The championship started on saturday with winds under the official limit, which led to the only start that day being cancelled as the wind came and went. But there was a good deal of beach talk, looking at and selling/buying equipment, and almost everyone was on the water for over three hours in partly planing winds while waiting for a start. The evening was rounded off with pizza in the city. During the night the thunderstorm woke several of the competitors with thunder, lightning, and pelting rain. The next morning the entire area was waterlogged, and the fog had cut off the wind almost completely. By first start, however the fog cleared, and the wind was howling at 16 meters per second with 5 foot waves which sent everyone literally flying on their first run out from the beach. After rigging smaller sails, everyone was ready, and 5 heats were held with small breaks and winds in the 9-13 m/s range. The rain stopped and the sun came out for a while. The strong currents around the top mark made for interesting trajectories and some surprises. Kristian Olsen from Tromsø far north above the arctic circle made off with the victory unchallenged with his 5 wins! Guess the midnight sun has given him some extra good training this year! In second place Anders Løken followed up his 8th at the Masters World Championship last month in Denmark, and almost neck to neck with Løken, Magne Frønsdal took third place. All in all a fantastic day of competition in prime conditions!
