FOIL RACING IN AUSTRALIA
Raging bushfires, blinding dust storms, and tropical hailstorms are the usual ingredients of any hot summer “downunder” in AUS, but the heat was certainly on during the 2020 DownUnder Pro Australian Foiling Championships.
Photos by Mitchell Pearson
The event was hosted January 31 through February 2 at the iconic Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Brisbane’s Moreton Bay in absolutely perfect foil racing conditions. Conceived as an “event by racers, for racers” by Severne’s extended AUS family members Brendan Moore and Glen Morrell, supported by John O’Brien and Ian “the Fox” Fox, delivered a masterpiece.
Top competition with strong teams from NZ, New Caledonia and even Singapore giving the Aussies more “summer” in their own back yard. Super performances from some of the youth contenders, especially emphatic sailing from the Kiwis Lloyd Lloyd Perratt and Thomas Crook who took out first and fourth overall, under the guidance of their chaperone Ian Young who -apart from cleaning up the Masters – also scored third outright. Jacquin Hippolyte in 6th overall from Noumea lead a strong charge of New Caledonian youths.
Run inside the overall event, the Australian Championship was won by the super energetic Julien Savina(and 2nd in overall regatta), ahead of Julien Ventalon and local RQYS charger Leo Sharpe.
Six windward return races of around 15 minutes winner time were conducted on each of Days 1 and 2, with Day 3 featuring a long distance lap marathon ahead of the final 2 races of the 15 race series. Designed to encourage participation and grow the sport of windfoil, relatively “open” equipment rules allowed a good opportunity for equipment comparison, with some notable standout trends amongst the front runners. Competitors used predominantly 9 and 10m HG2 sails, with 900/255 on 95cm foils the “go-to” size for the steady winds in 10-15 kts range.
The event was regarded by everyone as super successful, providing a safe, positive and exciting experience to everyone involved. Yes, next year’s event is already in the frame.
Full event results at https://www.sailwave.com/results/2020DownUnderProAus.htm
If you’d like to dig deeper:
Event debrief: https://www.sail-world.com/news/226234/Australian-Windfoil-Championships-Debrief
Day 3 images: https://www.sail-world.com/news/226202/Australian-Windfoil-Championships-day-3-images
Day 2 images: https://www.sail-world.com/news/226182/Australian-Windfoil-Championships-day-2-images
Event preview: https://www.sail-world.com/news/226095/Australian-Windfoil-Championships-preview
MORE FROM THE WORLD OF SEVERNE
End of year video with Dieter Van der Eyken
Severne team rider Dieter Van der Eyken has been scoring great conditions throughout 2021. Check out his end of year video filled with action from Tenerife and Fuerteventura.
OBX-wind 2021
OBX-WIND 2021 went off on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, (Cape Hatteras) USA. Windsurfers traveled from near and far for the famous OBX-WIND long distance race, the US Nationals for Freestyle and the US Nationals for Slalom
Catching up with the 2021 IFCA SLALOM Youth World Champion Benoit Merceur
At the age of just 20, Benoit Merceur has won his first major championship, is an up and coming racer at home on the French tour, and is an aspiring engineer.
Rookie Cup 2021 in Brouwersdam
The yearly Rookie Cup at Brouwersdam, Netherlands was a blast, even without wind. The winner took the prize of a full season rookie class pass for the 2021 season sponsored by Severne.
The Severne team visits Rene Egli Fuerteventura for another successful test week
For the third year in a row, René Égli hosted the Severne test week. This year, participants had the chance to check out and test some of the latest Severne windsurf and windfoil gear in some of the best conditions in the world, as well as, spend time with the Severne team.
Severne is voted best brand in North America at 2021 AWSI
Severne Windsurfing was just voted best brand at the Association of wind + watersports industries annual boards expo in Hood River, USA.