2007 Raceboard Worlds Commentary
October 9, 2007 · Print This Article
Photo from http://www.mundial-potrerillos.com.ar/ingles/
Congratulations to the winners, Mariano Reuteman and Patricia Castro, as well as to the event organisers who seemed to put on a great event.
The venue appeared to be a fantastic place to sail with beautiful water and consistent moderate to fresh winds which even allowed some of the RSX competitors to get to the top end of the fleet. From the photos and the event description it appears that the Argentineans know how to put on a great event with good looking shore facilities. So I guess that its three cheers to the winners and the Argentinean Windsurfing Association. Event website.
Photo from http://www.mundial-potrerillos.com.ar/ingles/
From the competitor list there appeared to be a relatively good turn out with 67 sailors from 10 countries. If you take out the RSXs in the fleet and just leave the raceboards there was still a significant number of competitors. Unfortunately, like most events, the bulk of the fleet was comprised of men. To my way of thinking this is an area that we as raceboarders and the general windsurfing community need to focus on. With women making up 50% of the population, making an effort to get more women involved is a sure fired way to grow our fleets. Moreover, by attracting more women into our fleets you will undoubtedly get more men. It was great to see the number of different boards in the event including the “old school” Raceboards, which are still obviously very competitive.
Going through the results it appeared that there were the following different types of boards:
Starboard Phantom 380
Exocet Warp 380
F2 Race 380
Mistral Equip
Fanatic Mega Cats
F2 Lightning
Mistral One Design
And the non Raceboard hybrids in the RSX and Bic Hybrid
Photo from http://www.mundial-potrerillos.com.ar/ingles/
Full credit must be given to both Starboard and Exocet for their new Raceboards - the Phantom 380 and the Warp-X. Both of these boards are obviously quick and will no doubt become a regular in our Raceboard fleets. While both of these new boards did well it was pleasing to see that they were not hugely quicker than the “old school” boards. Consequently, they will make a great addition to our fleets around the world without creating a chasm in performance between the old and the new. As usual both of these brands are leading the way in the sport and ensuring that there are competitive Raceboards on the market.
Photo from http://www.mundial-potrerillos.com.ar/ingles/
In summary, I would have loved to have been there as it appeared to be a great sailing venue with stiff competition from around the world. Three cheers to the winners and both Starboard and Exocet for creating new Raceboards. I guess I better start saving to go to the next one…..
Photos have been taken from the offical website
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