La Torche PWA Grand Slam - Wind continues to take a break

by Chris Yates on 25 Oct 2014 The seventh day of the La Torche PWA Grand Slam saw the light winds continue, despite a promising forecast for today. In the late afternoon a few of the sailors took part in a tow-in training session as there is scope to run a tow-in contest tomorrow, with the forecast looking glassy.

After another day on hold, we caught up with current event leader - Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) - for a quick catchup:

PWA: At the moment you are leading the event, which would see you rise to third in the world and put you back in contention for the world title, how do you feel about that?

RC: 'Well, it’s not over yet, but I’m not going to lie I am feeling quite happy looking at the forecast, but you never know, I don’t want to count my chickens before they’ve hatched. Currently things look good and hopefully I can keep my position at the top.'

'I had a bad result in Tenerife and a regular result in Denmark, if you’re trying to fight for a world title then you need to consistently produce the best results you can. But, yeah, I’m back on the podium and if we finish like that, that would be my first wave event victory and I’m super stoked at the thought of that and the fact that that would put me back in the title race. Maui is shaping up to be a very exciting event, I like the conditions there and I trained a lot at Ho’okipa at the start of the year. So, yeah, I’m looking forward to the event and hopefully I can get a good result there too.'

PWA: Where did you finish last year in Maui?

RC: 'I did really badly. I think I finished eighth or maybe 12th or something. I felt like I was sailing well, but my wave selection was poor during the contest. It’s difficult, but we’ll just see how it goes.'

PWA: Do you feel more relaxed this year? And do you think that’s helping you sail more freely in your heats?

RC: 'Yeah I do, but at the same time the level is so high on the tour at the moment, that every heat is difficult and it’s really hard to be at the top. Everyone is sailing amazing right now. I don’t have any pressure from my new sponsors, which is great and I think it’s definitely helping a lot. I’m just focusing on trying to do my best in every event I sail.'

PWA: You have a 12 board quiver, right?

RC: 'Actually… I have 16 now.'

PWA: Okay… how do you possibly choose which board you are going to use?

RC: 'I’ve just received three brand new side-shore boards for Ho’okipa here with me now, so they don’t really count for this event. On the day before the contest began I actually use one of my new side-shore boards. I had 12 boards from the first event of the season in Pozo, but basically I have three of each size with slightly different characteristics and tweaks. Now I’ve worked out which ones I like the most, I just use those for competing, then I just use the second set of boards as a backup and I’m not even using the third set, so I’m returning those boards after the end of the event here and just keeping the ones I know that I like.'

The forecast for tomorrow looks extremely light, so there is almost no chance of official contest taking place, but as mentioned earlier there may well be a tow-in contest to keep the crowds entertained on what is expected to be a warm, sunny and busy autumn Saturday afternoon. Skippers’ meeting for all fleets tomorrow morning will be at 10am. First possible start for the waves will be 10:30am, whilst first possible start for the slalom fleets is PWA World Tour