WINDSURF MAGAZINE 43dirty air and water are much more critical. Consequently it was pretty hard
to make up much ground. After about 5 km. I started to get some cleaner
air and then I could start to really push, but by then the front runners were
long gone. Last year I remember the race being sooooo long. After 5 km.
I was nearly dead. However, maybe because there was 20 knots less wind,
the first leg flew by and suddenly I was at the first mark. Arriving with a
pretty big pack there was carnage everywhere, but I knew it was critical to
get away cleanly. I gybed slightly lower, knowing I had the big board to get
me away and it came out nicely. There’s something very satisfying about
taking 20+ places in one gybe!!!
The second leg is always harder. More upwind and the air is really dirty,
with the whole fleet sailing upwind of you in the other direction. This
is where I thought the medium board would come into its own. I had
rounded the mark 1 board length behind Pieter Bijl and as he shot out
to sea, I kept my eyes on him closely as I took a more upwind approach.
After 10 km., it turned out my strategy had worked to an extent. I had
gained around 50 metres on Pieter. Unfortunately however I don’t think
that made up for the difference in speed I would have had on the way out
had I been on my 90 litre board. Next time I will know better. One of the
hardest things in the Défi is working out tactics. It’s very hard to practice
a 40 km. race with 1000 people! Slowly however you can piece things
together. In the end I finished a fairly average 35th. I think the start cost
me pretty dearly to be honest. Maybe on the smaller board I could have
made some bigger gains on the first leg, but realistically I think top 20-25
would have been about the limit.
“THERE’S SOMETHING VERY
SATISFYING ABOUT TAKING 20+
PLACES IN ONE GYBE!!!”