PATRIK DIETHELM
“It was an amazing race and I am stoked we nailed it on the hollow boards, you could call it a hollow victory! Steve Allen choose the SL 115 AI (Air inside) with the new Severne R8 8.6m2 and 37cm fin while I was a bit sceptical that the wind could drop and I decided to go with the SL 140 AI fitted with a home-made 47.5cm pre-preg fin and my new Sailloft Ultimate 9.6m2. Steve had an awesome start and immediately took a strong lead. My speed was very good and my hope was to be able to sail deeper then Steve on the second reach but I figured out quite quickly that Steve was unstoppable and locking back I felt safe in second so I didn’t push it too much anymore. When the third rider came to shore I realised that it was not the German PWA racer Gunnar Assmussen as I had thought but our Australian team rider Rowen Law.
I was super stoked to see how fast he was and the big smile on his face confirmed that he is in love with the hollow boards as well! Just a few minutes later also Karin Jaggi crossed the finish line as first women in 12th overall and if she would not have had trouble with the way too long harness lines on my 8.6 rig she would not have only won the women’s race but could probably have pushed her hollow SL 115 AI into the top 10.”