Just got back from the first Formula Grand-Prix World Tour event of the season in Riccione, Italy. We had ultra-light winds all week with only 4 races being held. I’ve had a busy season already just arriving back from South Korea the week before from the PWA Slalom World Tour event so this was the first opportunity to get out on my new sails and boards in an international event.
Here are some comments about the event from an article on Point-7.com:
“Because of the financial climate in Europe last year we actually had ZERO pro Formula events the whole of last season. So it was kind of surreal being down at Riccione and feeling like none of us had done any solid event training in so long. Normally you get a chance to see what everyone has been working on over the season with their gear tuning and know what you have to do to prepare but this time almost none of us had actually raced each other in over 15 months. I hadn’t had a chance to roll out the new sails and actually had a bunch of new fins and a brand new board that I’d never even got wet yet (not the best preparation!).
The winds were super light, and growing up sailing on the ocean with stronger winds I’m not so excited to sail in 6-7 knots all week. I think we have some good speed with the new sails and was exciting to see that at times I could muscle it with the Top 5 guys off the startline. I felt very rusty with tactics without having had any racing in so long so I wasn’t too happy with the 18th place overall I finished with. It was a good chance to see what needs to be done before the next event which is the World Championships in Puerto Rico however.
This time we’ll be prepared and the winds should be much stronger! Luckily on the event side of things, everything was fantastic! Great Italian hospitality and all meals provided at the beach with great entertainment each and every night; couldn’t have asked for more!”
