FM: What made the difference for you to do so well?
AL: I think it is the experience of all those PWA races with small slalom gear back in the 90s and my last years in the beginning of the millennium. I don’t have the fitness to go full speed throughout the whole course of Defi wind, but I can go 100% in speed runs, which is really lots of fun! Also my equipment is very simple and very fast in all sizes and combinations. Lots of brands have fast combinations, but not all of them are suitable for speed sailing or slingshots. I had my best top speed in Lüderitz with a normal production board, the Fanatic Falcon Speed 44. It was the only board I took to Lüderitz.
FM: How often do you get windsurfing normally and what training do you do?
AL: I can’t go sailing very often as we only get about 20 days here in Munich with 15 knots of wind. Besides windsurfing I don’t train as my foot is still injured from Lüderitz and I prefer spending time with my family.
FM: Did your family come with you for the event?
AL: I only take them to beautiful places like Maui, South Africa or Southern France. I didn’t take them to Lüderitz as it’s not really child friendly. It’s super beautiful, but windy, rough and not very good for 3 kids. If we travel together we stay in private houses. My wife is windsurfing too and my oldest daughter (7) is windsurfing a bit already.
FM: Will you do any more speed sailing competitions?
AL: I will try to go to Lüderitz this year again. I designed 2 new boards with Sebastian Wenzel, the Fanatic shaper. I know exactly what we need in the canal, it’s more acceleration we need to break records. On my fastest 500m run in Lüderitz I passed the entry of the course at 80 km/h, ending up at 99 km/h right at the finishing line. I need to pass the entry at 90-95 km/h.
FM: Have you any advice for other sailors thinking about getting into speed sailing?
AL: Get 2 good boards, 50 (with a 24 cm fin) and 45 cm (with a 20 cm fin), 3 sails (5.4-7.0) and go sailing whenever it’s windy. If it is windy here in Germany, I always have to go on my big stuff (8.4 or 7.7), but I can still train my slingshots with this big slalom gear, it’s much more physical than doing a slingshot with my speed gear and a 5.4 sail.