The famous windsurfing spot of Le Morne in the southwestern tip of the island is also a possible location for the event, but being a busier location it is only now used if the forecast for it is pumping and not good in the other spots.
TRAINING
Prior to the event I had been training hard, working on strength and conditioning and must say a massive thanks to the owner and head coach at Portland Beach CrossFit. This has made a real difference for me; I feel fresh after a hard day of sailing and ready for business for the next day of racing. Both Simons have much more physical jobs than me so opt for maximum time on the water between events. It wasn’t confirmed but it was clear to be seen in the evenings that Jersey Chris had been conducting his training in the pub, as he had an abnormal ability to imbibe rum whilst remaining standing. Chris retained his title from previous years as the unanimous 2018 MAC drinking champion / the people’s champion.
Simon, Chris and I also had the chance to spend three solid days training with Julian Maurel, local slalom guru and king of the dance floor. Julian was the perfect person to teach us about the lagoon and how to get around at low tide and still keep your fin in one piece. The locals have a habit of shouting “Foil….foil”, this translated means it’s really shallow and probably time to $hit yourself. These days really gave us all a chance to tune our sails and Simon C. and Danny also joined us a couple of times for some team training sessions. It’s nice to have this team feel about an event, willing the rest of the team to do well and improve on their speed etc. This is also the nice thing about having a cross section of skill sets in a team, everyone has their time to shine.