Last weekend i traveled over to the UK for round 2 of the UKWA Inland Championships which was held in the North East of England. For me this was a return to a location i used to compete at as a youth in the North East Windsurfing Series so i couldn't wait to get there. After another long journey through the night i got up to Derwent early evening and after some food on the barbecue and a few beers i got an early night to get ready for the weekends racing.I awoke on Saturday Morning to be greeted by winds of 15 knots gusting up to 35 knots so i decided to rig up my 9.5m Raceboard sail, 8.3m KA Koncept and got my Starboard Phantom 380 ready and waited for the start of the first race. The race crew made the call to get us out on the water for the first race so i grabbed my 8.3m and Starboard Phantom 380 and hit the water. It soon became apparent to me that i was massively overpowered and i couldn't even hold the sail going upwind making sailing round the course that was laid impossible for me so i sailed around opposite the sailing club and decided to not to do the first race. I wasn't the only one who had this idea and only 2 people made it round so i wasn't the only one finding the conditions difficult. Not too long after the race finished the race crew postponed the racing for the day due to too much wind so we all decided to get our smaller kit on the water and go free sailing. I rigged up my Starboard I Sonic 86 with 27cm Vector Fins Maui Delta Speed Fin and my new 2011 5.0m KA Koncept and went out on the water. The wind was very gusty with massive holes in the wind so half the time i was massively underpowered but the new sail is awsome, very light in my hands and so stable in the gusts and i can't wait to get it on a speed strip and see the speed potential of the sail. I didn't stay out long as i didn't want to tire myself out for racing the following day so packed up for the day, had a barbecue and a few beers and had an early night to be ready for the following days racing.
On Sunday morning it wasn't as windy as the previous day, around 10 knots gusting 26 knots but the race crew took full advantage of the wind and called us straight onto the water. I decided to again use my 8.3m KA Koncept as i would be unable to hold down the 9.5m in the gusts and went out on the water. The 8.3m was perfect in the gusts but a little underpowered in the lulls and I was finding the going tough as i am not used to the Starboard Phantom 380 in this wind strength but with every race i was getting more used to how the board was handling but unfortunately my back was feeling the strain and starting to hurt so had to sit out some of the races but in total 5 races were completed during the day and for me it was some of the most enjoyable racing i have done in the past couple of years. Looking around you could see everyone was knackered but all had big smiles on their faces so they were enjoying it as much as me.
I managed to finish 6th overall, 2nd Master and 1st overall in the Raceboard Unlimited fleet so for me it was a solid result towards my Inland Series ranking and i am now hoping that the rest of the events get some decent wind and can't wait for the next round at Rutland Water. Also i'm gonna have to get out in strong winds on my Starboard Phantom 380 rather than grabbing the speed kit so next time it's windy i will be alot more used to the kit.
Posts
