It was the first day of competition and everyone was excited about the wind, weather and especially the races. At 10 am the skippers meeting took place in which the judges explained the modalities of the competition, the course and some general facts of the Slalom Event. The 12 Masters and Grandmasters were divided into two heats, which led into the finals A and B. Because of just 6 competitors in the category Youth, they could directly make the eliminations.[more]
After the meeting every rider had time to prepare his equipment and warm up a bit. At 11 o’clock, the starting tower gave the signal to start and the first heat was on. Four marks and approximately three minutes later the first heat was over and the winner of the first heat in this event named Erkan Morgan from Turkey.
The atmosphere on the water and at the beach was excellent. Good winds, hot weather, exciting races on beautiful coloured water and an extraordinary moderator made the first day!
At half past two, the wind dropped down and after almost three eliminations of the Masters and Grandmasters and five eliminations of the Youths and Juniors, the officials decided to make a break and continue the next day.
“Today, I had an amazing day,” Markus Purwitzer from Austria concluded. “This spot has huge advantages compared to other spots I have seen since I am windsurfing. Combined with the very good organization and management it seems to be an amazing event.”
After a very successful day, the team of SurfMotion was really glad to see that the competitors and the officials of the IFCA are very happy about the races and the spot and is looking forward to the rest of the week.
Opening Day and Registration
It was really a busy day for Peter Mueller, that German guy who invited the world to celebrate the IFCA Slalom JYM World Championships 2016 at his windsurf school “SurfMotion” in Soma Bay, Egypt, in the upcoming days. And for sure it was a hard day for his whole team as well, because today it was training day, registration day, opening day (opening ceremony), party day (in the evening) and not forget the last day before competitions start, so everything has to be prepared.
The officials, the crew on the water and the competitors got their first impressions on the perfect blue water of the Soma Bay with a stable wind around 25 knots. A few starts took place for training the crew and to get into the competition mood.
After a few hours of sailing, everyone registered at the race office directly in front of the beach. All participants got their event-jerseys, the sail stickers and all details they need to be well informed about the upcoming event. Registered are 18 participants from 11 countries and 2 continents.
