ANDREA ROSATI
Basically all the places we go for racing have their own particular conditions, where you have to adapt your gear and yourself. Fuerteventura particularly is one of the hardest places for racing and tuning. From outside it looks super flat, but in reality the chop is pretty bad and combined with the wind angle makes it super difficult to race in.
You need a board that flies over the deep chop on the way back to the beach, but once you jibe you need a board that stays down as much as possible to have control on the fully downwind leg. I generally have two boards and I choose the larger one and use the footstraps to trim it. I use the RRD X-FIRE 98 and I put on starboard tack the wider stance and on port tack I move the back footstrap one hole in front. The track position it depends a lot on the sail and the boom height, 135/133 cm from the tail are generally the positions I use. Remember if you use a lot of downhaul you will have to move the mastfoot a bit forward. The same if your sail is very open in the top and the opposite if it is closed.
For fins I use Zed SLM 32/31 for 7.0m down to 5.6m sail sizes. I use Loftsails Racing Blade sails with the softest masts I have. You need control and the sail to absorb the chop to maintain good speed. On small sails 6.3m to 5.6m I use both of the outhaul holes to have more softness and a more open lower leech to give higher speed. For the boom I use a setup that allows me to have the maximum control. Boom very low, like in the third bottom part of the cutout and harness lines around 34 to 36 cm. The more the wind and smaller the sail, the lower the boom and longer the harness lines.
For physical training I try to work a lot on aerobic fitness. You need lots of oxygen when you arrive at that fourth buoy and you want to try to go inside someone! Also power on the back leg for the fully downwind legs!
“ You need a board that stays down as much as possible.”