Here's an update from the 2014 IFCA European Slalom Championships held in Brac, during the final week of August. The atmosphere in Croatia is always great and so is racing at the Golden Cape. The racing was done on a four mark downwind slalom course on which the Starboard riders scored well. Read the report from Chris Pressler below.

© Kerstin Reiger

"During our seven day stay, we had 6 days of competition with three days of wind. The wind was stable and well suited for 8.6m² or 9.0m² but did not last long. Obviously. It was summer. It was hot. The wind would pick relatively late in the afternoon and then stop between 6 PM and 7 PM. A total of 91 competitors registered for the event: 26 youth riders, 6 women and 59 men."

© Kerstin Reiger

"With such a big fleet and the inconsistent winds, it took a long time to finish the first elimination. The channel in between Brac and the Island of Hvar is quite deep, which didn't make it too easy for the organizing crew to fix the marks properly. But we definitely raced in the best wind we had during the six days. A huge starting boat made the starts quite tricky, as it covered the wind a bit."

© Kerstin Reiger

"We did one full elimination. I made it to the Winners' Final but started too far upwind, had bad wind over the start line and suffered, as we all did, in dying winds. Enrico Marotti who started at the pin showed up in first place at the first mark and kept his lead to the finish line. On his heels was Italian Andrea Ferrin. I was battling for 6th place, but had a hard time to find the right gusts. Marco Begalli caught me on the last mark and I finished 7th overall but 2nd in the Masters."

© Kerstin Reiger

"Congrats to James Dinsmore who won the Masters. As for myself, I was quite happy about my results. I didn’t expect to feel so well on the big gear: I used a Reflex 5 in 8.6m² or 9.0m² with the 2014 iSonics 107 and 117. During the past 2 months, I mostly used the smaller gear, from 7.0m² down to 5.6m² and so had to readjust a bit. But it did not matter as much as the gear works well and without complications.

It was really fun to feel good speed in light wind conditions on the big gear, in the blue waters of the Adriatic sea and having some good fights with competitors from all over Europe."

© Kerstin Reiger

"James Dinsmore won the Masters European title, I finished in 2nd and won the Vice-European IFCA Slalom title and finished 7th overall. Marco Begalli won the Grandmasters European title while Stojan Vidakovic got 3rd in that division. Enrico Marotti from Croatia won the Mens with James Dinsmore being the best ranked Severne rider with a 5th place overall."

- Chris Pressler

© Kerstin Reiger