THE X FACTOR

SLALOM X – RETURN OF THE FIN

Gran Canaria GLORIA Windsurf World Cup

Slalom X made a scintillating debut at the Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup with Pozo Izquierdo dishing up the most hardcore racing conditions seen in recent years. The world’s best racers’ mettle was truly tested and we hear from a selection of them about their thoughts on this new format.

Words: Pierre Mortefon, Matteo Iachino, Maciek Rutkowski, Jordy Vonk, Scotty Stallman, Sarah-Quita Offringa, Jenna Gibson and Marion Mortefon. // Photos: Carter / pwaworldtour.com.

PIERRE MORTEFON – 1ST – RACING MASTER CLASS

The racing was not easy as Slalom X was a new format that both the PWA and the racers had to get used to. The jumps and different elements were changing the tactics you normally have in slalom. It is good to have a bit of change and make new things in the racing, but I preferred it at the end when we had a normal slalom course. That was great… you could play with your tactics and go faster around the course. When you had an element in the middle of the legs you needed to slow down to pass them. A mix of everything was okay, but you need to keep some normal slalom I think. I loved the high wind racing though. They are the conditions that I like. I spend a lot of time racing at home in strong winds. What I like the most is that you don’t really fight against the other racers in those conditions, you fight against yourself. If you manage to go well and really push, it feels great. What is super difficult is when you are on the edge of control, then when you manage to sheet-in and push, you are going super-fast. At the end of the event, it was some of the best racing I have ever done.

CHANGE OF EQUIPMENT

I changed my gear at the beginning of the year. It was my first international race with the new equipment. I am really happy because the boards are super-fast and really comfortable. Finian Maynard told me I am going to love the board and he was right! The sail I used is the same, they have a different concept compared to the other brands and the designer, Alex [Udin], did amazing job. They are relatively old designs, but they are working very well. Phantom are already working on something new for next year. I was very happy with my consistency. I was not out of the top three in any final. I knew from the past that consistency always pays off – especially during a long event. I was also super happy to race on the last day with the victory already secured as there was no pressure, but I still pushed it though!

MATTEO IACHINO – 2ND – WATCH WOES

I am really satisfied because it was super difficult to come back from a bad start to the event. I had no discards to play with by the end of the event. I knew that, so the whole time I was overthinking whether I should play it safe. However, to be at the top, while playing it safe is not easy in these conditions. I love this type of slalom and the gnarly conditions, which is what I love the most about racing. At the beginning of the week I had a new start watch, Bruno [Martini] bought the same watch in Lake Garda with me, and it’s no coincidence that we had so many over earlies… at the beginning of the week we figured something must be wrong. I decided it must be the watch as there was no way I would be over early this much. When I swapped the watch, I was immediately back in the game, but the damage was already done. Physically it was very demanding. We are not used to this extreme style slalom anymore because now on the foil it is a different type of racing. Foiling is much more technical, but nowhere near as physically demanding on your body. A full week of forty knots combined with the waves was really tough. It was not easy mentally or physically. The conditions were amazing. For me, this event and Portugal in 2018 were the best events I have been to on the PWA. I love high wind racing as you can make come backs, fight and it is adrenaline fuelled. It is what I love about the sport.

MACIEK RUTKOWSKI – 3RD – CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

It was as epic as racing gets! I was involved quite a bit with the inception of Slalom X, and I could not be happier to premiere it like this. I enjoyed the racing; you feel alive out there for sure. You are fighting Mother Nature as well as your opponents, your gear and yourself. It was hard to push it 100%, but it was rewarding to race like that on so many different levels. If you are thinking about the big picture or the world title, second place would have been better, but we have Fuerteventura coming up and I am happy with my gear, so let’s see what happens. It was pure fun out there this week. Nobody got badly injured despite a lot of crashes. The jumping was fun, you could gain on your opponents if you timed it right. I like most of the features in the Super X. The fin is back for sure and Pozo is the place to do it! It is one of the windiest places in the world… we love it!

JORDY VONK – 4TH – FLYING DUTCHMAN FIGHTS BACK

I was wearing a heart rate monitor during the racing, it felt like it went to 300bpm (laughs). I am pretty sure I was going close to 200bpm! On the last day I hit 178bpm, and on one of the other days it hit 190bpm! That is really high compared to normal. I don’t know how much adrenaline was involved in that, but I can tell you the adrenaline levels were huge. The last two days were the best for me as I was sick at the beginning of the event and didn’t have as much power as I should have done. It was hard to enjoy the first two days, but then my energy came back, and I felt so much better. This was fin racing at its best. If you love the fin, then you would have loved every single second of this racing. Of course, I was scared, but that is also the appeal of it. If it is perfectly flat and easy, it is also nice sometimes, but this was a total adrenaline rush. The whole week I used the same set up. So, I was riding my 5.8m with a 99L board and 32cm fin.  One sail, one board and one fin for the whole event.

SCOTTY STALLMAN – LEARNING EXPERIENCE

My Pozo experience ended a lot quicker than I thought it would. I went over the back of a bit of swell into another one and it sent me into a catapult. The board came off a bit worse for wear. I think the mast smashed the nose clean off. It wasn’t the biggest catapult I have had but you just never know. If you watch Pozo on the live stream it doesn’t always do it justice, just how hardcore it is out there.

