The first Greek speed event took place in Drepano (Greece) on 9/4/2011. It’s a wonderful spot with flat water and steady winds. [more]I estimate that Drepano has nice conditions for windsurfing (above 15 knots) more than 300 days a year !(photo courtesy Loft windsurfing)
Monty- How many competitors raced?
Minos- In the event we were 22 competitors.
Monty- Who were the favorites to win?
Minos- Nick Vardalachos (Starboard, Neil Pryde) has raced many international events and record attempts and I had a very close and interesting race with him! Kostas Staboulis (JP, North) and Babis Sakadaris (JP, Neil Pryde) and Alex Petikidis (Fanatic, Maui Sails) proved to be fast as well. George Albanis (Starboard, Gaastra) is also very efficient, but he missed the first race so he will have to wait for a discard now.
Monty- How were the conditions?
Minos- We had two races, each one lasting 90 min. During the first one the wind was 18-22 knots but in the second it picked up, around 22-28 knots. I won both of them and in the second one i had 3 times 40+ max display on my gps.
Monty- Which size did you use? Which mast? Which board? Fin? Your weight?
Minos- I used the 7.0 Blade (’11 model), trimmed on my Sdm 430. I thought of using the 6.3 too, but it was difficult to change sails during the race. I was surprised (once more!) by the wind range and the efficiency of the Blades! My board- Fanatic Falcon 85 and my fin Tectonics Falcon 30cm. My weight is 96 kilos.
Monty- How long have you been speedsailing?
Minos- I have been speedsailing since 2006. The same year in Namibia I broke our national record and finished 17th overall in the world cup. In 2007, 2008, 2009 I raced in the world cup in Karpathos with some results in the top 20.
Monty- What were your best results before the Drepano event?
Minos- In 2010 I won the Greek speed championship. I also race slalom and formula and the last 15 years I am constantly in the top 3 of our National Championships.
Monty- When are the next events? Will you race?
Minos- We are planning to have another event in May, counting for our 2011 speed title. Let’s hope that the wind will do us one (more) favour!
This year I am going to race also our slalom National Championship . . . windsurfing is one of the few things that you can never have enough of . . .