Eravamo tutti carichi al massimo aspettando l’inizio del PWA Grand Slam di La Torche (Francia), le previsioni parlavano chiaro: onde enormi! Infatti lo staff organizzativo aveva già deciso di chiamare per il primo giorno solo i ragazzi del wave e non ovviamente lo slalom. Le foto che girano su Facebook del “day before” sono semplicemente pazzesche con surfate down the line come a Punta Preta solo con il vento dalla parte opposta. Purtroppo oggi però il vento ha deciso di prendersi una pausa e nonostante la mareggiata attiva che avrebbe regalato uno spettacolo epico, le condizioni non erano sufficienti per far iniziare la gara.
Nei prossimi giorni le previsioni danno ancora vento e onda… staremo a vedere.
Intanto una bella notizia per i nostri colori. Andrea Rosati (RRD) trovandosi a La Torche per partecipare alla gara slalom ha deciso di mettersi in gioco anche nel wave e inizierà dai trials, queste le batteria di qualificazione:
Heat 1: Angulo vs Justin Denel vs Ramirez vs Sune
Trials Heat 2: Pijoan vs Akgazciyan vs Pare vs Rosati
Trials Heat 3: Rutkowski vs Quentel vs Rydberg vs Mesmeur
Trials Heat 4: Sanllehy vs Scalabrin vs Arutkin vs Hancock
LA TORCHE PWA GRAND SLAM
Day 1: Massive swell, but agonisingly not quite enough wind on opening day in La Torche
The opening day of the La Torche PWA Grand Slam promised so much, with big waves and strong winds, between 20-30 knots forecast, but that isn’t quite how the day played out. Whilst, the swell was still evident – with over mast high sets rolling into the Bay of Audierne throughout the day – unfortunately the expected winds never arrived, leaving not only the sailors disappointed, but also the crowds that had gathered on the beach.
The wave fleet registered between 9:30am-10:30am with the much anticipated forecast in mind, but then spent the remainder of the day on hold, before eventually being released at 6pm. Meanwhile, the slalom sailors registered for the upcoming eight days of competition from 12:30pm until 2:30pm, after a meeting with all sailors had been held to discuss the environmental concerning this being a green event.
With the wave sailors still on standby – Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) – couldn’t resist the waves any longer and headed out for a regular surf at around 3pm, much to the joy of the crowds who had gathered, on what turned out to be a glorious sunny afternoon, with the weather proving to be more like summer than autumn.
Shortly before 5pm – Ricardo Campello (Patrik / Point-7 / MFC) – became the first, and only sailor, to attempt to windsurf. After battling in the light winds, for half an hour, to make it out the back, Campello eventually managed to catch one or two waves, but once on the wave the Brazilian simply didn’t have the power to make the most of the wave on offers. With conditions unfortunately remaining unsuitable day one drew to a, quieter than expected close.
Jamie Hancock – who is in the trials, making his first wave appearance since Tenerife in 2013, after suffering a broken ankle:
“Yesterday was quite tricky, it seems like you need to take bigger equipment than you think, at least in these size swells, because there is so much water moving around, so it’s difficult to keep your speed up on the wave.”