DATE: Sunday, October 26, 1997              TAG: 9710240265

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: BEACH PEOPLE 

SOURCE: BY JEWEL BOND, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   86 lines

WINDSURFER SETTLES DOWN TO BUSINESS

STEPHAN DRUMHELLER knew what he wanted in life when he was a junior in high school. He wanted to run his own business - and windsurf.

Today, Drumheller, 25, is a business owner who can gracefully maneuver a windsurfing rig 20 feet out of the water and complete a loop.

At the age of 17, Drumheller had already captured the United States Junior National Windsurfing Championship. Three years ago, at age 22, he started his own business, Flying Colors, a painting and restoration company he runs out of his home in Nags Head.

``I windsurfed because I was good at it, and that's what I wanted to do,'' Drumheller said recently from the deck of his cottage overlooking the Roanoke Sound. ``But I'm thinking about my future now. It's time to get serious. I'm thinking more about building my business and making more money.''

Drumheller says you don't get into windsurfing to make money. It's a sport. Usually it's just a lot of hard-working guys having fun. It's not difficult to learn, but it takes a lot of money to buy the equipment.

``My friends and I used to laughingly call it the Yuppie sport because you would see the guys that drive BMWs and Saabs buying windsurfing equipment,'' he said.

Everything in Drumheller's life has revolved around windsurfing since he learned the sport at the age of 12 at Dewey Beach, Del. Even his parents, Joseph and Nancy, loved the sport and still actively enjoy it. He says they look forward to their visits to the Outer Banks for sailing outings and thinks they will eventually move here. His brother Eric has already moved his family here.

``The guy I worked for my senior year of high school also windsurfed, and he ran a really neat business painting and restoring historical homes and buildings in Wilmington, Del.,'' Drumheller said.

His employer ran a very professional business, he says. Employees wore uniforms and were expected to look clean-cut. If hair was long, it had to be worn in a ponytail. They were expected to work hard and to work a full shift. That's how he runs Flying Colors.

``I was really impressed with how this guy ran his business and how much money he was making,'' Drumheller said. ``When I go to see a client, there won't be any windsurfing equipment in my truck. I won't look anything less than professional.''

After graduating from high school in Landenberg, Pa., Drumheller, at age 18, joined ABK Sports Windsurfing for two years as an instructor and traveled the country.

ABK Sports, initials for the three owners, is a year-round touring group offering lessons in snowboarding and windsurfing.

Convoying by vans, Drumheller's team of 10 windsurfing instructors would hit the water and tourist locations all along the East Coast for four weeks each stop, and then to California for four months.

``It was a really good way to travel and meet people,'' Drumheller said. ``Coming here on tour in the spring and fall helped make up my mind where I wanted to live. It was the atmosphere and environment. It's a little more mellow here.''

On a recent sunny, gusty day, as Drumheller gazed out at the half dozen or more windsurfers sailing across the wind-rippled waters of the sound, he flashed a winsome, Kennedy-like smile and mused:

``Windsurfing is what makes me who I am and why I live here - the number one windsurfing location on the East Coast.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW WILSON

Stephan Drumhellar of Nags Head is a former windsurfing circuit

rider who has settled on the Outer Banks and opened a business here.

Graphic

(WIND)SURF THE WEB

Most of the major windsurfing magazines have sites on the Web

worth checking out. A number of other sites seemed to have broken

links. Here are a few we found that work:

http://mh004.inf.net/(tilde)tox - The Obnoxious Times, the e-zine

of world wide board sports ``a geek-free zone.'' A fun, informative

and colorful place to visit. And local!

http://www.insiders.com/outerbanks/main-watersports.htm - A great

site for information on all things water-related on the Outer Banks.