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!
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.
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.
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!
I’m on my way back to Hood River now for the final double header of the Gorge Cup Slalom Series. Bring on the 30 knots, I’m feeling ready!
Enjoy the gallery below and check in soon!
