About Surf

Surf

Surf, styled surf by its publisher, is a German sports magazine devoted to windsurfing, published since 1977 by the Delius Klasing Verlag of Bielefeld. By its own account it is the largest windsurfing magazine in the world, and it has accompanied the sport since its roots, helping to shape it along the way. The magazine appears six times a year in print and digital editions, with a print run of 12,100 copies, and it extends its brand through the annual SURF-Festival on the Baltic island of Fehmarn, one of the largest windsurfing gatherings in Europe, as well as beginner-oriented specials and a reworked online portal that now also covers stand-up paddling and wing surfing.

Overview

Surf is the flagship windsurfing title of Delius Klasing, the Bielefeld special-interest publishing house known for its sports magazines such as Yacht, Bike, and Tour. The magazine mixes competent equipment tests and service reports with brilliant photo spreads, strong reportage, and informative travel features, in a creative and unconventional editorial style that its media data says succeeds in transporting the magic of surfing. It appears six times a year as a print and digital product, with the 2026 schedule running from a February issue through a December issue that opens the following year's cycle. The print run is listed at 12,100 copies with a sold circulation of 3,000 and a reach of 24,900 readers.

The brand reaches well beyond the printed page. Since 2002 Surf has organized the SURF-Festival, an annual windsurfing event held over the Ascension Day weekend that combines a trade fair with the opportunity to try the latest equipment for free and to meet international professional surfers up close. The festival took place on Fehmarn from 2002 to 2009, moved to Neustadt and Pelzerhaken from 2010 to 2014, and returned to Fehmarn in 2015, where it has been held in Burg ever since. For newcomers to the sport, the magazine established the Surf Aufsteigerwelt, a dedicated beginner section on its website, in 2015, and it publishes a 24-page beginner special once a year that surf students receive free of charge after their courses in nearly all surf schools. Since 2013 the magazine has also published a May special on stand-up paddling, reflecting the growth of that young trend sport, and its website now brings surf, SUP, and wing content together under one roof.

History

Surf was founded in 1977 by Uli Stanciu, who would go on to found the sister magazine Bike, Europe's first and largest mountain-bike magazine, in 1989. The new windsurfing title appeared in the Delius Klasing Verlag of Bielefeld at a time when windsurfing was still a young, bohemian sport, and the magazine grew up with it, documenting its evolution from a countercultural pastime into an organized, competitive, and eventually Olympic discipline. Windsurfing itself is described by the publisher as the "mother of all fun sports," celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017, and Surf has been its chronicler for nearly the entire lifespan of the sport.

In 2002 the magazine launched the Surf-Festival, turning its brand into a live event and creating what became a fixture of the European windsurfing calendar. The festival's concept from the start was a combination of exhibition and hands-on testing: visitors can try the newest boards and sails for free while watching international pros at close range. The event's moves between Fehmarn and the Neustadt/Pelzerhaken area reflected its growth, and its return to Fehmarn in 2015 consolidated it as an Ascension-weekend tradition.

The magazine has repeatedly extended its portfolio to serve adjacent audiences. In 2013 it launched the annual SUP special for fans of stand-up paddling, followed in July by a SUP digital edition, and in 2015 it created the Aufsteigerwelt for beginners, with the yearly free beginner special distributed through surf schools. In the background, the publisher itself changed hands: Delius Klasing has been part of the Klambt media group since September 2022, with the Speyer-based family publisher's Lars Rose taking the helm alongside Rüdiger Dienst and Tim Ramms, and in June 2026 Delius Klasing added the cycling titles Elektrorad and Radfahren to its portfolio. Through these changes Surf has remained the house's windsurfing authority, continuing its six-issue rhythm into the 2026 and 2027 cycles.

Coverage and Content

Surf's editorial program centers on the windsurfing experience in all its facets. Equipment tests are a core competence: the editorial team tests the newest boards, sails, and accessories "on heart and kidneys," as the media data puts it, producing the buying guidance that readers rely on when investing in expensive gear. Service reports cover technique, from the fast tack and jibe for improvers to planing, beach and water starts, trapeze sailing, and the power jibe, illustrated with step-by-step photo sequences. Travel features take readers to the world's best windsurfing spots, while reportage and interviews cover the professional scene, competitions, and the personalities of the sport.

Photography is a defining element: the magazine's "brilliant photo spreads" of radical wave action and the tricks of world champions are a signature, and the publisher also produces an annual Surf wall calendar with spectacular shots from the scene. The creative, unconventional editorial team is credited with repeatedly capturing the magic of surfing in a way that keeps the print product vital in a digital age.

The brand's special publications serve distinct segments. The annual SUP special addresses the stand-up paddling community, which has become at home on nearly every body of water. The Aufsteigerwelt and its yearly beginner special serve the roughly 35,000 new surfers who take up the sport each year according to the German watersports schools association, guiding them from their first course through their first gear purchases. The website's main draws remain the test reports, rounded out with information on travel, people, and technique tips, and the reworked portal now gives wingsurfing and SUP their own sections alongside the core windsurfing content.

Organization and Ownership

Surf is published by the Delius Klasing Verlag GmbH of Bielefeld, at Siekerwall 21 in the 33602 district, one of Germany's leading special-interest publishing houses for sports. The company's watersports portfolio includes Yacht, founded in 1904, Boote from 1967, Surf from 1977, Boote Exclusiv from 1988, and Yacht classic from 2006, alongside cycling titles such as Tour and Bike and motoring titles such as Gute Fahrt. Since September 2022 Delius Klasing has belonged to the Klambt media group, the Speyer-based family company, with publisher Lars Rose leading the house together with Rüdiger Dienst and Tim Ramms.

The Surf editorial team includes figures such as Manuel Vogel, a magazine editor who has authored the publisher's beginner book on learning to windsurf, reflecting the newsroom's hands-on expertise. Media sales for the magazine are handled through Klambt Mediasales, with Anja Walwei named as the contact for Surf and SUP. Financial details of the magazine's operations are not publicly confirmed beyond the circulation and reach figures published in its media data.

Digital Presence

Surf's digital home is surf-magazin.de, which the publisher has reworked into the largest German-language watersports portal, bringing the content of the surf, SUP, and wing brands together under one roof with their own sections. The site's main attractions are the equipment test reports, where the newest products are presented and rigorously tested, supplemented with travel information, people stories, and technique tips. The Aufsteigerwelt gives beginners in the sport all the relevant news, and fresh news items keep the website continually interesting.

The magazine is available as a digital edition alongside print, with subscription options for print plus digital, digital only, trial, and gift subscriptions covering six issues. The Delius Klasing online shop sells subscriptions, single issues, books, and calendars, including the annual Surf calendar and instructional books such as "Einfach Windsurfen lernen." The SURF-Festival has its own digital presence for event information, and the brand's media sales pages invite advertisers to use the reach of the Delius Klasing watersports brands to present themselves and their products. Social media activity extends the brand's community functions, connecting the "SURF family" online between issues and events.