MicahBUZIANIS
official Website 2008
Korea event report 2007 by Micah Buzianis
The first race of the PWA season is always a big deal, everyone is nervous of how their equipment is going to work and if they did enough in the off season to be prepared. I was also in this class but I also felt very confident that the work that I had done with my Neil Pryde and JP teams was going to be enough to finish consistently on the podium and at the top in the end of the year.
This is the first time the PWA has ever visited Korea, while the local organizers at Jinha Beach have had many years of experience running high level events we were confident that they would hold a world class event. For the PWA riders it has been a long time since we have been to Asia to compete so it was nice to be able to go back to this part of the world to promote our sport. Korea is a growing windsurfing market and they are very keen to promote themselves as a “windsurfing country” as well as an interesting destination. They receive a tremendous amount of support from local government, oil and tourism industries as well as their largest airline Korean Air. With all of this support they had daily country wide television broadcasts and are putting together a television program that will go out to the world.
I arrived at the event site two days early, I wanted to get familiarized with the conditions again and adjust to the time change from Hawaii. The day before registration we had some very strong wind, unusually strong for this place so it sort of threw a wrench in the plan for what equipment I was going to register. Normally I would go with all my biggest gear but on this day I sailed my 6.7 and was still overpowered at times. The next day however brought me back into reality, there was no wind at all so I was able to relax again and go with what I knew from racing here two years ago and from what the forecast was showing. My race quiver for this week was this: JP 119 and 109 slalom boards, Neil Pryde RS Racing 9.0, 8.4, 7.8 and 7.2.
On the first day of racing the wind was from the right, which doesn’t seem to be the prevailing direction there. It was very light around 8-14 knots so they had to set a course out away from the beach to try and get the most consistent winds. It was tough racing on my 9.0 and 119, I had just enough power to make it around the course. In this light wind it is hard to get a good start, you have to be careful not to be to far away from the line and sail into a hole, this then can force you to go a little to early. This is what I did along with most of the guys in the final and we had to slow way down before the line so at green I was well below full speed and didn’t have a great start. Kevin Pritchard had the pin end all to himself and was off before the rest of the fleet was back up to full speed. I just managed to come out of the first mark in fourth. In this wind there isn’t a lot of passing going on after the first mark so I figured I was going to have to settle for this place. Then just after the third mark I caught some weed and lost a lot of speed, jumping as much as I could it still wouldn’t come off. After jibing the fourth and final mark I had a hard time getting planning due to the weed, this allowed Julian Quentel to pass me, luckily just after he passed me I got the weed off otherwise Pieter Bijl would have passed me as well. So a fifth was not exactly where I wanted to start out the event but considering the heat I was still positive that I could come back. The wind dropped after they attempted to start round two so we were finished for day one but already we had a result so everyone was happy.
The next day started out very light, the regular pattern seemed like it was back, very light in the mornings and then picking up around lunch time to racing conditions. The normal direction is from the right, which comes over the hills and is very gusty. The race area is in a small bay so there is not a lot of room to set the course, sometimes it would be quite light at the start line and then at the first mark it was hang on in the jibe. I managed to make it to the finals again in the first round of the day sailing on my 8.4 RS Racing and 119 JP Slalom. This first round of the day had a very strange and rare occurrance in the final, seven of the eight sailors were called for a premature start, leaving a one Peter Volwater as the victor without even having to sail. The rest of the favorites were all sent back to the beach with equal points so it was still anyone’s race. The second round was completed up to the final, in this round I was on my 8.4 then went to my 9.0 as it was starting to get lighter at the inside marks, then the wind backed off and the day was called.
The third day started out sunnier than the other days but still very light. Hopes were that the sun would bring the wind sooner and last longer, this was the case as we were able to complete the final from the day before and two additional rounds as well. On this day I was on my 8.4 all day and switching between my 109 and 119, these two setups were working very well for me. In the first final I was right there from the start and arrived equal with Kevin and Antoine at the first mark. I had to slow a bit and follow them in which opened a small door behind me and Arnon took full advantage of the new “No Rules” and tried to go inside of me and took me out in the process. He didn’t really take me out but ran into me and caused me to lose all speed at the jibe, which lost me a couple of places, I crossed the line in sixth not happy at all. With the new “no rules” style of racing you have to be more aggressive at the turns, I am slowly switching over to this mindset. For the next round I was again in the final and had a better start, seemed to be improving as the rounds went on. I arrived third at the first mark and stayed aggressive at the jibe and held on to finish third, feeling better and better as the event goes on. I again managed to make it through to the third final of the day, it was pretty much a carbon copy of the first race but this time the door was left open by me to Finian. I managed to avoid him better than with Arnon and came out of the first mark in fourth just behind Finian. I pushed him hard to the next mark and was able to sneak inside of him to move into third, which is where I crossed the line. Overall not a superb day but improving, with still four days left lots can change.
The fourth day of racing started out quite windy, when I awoke from my wonderfully soft(hard as a rock) bed and looked at the wind it was already blowing around 10-15 knots. This strong this early seemed like it would give way to some very strong winds as the day went on and I was nervous my smallest sail a 7.2 would not be small enough. The wind stabilized somewhat for the first round and I raced very powered on my 8.4 and 109. This proved a good combination as I cruised into the final. In the final the wind started to get a bit light on the inside and after a good start and rounding the first mark in first they cancelled the heat as most of the fleet behind me had stopped. They immediately went back into sequence for the final and again I had a good start and was first to the first mark, with a good jibe I was able to come out with a good lead. Pieter Bijl pushed me throughout the whole race but I was able to hold him off for the victory. The wind was dropping more so they decided to take a lunch break. When we returned to the beach from lunch the wind had switched 180 degrees and was well below the minimum for racing so we sat on the beach the rest of the day. The forecast for the next three days was not looking very good, maybe some breeze on the last day but also some rain. I had moved into second place with my race win and was feeling comfortable about putting a charge to Kevin.
Unfortunately the forecast held pretty true for the final three days, we did get some teasing winds that forced us to rig but we never actually were able to start another race. So the final results from day four stood for the event, Kevin Pritchard 1st, me 2nd and Antoine Albeau 3rd. Not the perfect start to the season that I would have liked to have but a decent one none the less. I know now that my gear is working well and I am more comfortable on the starting line again so it should be a promising year.
Korea proved to be an excellent venue for a PWA Slalom World Cup, with excellent organization and race crew as well as great racing conditions it is sure to be a great stop for years to come. While the food was not the best we have had it wasn’t the worst. The organization also wants to continue to improve all aspects of the event and are very open regarding feed back and respond very quickly to anything that is reasonable. I personally am looking forward to returning again next year and contending for the title again.
A big Mahalo and Aloha goes out to all my sponsors for their generous support:
Neil Pryde - JP-Australia - The Black Dog - Smith Optics - Maui Fin Co.- MPG
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