Saturday 21 September 2013

Worlds: looking back, looking forward

It's been two weeks since the Raceboard world championships came to a close, and my achievement sinks in a little bit more every time I think about it. It was a pretty special experience for me, not just competing at an international championship, but also travelling across Europe and seeing new places.
Southwest Lakes Trust trailer in east Germany

It was a long way to drive, but we gave time to stay overnight at Hohenstadt near Nurenburg each way to relax. It's a beautiful area of Germany, with some quite steep hills coming out of nowhere, and miles and miles of forest cleared in places to make way for fields. The houses are also pretty, with very steeply sloping roofs.

One thing that you should know about driving in the Czech Republic, is that you for a 10 day permit to use the motorways. This is presumably so that they can rebuild them all! The slow lane is so, so bumpy, really bad in places, which isn't ideal for a rather old trailer stacked full of windsurfing kit! It was a bit much for it in the end, and one of the posts for the board rack sheered on the way home (it was a bit rusty): nothing a bit of string and an old mast extension couldn't solve though! I was pretty pleased that we didn't have a flat tire, the bearings didn't break, and Pauls plywood rig box didn't shake itself to bits! In fact, my car coped very well, and we didn't have any problems with it the whole 3000 odd miles, except when we tried to run our laptops off the car battery and realised that it was on its last legs! The car needed bump starting every now and again after that!

Some, well, ok, a lot of the journey was pretty boring, especially Belgium, which is lovely, with spacious feeling motorways and nice trees, but it is all the same (by the time we got to Belgium from Czech Rep we were pretty bored of driving anyway though)!

The south Moravian region of the Czech Republic, where the lake is, is very pretty rural area, with lots of farmland and vineyards. The aristocracy who lived in Mikulov, the nearest town had lots of fishing lakes etc. designed, but the lake that we were racing on is one of 3 lakes that were built to prevent the river Dyje from flooding the surrounding low lying farmland. The lakes are quite shallow, with a dam/embankment around much of it, but the southern bank (where the sailing club is) consists of a large steep hill with rows and rows of grapevines, and a rather imposing ruined castle on the top.

The event was very well organised indeed, and seemed to run without a hitch. There was a lot of sponsor support for the event, so a big thanks to them.

Team GB, ready to race
At the opening ceremony, there was a band playing traditional gypsy music, and they were fantastic.

Nice conditions on the training day
After a really fun training day in perfect, clean wind between 9 and 18 knots, the practice race was a little disappointing, with the wind blowing cross offshore and the course set in the lee of the castle, which made the wind unbelievably gusty and shifty, I got 2nd in the practice race (blue fleet) behind Curro Manchon, this gave me a good confidence booster for my speed in light-marginal winds, especially since I set my watch wrong and started about 20 seconds late!


Blasting
I was expecting a similar wind direction on the first day of official racing, but luckily the wind was quite cross-shore, and strong! Still pretty gusty, with winds from 18-28 knots in the morning and more like 12-20 in the afternoon. The moral to take home from that day is: don't be afraid to use a smaller sail then most of the top guys! This definitely let me concentrate on just sailing fast, and not have to struggle with a massive sail upwind. Downwind, even with my Tushingham Lightning 8.5, I was able to point very broad with a bit of pumping, and took some places downwind from they guys on 9.5's. My results improved throughout the day 4, 3, 3, 2 in the Blue fleet, with Patrik Pollak winning all the races but one, which was won by Petr Kucera. Curro got 2nd in the first race using his Tushingham XR Race 9.5, and I was fighting with him in many of the other races.
Pumping downwind

Time for some lunch
Whilst the two days of no wind and nice sunshine could have been a good chance to do some exploring, racing was postponed for 2 hours at a time, so there wasn't time to go far afield. We found time to walk to to the Castle, with some amazing views of the lake and surrounding countryside and across the border into Austria. Even with SUP racing and an inflatable climbing wall in the shape of an iso-line bottle (event drinks sponsor), I think we were all a bit bored and raring to go when the wind returned on Friday. At the competitors briefing, there was applause when the race officer reported 8-10 knots on the course!
Pumping!

The wind was a little gusty and very shifty on the last two days, so those who found the pressure and got the shifts right made big gains. The last day of the qualifying series saw me finish 2nd in each race behind Patrik. I tried not to be too risky at the start, and just concentrated in having space to accelerate in the middle of the line with options. This meant that although I was never first to the windward mark, I was consistently in the top 5. Frenchman Sylvain Dehouve was always close to the front, Pedro Corte Moura from Portugal was very good upwind, but I usually managed to gain on him downwind. I usually gained or sometime even overtook Patrik Pollak by getting a favourable shift and pointing higher than him upwind, but downwind, he was very fast indeed and won each of the races.

