Hi all,

 Well the event has ended and in the end it was a mixed result at the top. The consistent top finishers - Antoine Alb and Ross Williams took first and second, but formula ace Steve Allen took third and looked on to cause a big upset... If one more heat had been sailed he would have been second...and if the 2nd round had gone to a final I would have put all my money on him!!! Instead, the event ended at the semis, so the top 16 tied at the 2nd round. The first semi was sailed, but with the wind reading 7.2knts at some of the marks, tempers were running hot and left a lot of guys mumbling about this not being racing.  Allen, being the best formula racer in the world was supreme in the 7-11 knots that we sailed in round 2, and in the 7-15 knot 1st round he was also handy. He was unreal on his 10,0m pryde and the 133 starboard with special Hurricane? fins! Other upsets in terms of performance included the likes of Dunkerbeck and Dagon.

 The long and the short of the event was that not much wind came through and even with the 7 knot minimum there was not much sailing, and when we did sail, conditions in the 1st round still favoured the big guys who could handle the big gusts with 10m sails. 2nd round definitely favored guys with formula experience 7-11 knots. In all, over the whole event only 3 hours of sailing occurred... even with the 7knot minimum. EVERYONE kept saying to me, sailors and even the tour manager Richard Page, that we have to organize an event in SA!!!!!!!!!! [ed. hell yeah]

 For my 2nd round heat (properly prepared as my kit had arrived) I had Kevin Prichard, Ross Williams, Julien Quintel, one of the Moussmalini brothers, and Deltheim... so not much chance. I charged the start line with the 9,0 /133 combo 20m ahead of the pack and upwind, but pulled back at the last second thinking i would be over early..rookie error - my old Yachtie skills and John VDV's watch would have had me spot on with a perfect start....

 Whilst i wish we had got onto the "smaller" 111 / 7,8m kit, i have still learned a heck of a lot and enjoyed the PWA experience. I think that a bunch of the SA sailors could do well in the windier tour events and hope we can encourage sailors to get to some more events..... I'm already thinking Turkey. Furthermore i have stolen some great ideas in terms of the running of racing from the slick PWA crew.

 Kit is of extreme importance - especially in the lighter winds - you need to have the latest boards and sails, and even more NB are FINS.... the top guys carry 30 plus fins and have different combinations for different wind and water conditions!!!! Then you need heaps of tuning time - especially on the big kit.

 The lighter guys sail 79 (isonnic 122); 69 (101) ; 59 (86) wide boards....heavier guys choose the 85 (isonnic 133); 75 (111); 59 (86) range..... Sail size choice varies with alot of the PRYDE guys running the 10m and others choosing the 9,5m.....with some of the lighter sailors saying 8,6m is as big as they will go on a 122lt board

 Fins are a clandestine affair because with the production ruling it is the one item that can make a huge difference in the performance of the full unit. Debocheit are most popular, but the combinations of SL2, SL3, SL4 and R13, R14, R16 across the wind range is a relatively closely guarded secret...and an area where testing and cash come into play - the guys spend mega on fins!!

 Anyway... a huge shout out to all those that helped me - Eugene for the hours of on the water testing and training (sadly almost always on 7,0m and smaller in our PRIME PE bay slalom conditions!!!!!!) [ed. i think that's a hint]... Pete for the use of his sails and fins and for his help at the event!, JOLUKA for the 133 and so much other kit, CAPE WINDSURF CENTER for the 9,0m Sail, Julian for a long X9 boom and so the list goes on... THANKS TO EVERYONE.... this was a start, but we need to get guys over to more events. The PWA and sailors appreciate our country and want to see more of us represented on the tour!

 Cheers

 Jamo Moore SA111