UKWA Slalom - Hove, 3/4 July 2010

Last weekend saw my first attempt at any form of competitive windsurfing, apart from sailing with my brother (but that has always been a little one-sided...), when I took part in the UKWA's Masterblaster at Hove in the UK.  

The Concept of the Masterblaster - This is a new addition to the UKWA's slalom events that have been going for many years.  It differs in that it is aimed at people who would like to race other sailors but do not want to dedicate themselves to it, or people looking to try out racing without the stress of joining the amateur fleet (I have been told that it is actually very laid back).  The format is very simple and matches what most windsurfers do whenever they sail in that it only involves sailing out to one mark and back.  The start is taken care of by means of a beachstart in the shallows and the finish is a dash up the beach to tag the Race Flag, which is being held by the Race Officer.

I think that the approach of the Masterblaster Event is perfect for me as I am keen to add a little competition to my sailing, but do not want to totally commit to a race series and indeed, to be truthful, I do not yet have the skills to be able to complete a full-on amateur fleet race.  And for these reasons, I think that there are lots of sailors who would enjoy the Masterblaster concept.  As Nik Baker said at the prize giving (yes, there are prizes too...) "...if you can sail out and back; then you can race!"  The prizes and overall organisation of the event was done my Nik Baker (North / Fanatic / ION) and I think that this helped in putting on a really good event.

I know that some people will be put off by thinking that they need all new slalom gear, but I do not think that is the case.  If you consider that the racing will most likely take place on flat water in winds from 6 knots to 25 knots (I was told that above that it becomes a little too hectic and competitors tend to prefer watching the Pros compete, though that is not written in stone) then to be perfectly competitive I think that an average weight sailor could happily use one sail to get up and planing in about 11 knots (say 7.5 or 8.0 freeride sail) and one sail to use when they can't hang onto that sail, perhaps a 6.5m again another freeride.  As for boards, I think that a 120 to 130 freeride board would be perfect with perhaps a change down for wind over 18 knots.  I think that most people either have this kit already or have access to it.  So there is no reason why not to give another Masterblaster Event a go.

Formula kit was perfect for the first day

Watching how to complete the final gybe

 

My Event - My brother (who raced many years ago) had impressed on me the importance of the need to arrive early and get rigged up as soon as possible.  So, I was ready by 8:30am with boards and rigs ready to go.  This meant that I could then have a chat with the race officer and find out how things worked.  I was very impressed with the organisation of the UKWA and also their helpfulness.  It certainly made it starting out very easy and enjoyable.

The wind on Saturday morning was not ideal for me as it was hovering around 9 to 11 knots, but the Race Officer, Ian Jackson, was keen to get as many races in before the much talked about shoredump appeared around high tide.  We were only to happy to agree to this as our starts were to take place in exactly the place the shoredump would dump!  Later we saw plenty of broken battens and a few broken masts when the Pro and Amateur fleets came in for lunch as the shoredump munched a a few sails.

As the winds were light most of the honours went to a chap on formula gear and Jack from Essex who was a little lighter than me and also a very good youth sailor.  Though when the wind came up I found that my 8.0 Hot Sails Maui GPS was perfect for the job, though I could have held down a bigger GPS if I had one and that would have helped me in the light airs especially as one of the reaches was a bit on the tight side.

As the tide and the wind came up the shoredump gathered strength it was decided to finish the fifth race of the day and look forward to the next day when better wind was predicted for the afternoon.  This allowed us to sit up on the beach and watch the Pro and Amateur Fleets.  It was very interesting to observe the various rig and board trims of the sailors and see the differences in boardspeed.

The next day saw plenty of wind which increased in the afternoon to something over 18 knots.  This was perfect for me and I stuck with my GPS 8.0 and Mistral 135L.  This combination allowed me to score a first and a couple of seconds from the five races we had.  All of the races were very competitive with some good close jockying for position around the gybe mark.  I think that I was unlucky not to win a couple more races as I think that I had the necessary board speed, but I hit chunks of weed a couple of times and slammed in.  With the short races there was almost no time to recover and catch up, still there was nothing that I could have done about the weed and it was the same for everyone else.

After all the races had been completed I was pleased to see that I had managed second place, behind Jack who had sailed well all weekend.

To sum up I really enjoyed the event.  The organisation was very good and the fellow competitors were very helpful and friendly and also learnt lots of things by simply taking part and talking to people.  The only downside was that I lost my GPS Recorder GT-31 somewhere after being slammed, so I can not post the tracks and speed for the weekend.

One final thing to say is that all of the competitors were grateful to Ian Jackson who ran the races brilliantly and really made the Masterblaster event.

I am really looking forward to the next event I am free to enter which is at the end of August at Worthing.