as i headed down to breakfast this morning it was looking to be one final day of no wind to end the competition. by lunch time some people were already starting to prepare some of their stuff for packing. the rest were getting in one last round of minigolf. I was attempting to organize the mess of clothes, equipment and other accessories in my car:) travelling around Europe with no home to store my extra stuff creates quite a space problem later in the year with a steady accumulation of stuff.
around 2:30 the wind came up a bit but it was very shifty and gusty. to inconsistent to run a proper race, so the organizers decided to chip in 2500Euro to the top 5 men and women for a fun race. I had a great start on starboard near the pin end between Kevin and Phil. Kevin tacked across underneathe me early as i was watching a gust coming down and headed all the way to the layline to catch it. unluckily for me and Steve(who had also come all the way out) it turned out to be a header after we had tacked back towards the mark. Gonzalo was coming to the mark in first with alot of speed but got lifted in a gust and crashed right at the mark taking out Finian with him. Ross took advantage and rounded in first to take a good lead for the rest of the race. i rounded in around 10th but jibed to the inside and took about 4 spots to round leeward in 6th. following behind Steve, Michal, Antoine and Kevin i went all the way to the layline but i lost the gust and stood there for a while watching the rest of the guys behind see a couple of us standing still and tack early. by the time i got on a plane and got around the mark i was back to about 10th and stayed there. Ross took the bullet with Steve, Michal, Kevin and Roy following.
So unfortunately we didnt get an official result for the event but it was a great location and everyone enjoyed the really nice location so besides the lack of wind it was a great event. hopefully the Nestea sponsorship will continue on for next year so that they can organize the event earlier in the year when the winds are a bit more consistent across the lake.
tomorrow i will take fellow Virgin Islander Mike Porter to the Budepest airport and then head off for an 8 hour drive to Lake Garda for some testing and tuning.
best regards
Devon
www.devonboulon.com
