The advent of foiling on the PWA tour has brought a new group of men and women racers to the fore, John Carter takes a look at the Olympic windsurfers upsetting the rankings and asks the PWA elite for their opinion of the new contenders.
Foiling is fun; the courses are different to what we normally do. It’s a much shorter more exciting course and the level is definitely tough. All these PWA racers are very fast and know how to tune their gear. They are pushing the likes of myself and Thomas Goyard; we definitely have to use our very best racing skills. The Olympic fitness and knowledge of course racing helps, but the short courses are also new to us. We can’t apply all of our tactics. We have some situations though which we might recognize a bit earlier because we do this type of racing more often than the PWA guys. I have been pumping a lot on the upwind legs, I don’t think they like that! Everybody is friendly and I feel at home already. Myself and Thomas are definitely lighter and have the right physique for foiling. If it picks up a few knots I think that can change. The big slalom guys are probably going to show us how it is done. Overall it will be a pretty fair battle. Everybody has conditions that play to their strengths.
“EVERYBODY HAS CONDITIONS THAT PLAY TO THEIR STRENGTHS.”
SEBASTIAN KOERDEL
This story is from the Issue 389 - September 2019 edition of Windsurf.
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This story is from the Issue 389 - September 2019 edition of Windsurf.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ 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.
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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!
