JAEGER STONE
“This was only the second time I’ve done the race and the last time I did it was probably 5 years ago at least. Even on the morning of the race I was still tossing up whether I actually wanted to do it or not because I still didn’t even have any gear organised. When I found out my start position was third on the line I didn’t want to give that opportunity up and Ben Severne helped me round up a 7.0 NCX Pro. I really have no experience at all for this type of windsurfing but I like to go fast and all I could do before the race was try and get as comfortable as possible on my gear, do a few speed runs and practice my running beach start.
The atmosphere on the beach is insane and being at the top of the pack as those last minutes count down, the anticipation just keeps building. It was really cool to be a part of but at one stage, when I realised how serious those big guns up the front take it I felt like walking towards the back of the pack. I felt like a turkey amongst eagles. Holding my nerve though when the gun went I had a much better start than expected. I felt like I was right on Patrik’s tail just off the beach before hitting a big lump of seaweed about 10m out and having a bit of difficulty trying to shake it for 50m. Then it was on. That first leg is so much fun, I really wanted to look back and soak it all in but doing that would have almost certainly resulted in a horrific catapult. I won’t lie though, towards the end of that run the pleasure started to wear off and I started wondering what I’d got myself into and if I could just sail back in. Just as I began approaching the first mark I started experiencing the worst cramps in my foot. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not accustomed to using tighter straps or because my previous injuries have made my ankle generally quite stiff and my foot was working harder than ever, but it was hell. Pushing through, moving around as much as possible and adapting where I could I had a relatively smooth race besides feeling like my foot was in a vice. My biggest mistake was cutting too close to the second mark and as a result dropping off the plane and getting stuck in a hole for about a minute or so. After that it was on for young and old as about 6-7 of us battled our way down the entire course side by side. On the final stretch I could sense Scotty breathing down my neck and feeling helplessly underpowered I just kept pushing and pushing knowing how funny it would be if I could beat him. Turns out though he broke his boom and was just trying to get in as easy as possible. He just thought it would be fun to sail right behind me to make me sweat for the finish line. I finished the race in 26th overall and was pretty happy with the result considering my mistakes. Looking forward to next year’s race already!