Last weekend we had a very nice competition held in Latvia, Pavilosta. The main goal of the competition was to make some great formula races and some slalom fleets if the conditions were strong enough.
Apparently, at the first day the wind was off shore, very light and unstable what forced us to wait until the late afternoon. After the lunch the wind started to pop in and, luckily, the conditions got strong enough for FW races to be started. We rigged our monster sails, took the softest and most lifting fins and went to the Baltic Sea to show real pro action!
At first it seemed a bit gusty and swiftly but with no questions enough for at least some FW races to be done. We tested the race course by going upwind and downwind for several times to get known of the wind behavior.
The start was more or less awful as we some how managed to miss out the starting procedure and were super late to cross the starting line. As the wind was very light most of us couldn't get planning and all that we could do was to watch from a distance how other sailors were starting..
Anyway, lets look at the bright side! After the first lap the wind died off and the race was cancelled. As there were no more signs of wind to show up, the jury decided to send us back to shore and postpone the races until the following day.
And so, when the next morning came up the question was not whether it will be FW or not, but whether it will be hardcore formula races or hardcore slalom. After a few attempts to sail in those pretty harsh conditions (10m/s and up to 15m/s in gusts) with my FW board, 7.8m2 Simmer slalom sail and my stiffest fin, I knew that I should get prepared for a slalom session...
I rigged up my 2010 7.0m2 simmer sail, took my beloved JP slalom IV 104L, put in my 37cm slalom fin and head to the salty and wavy Baltic Sea water. At first it was tough but at the same time a wonderful feeling to sail against the big waves and strong wind, make some great jumps with racing gear and feel the freedom while sailing in the sea.
As for the slalom races, it was tough. The weather, wind conditions, wavy sea, strong gusts and strong competitors were the things that demanded a huge amount of experience and concentration to sail against. The hardest part was rounding the buoys. Luckily, I made most of them successfully what let me fight with the first half of the fleet.
All the 7 races were done with a wind reaching 15m/s in gusts demanding both a lot of stamina and clear mind so that you wouldn't make huge mistakes and loose places.
To take everything into account, I am quite satisfied of the results as I was 1st in the youth group and 6th in overall results. Even though, there were no FW races done, I am super happy that I was the first one of the 3 Lithuanians competing in slalom and I really hope to show even better results in the near future!
Thats it for now, see you soon!
Take care.
No comments:
Post a Comment