High wind foiling with big sails is not for the faint hearted. The 2019 Catalunya Costa Brava PWA World Cup saw some of the wildest professional wind foil racing to date as sailors battled raging Tramontana winds. On the flip side, the opening day of the event saw some of the lightest winds yet encountered for professional foil racing and then, later on in the event period, for the first time in the PWA, the sailors competed in slalom foiling. The event put the sailors on the edge of foil performance in a variety of conditions; John Carter asked the pros their opinion of the limits for foil racing being explored to such extremes?
The positive about the range of conditions we faced was that it is actually really difficult to tune your gear without this huge wind range. Then you have to find the extremes, which is new to all of us. I only received my sails the day before Japan, so I am still getting used to tuning them. Nobody ever tried to go out with an 8.0m in 40 knots before. Prior to the high wind race we were all just trying to figure out what we could do to cope. I think it was super awesome that we raced in those conditions. It was very good to find the limits and I think we even went a touch over. I went on a 7.8m and it was just ‘man up’ and go. We learned so much from the first race to the last race. It was already a big difference in our sailing. Next season when we know we need to compete in those conditions we will be trained up for it and looking much better. I used a smaller front wing and raked the back wing to give as little power as possible. It was definitely scary. I was one of the few guys who didn’t crash and that was basically because I saw them all going down and decided to take it super easy and not injure myself. I lost some places doing that, but I wanted to survive and knew it was not the time to push hard. The light wind conditions were also tough, I am 90 kilos so it is hard to get up on the foil and beat the RS:X guys who are pumping all the way up. That is the other extreme, you need to get on the foil as quick as possible in such light conditions.
ANTOINE ALBEAU
Denne historien er fra Issue 388 - August 2019-utgaven av Windsurf.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 388 - August 2019-utgaven av Windsurf.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
