We manage to do five rounds in Korea, so that was pretty amazing. It was my first time at Jinha Beach. The bay where we raced was pretty small so the first leg was quite small too. The gusty winds made it pretty difficult to start.

I had a slow start the first day. Actually i had a too "fast start" as I kind of got trapped at the boat on top of Micah and went over early on the 1st semi final of the event.

On the 1st losers i went out with my 66 board and my 8.4. This time i had decent start, a bit late at the boat, but my speed was very good. I arrived to the mark fighting for the first place and i crashed into Josh and Ross (picture). Totally misjudged the distance I had to the mark and specially to them, whom were coming on completely different course than me. So i scored a 4th on that one giving me a 14th.

The second elimination i stayed on my middle board and got stuck on the semi as when we started the wind dropped. The wind was very unstable and very light on the first mark. Sometimes it paid off to stay on the big stuff even if you had to sacrifice some speed on the first leg. On the losers again on my medium board i score a 5th so this gave me a 14 and a 15 on the first two rounds. I was not reading good the up and downs of the wind during the day.

The third round was with a bit more wind and i managed to feel more comfortable. I improved my starts which after that over early on the first elimination i was feeling a little insecure. I scored a 5th on the final of elimination 3.

The 4th elimination i decided to stay on my big board and use my 7.6. I had a pretty bad start middle of the line but managed to round on the inside fighting for top 5. I had a good jybe inside Cyril and came out on third. Kept my position behind Josh all the way to the finish. This is the final that is in the PWA video.

The 5th elimination the wind was strong again and I used my 7.6 on my middle board. I felt I was going very good now. My speed increased. In the final i decided to change my tactics and started further up on the line and it didn't pay off. I was on 6th most of the final until the second to last leg when I  spun out a couple of times and Bjorn passed me.

So Ii ended up in 7th at the event. I could have been a bit better i would say, but still i am happy to see that my gear is working very good. I need to do some fine tuning with my fins that came quite late.

So far i am on 3rd on the ranking so i am really happy. I will be going to Margarita now with Peter and Gabriel to do some high wind training for Costa Brava and the Canaries.
 
Best regards
Gonzalo Costa Hoevel ARG-3
Finish position : 7th

My time in Jinha beach was fulfilling and encouraging. This being the second slalom event of the year, I felt that I was finding my "competition legs" and sailing  better. My equipment combo was starting to get really dialed in and especially when the wind got a bit stronger was I feeling real good. I still have so much to learn in slalom racing and the repetition is  the best possible experience, so I encourage anyone who is interested in any kind of racing to get out and do any event possible, because there is always some lesson that we need to learn to deal with and it's not always on the water.

The  highlight for me was the confidence gained in my gear. The 8.4 is one of the easiest and best sails I've ever ridden...... period. The TR-5 is soooo quick around a course in ctual real race conditions because it adapts to so many weird wind/ water sitiuations that come hand in hand with slalom racing. Also, my Magnum line is really coming into its own and I am proud and pleased that our direction we chose with the longer style board with the RTA and RNA concepts is truly proving to be a great product. The Magnums have given me the ease to get around the course that is a big confidence booster.

It was also great to see the high level of Peter ( who had a bit of bad luck ) and Gonzalo, who finished right in front of me in 7th. We truly do have a  sick team and I expect Maui Sails dominance to grow even stronger.

Aloha,
Josh Angulo CV-1
Finish position : 8th

At the second Slalom event of the year that took place in Korea, we had 2 good days of competition with some fine termic winds which were even quite strong in the gusts.

In the first race, I just missed out on the final but won the loosers final for 11th place. It was not a bad start of the event and I felt really good in the light wind on 9,2. The wind picked up and a moment of glory came in the final of race #2. Micah arrived at the first buoy in front and Antoine in second gybing wide.

With Benny and Patrik and a few others right there it was very busy at the mark, but I found the gap and went full power on the inside and tried gybing super tight to the mark almost passing Antoine. At the next mark I passed Micah and finally came second behind Antoine. In the 3rd race semi final I was in 3rd at the second last mark, then was forced upwind. While a strong gust hit, we had to bear down deep to the last mark. Arriving there the gust was gone and after flipping the sail in 5th place, I found a massive lump of weed on my fin with Bjorn right behind me. I could jump it off, but lost my qualification position to the final.

In the 4th race disaster strikes breaking my fin on the first reach, while heading to the mark at full speed and being hit by a strong gust. I was in line with Bjorn and Finian in 3rd place looking to secure a spot in the final.

In the 5th and last race I made the final, but my timing was off and arriving too early at the starting line. I choose to open my sail and did not want to go over early. I finished 8th and was happy to keep 2 people behind me after such a bad start.

All in all the final results where really close between 5th and 14th (9 points) and finishing in 13th place seems a little unfortunate.

Right now we are on the way to Venezuela being invited to the 'wild winds' event. It is a long trip via Munich, Amsterdam and Lisbon but once we are there it will hopefully be a great opportunity to train for the next PWA events.

With Gabriel, Gonzalo and myself there Maui Sails will be well represented!

Peter Volwater H-24
Finish position : 13th

Check out more event photos from John Carter and also video clip where you can see great performance from Josh Angulo and Gonzalo Costa Hoevel.