At the end of 2008 there were rumours that Ricardo Campello was going to have to leave JP/NeilPryde. The little boy that grew up on the gear of Mr. Pryde and Polakow to another brand? It was hard to imagine. Luckily Ricardo stayed, although some things will drastically change: starting this year Rico will commit 100% to wave sailing. And thank God for that! In this latest umi feature Ricardo shows that he has got what it takes to be one of the best in the waves.

You are one of the stars of Pozo, how do you like sailing there?'Pozo is one of my favourite spots, the power of the wind is just amazing and very different from other spots. Jumping in Pozo is like a dream, it is like floating and for me this tack for jumping is my favourite so it's great!'

What are the best conditions for you in Pozo?'3.7 a bit power up with lots of waves coming through.'

The more wind, the better?'Well, this depends. When it's super super windy it starts to get dangerous. You don't really have control and it is very uncomfortable to sail. I like power in my sail but no extremely strong.'

What equipment do you like best for Pozo?'My Firefly 3.7 and my small twin fin board.'

What was your best Pozo moment?'I think it was last year when I tried the triple. I was super happy and felt pretty good and just a few days before I got second on the wave event so that was good!'

It seems you never really hurt yourself, how's that?'Well I guess I've been a bit lucky! I do hurt myself but just nothing serious yet, thank god!'

When doing doubles, you seem to have the perfect control. Do you know exactly what is going on?'Well, I really like to see myself sailing on videos and like that you learn a lot. I guess this helps. With the doubles before I used to go for it and just close my eyes but now I don't know why I have good control. To be honest I don't have an answer for that! It is just natural I guess and maybe by trying it a lot I got used to it!'

You seemed to be on fire last year, were you just enjoying yourself more or were you more focused on doing well?'I don't really know... I was super motivated and was enjoying myself on the water. I think once you are doing well on an event it makes things much easier!'

Do you get more motivated knowing there's a lot of people watching from the arena?'Definitely! It really helps when there are people watching because you want to look good. But even more important is that you want to do well for yourself of course...'

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