That afternoon in a bid to get over 40kts I set off with Jim Crossley down the coast and gave it my all despite the horrifically choppy conditions. Turned out to be a fruitless mission as I failed to get even the best time of the week despite being maxed on a 6.2. Jim hit 39.9 on his slalom board which had it been 0.1kt quicker would have been devastating!
In conclusion the event was a huge success. The GPS format lends itself perfectly to this type of Pro-Am event. Everyone is battling with themselves more than against others and therefore there is competition for everyone, for the 50kt+ club as well as those just trying to get past 30kts. We were extremely unlucky with the conditions. Fuerteventura normally produces an excess of wind, but this week the venturi effect failed to deliver. It meant conditions were more towards speed slalom rather than all out speed. I have a feeling the results would have been very different had we had 6.2/5.7 weather everyday. The final results showed Bjorn with the top run of 37.8kts. However the day after the event finished it was a solid 30kts and people were hitting over 40kts with ease. Still it is the same conditions for everyone and in the end speed is simply about going as fast as possible whatever the wind. So for me I left the event 2nd in the Canaries Championship and 3rd in the European Championship. I went home very happy with the performance of the Firewing sail and having learnt a huge amount over the week. Unfortunately I got nowhere near the 40kt peak I was looking for with a max of only 38.5 kts, so the dates will be back in the diary for next year and hopefully a bit more wind!