Good last weekend in June

The last weekend was a busy one. I ran my first jibing clinic at Podersdorf in cooperation with Mission to Surf. It was an excellent one with 5 participants from Austria and Slovakia. On day one the wind was light in between 5 and 10 knots and we were able to practice on land and on the water improving the handshift Â and sail rotation.

On Sunday the wind blew really strong with gusts far above 30 knots. During the morning hours Matthias HÃ¶ller and the crew from Stylehunters Diboardi organized a racing training at Podersdorf. The wind was up and down, from 12 to 25 knots.

We had an Austrian Slalom Race Series in Podersdorf with pretty nice wind conditions at Lake Neusiedl. I showed up just 25 minutes before the start and had only time to rigg one sail and prepare two boards to the beach. I decided for 7,0m and iSonic 107 and we sailed 4 full rounds on a figure 8 course. Â After 4 rounds we had to stop the race as the wind picked up to almost 35 knots and one of the competitors cut the rope of one mark with his fin 🙂 quite funny. It was a busy Sunday and the mark drifted downwind very quick.

I was on the smallest sail compared to all other riders, who used 7,8 to 8,6 m. But luckily the wind picked up twice really strong. I used for the first time a relatively short fin, a Pfaffi S4 35,5 cm in the 107. It worked excellent. Sometimes smaller gear is the better choice!! But was really risky to go for the small sail. The two races I won the wind was up and I felt powered up. In one race I had a clear over early, as I tried to keep going over the line during a light wind period. And in the other round the wind was extremely light and I finished in 2nd. Matthias HÃ¶ller won this one. Overall it was a cool training and fun racing with good friends.

Next Slalom events are: Â the PWA Worldcup in Alacati, starting on the August 19th. A GPS speed event at Weiden, Lake Neusiedl on the last weekend Â of August. The Austrian Surf Championships will take place in Podersdorf, Lake Neusiedl, in September 20. – 22. with events in different disciplines in Windsurfing, SUP and Kitesurfing. The event will be organized by Stylehunters Diboardi.

1. Chris Pressler (Starboard/Severne)

2. Matthias HÃ¶ller (Fanatic/North)

3. Frank Lewisch (Starboard/Severne)

Directly after the race I continued with the jibing clinic and we had fantastic conditions: 20 to 25 knots and all clients improved their jibes. The next clinic will take place on the August 10th at Mission to Surf, Podersdorf, Lake Neusiedl.