Some of the days it was just mental with swell and chop coming from everywhere. The wind was probably 45 knots. It was totally crazy. I think they were the toughest conditions I have sailed in. When you sheet-in you have to work so hard just to keep the board on the water otherwise you can get lifted. It is not just about speed, but also control. You are conscious that other people are trying to race against you, but also you need to get around the gybes and stay in a straight line. Where it is so tricky to sail in Pozo you really have to pick your spot for the gybes. I have huge respect for guys like Pierre and Matteo and I have learned a lot from this event. They know their kit inside and out; they know the spot and they have years of experience. It was cool for me to see it and learn from that. I could not race at the end of the event with no board, but it was good just to watch these guys from the beach. The jump was cool as it gave you the chance for a bit of a redemption if you had a bad start or a poor first gybe. It was an epic event, I was just gutted I couldn’t race on the last day. Hopefully, next year I will come back and be more prepared.

SARAH-QUITA OFFRINGA – 1ST – WAVE AND SLALOM X DOUBLE

The last two days were almost survival conditions, I could not close my sail on the 5.3m. It was on the limit of safety for me. I would rather sail safe and just make it around the marks. That paid off for me and I just wanted to stay consistent. I wasn’t pushing at all to be at the front of the pack, I was waiting for other riders to make mistakes. At low tide it was pretty hard even just launching through the boulders as they are all so slippery. During high tide it was not too bad as you get into deep water pretty quickly. I was in Pozo for a month, so I knew how to navigate them. My feet were extremely sore by the last day. I enjoyed the racing because normally I would never sail in these conditions for slalom. I took it as a learning experience.

I didn’t set any high expectations because as I said it’s not my conditions for slalom, but as soon as soon as the racing started, I was getting super tactical and trying to figure out where I could go in between other riders. I got very competitive very quickly. On the first day when it was a bit lighter and I was more in control of my 5.3m, that day I was so on! I could not believe it; I won four races in a row and the last two races I really had to fight for the victory and kept my head cool and finished first in some races only after the last mark. That was super exciting for me and there was so much adrenaline. There are races where you are just ahead and you just have to keep it together and finish first, which is super satisfying, but when you come from behind that feels like the ultimate!

EXHAUSTION

This is probably the most exhausted I’ve come out of the water for slalom ever and in some races, I was gasping for air after the finish line. Everything was going through the roof adrenaline wise, and my heart rate must have hit 190-200bpm. I am racing with other women, but at the same time you need to keep control of your board to not fly out of the water, so it requires maximum concentration looking ahead.

CAUTIOUS APPROACH

I was not battling the other riders on the first leg; I was really trying to find my line and find the flattest area to go through. I was focusing on the pin, but at the same time there was so much chop, you needed to prioritise control. I was just looking at the water and where it was the smoothest. As I said I don’t think I pushed 100% on the first leg once, so for me, I feel like the race was starting after the first mark. But I could see the other women like Justine and Jenna just gunning it. You could see their boards flying out sometimes and they were only just in control. I am way more careful.

As I said I am very competitive, so I was immediately thinking about how to improve my stance or my sail trim or the board settings and stuff. It makes it exciting for Fuerteventura as well with this competition. I am stoked with Gran Canaria, and it is a double win in Pozo for me in waves and slalom. I have never even dreamt about achieving this; I didn’t know that this could happen, so it’s pretty cool.

JENNA GIBSON – 2ND – MAIDEN PODIUM

I made it into second here in Pozo. I am so relieved and feel like it has been a long time coming for me to make a podium like this. Over the last five years I was unable to have the consistency to put a whole event together. The speed has always come naturally to me, but the whole race, tactics, gybes and keeping my calm has been a problem and needed some work. There are still a few issues as I dropped a lot of gybes when I was leading races. I am getting there and to be on the podium is just amazing. This is my first podium and hopefully not my last.

ON THE EDGE

The racing was definitely pushing me out of my comfort zone for sure. You are out there waiting for the start, and you could just feel the wind getting stronger and stronger. It was so tricky out there. The wind strength plus the water state was crazy. I absolutely love it when it is like that though. I like being on the edge like that. I am so glad we had this event. I was reluctant the first day to try the jumps after practising and crashing on both attempts. I got really bad whiplash from that. On the second day, the detour mark was not really an option as it was too far upwind, so I just had to go for it. Luckily I made the jumps on all three attempts. I was quite relieved. I feel like I could have raced better and nailed a few more bullets, but I am so happy to have come second. Every race I used my 5m and 99L Falcon, with a 31.5cm fin. I just kept that gear all week, which is all I needed. I did one day of tuning on my sail before the event and it went into turbo mode. I was pretty happy with it!

MARION MORTEFON – 3RD – A SOLID START

I really enjoyed the strong wind conditions, I am okay with my results, I just really wanted to race again in those conditions! I did not manage to sail at my best level I would say. I was riding with my 4.6m Patrik sail and 95 Patrik slalom board which was working great. The fights were close with Jenna, Sarah and Justine, and still all the girls were managing to clear the jump obstacle, and battle in those crazy conditions.

If we are racing in hardcore conditions, it’s great to watch as the fight is never over until the finish line. Fin racing is completely different feeling compared to foiling and it was nice to be focused on only one discipline as we did not have to think about our choice of equipment. It was way more fun than last year, where there was a certain amount of luck in deciding between foil and fin.

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