TRAINING
Pierre Mortefon: My preparation starts in the winter as soon as I receive my new boards and sails. I train hard in the off season both physically in the gym and with time on the water. Between events I still stay focussed and sail but try not to overdo it so I don’t lose my motivation. Most of the hard work is done before the race. Racing is the easiest part!
John Skye: I spent the last month training with Josep Pons specifically to help in light wind racing, mainly working on core strength to be able to hold the big sails better in the lighter winds. It seemed to pay off as I felt very comfortable on the water. Before Fuerteventura, when I have more time, I normally try to put some buoys in the water and practice a bit with the watch to get the timings OK for the start. As I said I am not really taking the racing too seriously, but I do want to be as close to 100% from the first race, rather than needing 2 or 3 rounds to find my feet. I am in a lucky position that I am basically racing just for fun and to try to learn things to put into the development of our Firewing sail. That means my preparation is actually very different. Mentally I am totally relaxed without any pressure which is nice and probably actually makes racing easier. My preparation for this event involved checking I had everything I would need for testing. For example, I brought a few different batten sets so if I found myself lacking on the racecourse I had options to change things.
TUNING
Pierre Mortefon: It is not just time on the water it is also time in my garage preparing every single item of my equipment. I check all the masts and mark which ones go with particular sails. I check all my fins and every component. I want to be efficient when I go to the beach and know exactly what combinations I need to use in all different conditions. I take a lot of notes when I train so I am sure I don’t repeat myself. My goal is to keep improving and make my equipment as fast and as well tuned as possible.
John Skye: For me tuning and testing are so interrelated. I am constantly testing and tuning all the sails to make them as good as possible, so when I come to a race it is with the sails the best they can be at that moment. Sometimes it is a little frustrating as I already have the new sails finished and have been sailing them a lot, so I know that they are better and wish I could be using the new ones, but the rules are that they have to be the current production sail. The finer details are really important at the top of PWA, but I do try to keep it a bit more general, to make the best possible production sail. If I have time before a race maybe I will try to test all my masts and although they are all the same and standard production, see if one gives a small advantage and use that in the contest.
Steve Allen: Over the winter I generally try and strengthen my muscles in the gym and bulk up a little bit. With my equipment I like to have everything tuned as soon as possible when the new gear arrives. When I first receive my sails, I make sure I sticker them when they are brand new. Then I check battens, cams and all the accessories. I test everything and find out the best masts for each sail, the best fin for each board and try and make sure everything is trimmed to be as quick as possible.