Me and Pedro upwind (Photo Martin Hales)


The final day left me in a pretty tight 3rd place, a long way off Patrik and Max in 1st and 2nd place, but with Petr Kucera, Sylvain Dehouve and Curro Manchon all snapping at my heels. The light winds meant that the most races we were going to get for the series was 10, which was big news for much of the fleet as it only allowed 1 discard. Luckily for me, Curro (who had got 2nd in every race on the penultimate day in the blue fleet whilst feeling very ill) had an OCS to discard, because on the final day, he showed me the way, counting a 3rd and two 2nds. Having to count a 7th from the first day meant that he finished two points behind me. Petr didn't have such a good day and got a 6th, 11th and 22nd, so slipped from 4th to 6th, which meant I got 3rd!!!!

Curro (Photo Martin Hales)
The last race was a bit funny, because after rounding the first mark in a good position, I knew that all I had to do was finish within 3 places of Curro to take bronze. I was in 4th and managed to overtake Sylvain into 3rd whilst Curro got 2nd, so I just had to pump a bit, watching that I was safe from behind, which meant I knew 3rd place was mine more or less halfway through the race, but I couldn't celebrate until it was over. When it was over, I felt some relief, but not a sudden rush of happiness of my achievement, maybe because it wasn't a very exciting finish to the regatta?

Yep, it's real, I've just got 3rd!









I still haven't quite got my head around it, having spend many years of my life sailing with, and finishing behind such people as Sam Sills and Connor Bainbridge, who dominated the UK events and achieved such amazing results at international events, I suddenly found myself winning UKWA events on Raceboard, a dream in itself, I never expected to get 3rd place at my first world championships since 2009 on Techno. Actually, maybe that's part of the reason for my success; I went there without expectation or pressure on myself to do well, and stayed focused, didn't take too many risks, and concentrated on sailing fast. So I didn't really make any mistakes, and when I did, I just focused on sorting it out and overtaking people, a few years ago I would have gone mental and started shouting at myself and my gear. I remember one race at the Techno worlds where I had a shit start, bad upwind, then when I fell off on a gybe downwind, started punching my board rather than getting up immediately and working my arse off to overtake some people!
Lightwind carve gybe

I hope that I can compete in the worlds or euros next year, but will have to see how things pan out. Unfortunately, I cannot afford any more events this year, so the raceboard will be hibernating in Cornwall until next season, hopefully I can get out on a couple of times, but I already can't wait to race again, the constant tactical, physical and technical challenge has me hooked. I came off the back of last season with 3 consecutive wins, so I had high hopes for this season with my new kit from sponsors Tushingham and Starboard, but to win every event in the UK and 3rd at the worlds is unbelievable!

I was very pleased with my equipment, and had got the XR Race 9.5 tuned up nicely across its wind range. I cannot emphasise the importance of getting out and trying different settings in all wind strengths, and would say that an adjustable downhaul is almost as important as an adjustable outhaul on this sail. Every time the wind changes a couple of knots, the downhaul changes, and the outhaul is continually adjusted through gusts, lulls, and between upwind and downwind. I have found that the XR Race can be set very full for light winds, and proved that it has what it takes against the competition in all wind strengths. I am going to look at making a tuning guide video over the winter to help people understand how to get the best out of this sail: watch this space!
Here's to 2014!
Massive thanks to my sponsors: Tushingham, Starboard, and Overboard, and to Paul Wright for his help with my website, encouragement with my windsurfing for years and years, and his company during the event. Also thanks to the Raceboarders in the UK, in particular: Mark Kay, Jamie Ingram, and Rob Kent for pushing me, I wouldn't be fast without them! Can't forget my parents of course, I wouldn't be here, wouldn't be windsurfing, wouldn't have ever gone to a competition, learnt to race in open training, zone squad, and national squad or anything without them, cheers!

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Raceboard worlds Day 6: I got 3rd!!!!

The final day of the raceboard worlds had very similar conditions to day 5, with light winds of 4-9 knots SE and sunshine. There was a lot to play for on the final day, with a close battle for the title in both the mens and womens category.
 
Go!

