The 2019 US Windsurfing Slalom Nationals

Phil Soltysiak with a tight jibe around the pineapple buoy followed by Mathias Pinheiro and Casey Hauser at the 2019 Slalom Windsurfing Nationals on Maui Photo by Jimmie Hepp

Three days of completely overpowered slalom sailing! What a blast!

I arrived at Kanaha Beach Park on Maui one day early for the 2019 Slalom US Nationals, and immediately saw there was something wrong. As I walked around and browsed the different equipment set-ups everything looked awfully small compared to mine. It was going to be a tough 3 days of racing!

Mayhem at the first mark as Phil Soltysiak chases Jesper Vesterstroem at the 2019 US Windsurfing Nationals on Maui Photo by Jimmie Hepp

On the morning of day one I learnt the race crew was going to run 44 heats every day, for a total of 132 heats during the event. I thought it was unattainable, but by 3pm every day the racing was over and we were eating pizza at the beach! Impressive! To be clear although 44 heats per day were run, every competitor sailed 8 heats per day.

Mark Boersma pulling away as Phil Soltysiak tries to cut inside Max Gaubert as Jay Lee looks on at the 2019 Maui Slalom Windsurfing Nationals Photo by Jimmie Hepp

I only used my Starboard ISonic 67, Sailworks NX 6.2 with a 36cm fin. No need for bigger sails or boards at Kanah,the wind was blowing easily over 30 knots every day. The 4 jibe downwind slalom was crazy fun. There were big crashes, tight jibes, tail walking, air time, contact and turtles! Lots of them! Imagine the focus required to nail your start in overpowered tail walking conditions with 8 people around you gunning for the first mark, with massive sea turtles popping up randomly. It was like a video game.

Phil Soltysiak chasing pro winner Peter Slate at the first mark during the 2019 US Slalom Windsurfing Nationals at Kanaha Beach Park Photo by Jimmie Hepp

So after 3 days of intense racing I managed to take 3rd place in my age group (19-39) behind Mark Boersma (USA 17) and Max Gaubert (F 499). In the combined overall pro results I took 6th.

These were definitely the windiest and most challenging slalom conditions I’ve ever sailed in!