The PWA Slalom season kicked off yesterday and Alberto Menegatti won the day! Awesome performance with his black sails, Z Fins and Starboard kit all working perfectly. There were some crashes and bits of bad luck for some of the big guns but you don't get through all the heats and end up winning the winners final by accident. Alberto spent most of his winter training hard and this has paid off. The guy who came in third is Matteo Iachino, Alberto's training partner. This shows the value of doing the right type of concentrated, focussed training. Second was Antoine Questel (one of the stars from 2012 on Starboard and Loft Sails) and fourth was Pierre Mortefon on Fanatic and North.
Some points of interest for us:
Ross Williams has broken his ankle and so will not be participating in Korea. I really hope he mends before the next venue.
Peter Bijl has left Fanatic and is now on Angulo boards. Gonzalo Costa Hoevel has left Fanatic/North and is back with Starboard, sailing Loft sails. Josh Angulo is back with Gun sails. Patrik Diethelm is now with Loft Sails. I spoke previously about Ben vd Steen going to Gaastra. My wish would be that he go the whole hog and leave Starboard for Tabou but probably too much to hope for. Maybe 2014?
Looking at the equipment lists, of the 57 competitors registered for the event, 24 of them are on Starboard, 7 on RRD, 7 on Fanatic, 6 on JP, 5 on Tabou, 5 on Patrik, 2 on Angulo, 1 on F2.
Starboard's 110l iSonic is making its appearance in various quivers. This board interests me because it is 110l and 75cm wide. Super slim and super fast with bigger sails. Four of the men have chosen this board, one as the middle board (Cyril Mousilmanni) and three as their biggest board. Every Starboard lady entered has this as her big board and this makes sense to me. I think the men using it as their big board are taking a bit of a risk but it is very interesting. If the conditions play their part over the course of the tour, this board could cause problems for those on comparatively sluggish 85's in lighter winds. As long as the lulls are (on average) not too light I suppose.
Finally a note about one Pascal Toselli. He has stayed with Point 7 Sails but changed his boards to Tabou. He has become a gybing demon and has been smoking all comers in local races and various recent events. I will be watching Pascal with interest as the tour progresses.
Talk to you soon
Where did you find the PWA competitors equipment list.
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PS. just ordered a Manta 71 :-)
You will find the list via the Live Ticker area on the PWA website. The Live Ticker button is either red if offline or green if online. I'm not sure how long they keep it on the site once the event is over (they will be using it for the next event) so get there today.
DeleteCongratulations on the purchase of the Manta 71. This has got to be one of the best slalom boards on the market today. Let us know how you get on and ensure that you use a proper fin! Shout if you need help with this. We have quite a bit of experience with fins for the 116 here and I'm sure Andy and the rest of the gang will be able to advise.
Found it. Thanks. Have a 40 and a 36cm MFC KP Fin which I used on the Manta 69 with an 8m GTX 2011 - worked quite well. Was not sure weather to go for the 66 or the 71. Has taken me since start of year to decide. Will let you know how I get on.
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