“ You can be the fastest guy on the water but without the control you won’t win any races ” MATTEO IACHINO
MATTEO IACHINO
“I use the 134, the 107 and the 90 litre Starboard Isonics as my PWA quiver. They are 85, 71 and 63 wide. The whole range is very easy to use, especially on the reaches, which makes the boards feel extremely comfortable and stable on the water. That is very important, especially when you are sailing your heat, you can focus on the racing and not controlling your gear. That is what I look for, a set up that is as easy as possible so I can concentrate on the likes of Antoine and Pierre rather than worrying about keeping my board in the water and losing positions in the process. In light winds, strong winds, whatever you are sailing, you need to have an easy comfortable set up. I think Starboard is the easiest board to ride on the market. The scoop rocker line, the bottom shape and the tail, all are designed together to be extremely fast but at the same time user friendly. The tail on the Starboard is quite narrow. The straight rails are great for full speed on the reaches but not so easy when you gybe. So we make the tail thinner for the gybing. The whole trick of a perfect slalom board is finding the right balance between these two factors. You want an easy board on the reach, so you can play against the other guys and a small tail for controlled gybes. To find the right balance is not easy. We have done hours of testing on different prototypes to find this balance at Starboard. I use Carpenter and Z Fins, the size all depends on the wind and the state of the water, if it is choppy or gusty. You need to test every possible combination during the winter to build up your knowledge in all different conditions. I have six sails registered, the 5.6, 6.2, 7.1, 7.8, 8.6 and 9.2. So basically I have two light wind sails, two strong wind sails and two medium wind sails. I need to test these sails on every board. Usually the 9.2 and 8.6 on the 134 and 7.8 and 7.1 on the 107 and the 5.6 and 6.2 on the 90. You can also use the 7.1 on the small board and the 8.6 on the medium board; you have to test all the combinations. I think the Point 7 sails are the fastest on the market. I have never had so much speed as with the combination of Starboard and Point 7. We are constantly working on that balance between speed and control. You can be the fastest guy on the water but without the control you won’t win any races. When it was blowing 40 knots in Fuerteventura I was riding my 5.6 and 90 litre Isonic. I used a 32 cm fin. I wanted to use a 31 but in the choppy conditions it was dangerous! With the 32 fin I was a little bit slower on the reach but at least I had more fin in the water at the gybe. It is weird that 1cm can make so much difference but I could feel it. For my harness lines, with light winds I use 26-28, with medium wind I use 30-32 and in the strong wind I use 36 cm lines. I am using a waist harness so I can be in as much control as possible. When you are further away from your harness in these high winds it allows your body to move more. The key to winning races is not about having the fastest equipment in a straight line. During the first round of racing I felt I had an amazing set up. I felt I was fastest on the reach but I missed the control in the gybing. I felt I needed to change because I was first at the mark but losing places in the gybe. You need to focus on everything and in those high winds it can be just about making it round the course without crashing! It is all a balance between control and speed! We need and always strive to find the correct balance!”
REMI VILA
“The request from the PWA riders for the 2016 range was to improve light wind performance. This means boards with early planing, sharp acceleration and fast gybe exits, as this is where many places are lost in a race. The rails became a lot sharper at 45 to 50cm to help planing and acceleration and we also increased the volume for the same reason. For gybe ability the deck shape became a bit rounder to have more grip in the gybe area. The resultant changes made the board much more aggressive on planing, acceleration and gybe exit. This applied not only for the light wind boards but also the medium and high wind boards. When Matteo joined, he wanted to make sure he liked the new boards and that they went with his Point 7 sails before he signed his contract. He was extremely happy with the combination and he signed. Next year with him onboard we will make more changes to the boards, but that is a whole different story. In 2017 we have improved our smaller shapes with a new outline and vee configuration to make them easier to gybe and more comfy in the straight line. They are automatically much faster. For the big boards our new shapes have been inspired by our Formula boards to make them plane very early and smooth to gybe even in strong winds.”
