John laying down the
g’s in the gybe.
PHOTO Jean Souville.JOHN SKYE
I opted for a relaxed start to my Défi 2019 with a mid-morning flight. It’s
always fun checking in with gear and this time I had a few extras to deal
with - proto sails for the team, including some massive foil sails, that rolled
up were around 3 metres. I somehow persuaded the check in staff that what
I had was 1 windsurfer and that each bag was around 25 kg. Thankfully as
they rolled down the oversize baggage belt she didn’t notice that they were
both closer to 50 kg!
At the other end I was hoping for a smooth exit, but that was not to
be. I have had the same experience in Barcelona before, that windsurf gear
(especially big race stuff) doesn’t come up the standard oversize belt. Instead
they send it up a special lift. The problem is that most of the staff don’t
actually know this. So after waiting nearly an hour, I took matters into my
own hands and went to investigate, only to find 2 lift engineers working on
the broken lift. They confirmed they had seen my bags at the bottom, but
had no idea how long it would take to fix. I wandered off to try to find help,
but then eventually saw a lost looking airport worker trying to find out what
to do with 2 x 50 kg bags that he couldn’t move. I quickly grabbed them
and got on my way.
The plan was that I would meet our marketing manager Matteo Guazzoni
at the airport, but he got bored of waiting and went off to explore Barcelona.
Once I had the car, and had managed to fit all the gear inside it, he sent
me the location to meet. I barely checked it and just followed google. His
amazing meeting point was basically a roundabout next to a massive hospital,
which was not ideal. I found a sketchy spot to stop and whilst I waited I
reorganized the car to make room for him and his girlfriend. Eventually we
met up and the rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, except for a couple
of emergency stops to sort out the gear on the roof that was desperately
trying to escape! We arrived at the event site just in time for aperitifs and the
welcome meeting in the VIP lounge. The first of many beers that weekend
was sunk within minutes of arrival!
DAY 1 – THURSDAY 30TH MAY
The forecast was not the best for the weekend. The first day looked the best
and only chance and everyone was aware of it. The call was made to bring
forward the briefing and first possible start in the hope to smash out 2 races
on the first day.. Registration was done early for me and I was keen to test
the conditions. I headed straight out to test my 6.2 X-Wing on one of my
favourite boards, the X-Fire 90. I had an amazing new 32 speed/slalom fin
from F-Hot that I thought would be a bit of a secret weapon and wanted to
give it a blast too. As soon as I hit the course area though I realized the wind
was pretty light. Enough to plane around, but when you add 1000 riders to
the start line I knew I would need more juice. I headed back to the event site
and prepared my 7.0.
Speaking with some locals they said the wind was forecast to shift a bit,
making the return leg more upwind. So I opted to take the 114 rather than
the 90 to give a bit more upwind drive. It turned out to be the wrong move
though! The briefing was a slightly condensed version of last years, but still
dragged on for the best part of an hour. Eventually after going through all
the safety issues and course area, Bjorn Dunkerbeck climbed onto the stage
to begin the countdown for the start of race 1. With huge fanfare, the giant
clock began its 60 minute countdown.
RACE 1
My strategy was to go for my medium 114 board. I knew I would not be
quite so quick, but I was sure I would make up for the speed difference over
a 10 km. upwind leg. The start is pretty critical like always. The Défi has a
rabbit start with a boat powering upwind at 30 knots and the fleet passing
behind in its wake. It’s pretty terrifying to be honest. Last year I had an epic
start in 50 knots, lining up just behind the front row and then powering up
early to fly through it into clean wind. This year however I failed to account
for the lighter wind, and when I sheeted in to power through the front row,
nothing happened. The wind shadow from 1000 other riders is quite large,
and I was forced to watch the fleet blast away into the distance. Last year in
50 knots it had been relatively easy to pick people off and make up ground,
but with nice easy 7.0 conditions, EVERYONE was fast and the effects of
DÉFI GRUISSAN 2019
42 AUGUST 2019