DEFI WIND 2008

Today was the first day of the event and the wind never got over 10 knots, so no racing. Forecast looks pretty grim so we all hope they are wrong!

Last year, top-racer Pieter Bijl mis-timed his start by a split-second, and hit the side of the rabbit-boat, ending in a (harmless) catapult. He still managed to finish top-5 or so that manche, and second overall.

BTW, as a general recall is pretty difficult with hundreds of riders, at the skippers it is emphasized very strongly that everybody stays behind the starting line till the boat has passed, at the risk of being disqualified "for life" from the Defi, or worse... being driven over by the start boat. After every manche a few names of "offenders" (=early starters) are throw in the masses, so to discourage even more people from doing so.

Since 2006, they have a really powerfull & fast starting boat, so the +-500m starting line gets cleared in less then 30sec... which is quite neglectable compared to the differences at the finish-line. But, to be honest, most top-guys do start at the downwind pin-end for earliest release.

About the starting sequence: there is a count-down of 60min initiated during the skippersmeeting (held before every manche), which the race director (in his starting boat) sticks to pretty accurately. So still plenty of time to go and try to find your own set, between the 1000+ sails on the beach (most people have at least 2 sails rigged). Quite a sight!

Speeking here from my personal 2006 & 2007 participation. This year, unfortunately (or by now: luckily!?), I could not attend (eventhough I was subscribed).

I hope to be there again next year!

Mate not sure if you are aware but the price of mixers has gone through the roof.
If you drink any of the Jim Beam and Cola stuff or similar fairy sugar I think a boat load of windsurfers will be springing for cheap duty free on your way home

Pity about the wind but someone has to have an upside.

Final wrap up; there is absolutely nothing to report.

Four days of glorious golfing weather sandwiched in between two windy days, so no event at all. The only positive was that the forecast for each day was so bad, that there was no need to hang around the beach waiting! We got the chance to have a good sightsee around the area and discover some of the beautiful cities in the region like Toulouse & Barcelona.

So that's it - off to Morocco for a bit, hopefully get some breeze in Essaouira.