Marco Beneduce

Marco Beneduce

Retreat Guide
📍 Porto Pollo, Sardinia, Italy
Windsurfing · IWO Instructor Training · Embodied Movement · Water Sports
For adults who can already water-start and want to break a plateau. Minimum requirement: ability to harness, water-start, and plane on a flat reach. The instructor certification cohorts have additional water-test entry requirements.
"Windsurfing & Embodied Movement"
Sardinian wind retreats and instructor certifications.
Guiding since 2006 · 96 retreats · 760+ participants Max 8 per retreat

What I Do & Why It's Different

Six-day windsurfing progression retreats on the Sardinian wind belt, plus IWO instructor certifications each spring. Former pro circuit competitor. Combines technical instruction with body-mechanics and embodied movement work. For adults who want to actually progress, not relax with a board.

Six-Day Progression Retreats

On-Water Coaching, Riding Alongside

Daily Morning Movement Work

IWO Instructor Certification

Sardinian Family-Style Dinners

Video Review Daily

Twenty Years on the Pro Circuit

IWO-Accredited Certification

Family-Run, Not Industrial

Wind Belt Specifics

You are not bad at windsurfing. You have been taught by people who never properly learned themselves.

What Actually Happens

Marco rigging at Porto Pollo, late afternoon Marco rigging at Porto Pollo, late afternoon
Group launch, May cohort Group launch, May cohort
Marco riding alongside, on-water coaching Marco riding alongside, on-water coaching
Stronger-wind afternoon session Stronger-wind afternoon session
Beach setup, family villa in background Beach setup, family villa in background

"Twenty years on the pro circuit shows in everything Marco does. He sees the bad habit before you do. Three corrections in three days and I was riding differently."

Lorenzo Pizzi · Six-Day Progression Retreat

"I was the only woman in the group and the strongest rider in it. Marco coached me harder than the men. That is what real respect looks like."

Hannah Brink · Six-Day Progression Retreat

"I run a small school in Denmark. Marco's framework reshaped how I teach beginners. My drop-off rate is half what it was."

Niels Dahl · IWO Instructor Certification

"The food is half the retreat. His mother is the unsung hero. The wind is excellent. The combination is hard to find anywhere else in the Med."

Stefano Conti · Six-Day Progression Retreat

"Toughest certification I have done. By design. The graduates can teach because they had to learn. I would do it again."

Astrid Hellmann · IWO Instructor Certification

"I came after twenty years of weekend windsurfing thinking I was advanced. Three days with Marco and I understood I had been compensating for bad rig form the entire time. Worth twice what I paid."

Pierre Lefebvre · Six-Day Progression Retreat

"I am a windsurf instructor in Sweden. Marco's certification was harder than my previous ones and the framework he taught for coaching beginners is genuinely better. I run my school differently now."

Karina Blixt · IWO Instructor Certification

"The food alone justifies the trip. The windsurfing is excellent. The combination is rare. I have been three times and will be back."

Tomek Kowalski · Six-Day Progression Retreat

What It's Like to Be Here

Mornings start with body work — joint mobility, breath, balance. Then breakfast. Then onto the water before the wind picks up. Sessions are coached on the water with Marco riding alongside. Afternoons are technical: stronger wind, debrief, video review. Evenings are family-style dinner on a long outdoor table. By day five you will be planning trips with people you met on day one.

Who Comes to My Retreats

Intermediate and advanced windsurfers who have plateaued. Surfers crossing over. Corporate executives who once competed and want to come back to it. Roughly seventy percent are men in their forties and fifties. The remaining thirty percent of women tend to be the strongest riders in the group.

Not for absolute beginners — there are better options elsewhere for first-timers. Not for couples where only one rides. Not for people who want a relaxing beach holiday — the schedule is full and the work is real.

Upcoming Retreats

I run a few retreats a year. Leave your email and I'll let you know when the next one opens.

Six-Day Progression Retreat — June Cohort

Six-Day Progression Retreat — June Cohort

June 15-20, 2026 · Porto Pollo, Sardinia
Six-Day Progression Retreat — September Cohort

Six-Day Progression Retreat — September Cohort

September 21-26, 2026 · Porto Pollo, Sardinia

If you have a question, want to discuss a private group, or just want to say hi — I read every message.

The wind season runs May through October. Spots fill from January. If you have ever stood on a board and wondered what it would feel like to actually plane through a gust, this is where you learn.
"You cannot bully the wind. You learn to read it, or it leaves without you."
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