The weekend of the 27/28th of April saw the first stop of the UK Slalom Tour held at Portland Harbour, Weymouth. With support from the OTC, Surf Doctor, Tabou and GA Sails, a windy, but changeable forecast, and the inclusion of a new fleet, it proved to be a testing season opener for competitors and race crew alike.
A NEW FLEET
The new fleet saw foil only windsurf slalom after top slalom racer and iQ foil coach, James Faley, explained that in iQ events the medal race is usually a slalom format, with the seeding races seeing a traditional course format, therefore exposing our iQ sailors to this is an essential part of their development. What he may have missed is that downwind slalom is also the most fun!
Saturday dawned pretty calm and with it a great chance to catch up with faces that many hadn’t seen since last year. However, soon the conditions built allowing for 7 foil and wing races to be held, and twice that many for the master blasters. At the end of the day, the leaders in each fleet had won every race, which meant it was a clean sweep for rising international winging star, Rafferty Read, 2023 international fleet champion James Faley, Tim Bate in the national fleet, upcoming iQ sailor Beau Handley in the foil only, and local, Dylan Chick heading up the master blasters.
LONG DISTANCE
This story is from the Issue 434 - June 2024 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 434 - June 2024 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
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!
