The 2018 PWA Fuerteventura Grand Slam was an event to remember! For two days straight, 4.0 conditions kept the sailing on edge, followed by two days as the first heat on standby that kept the mind on edge!
The journey started off with arrival in Fuerteventura and meeting up with team UK Max Rowe and Jamie Howard who landed an hour before me. They were supposed to have a car rented, awaiting my arrival, but a windsurfer’s travels are never so smooth.
Turns out the rental company saw the windsurf gear Max and Jamie had and requested a 1000 euro cash security deposit. No thanks! Plan B was simple. Leave my gear with Max and Jamie, make a new booking under my name, and pretend we don’t know each other.
My tan and sun-bleached long hair looked suspicious, because the first question I got was, “Do you have windsurf gear to put in the car?” Obviously not! I wasn’t going to fall for the second trick question either: “Do you need roof racks?” I would love roof racks, but I can’t tell you because that’ll give me away as a windsurfer, so no thanks! Then I blanked on the next question: “Is a two-door car OK? It’s a better car than the four-door model you booked.” Seeing as I was acting as a single traveler with merely a carry-on suitcase, I wasn’t quick on my feet to defend my four-door position.
Now, how in the world do we strap three pro windsurfers’ gear to the roof of a two-door car without roof racks? The solution: Tell the rental agency that my grandparents who are joining me on this holiday will have a hard time getting in and out with only two doors.
And here we are, four-door car, no roof racks, a bunch of gear and three dudes to squeeze inside. Thirty minutes of “tetris” and we’re ready to roll!
We arrived at the Rene Egli Center at Sotavento Beach a few days before the contest for a chance to get accustomed to the conditions. I was nursing an injured foot for the few weeks leading up to the contest, and it was not any better upon arrival in Fuerteventura. I had to avoid any switch stance moves on starboard tack (windsurfing towards the beach).
With a lower seeding than normal I started off the event in the first round with the riders seeded 17th – 48th. I managed to advance that round sailing against the Brazilian Camocim and Jericoacoara local Jamilson de Souza, but then fell short to Youp Schmit from Bonaire. My only chance to fight into a higher position was to come back in the double elimination.
The double elimination began on day two. I was in the first heat of the first round, and the loser gets equal 33rd place. I knew my first opponent was going to come out firing on all cylinders. I’ve seen him sail before and knew he was a serious threat; he’s leading the German freestyle windsurfing tour ahead of experienced German PWA riders. I took a few Ibuprofen for my foot knowing that I needed to dig deep and pull out some of the moves I haven’t been doing for a month. I managed to squeak by winning my heat over Nicholas Nebelung. Most of the first round heats were scoring around 90 points, while in our heat we scored; 141.9 vs 141.6. I advanced by just 0.3 points!!!
My next heat was against Turkish rider Berk. The loser would end up in equal 25th place while the winner would continue on. I crashed a few times at the beginning of the heat, but by the end I put together enough high scoring moves to move on to the third round.
It was already 6pm for my third round heat vs Taty Frans. I managed to leave him in equal 17th place and advance myself into the top 16, and wrap up the day with three wins in a row. Not a bad run for day two with potential to keep moving up in the future rounds.
My fourth round heat was supposed to be against Frenchman Nicolas Akgazciyan. We were the first men’s heat to compete when competition began. However, day three3 offered up no wind. On day four4 the breeze came up late., Afterand after running a few juniors’ heats it would have been our turnheat, but as we walkedwere walking out of the gear tent ready to go, the wind backed off.
On the final day the wind came up late again., and w We had a couple sets of gear on the beach ready to go. They ran the final youth heats, one1 women’s heat, and the red flag came up for our heat, signaling threemeaning 3 minutes until we start. Only 30 seconds later the commentator announced the wind had backed off and was no longer enough. Five more minutes and the wind flipped 180 degrees and became a light onshore breeze. TTurned out that was it for the day and for the contest, leaving me in an equal 9th place.
Check back soon for more!
