A total of 41 competitors from 10 countries will take part in the Raceboard European Championships at the Andalucian Sailing Federation Centre, Puerto Sherry. 7 women and 34 men competing for the titles. [more]
A minimum of 5 competitors have signed up to constitute the following divisions: Overall Woman, Overall Man, Youth Man, Master Man, Grand Master Man, Lightweight, Heavyweight.
With almost half of all competitors registered being Masters (5 men), Grand Masters (10 men, 1 woman) or Veterans (4 men, 1 woman) we asked Patrik Pollak why the class is such a success with the more experienced sailors, like himself.
“Now that I don’t have all that time for training and my stamina is not as good as before, I find that the tactical side of racing plays an important role for me. Raceboard is a very versatile class, with close races. Speed is important but it is not a decisive factor, with good tactics and equipment choices you can easily make up the lack of speed. I think a lot of masters find this attractive in the class,” said Patrik.
“The other thing,” he added, “is that the equipment is great. You go out and windsurf in almost any conditions. At home I train on the lakes, but most regattas are on the sea. No matter if it is 5 or 25 kts, you can always sail a Raceboard and have fun at it. Whenever I give any of my younger windsurfing friends a chance to try it they are amazed how fast it goes in 8kts. It’s really a great class for everybody.”
Racing at the European Championships in El Puerto de Santa Maria starts tomorrow at 11:00. Stay tuned for some twitter coverage on the regatta site – http://europeans2015.raceboard.org/
