months elsewhere.INSTRUCTORSSince the political changes in Egypt started in 2011 with the so called Arab Spring regulations, the staff situation became more difficult. Before we used to have a lot of European instructors like Rob Horne or Marco Wedele, but for many years now, we employ mainly local instructors, who all speak proper English.LOVE OF DAHABDahab is still unique as it offers these different sailing areas. We have the lagoon inside the bay, a flat speed track and a wave area on the outside, which can have up to a 3-metre swell. Also, because Dahab was an old hippy town when the Israelis were there in the early 1980s, it became famous for backpackers from all over the world, which helped it keep its spirit. Also the Sinai mountains just next to the shore are not only stunning, but they are also what makes Dahab the windiest location in Egypt!BUSINESS & PLEASUREOf course I am lucky to have my hobby as a business and I still dont know what I wouldve done instead without windsurfing. Im lucky as a still love my job.LOYAL CUSTOMER BASELuckily we have lots of repeat guests who also visit/visited during, so called unsafe times, like right now for example with the Gaza war, but here in Dahab everything is totally fine. It was also the same during COVID when guests came and asked whats available, whats possible to do and if restaurants are still open? I simply answered: All normal, all open., and they had tears in their eyes before crying out Freedom!.TIME ON THE WATERIn strong winds I take an 85L freestyle wave board and a 4.5m sail and have fun, but in lower winds I am now wing-foiling, which is now my number one sport, but of course I am still 100% a windsurfer after 45 years of doing it.THE HARRY NASS FACTORI havent seen many other centres, except the few others in the bay, but we have always had a lot of equipment, so guests never had to fight for gear, we are German organised, so our sails are hanging correctly in one line almost like in a show room. We also offer two-way radios for our guests for their safety, so that if something happens, they can call the centre from the water and the rescue boat will be with them in less than five minutes. We also offer kiting and wing lessons as well as rental equipment.LEARNINGThe equipment is definitely lighter than it used to be and there are also special kids sails and boards, which are wider and more stable, so they are better for learning. Inside the bay in Dahab is the best area to learn.25 YEARS OF HIGHLIGHTSWe have had so many highlights like the testing weeks with Windsurf Magazine, also we held lots of clinics with Dave White and Guy Cribb. I sponsored Micah Buzianis and Robby Swift in 2009 and 2010, so they also came for slalom clinics and at PWA World Cup events my Harry Nass stickers were on their sails. To be honest, the whole 25 years have been a huge highlight of my life and I wouldnt do anything differently if I had the chance again.Captain James T.Kirk and Mr and Mrs Nass.I remember when Harry decided to introduce walkie-talkies for his windsurfing guests. The inner lagoon in Golden beach is safe and patrolled from the beach and boat. Speedy too is quite busy but the bay is big, while outside the reef in the Gulf of Acquaba itself, the rollers can be big and gnarly, so being able to call for help if the situation demanded was a confidence booster.The radios arrived to great excitement and Harry decided to test their range. Strapping one to his belt he ran off in the direction of the end of the strip separating the lagoon from Speedy. He got to the end and, still jogging, called back to his centre. I had one of the radios in my hand and couldnt resist it.This is the American warship USS Enterprise based in the Gulf., I called back, Caller, you are hailing on one of our allocated frequencies. Desist or you will be subject to the full force of International law. Through binoculars we could see Harry stop dead in his tracks and look down at the walkie-talkie in his hand. I repeated the message. Harry turned and sprinted back to the centre. He arrived not long afterwards, still holding the radio and looking not a least bit confused. I pressed my transmit button, he heard the click and realised. He just shouted You!!!!!Well, Harry might not have been a Treckie but he and Elke have been great friends of Windsurf magazine for twenty five years. It was always a pleasure to return to Dahab knowing that a warm welcome awaited. A great business couple, great windsurfers/ kitesurfers/ every other discipline involving water and wind and most importantly, true friends.Congratulations and thank you both.Mark KasprowiczManaging Director. Windsurf MagazineKirk and Mr and Mrs Nass.I remember when Harry decided to introduce walkie-talkies for his windsurfing guests. The inner lagoon in Golden beach is safe and patrolled from the beach and boat. Speedy too is quite busy but the bay is big, while outside the reef in the Gulf of Acquaba itself, the rollers can be big and knarly, so being able to call for help if the situation demanded was a confidence booster.The radios arrived to great excitement and Harry decided to test their range. Strapping one to his belt he ran off in the direction of the end of the strip separating the lagoon from Speedy. He got to the end and, still jogging, called back to his centre. I had one of the radios in my hand and couldnt resist it.This is the American warship USS Enterprise based in the Gulf., I called back, Caller, you are hailing on one of our allocated frequencies. Desist or you will be subject to the full force of International law. Through binoculars we could see Harry stop dead in his tracks and look down at the walkie-talkie in his hand. I repeated the message. Harry turned and sprinted back to the centre. He arrived not long afterwards, still holding the radio and looking not a least bit confused. I pressed my transmit button, he heard the click and realised. He just shouted You!!!!!Well, Harry might not have been a Treckie but he and Elke have been great friends of Windsurf magazine for twenty five years. It was always a pleasure to return to Dahab knowing that a warm welcome awaited. A great business couple, great windsurfers/ kite surfers/ every other discipline involving water and wind and most importantly, true friends. Congratulations and thank you both.Mark KasprowiczManaging Director. Windsurf MagazineThe post HARRY NASS: 25 YEARS AND COUNTING appeared first on Windsurf Magazine.