Windsurfing- A full day of racing in Slalom Series at Manly
by Laurence Carey on 5 Jun 2014
Zac Stock - AWA Slalom Series Sam Rodgers
The Barfoot & Thompson AWA Slalom Series kicked off at Manly with a great turnout. We had 28 sailors competing with a huge fleet of 19 in the Silver fleet.
forecast was for 20-30knts which was exactly what we got. The morning was 15knots and the afternoon had some strong winds with gnarly gusts. The silver fleet was hectic all day long with some exciting crashes on the start. The silver fleet had a rabbit beach start which made it a lot easier for everyone. Although it seems easy, I can assure you a beach start race is often very difficult.
The Gold fleet was very competitive with 9 strong sailors ready for a full day of racing. Luke Holiday (Neil Pryde) managed to get a day off work at WSP (an AWA Sponsor store) many thanks to a begging phone call in the morning to Mark. The racing was great to watch, with the first mark creating some exciting crashes and overtakes. Thomas Davies (NZ Wave Champion) sailed very well and was very consistent throughout the day finishing fourth. Anton Blijelevens (North, Carbon Art) was on great form, he hadn't sailed for a few months but still managed to get his North Warp's and 110kg body going remarkably fast.
Tim Wood also had a consistent day sailing with a nail biting close result between Anton and Tim. Laurence Carey (Starboard, North Sails, Meanline Fins) however was very dominant winning 7 of 8 races.
To see his full race report visit his website click here . Due to the gusty conditions however David Law managed to have 3 massive wipeouts on the home straight. One of these helped Luke Holiday greatly as Luke sailed past him only 50m before the finish.
With such a huge silver fleet we had a variety of sailors. Stephen Westwood had a great day on the water leaving with a 'New Found Respect for Slalom sailors!'
If you would like to read his session log click the link. Zac Stock (up and coming Techno/RSX and shortboarder) had a great day on the water. It was his first event and managed to do very well, he was given gear by Brain Smith (NZ Boardstore) for the day and certainly was flying on the straights. Keep and eye out on this name as he could be an up and coming household name. Also a huge mention to Chris Bolt (GA Sails, Tabou) who won the Silver fleet, and Angus Butterfield (Exocet Point-7) who came third at his first full day of racing.
Gold Fleet results
Laurence (NZL252)
Tim (GBR7)
Anton (NZL 8)
Thomas davies
Ian Young (NZL 93)
Michail (RUS 111)
Luke Holiday(NZL 91)
David Law (NZL 773)
Dan Thomas
Silver Fleet (top 8)
Chris Bolt (NZL 400)
Jeff (F1)
Angus (NZL 917)
David Blake (NZL360)
Mat (NZL 931)
Ropata Marsall (11)
Bernard Carey (NZL158)
Stephen Westwood (21)
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/122919
