Foiling Diaries

After winning gold in Rio last year, SASKIA CLARK was looking for a new challenge, deciding to give foiling a try. Here she gets to grips with the basics in a new series for Y&Y.

After three Olympic Games, Saskia Clark now has a silver and a gold medal to hang around her neck. Following her gold in 2016, Clark announced her intention to retire from the Olympic circuit. But what does a double 470 Olympic medallist do for a fresh challenge? At least part of the answer is to buy a one design, foiling Waszp. In this first part of a recurring series of diaries for Y&Y, Saskia documents her decision and the realities of flying:

I was out in Melbourne in January and had been looking at a foiling something as my next boat, Saskia writes. I really like the Moth but it is a pretty hefty initial outlay – the Waszp is by no means cheap, but it was cheap enough that I felt I could justify paying for one to play around in. The other thing about the Moth is that there is development going on all the time in the class, which, while great for the sport and foiling as a whole, felt like something I didn’t really want to deal with. While out in Australia, I got the chance to go to a mini Waszp taster session right near the company’s headquarters. It had invited a few of the local sailors who’d had their boats for a while, and had some demo boats out on the water too. There were a few of us out on a RIB jumping onto the boats out on the water. I sailed one of the ones owned by a local sailor. I jumped in, sheeted the sails in and was foiling straight off. There was a slightly puffy 14-15 knot offshore breeze and the water was pretty flat. I was nowhere near foiling tacks or gybes or even getting downwind all that well, but I was up and foiling and, to be honest, felt like a bit of a rockstar. It was pretty amazing and I was instantly hooked. That day was a brilliant day out on the water!