ADAM LEWIS
I used a Stubby 94 and 82 for the Cornwall Classic. Sail wise I chose a 5.0 and 5.3. I’m finding I use the Stubby’s more and more nowadays. You are able to move around the break a lot more and they are so quick to get going that it makes those fluky sessions so much easier and more fun. I think I could use that 82 as a one board only UK dream machine. With sails you just need to be really powered up to make the most of those conditions. If you are not fully powered you’re just losing speed in every move or wave. If you have power those conditions can be really fun.
It was tough sailing at dead low tide in a competition. If you gave yourself too much time to be in position before the heat you were waiting a long time, just stood on the beach all the way on the other side totally exposed to the cold. If you went too late, then you might be warm but totally in the wrong place and with such short heats every second counts. My strategy was to nail a jump straight away, you never know if the wind will drop or the waves back away. A landed jump right off the bat takes a bit of the time pressure off the rest of the heat. One of the main vital ingredients for competing is checking the notice board. If you don’t know what you are doing and how long you’ve got to do it in, there is no way you can plan out your heat efficiently. The heats are over really quick so time management is very important, you cannot afford to waste any time on doing things that you don’t need to or on the other side not doing moves to fill the score sheet. The parameters on the notice board can also change so keeping an eye on the board is a must! Rules wise the board is the law so if the information is wrong really you should re-sail or something should be done about it. In summary, check the board and get a count down timer watch.