Overnight leader Patrik Pollak SVK-1 didn't have it his own way, and found himself battling back through the fleet whilst Max Wojcik won all three of today's races to win the world championship in style. Spain's Curro Manchon was never far behind in 2nd in each race, and I recovered from a disappointing 7th in the first race to finish 3rd in the final two races and make it into 3rd place in the event.

Fellow Brits Mark and Paul found some form, with Mark coming close to winning the in the silver fleet, and beating half the gold fleet who had a 5 minute head start



Vita Matise and Marketa Vranova battling it out.
In the womens fleet, Latvia's Visa Matise won all three races, enabling her to take the title away from Jan Silova from the Czech republic dispite counting a did not compete from the first day.


It was a fantastic event with a range of conditions from 4-33 knots, everything was very well organised,and a big thanks to the event 
organisers and sponsors as well as the race committee for putting on a fantastic championship. There was a record number of 110 entries, showing that raceboarding is a popular and healthy class around the world.
Mens world champion is Maksymilian Wojcik

Results:
1. Maksymilian Wojcik - Poland, 1st lightweight 
2. Patrik Pollak - Slovakia,1st master 
3. Louis Morris - Great Britain 
11. Juha Blinnikka - Finland, 1st grandmaster and 1st heavyweight 
14. Kai Mannisto - Finland,1st veteran 
33. Anras Nikl - Hungary, 1st youth

Silver fleet:
9. Mark Roberts GBR-1118
41. Paul Wright GBR-788
Women:
1. Vita Matise - Latvia, first grandmaster
2. Jana Slivova - Czech Republic
3. Martina Hruba - Czech Republic
Visa Matise is the womens world champion

Full results here: http://www.wcr2013.org/en/information/
Photos and more here: www.facebook.com/wcr2013 

Friday 6 September 2013

Raceboard worlds day 5

Today, 3 races were completed for all fleets in 5-10 knots and hot sunshine.

It was hard work pumping in the hot conditions and light wind, but everyone was glad to get some races done after two days of no wind.
Mens yellow fleet start
In the blue fleet, Maksymilian Wojcik POL-7 was pushed hard by Curro Manchon ESP-9, but it was the former who won all 3 races, with Curro in 2nd each time, although an OCS (over the start line) in the last race saw him end the day in 5th place. Petr Kucera CZE-15 had consistent results, which was enough for him to hold on to 4th place.

In 3rd place is Louis Morris GBR-730. I was in the yellow fleet, where Patrik Pollak won every race, and somehow I managed 2nd in every race. I came frustratingly close to catching him a few times, but his downwind speed was too much. Sylvian Dehouve FRA-89 was never far behind, and holds 6th place now.
Louis and Sylvian upwind
Tomorrow is the last day, and with the mens fleet splitting into gold and silver fleets, there is going to be some very intense racing at the front of the fleet. Petr Kucera is only 1 point behind me, with Curro and Sylvian not far behind him, so there will be a tough battle for 3rd place. Max POL-7 and Patrik SVK-1 both have 6 points, so it will be winner takes all for them!

Tough day for Paul.
Mark Roberts found form in the last race today with a 19th place, but unfortunately it won't be enough to see him through to the gold fleet. Paul Wright had good speed when the gusts hit, but struggled to replicate this in the light conditions.


In the Womens fleet, Vita Matise LAT-1 has been dominating with several race wins, however, she is still counting a DNC from Tuesday, so will be hoping to discard that tomorrow to move up from 3rd place. Jana Silova CZE-26 still leads the winners fleet, with a consistent performance in todays light winds as well as Tuesdays strong conditions.
The womens fleet starting.
The wind is supposed to be a little stronger tomorrow, peaking at 6-11 knots, similar direction (SE), giving clean wind, although it was quite shifty and patchy today. It will be a close final day for all fleets in tricky conditions, stay tuned at www.facebook.com/wcr2013

Results Summary, men:
1. Patrik Pollak SVK-1
2. Maksymilian Wojcik POL-7
3. Louis Morris GBR-730
4. Petr Kucera CZE-15
5. Curro Manchon ESP-9
67. Mark Roberts GBR-1118
90. Paul Wright GBR-788

women:
1. Jana Silova CZE-26
2. Hruba Martina CZE-251
3. Vita Matise LAT-1

Thursday 5 September 2013

Raceboard worlds day 4: No wind again

The forecast for today was pretty bad, but there was hope that we could complete 1 or 2 races in the evening with the 5-6 knots forecast for then. As the day progressed, any hopes of wind slipped away, and we amused ourselves with a climbing competition on the inflatable climbing wall, and watched a jetsurf.
Tomorrow looks a little better, and Saturday better still, so I'm confident that we will complete some more races, stay tuned.

