Austrian Slalom Nationals 2015

Racing season started last weekend at Lake Neusiedl. For the first time we had a Slalom event at the most northern spot on the lake, at Neusiedl. The WSA (Windsurfing Austria) held the Austrian Nationals 2015 during the last weekend at the Austrian Sailing Center at Lake Neusiedl, who allowed us to use all the fantastic facilities of a modern trainings center. The wind was great on Saturday and  the motivated race crew ran 8 full rounds of downwind racing in chilly conditions. I had to use gloves, booties and a hood. Most of the competitors didn’t care much about the cold wind and enjoyed the good speed at the beginning of the season, but I needed a bit of a “Rambo mentality” to resist the cold. The fingers were freezing cold and when returning to the shore – this area was a bit more protected from the wind – all the blood made it back in the tips of the fingers. Everyone, who windsurfs in the cold, knows that feeling.

Fully powered up on 7,8m and iSonic 107 (Pic: Pfaffi/WSA)

Fully powered up on 7,8m and iSonic 107 (Pic: Pfaffi/WSA)

We had 15 to 25 knots from northern direction with heavy rain squalls in between. It was tricky to choose the right gear. I crashed my 8,6 during the first round and then wasn’t allowed to make no more faults to save a podium ranking. The wind picked up and I had three nice races with the fantastic iSonic 107 and 7,8m. During the next 4 races I saved my 2nd place overall fighting hard on the overpowered iSonic 120 and 9,0m with my main rivals Matthias Höller (AUT-154) and Markus Pöltenstein (AUT-30). I am really happy about that result,a s I didn’t train on the water during the cold winter months. Big congrats to Marco Lang (AUT-66), who won the fantastic event with brilliant starts, great acceleration and very high speed. Nobody had any chances to hinder him winning 7 out of 8 rounds. I only was leading one race after a good start at the pin, but he picked me up half way of the first reach. It really paid off to run the Nationals during April. It’s the most windy month at Lake Neusiedl, Austria. Now it’s time to prepare for further events during May and June. Let’s hope for a lot of wind, action and fun during the next events at Podersdorf, Lake Traun or Lake Waller. The Austrian scene is alive! The WSA with Manuel Zugsbratl as the new front man did a great job organizing this event.

Just a few meters to the finish in the final race 8 (Pic: Pfaffi/WSA)

Just a few meters to the finish line in the final race 8 (Pic: Pfaffi/WSA)

Overall result:

1. Marco Lang (4,2 points)

2. Chris Pressler (15 points)

3. Matthias Höller (16,7 points)

Masters Class result:

1. Chris Pressler (15 points)

2. Markus Pöltenstein (17 points)

3. Tom Böhm (36 points)

Marco and I on the course (Pic: WSA)

Marco and I on the course, when the wind was up (Pic: WSA)

Made it on the podium, yeahh (Pic: Kerstin Reiger)

Made it on the podium, yeahh (Pic: Kerstin Reiger)

My gear for the 8 races

My gear for the 8 races

Harbour view in the late afternoon (Pic: Kerstin Reiger)

Harbour view in the late afternoon (Pic: Kerstin Reiger)