FoilSport Sorrento Slalom Wingfoil Regatta

Over the busy Labour Day holiday weekend, SSCBC hosted its first WingFoil event. You may have seen this relatively new sport which has taken off at SSCBC with many Members getting amongst it. Unlike kiteboarding, wing foiling is better suited with a smaller sail/wing and there are no lines to catch around Couta Boats on your way out. While this sport probably wasn’t designed for racing, when Jack Abbott suggested setting up a downwind Slalom event similar to what the Waszps do, SSCBC wanted to support this concept.

Much like he has done all year with the Next Gen Committee, Jack put his full effort behind and managed to get an awesome turnout of 14 Wingfoilers turn up, completing 5 races. Before we hit the water, we had a group chat about the philosophy of the on-water racing session. In that briefing, we explained what a start sequence was (we ended up using the noisy 3 minute hooter sequence used for team racing). Everyone agreed a relaxed vibe was the way forward and the Race Committee was very open to feedback as the day went on. Although we had safety plans in place, being the first type of these races, it was a blessing having  marginal conditions  (9-12 knots) which allowed all Wingfoilers to be in control. Thankfully, there wasn’t any near collisions, yet tight racing.

There was a spread of talent, so between races, the Race Committee boat threw out a long floating line for the WingFoilers to gather/wait and talk about the last race. Some of the things the Race Committee learnt was how we needed bibs with letters to take finishes. Luckily, post racing there was a productive debrief and time to sort out who to calculate up the results. Although the event was supposed to be two days, we decided to postpone the 2nd day to a later date, based on the poor wind conditions. In the end, Jack Abbot won the event he organised.