Pete DeKay: Founder of Windsurfing Now Magazine

It’s not every day that we get the pleasure to see a new magazine hit the shelves – especially in the windsurfing world! Well, the wait is over: Windsurfing Now has launched! The decline of the mass-market print media has been chronicled ad nauseum, but the picture today is definitely not as bleak as everyone might want us to believe.

In fact, with today’s technology, digital marketing tools and connected supply chain, this might be the best time in years to launch the magazine you’ve had in your dreams all along. But it takes guts, and know-how, and more than anything, a clear vision. We spoke with the man at the helm: Pete DeKay.

A print magazine in today’s digital world – are you crazy?
I may be crazy…but I think a print magazine for North America fits into a niche sport like windsurfing very nicely. Personally I prefer thumbing through an actual magazine rather than swiping across my iPad screen. The photos have more power and the printed text seems more permanent. Plus we can always add a digital edition down the road. I’m thankful to the brands in the industry that have supported Windsurfing Now and now we just have to keep getting the word out so people will subscribe.

What’s the mission of the magazine? And why call it ‘Windsurfing Now?’
Windsurfing Now is a magazine for North American windsurfers. We want to show off what windsurfing is across all of the US and Canada. We’ll have as much regional coverage as possible while also exposing to our readers everything that is cool in windsurfing today. This covers a lot of ground as windsurfing is a very diverse sport.

Our biggest goal is to listen to the readers and really give them what they want. So please email me your thoughts/ideas/photos to pete@windsurfingnowmag.com. The name was nailed down after a phone call with Francisco Goya. He loved calling the mag Windsurfing Now and he exuded so much positivity (as he always does) that my mind was made up!

Full interview… click here