Follow the event here:
www.facebook.com/wcr2013

Results so far:
Men:
1. Patrik Pollak SVK 1
2. Makzymilian Wojcik POL7
3. Petr Kucera CZE 15
4. Louis Morris GBR 730
5. Andres Anderson ARG 119
Women:
1. Jana Slivova CZE 26
2. Martina Hruba CZE 251
3. Ingard Borgel GER 640

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Day 3: No wind

View from the castle
The wind never really arrived today, peaking at about 2 knots. The organisers decided to give everyone free beer at midday, and run a paddleboard competition in the afternoon. Tonight we have wine tasting, and tomorrow the wind looks the same, it might get up to 5 or 6 knots in the evening.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Day 2: four races in strong winds

The wind wasn't quite as bad as forecast, but it was pretty strong, about 16-25 knots in the morning, dropping to 11- 17 in the afternoon. The wind was more cross-shore than expected so it wasn't as gusty and shifty as yesterday.

In the morning, after much deliberation, I chose to take my 8.5 Lightning and 46cm fin, and it was a good choice. I felt in control enough in the gusts to concentrate in going fast. I got good starts, and whilst I felt a bit slow upwind, I caught up some places downwind and finished 4th and 3rd.

The wind dropped in the afternoon, and I took my 9.5 XR Race and 52cm fin. This worked out well, and again, I got good starts, fairly decent upwind speed, and good downwind speed and angle to get a 3rd and a 2nd, which puts me in 4th overall after 4 races, which I'm very pleased with.
Paying the price for using a small sail: lots of pumping downwind!
Paul Wright decided it was too windy in the morning for him, but completed one of the afternoon races, to find that he received a 5 point penalty for forgetting to sign out onto the water! Mark Roberts regretted having only a 9.5, and raced only in the afternoon.

Jana Slivova from the Czech Republic currently leads the womens fleet, and Patrik Pollak from Slovakia leads the mens. Patrik dominated the blue fleet, winning all but one of the races. Max Wojcik is in 2nd, and also won 3 of his races in the yellow fleet. There was some pretty close racing in my part of the fleet, I spent a lot of time fighting it out with Curro Manchon from Spain, who is an absolute machine downwind. Peter Cucera from the Czech Republic also had some impressive speed, and was hot on Patriks heels, winning one of the races.
Patrik Pollak leading the fleet off the start with me in there somewhere.
There was quite a mixture of sail sizes chosen, but most of the top guys have registered two 9.5's (strong wind and light wind), so were on their strong wind 9.5's all day. I thought that the 8.5 was a good choice for me in the morning.

The forecast for the rest of the week isn't great, with 3-4 knots tomorrow and Thursday, maybe up to 7 knots on Friday and Saturday, looks like it could be a waiting game! Stay tuned. More photos and event news on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wcr2013

Results summary men:
1. Patrik Pollak SVK 1
2. Makzymilian Wojcik POL7
3. Petr Kucera CZE 15
4. Louis Morris GBR 730
5. Andres Anderson ARG 119
Women:
1. Jana Slivova CZE 26
2. Martina Hruba CZE 251
3. Ingard Borgel GER 640

Monday 2 September 2013

Raceboard Worlds: Day 1

Hello from a rather gusty and cloudy Czech Republic!

Today was the first day of the event. We registered and got our kit inspected on Sunday, arrived Saturday, and this afternoon (Monday) had the practice race.

There are 102 competitors entered, which will be in 3 fleets: two mens fleet (Yellow and Blue/Gold and Silver), and one womens fleet.
Mark Roberts
The conditions here are very gusty. Yesterday we had a nice NW cross shore wind, which was pretty clean coming down the valley, but very up and down with lulls of 8 knots and gusts of up to 18 ish. Today the wind was a little more offshore. We had about 14 knots when we lauched, but the wind shifted and dropped significantly by the time we started the race. The course was in the shadow of a great big hill, resulting in winds from 6 to 11 knots, and 30 degree wind shifts!
Me on Sunday.
I set my watch wrong, so had a late start but fought back to 2nd place in the blue fleet behind a ESP-9 (I think). Paul chose to use his 7.5 so suffered when the wind dropped, he also missed his start. Mark finished about mid fleet.
Paul Wright.
Proper racing starts tomorrow, and the forecast looks mental: 11 gusting 30 offshore in the morning, 10 gusting 20 cross-shore in the afternoon, and after the last couple of days, I believe it!